The Changing Sea


The Changing Sea What makes the difference between an angler who can catch fish and a really good angler? This question has been asked so many times during the generations and there must be a thousand different ways to interpret the reply. Like any sport the more you practice, the better you get, or, as in Gary Players words ‘the luckier you get’, does this apply to our beloved sport of angling. Lets face it angling never has the same playing field and the target species that we catch are about as predictable as a gaggle of women. My interpretation of the age old question is quite simple in fact:- Apart from the physical attributes in angling skills, I believe a good angler is someone who can take in all the advise and knowledge offered and use it in his own way to his benefit, similarly offer and share his knowledge with others. So what makes angling different from all the other sports like rugby, golf, cricket and just about any other land based games? It’s quite simple- the playing fields are never the same even if you are fishing in the same area as you fished the day before. Understanding what the factors are that make it so different will change your approach to angling and ultimately increase your success rate accordingly. Over the next 18 months this column created in association with Rapala VMC and Shimano is going to delve into the depths of decoding the complex factors which influence angling. To compliment these articles a series of action packed informative videos will be made available over the same period dealing with the practical aspects to achieving the ultimate in saltwater angling. Knowing what a fish eats in terms of bait, the manner in which you present it, and what happens in different weather conditions to the sea are just some of the factors which are obvious and clearly defined so we can deal with them a little later in the series, lets just start with something that is not so obvious, like the changing sea. Currents differ all year round and are generally affected by the weather patterns of the season, although this may change significantly within a season through adverse weather patterns most of the time similar situations occur at the same time each year. Cape Vidal is a prime example of this, during the summer months the bay is subjected to constant North easterly winds which scour out the sand in the bay and deposit it about a kilometer away widening the beach, this makes it ideal for launching a boat in a deep bay without shallow banks having to be negotiated, and then come autumn from May onwards the current makes a complete u turn and reverses the whole process removing the sand from the wide beach and depositing it straight back into the bay making it almost impossible to launch a boat. Simple process with a complex result, rocks don’t move and are therefore subjected to either being completely exposed or completely covered over and as nature has this incredible ability to adapt so does the marine life. Plants begin to grow on the now exposed rock surfaces, crustaceans start inhabiting the exposed crevices fish stocks start to feed on the fresh new growth and living organisms. That is where this adaptation becomes important for us to understand. Quite simply that beach sanded up from the millions of tons of sand deposits in the summer months becomes home to crabs, sea lice and small squid which thrive on the wave action churning the sand bottom kicking up all kinds food organisms, those small creatures in tern then become the target of some of the giants of the ocean like the formidable Giant Guitarfish or the hard fighting Sharpnose brown skate. As the pattern changes and the sand is once again removed the sand bank becomes a deep gutter with a rocky bottom and creates a whole new life source with seaweed, shrimps, crayfish and small fish which inhabit this completely different environment, This whole new food chain is then preyed upon by totally different species like the notorious Giant kingfish or the dirty fighting Speckled Snapper and many other reef predators. This situation occurs in every single coastal zone and should be understood that way, the only thing you need to know as an angler is what fish feed in which areas, the species endemic to the Zululand beaches is not the same as you would find in the Tsitsikamma, so know what feeds on a sand bank and what feeds in a deep rocky gully and target the fish according to the situation. Detecting where massive changes have taken place is equally important when assessing your target species, arriving at the coast you have chosen to catch your fish. You will only see what is presented to you in terms of either banks or rocky areas, what you don’t know is how long the situation has been like that. If there has been major changes just recently you will clearly see large deposits of rotting weed on areas on the beach or rocks. This weed would have been the plants that have died from being covered by sand and not having sunlight for weeks on end. As the sea scours out that sand once again it exposes the dead sea plants and they in tern dislodge from their rocky homes. All this is telling you is that the exposed rocks or the sand banks in close proximity to the weed are relatively newly formed and this should influence your decisions on your target species.
Cape Vidal bay in summer, note the rocky ledge in the background about 100m from the beach.
The same beach with the rocky ledge in the background completely sanded up. In comparison to the previous photo about 3m of sand about 100m wide has been deposited in the bay.
Kelso, Happy Wanderers 2006. Note the wide beaches to the chalets, submarine rock in the red circle is accessible from the beach.
The same submarine rock about 100m out to sea completely inaccessible. Note the beach near the resort is completely gone even the swings and slides have been removed.