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Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point!

During our Inshore Fishing Trips to Cape Point we mainly target game fish, this includes the Yellowtail fish. Simonstown is a mere 30 minute boat ride from the famous fishing grounds of Cape Point - Our most popular method for catching Yellowtail is what we call "trolling" where we drag our lures behind the boat, while searching for shoals of bait fish on the surface. Sometimes they Yellowtail prefer it when we stop and cast spinners at them - This all depends on the day as each day stems different results from different methods! 

Yellowtail fish:

The Cape Yellowtail (Giant Yellowtail) or Latin name "Seriola Lalandi" migrate towards the east coast of Southern Africa, following the annual Sardine Run. These fish are found in large shoals, in depths of up to 100 meters and feed off smaller fish like Sardines, Squid and Anchovy. Just like the Cape Snoek, Yellowtail is an important commercial line-fish species down here in the Western Cape. Females can reach up to 1.2 meters where males can reach up to 900 centimeters, but as it stands now there is no real legal size limit. 

Finding the fish:

Yellowtail prefer the warmer areas of the cold Atlantic waters of the Cape - An ideal temperature would be between 16 to 19 degrees Celsius, although we have caught Yellowtail in waters as cold as 13/14 degrees Celsius! As Yellowtail is a highly migratory fish, they usually follow the warmer waters, which are usually a result of particular winds blowing. In our case the Southwesterly winds bring the warmer waters to our coast line and with that usually the fish follow! 

We like to depart from Simonstown, False Bay as early as possible - Usually we ask our guests to be at the public jetty by first light, because In our experience, game fish generally like to feed best at first light (morning) or last light (evening)! The first thing we do when we arrive at our desired fishing spot is we start looking for certain birds, in this case "Common Terns" otherwise known to the local fisherman as "Sterretjies", which usually feed on the bait fish that are getting chased to the surface of the water by the schools of Yellowtail! Most of the fishing action takes place near these birds, so its vital that we keep an eye out for any bird activity during the course of our trips!

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Yellowtail Fishing - Cape Point

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Snoek fishing charters off Cape Point!

Cape Boat Charters offers action packed Inshore fishing charters off Cape Point - One of the fish species which we target is the "Cape Snoek"!

False Bay, Cape Point is home to a variety of game-fish including the "Cape Snoek" or its latin name "Thyrsites Atun". Also referred to as snake mackerel, these long, thin, silver fish can reach lengths of up to 2 meters and weigh in close to 5-6 kg's. Up until 6 or 7 years ago, Cape Snoek was known to the local fisherman of Cape Town as a winter fish, because they would only catch Snoek in all the month without an "r" in it - This being May, June, July and August!

Snoek feed mainly on sardine, mantis shrimps and anchovy, which gives this fish a unique flavor which the locals praise! The traditional South African way to prepare Snoek is on what we call a "braai" otherwise known and a barbeque around the rest of the world - An apricot jam dressing is known to go down well with Snoek!

Snoek is found in waters from Port Elizabeth to the north of Angola, but mostly between Cape Agulhas (the most southern tip of Africa) and the Cunene River. They are an important traditional catch for the line fishers of South Africa, but are also caught in the masses by the trawl fisheries using trawl nets, as they do with hake. It is favored by the local communities as it forms a big part of their diet.

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Inshore Fishing Charter - Cape Snoek fishing

Cape Point Fishing Charter!

Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point

Today, our group of guests from the U.K joined us for a day of deep sea fishing off Cape Point, South Africa! We ran a Half-Day Inshore Fishing Charter to the famous fishing waters off Cape Point (for our group of 6) in search of some game-fish! There were plenty commercial fishing boats off Buffels Bay trying for Cape Snoek, but we were determined to try for some Yellowtail fish first - It was a wise decision indeed! When we arrived at the tip of Cape Point there weren't any other fishing boats around, but the water temperature was 16 degrees Celsius and there was plenty of bird life so we quickly got our lines in the water! 

Not even 15 minutes had past and we already had our first strike on the back-lines! One of our guests, who we had already prepped on how to operate the rod and reel, quickly jumped up first to grab the screaming reel! He landed the first 5 kg Yellowtail and shortly after our next guest was battling a fish of his own! Before you knew it, we had 6 Yellowtail fish and the guests were happy to start heading back to Simonstown with their catch for supper - Well done to our team today on their catch, it was great having you guys! :)

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Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point!