Strand cob - some questions on technique

The rig I use works like a charm for me and I almost never get stuck (thanks Sean): 6/o Circle hook, +/- half a meter of leader, swivel, quarter oz ball sinker, +/- 2m leader depending on tide, sliding float, bead (to prevent float from going over the leader knot). Its easier to cast, keeps the bait off the bottom, never get stuck and you can fish by sight. You can actually see the fish taking the float under and moving long before you feel it on your rod. This works great when the fish swims towards you, because with a circle hook you can just slowly tighten your line up when the float goes under and you'll more than likely hook up. Don't strike or reel in too fast though.

Hi Alex, we mainly catch with circle hooks on drifting bait, no sinker, maybe a small 2-3g if there is a current. Rember on circles you don't really strike and you catch with a tighter drag. In the waves we only use 1 anchor. I fish with handlines and rods. If fish is "dik" you can only control 2 handlines, and pull in one, but with more than one rod and reel you can catch and reel in one while the other one fight the rod and drag at the same time because of a drag on a reel. With a rod it is much more fun than wit a handline(commercial).

Use a bigger hook, 5/0-9/0 at least, with a bit bigger peace of bait.

Livebait works excellent if there is a lot of baitfish around. The only problem is sharks a certain time of the year. They just won't stop eating, and then the cob just bugger off.

Regards

Hi guys,

I've had a few trips out at Strand and Melkbos and caught a some cob, but nothing spectacular. Just wanted to know if anyone has some tips on a few things I've noticed:

- I generally fish with handline, because I it's easier to control depth and keep bait just above bottom, while also quick on rebaiting. I've noticed that when I use a rod I'm constantly getting stuck and the line is either pulling over the bottom or completely slack as the kayak moves in the waves. Is there a way to avoid this? Is the idea to cast out and leave bait on the bottom, or to suspend line just above the bottom? On a bigger boat I would use two anchors to keep the boat perfectly stationary, but I'm worried that on a kayak that may pull me parallel to the waves and cause me to tip....plus I see everyone else using rods and one anchor and they seem to get fish. Is there something I'm missing here?

- On my last trip there were a hell of a lot of cob in the water but I missed a lot of strikes and lost some nice fish...eventually managed to get a few smaller ones out. Any ideas on why I'm having such trouble getting a decent hook up? Should I be using circle hooks, allowing the cob to run a bit with the bait before striking, or is it just plain bad luck? I think I've covered the basics such as ensuring that the hook is not completely buried inside the bait, yet I've never experienced so many missed strikes...something must be wrong.

- I often use livebait when estaury fishing off a larger boat and caught some nice cob like this. Has anyone tried it off a kayak at Strand, or is it just too much effort? I get a sense the cob are eager to take pilchard and chokka, but when there's a lot of smaller fish around a livebait may help to target the larger fish. Any tips from anyone who may have had some success with livebait? Are sharks a problem when fishing with livebait in this area?

Anyway, hope someone takes the trouble to at least give a quick response to some of these questions. As I said, I have been getting some fish, but definitely feel that there's room for improvement on some aspects of technique.