One for the Ladies

One of the guys I met and have since become good mates with since skippering Vixen in the car park during the Blue Water Tuna Diving Comp - Billy did a little stint 2 weekends ago in Tkei's world.

Now Bill and I, me and X Natal North Coaster and him living and working in Richards Bay had much to talk and laugh about, especially fishing in the good old Natal days, although he has been catching great fish out of RBay the last 2 weeks.

So whilst we Capies were hammering the snoek 2 weekends ago, Billy, his wife and company were, well look for yourselves.

Right, you going again next week Bill. I may well be there...

So in conclusion I'd like to say.
It's not the size of your boat that matters, but how you use it...
bwhaaa ha ha ha.

what is that

That my friend is a Copper (said in the Horatio CSI Miami one liner tone)

thanx HT

As in Red Steenbras, right? Blik.....sim! Thats a steamer!

Yup
Red steenbras (copper steenbras) Petrus rupestris

What a fish man. It has been over 10 years since I had the luxury of catching one of those big buggers.

Another pic

What a stunning specimen. Have you any details on tackle, depth, bait used and duration of fight?

WOWEE!     :fst:

B8fish, I know it was about 5 miles from the launch site. On one of Billy's own little goldmines that he has down that neck of the world. These guys catch fish. He has a small 14'6 SkiVee tiller arm operated. The ultimate little surf launching rig if you ask me. They are divers so they get to explore the hell out of what is down there.

It was taken on a good old KP, line etc I have no idea. I will hopefully try join them very soon if they have the space for me.
Will call him later and try find out more.

Chers
HT

Dam thats a beautiful fish !

OK, here is the low down.
The fish of Billy's wife was 39kg ans was caught on the new Penn Coffee Grinder with 37kg braid.

The one his daughter caught was over 42kg and was caught on the kp.

Live mackerel was the bait.

The latest skiboat mag has a catch of 51kg and that was at the same place as Billy got these. His wife got a cracker of 29kg and a few other big buggers too.

They will be picking me up on their tow down from RBay at the airport on there next trip.
Lets hope I get lucky...

How long do coppers live for and what is the age estimate of the fish caught?

Wow they are monsters!!!

Camstaude FYI-

RED STEENBRAS (Petrus rupestris)
 
• IDENTIFICATION This is the largest member of the family Sparidae (seabreams) occurring in South African waters. Colouration is a light red above, and yellow below. Juveniles have a dark red spot on the base of the tail which disappears with age. Adult females are generally a uniform copper colour while males develop a black coloured back and upper lip. Red steenbras have a formidable set of canines in both the upper and lower jaws.

• DISTRIBUTION Red steenbras are endemic to South Africa and occur from Cape Vidal to Cape Point. They inhabit rocky reefs at depths from 10 to 160 m. Juvenile red steenbras are predominantly found in the southern Cape while adults tend to migrate northwards towards the former Transkei and KwaZulu-Natal. Larger specimens are generally found in water deeper than 50 m, often close to the edge of the continental shelf.
•FEEDING Red steenbras are voracious predators feeding on small fish, octopus and squid. They appear to be territorial during certain stages of their life history and act as important predators in reef ecosystems.
•REPRODUCTION Sexual maturity is attained at about 575 mm fork length and there does not appear to be any sex change in this species. Different coloration between adult males and females is clearly evident during the spawning season. Peak spawning occurs between August and October with most spawning taking place off the Transkei coast.
•GROWTH Red steenbras live to at least 33 years and attain sexual maturity at an age of 7 years. They grow to a maximum size of at least 130 cm fork length or 52 kg.
• FISHERY Red steenbras make up an important component of the linefish catch in the southern and eastern Cape, and are particularly important in the former Transkei region. They are active predators and aggressively take most fish baits making them susceptible to overfishing. They possess a large swimbladder and suffer from barotrauma when caught from any significant depth, which makes it difficult to return under-size or excess fish to the sea. Catches of red steenbras in KwaZUlu-Natal and the southern Cape have declined considerably and the species is heavily over-exploited.
• MANAGEMENT
• Categorised as a critical species.
• Minimum size of 60 cm - well under the size at sexual maturity (63 cm total length).
• The closed season is the 1st of October to the 30th of November
• Bag limit of 1 per person per day for recreational anglers and commercial fishermen.
The most effective method of conserving red steenbras is by establishing Marine Protected Areas and these should be sited where spawning aggregations occur, eg off the Transkei Coast, and in nursery areas.

Ht, I had a major run in with the skipper of the boat in the 2nd pic. I was there as thats where my place is. There were 2 of them on the ski vee and they came in with 3 coppers (law says 1 per person). I wasnt rude, just asked if they knew the law for them as if it gets out that guys over going over quota there, they will close the launch. I can say that it is probably the only place left in sa where you will consistently catch coppers that size. They got them on the one reef which is our 'go to reef' for them in season. Unfortuntely, guys misbehave when they go to the rural spots and when questioned, they get rather snotty. I never met Billy, but he called my brother to ask who I was for confronting them. I care about those fish and hope that one day my kids can also catch them like that.

Dont get me wrong, they are beaut fish, but plenty guys are going down there and hammering the coppers and getting quota every day for a week. that can be 20 oppers taken in a week on a usual boat at avg size 25kgs. Plenty years of growth wiped out. A 42kg copper is in the region of 40-45yrs old. See the letter in latest ski-boat mag re a copper that was released 12 yrs ago and when caught had grown by about 12kgs.

Well I got bad news for him then, cos I intend letting every one of them go. It is not a fish I would kill to eat, so it will go right back.

I'll slap Bill on the head when I see him next and tell him to show a little respect, for the locals and the quotas.

That being said they are a rather wild bunch that diving lot from RB...

Were those fish released? All fun and game to catch them but it should be illegal to keep Red Steenbras that size.

Breaks my heart

They seemd a bit mad. sure their boats are registered cat D for 5 miles, but i would not go to those reefs in a little 14ft with ne motor. I have been caught out there too often and even in a 21footer, you wish you were rahter at home. Not called wild coast for nothing.
As I said, I never met billy and had no issue with him, it was the other boat i had words with.
Look, copper is awsome eating, even at large size, unlike blacks which are quite kak when big. BTW, the captain morgan winning copper was caught at our spot (3rd winner there in 4 years) and my brother caught the winning black this year there as well, so ja, good fishing there if you know where to go. I belive billy worked as a commercial there many years back, hence he knows the spots.

Only known the chap for a few months, never got to take him or his team to sea, so have no idea what they are really about. Guess I'll find out soon enough!

That being said I put the pics up because for two lady anglers, one on a scarborough and the other on the new penn 900 coffee grinder, that is an amazing achievement. especially when you look at the platform they were on.

As for the slipway dramas etc, I don't know, was not there. The bag limit is one, they can take them out by law. As to whether they broke the law, I don't know, was not there, would have had a few words to say if I was and they did.

If you break the laws, it is bad JuJu and will come back and bite you one way or the other.

Like I said, I would put mine back. My son would probably take his first big one out.
To each their own provided they within the law.