Groot Brakrivier / Great Brak River

Hi fellow anglers.

I am here in Groot Brak at the moment and would just like some advice on the river. Local guy says there aren’t any fish here, but it looks like it could produce fish if fished correctly.

Is it any good to fish here in the winter?

I have the following setups:

1. 8ft Shimano With Daiwa Regal 4000 with 20lb suffix braid.

2. 6ft Shimano with Daiwa Regal 2500 with 15lb braid.

I have Strike pro popper in red and white, a selection of spinners and gt ice creams, some buck tails, McCarthy baits and led heads and a few others.

Any advice in winter fishing, lures and retrieving methods would be much appreciated.

All the best.

Robbie

Ps. I have read most of the posts on Klein brak, but it seems there aren’t many about Groot Brak.

Grootbrak is way more difficult to fish than kleinbrak the latter of which the mouth is almost always open and fish moving in and out more frequently. Hence more info on Kleinbrak.

There are grunter and leeries in Grootbrak (others too, but not necessarily lure target species, maybe the odd kob).
I think your timing is a bit off with the season and rain but you should be able to get some small leeries on the strike pro. The grunters are very skittish and you will do very well to hook one. Fish around sunrise and sunset for best results.
If you feel like giving yourself a better chance at catching something try Kleinbrak, even the odd big elf might surprise you.
Good luck!

i haven't tried much lures in groot or klein yet
pumped some sand prawns in groot the other day strong smell in the water "toilet"
if i were you much rather go thru to gouwritz
got some nice grunter,steenies and stumpies from the boat but there is no harm in trying if you dont have a line in the water you wont know
good luck man the weather these days sucks

Apparently the Kleinbrak river mouth is also closed at the moment. First time since 1992 according to some older gentleman I spoke to.

DJP wrote:

Grootbrak is way more difficult to fish than kleinbrak the latter of which the mouth is almost always open and fish moving in and out more frequently. Hence more info on Kleinbrak.

There are grunter and leeries in Grootbrak (others too, but not necessarily lure target species, maybe the odd kob).
I think your timing is a bit off with the season and rain but you should be able to get some small leeries on the strike pro. The grunters are very skittish and you will do very well to hook one. Fish around sunrise and sunset for best results.
If you feel like giving yourself a better chance at catching something try Kleinbrak, even the odd big elf might surprise you.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Kleinbrak se mond is al n maand toe,net so vir interesantheid.

Made a few cast at both while just looking for suitable spots. Saw some action at Groot Brak, but no surface movement at Klein.

Also saw that the mouth at KB is closed, but I won’t stop just yet. Will try and wade to deeper waters once the easterly comes in.

Thanks for all the tips and info this far.

Just my luck that the weathers and the river will be against me the first time I come down this way.

Will post photos if successful.

Robbie07 wrote:

Made a few cast at both while just looking for suitable spots. Saw some action at Groot Brak, but no surface movement at Klein.

Also saw that the mouth at KB is closed, but I won’t stop just yet. Will try and wade to deeper waters once the easterly comes in.

Thanks for all the tips and info this far.

Just my luck that the weathers and the river will be against me the first time I come down this way.

Will post photos if successful.

Click to expand...

Cob and Leervis whould not be on my target list at this stage if I were you,mabe with the correct action you will pick up a Grunter although its not impossible to catch something else.
Catching Grunter on toplure can be a difficult task if you dont have the knowledge but go to Grootbrak pump some Prawn and fish Kleinbrak now that you dont have to wait for the incoming tide because of the closed mouth....and Pilchards in Kleinbrak you can always have with you.

Hectic, didn't know the KB mouth was closed, drove over the bridge about two weeks ago and thought the water level was high for the given tide.

Have you guys had any rain that side, hopefully it flushes some time soon!

Robbie your other options are Swartvlei and Gouritz, I'd suggest doing a bit of exploring whilst you down in the Southern Cape, next time you can plan your trip in months that better suit estuary fishing and catch a few big ones!

we had some rain yes but there has been alot of sand moving around with big swells and winds these days some of the rocks at dana covered so i can just imagine how much was moved at KB

reviving an old thread...how has the fishing been at grootbrak after the floods last year..is the river mouth still open?

They opened it forcibly just before the rains, and that stopped a lot of flooding. We have had a lot of hot dry weather, so the mouth has already closed up again.

With respect to the fishing, there are more productive areas at the moment.