The best months to catch kob on the garden route is between October and April. Cob is a favourite specie for most anglers in the southern cape.  I’m going to give you some basic guidelines to follow which will help you to be more successful when targeting this beautiful fish.

 

 

BAIT TO USE

The standard bait for kob is chokka.  Chokka can be used on its own as a white flashy (visual) bait or as a base for other baits like sardine or shad.  Make sure that the chokka that you use is fresh.  If the chokka have a pinkish colour, it is spoiled. The chokka tube must be white.  Pilchard, prawn, octopus, shad fillet, blood worm and live baits are some of the most common baits to use for kob.

 

 

TACKLE TO USE

A  400 /3 or /2 rod is ideal for kob fishing.  Main line of 0.45mm and a leader of 0.6mm on beaches and 0.75mm on rocks.  

 

 

WHERE AND WHEN TO LOOK FOR KOB

Kob is most active early morning with sun rise, late afternoon and during night time.   Sometimes you will be surprised with a kob during day time. It is very important to read the sea correctly when targeting kob. The photo below is a good example of a sand bank for kob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You can clearly see the sandbank about 80 meters from shore. You have open sea on your left and right with a gully between the shore and the sandbank. This spot is ideal for kob. You are most likely to find some kob on the sandbank or on the drop-off of the sandbank. Sometimes you will find kob in the gully.

 

The one thing that I have learned over the years when fishing for kob is that they are very lazy swimmers.  If there is a drift in the water, walk with your sinker until it stops - this will mean that your bait has drifted into a “hole”, often kob will be hunting in these holes.  The other factor that you must keep in mind is the colour of the sea.  Kob are very shy when the sea colour is clear.  On the Garden Route you’ll find that  the sea will have a greenish colour after about three days of south easterly winds. This water colour is ideal for kob.

 

See more in our article : How to catch Kob