| Date of Report: Friday, 9th October 2026 |
|
Name: Ruben Schoeman Email: rubenmschoeman@gmail.com Phone: 079 793 8169 There has been so much rain of late all the estuaries are full of freshwater and although there are plenty of fish around the conditions are not suitable for flyfishing yet. Good numbers of kob and some large ones which have spawned in the bay have entered the Swartkops system and these have been taken mainly by lure and fortunately many have been released. Grunter also have been taken, and these have been caught mainly on bait. Skipjack have also been spotted but none have been caught yet. On Sundays estuary Ruben has recently caught kob and two sizeable grunter, one between 5,5 and 6 kg but these have been on bucktail. There was a strong high tide but because of the freshwater entering the estuary the seawater only pushed 300 metres up the estuary. Conditions are very similar on the Gamtoos. Because both the Sundays and Gamtoos have large catchments we expect large flows of freshwater to continue flowing in for some time even if the weather clears. The Swartkops on the other hand has a much smaller and shorter catchment. It has flooded a couple of times recently but has a better chance of returning to flyfishing-friendly conditions but one has a better chance with a boat as flyfishing from the from the shoreline is not easy in most parts.
Flyfishing on an East Cape estuary – photo courtesy of Gary Grobler. |
