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Die Dam, White Steenbras

By Brett Harris

Being fishermen we so often over complicate the simple facts to fishing. I'm the first to take my fishing very serious, but the ever present competitive pressure often clears the brain of all logical thinking. There are so many clichés associated with fishing luck, what has always amazed me is how the novice so often catches the largest fish of the day!

One of my best venues for Steenbras has to be 'Die Dam'. This fishing haven is located in the Western Cape, East Coast and is nestled between Gans Bay and L'Agulhas approximately 200 kilometers from Cape Town. The venue offers everything, white sandy beaches, pebble beaches, rocky ledges and rocky gullies. Over the years I have caught just about every reef and pelagic fish species known to this coast.

My first Steenbras was caught at Die Dam, a 65cm fish, small by today's legal size standard. There was no intention, and I'm the first to admit that I was trying to fling out an ill-fated oversized pilchard wrap, but only managed a 20 meter backlash cast into a clear sandy bottom rock or reef gully. After taking some sarcastic stabs from my fishing mates, I muttered some choice language as I cleared the reels backlash. I was about to retrieve my embarrassing casting attempt when I felt the rod dip slightly. Thinking rock fish!, dog fish!...... I again offered some choice language! Suddenly a steam train took off, almost ripping the rod from my arms. SHARK! or at least that's what I shouted. Later, to my amazement I landed a lovely 4,5kg White Steenbras. I this caught fish using a heavy shark trace, pilchard wraps and a shallow cast into clear water!

I never really though about that lucky day until years later I had a similar experience. We had been fishing the incoming tide the whole morning. There were three rods, we were all aiming at either a for Cob or Steenbras. Each rod was trying to outcast the other, reaching further and further into the deep water. After a morning without any success, I secured my rod and walked along the rock peninsula back towards the beach. I kept my eyes trained on a sandy channel which ran parallel to the rocky outcrop we were perched on. About ten meters short of the beach, in about waist deep water I saw a huge Duck Billed Skate gliding back and forth in the swell. The rush was instant and the chance of getting something pulling at the end of my line caused me to go back and retrieve my rod. We only had bloodworm as bait, I quickly baited the hook with two 30 cm long worms, removed the sinker and gently sank the bait into the centre of the channel, about three meters ahead of the skate. I squatted down on the rocks and through my Polaroid glasses watched the skate as the outward swell slowly drifted him back towards my trap. Totally fixated on the skate I got the fright of my life when my rod run swung towards the seaward side and line started stripping from the reel. I was totally confused, but then quickly realized that it was not the skate. I had not idea that a 8,5kg Steenbras must have either been swimming up the channel or been concealed amongst the seaweeds which lined the channel. I caught, played and landed this awesome specimen in one to two meters of water, ten meters off the beach.

Luck, yes most certainly I was very lucky, but these events got me thinking of a possible  Steenbras strategy for fishing at Die Dam. A month later the trio of fishermen were back, we had the best baits, conditions were perfect and this was going to be the day. The usual pressure was there and we all fished as tidy as possible at the best distance we could reach. Nothing, some small rock fish, dog fish......no Steenbras! I decided to put my theory to the test, retrieved my line and jam packed my hook with the most unlikely presented bunch of white mussel. I had already decided on a channel of clear water about 30m to the left of where we were fishing. I announced to all that this was where the daddy Steenbras were waiting. The perfect cast saw me land a little short, but I was happy with the position. I picked up the slack, reached in my pocket and pulled out a Luck Strike, before I could get my cig lit the rod was slammed down and I was 'Vas'! First cast and a 59cm, 3,5kg Steenbras was on the rocks being photographed. When I returned to the spot baited and ready to go again. I found my two mates poaching on my spot! A quick scan of our immediate position reviled another perfect channel. I did this for the rest of the day and managed to catch four Steenbras.

I have related this method to bass fishing. I found that to catch a number of bass, especially from smaller dams, you need to walk and cast never more than a cast or two on one spot. The theory being that if these was a hungry bass you would find him quicker by covering lots of ground. Now when fishing for Steenbras I travel light and fish as many spots as I can. Always choosing the pushing tide I get right into the heart of the shallow gullies and channels that most fishermen cast or ever walk over. I fish obscenely large baits and because of the short distance needed in casting, I hardly use bait cotton to tie baits down. I fish primarily with white muscle and blood worm, but have has success with pilchard and red bait. I only make one or two casts into a likely spot and have found that 99% of the time the strike come within a two to three minutes. I will admit that the fish are generally smaller than others caught in open water, I have to return 1/10 of the Steenbras caught as they don't make the legal size. My record fish is still the 8,5 Kg, caught by accident, and my record catch is six fish in one day. My next challenge is going to be scaling down my terminal tackle to a bait caster and Shimano Crucial bass rod.

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