Popular for its fighting qualities on the hook, the elf is one of the angler’s favourite target species. During summer they are most abundant along the Cape coast. Being a migratory species, most elf are found on the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast during winter.
Although they are basically one and the same fish, anglers tend to differentiate between the green elf (averaging 0,5 kg to 1 kg) which occur in large shoals and the so-called blue elf, which is not so plentiful but bigger. Specimens of up to 10 kg have been caught, the South African record elf being a whopper of 10,2 kg caught at Cape Recife.
TACKLE
For smaller elf a 4/0 hook is adequate. When the bigger blue elf are specifically targeted, nothing smaller than a 6/0 will satisfy the experienced angler. To prevent the elf from biting through your nylon trace use 8 – 10 cm of piano or plastic-coated wire between your line and your hook.
Elf are most active at dawn and dusk. On
evenings when conditions are favourable, good
fun may be had till 9 o clock in the evening.
Then there is normally a sharp decline in
activities till they start biting briskly again at dawn. They will also feed during the day, especially when the sea is lively and a ginger beer colour. When looking at tides, the hour before high tide til the hour after is best. In some quarters elf are known as the “high tide fish”. However, when fishing at very deep water spots, tides are of minor importance.
FISH BAIT
The fresher the better, sardine is the most commonly used bait for these elf. Other baits that are also used is strepie (karanteen) and mackerel. Sardines are readily available as frozen bait from tackle shops. The sardine’s soft, oily flesh is a delicacy when grabbed by the elf with no questions asked. The well-known strepie and gorrie (pinky) are easily caught in passive water using small hooks. Both these little fish make excellent bait and on days when the bait-bandits are extremely troublesome, their firm flesh is a strong recommendation to counter these pesky thieves. Mackerel is also an outstanding bait for elf.
(Pomatomus Saltator)
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