How to fish an Estuary Section - Trevally/Kingfish & Garrick #bucktail #estuaryfishing #lurefishing

#gamtoosriver #fishinglife #lurefishing #gtfishing #garrick #catchandrelease #fishing #fishingtutorial I had the morning free for some fishing but was torn as to which direction to head off into. It is late January and hot as hell in the Eastern Cape. Water temperatures are still high, running in the mid to upper 20 degrees. It looked like perfect conditions, wind-still, and overcast with a high humidity. By the time I got onto the water, I had about an hour left of the dropping tide, perfect overall conditions to target Spotted Grunter on topwater over the Gamtoos mouth area sand flats. The, I have still not landed a Skippy (aka Lady Fish) this season, and with the window of opportunity closing, the decision was made to head upriver and target one of these spectacular fish! The area I decided to fish was the last section of the shallow straight from Wacky Woods up river towards the river bend ay the 'Old Buss'. When I reached the spot, the tide had all but turned, and I was literally not moving on my intended drift. Being only days off the next spring tide, it did not take too long for water to start pushing up river, and a quick change of plans saw me approaching a upriver river drift on the pushing tide. In the past, this spot produced better catches on the last hour or two of the dropping tide. Things were not going to plan! After a cast or two, I had a large fish follow my bucktail right up to the boat. At the last moment, it turned away, leaving a huge swirl on the water. AT the time, it looked just like a nice 60cm+ Garrick. In hindsight, it was a much larger version of what I was about to catch throughout he morning! A few more casts, and I got a nice solid take from what I thought was a juvenile Garrick. The fight was on and off the batt. I felt something was odd about how this Garrick was behaving. As the fight approached the boat, I was surprised to see a stunning little Kingfish had made a meal of my 3/8oz Snow White Trophy Tails Bucktail! After some confusion, I settled on the fact that this catch was a Giant Trevally...or was it a Yellowfin, Blackfin, or Bigeye Kingfish / Trevally? All the same, I was stoked and very chuffed with this catch as it had been at least four to five years since I previously caught them on the river. Ironically, it's on the very same spot again. A little further down the drift, I hooked into another Kingfish, and by the end of my morning session, I had managed to catch five Kingfish / Trevally. I doubt these fellas will remain in the Gamtoos River as our winter water temps would naturally be far too cold for these tropical and sub-tropical fish to thrive or even survive! Between all the Kingfish I did manage to hook into a fair sized Skippy (Ladyfish), in true Skippy style it took off with a blistering run and on its first jump spat the Bucktail and made a bid for freedom, not that I would have kept it...seems it never got the memo. I also managed three nice Garrick, two juvenile fish, and one, which was a solid fish that had me guessing as to what it could be. This season, I have hooked into three Skippies and have been unlucky not to land a single one. The first fish, about three weeks ago, was a corker and would definitely have pushed the tape measure somewhere between one to one comma three meters! What a fish it was... even only having had him on the line for no more than ten seconds! Heading home after this magical fishing session my only reoccurring thoughts were how wonderful nature is, how amazing the Gamtoos River system is and how grateful I am to be able to call this estuary system my 'back garden'! All the fish were handled carefully and with the care and respect they deserve and were returned to the water to fight another day, balance the ecosystem, and make plenty more babies along the way There is no doubt whatsoever our once abundant fish stocks are under threat from overfishing and negative environmental impacts. As you improve in your success and your catch rate improves...give a little back as credit for the next BIG ONE! Limit your catch, don't catch your limit...catch n release! :-) If you enjoy my content and have any questions, comments, or suggestions to add... I would greatly appreciate your input. Also, a SUBSCRIBE would be greatly appreciated!! :-) Tight Lines Brett Harris [email protected] +27(0)834125316