I was wondering if anyone has gone squid fishing in South Africa. I hear there are good numbers of squid at Eastern Cape between Cape St. Francis and Port Alfred around time when when the squid spawn which is October & November.
I understand that the commercial chokka squid fishery is closed at that time but I presume recreational fisherman are till allowed to target squid.
I only just joined this forum, but I'll still give a bit of info. I am heading to South Africa (home) at the end of November, for 5 weeks. After being introduced to squiding from shore (Brighton Marina) by fishyrob, I wondered whether it was possible to do so in South Africa. I know that people regularly catch squid from boats in the Cape Town area. After some searches on a South African fishing forum, I found that it was possible to catch them from two harbours in the Western Cape. I am not sure about the Eastern Cape and Natal areas...
With kayaking becoming very popular, many squid are now also being caught by recreational anglers in this fashion. Fishing in South Africa requires a licence, with an additional licence option for bait collection which includes the catching of squid. As stipulated in the [url="http://www.environment.gov.za/HotIssues/2007/Recreational%20Fishing/Recre_%20Fishing%20Brochure%20(November%202007).pdf"]Recreational Fishing Brochure for 2008[/url], there is a closed season for squid from 25 October to 22 November each year. I arrive in Cape Town on the 21st of November, woohoo!
Until then I am keeping my eye on the weather and tides for a session at Weymouth. I believe this week may show some results!
hi iso! it would be great to see the pics <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
07-10-2009, 06:55 PM (This post was last modified: 07-10-2009, 07:10 PM by hndray.)
[quote name='glen' post='15307' date='May 20 2009, 06:42 PM']hi iso! it would be great to see the pics <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
cheers, glen[/quote]
Hi Glen, I've just joined this forum, I normally fish for Chokka (Squid) to use for bait and for the pan - I just luv Chokka. I live in a smallish seaside suburb of Cape Town, South Africa called Glencairn it's just outside Simonstown - the old Royal Navy Dockyard and now South African Navy Dockyard.
We are located in False Bay at the tip of Soth Africa and in my area there are two harbours where Chokka can be caught normally in the evening from September onwards. Earlier in the year is too cold. Below is a picture of the end of the jetty in Kalk Bay when the sea is Pumping normally blown up by South Easterly winds also known as the Cape Doctor.
We have a bag limit of 20 chokka which I will probably be able to fill later in October when the weather warms up - so far catches have ranged from 0 to eight small Chokka but very tasty - sweet.
Catches are better from a boat or kayak when one can get further offshore. I plan to post regularly and will inclube pic's when available.
Sorry for the mix-up my handle is hndray - I meant sl8er "as in see you later"
I managed to get eight small Chokka the other nite - fishing from the harbours here works mainly in the evenings.
I am going to try a new tactic (well new for me at any rate) by using the light in the pic to attract the Chokka combined with some Maasbankers in a chum bag. I will report on the results.
The burley/chum should attract either the squid or the bait fish they eat. So it should help i think! Let us now how it goes. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
@ fish'n'chippy the jetty is very badly lit and my old cell phone has no flash hence the poor "chocolate" lighting in my pics - that's why I want to use the spotlight.
I haven't had a chance to get out on the harbour the past few days - we,ve had howling SouthEasters - fishing should be better when the wind drops though!
if they were chocolate, i would be on the first flight <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
[quote name='Calamaro' post='16823' date='Nov 9 2009, 06:14 PM']FYI: I stumbled across the exact race of your chokka squids: Loligo vulgaris reynaudii[/quote]
Yessir that's correct - the ones we get from the harbour are fairly small from about 16cm to about 40cm but they can go up to about 60/65cm in the deeper waters where the boat fisherman get them.
But the season is presently closed till 22nd November.
There are best place to catch squid is off Kalk Bay Harbour wall. Fish at night using a glow light on your trace and a squid jig. Squid are generally attracted by any kind of light on the water. Deep Sea boats use lanterns on the waters edge to attract them. Is there any Industry of Squid Fishing in South Africa?
I am a commercial squid fisherman who owns and operate a 67 foot vessel out of Port Elizabeth. We have a crew of 26 who fish with hand lines and jigs. We fish during night and day; daytime mainly during summer from Nov till Feb when they spawn, and the whole year round in the night by attracting the squid with powerfull 2 to 3kw lights.
We catch anywhere from nothing to 8 ton per day using this method (8 ton being exceptional!). A good average would be between 400kg to 1000kg per day.
The industry is heavily regulated, with aprox 110 boats being issued with licences.
Our squid gets exported to Spain, Portugal, Japan and China amongst other countries. It is stated that the South African variety of squid is rated very highly regarding taste, texture and quality. I will post some pictures, and an amazing video of a very good nights fishing when i have better signal. (At sea at the moment off the Tsitsikamma coast.)
It is my intention to start a new career in marketing our squid on foreign shores during the next year, and will post info on this site and others as time goes by.
Thanks for an interesting site.
Regards
Johan Saunders.
e mail: [email="johansmail@vodamail.co.za"]johansmail@vodamail.co.za[/email]
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