Galjoen Fishing Made Easy!!!

Thanks Reefman for the opportunity to do a combination of my galjoen fishing forums (version 1-3). Hope this will be of some help for the fishermen that wants to start galjoen fishing for the first time. I took most of the valuable info from my forums and combined it together, thanks to Hannes101,Killer Strepie, DJP and many more for your input aswell. The info will be a combination of the internet, photos, input of sealine members from the forums (version 1-3) as well as my own personal ideas.

Tight Lines to All!!!

::tight:::tight:::tight:
 
Lets start with the "Looks" of our National Fish!!!

Galjoen have deep, plump bodies covered with small tenacious scales. The underslung mouth is small and surrounded by fleshy lips. Each of the jaws are set with a row of large, curved incisors in front and smaller teeth behind. There are no strong molars, but crushing teeth are found in the gullet. The galjoen varies in colour from silver-bronze to almost completely black, sometimes with stripes. Colours will change accord i n g to the fish’s surroundings and provide a measure of camouflage.

 The dorsal and ventral fins, far back on the body, do not fold down and have a distinctive wedge shape. Galjoen are found from northern Namibia to southern KwaZulu- Natal, where they frequent the turbulent surf-zone, particularly at the interfaces of rock and sand. Due to its highly energetic lifestyle, the flesh of galjoen is packed with blood vessels.


These fish often use the waves to gain access to food on exposed rocks.

:fswim:fswim:fswim

 
Breeding habits of Galjoen...(thanks Hannes101)

Galjoen are serial spawners which means that they spawn
several times in a season. Their breeding extends from
October to March, peaking in December. Female galjoen
grow faster than the male fish, reaching a maximum length of
approximately 670 mm. Males attain 470 mm. Fish of both
sexes rarely exceed 13 years of age. Sexual maturity is
attained in their fifth year, at which stage females measure
approximately 34 cm and males 31 cm.
Females release thousands of eggs. A rough guide is 370
eggs per gram of body mass. A large female galjoen may
release 1,3 million eggs at each spawning. Fertilised eggs
hatch into larvae, but these have never been located in the
ocean, despite extensive sampling. Laboratory experiments
have shown that the eggs float, and one can surmise that
waves keep them in the surf zone where the young develop.
Mortality is likely to be very high during this stage .
Galjoen once occurred in great numbers throughout its range
but over the last three decades the population has been
dramatically reduced. Fisheries biologists have found a
marked decline in the abundance of fish commonly caught
by South African shore anglers over the course of this
century, and the galjoen is no exception.
 
Feeding patterns of Galjoen

 Galjoen are known to feed on a wide variety of small invertebrates   and seaweed that live on rocks. Small black mussels   and crustaceans are among their most common prey. They   feed by removing organisms from rock surfaces and their   powerful incisors are admirably suited to this purpose. The   teeth in the gullet are well adapted for crushing shellfish.   Galjoen usually remain in a small home range for long periods,   maybe for several years. But some move out, and tagged   fish have travelled as much as thousands of kilometres. It   is not known what prompts galjoen to undertake large   movements, though food availability and water conditions are likely motivations.  
 
Sea Conditions for Galjoen

Conditions for galjoen are ideal when the following factors come into play; colour of the water, foamy water, constant even breaking waves, water temperature, washed open holes, proximity of rocks and the wind direction.  The galjoen fisherman may have the best bait and tackle available, but if the conditions are not favourable his chances are dramatically reduced.

The sea must have a lot of wave action that will in turn ensure adequate oxygen in the water causing the ever evasive galjoen to become very active.  A calm sea with little or no foamy water will cause the water to have less oxygen thus sending the galjoen off to find a more suitable place to feed.  The waves need to roll in evenly with a constant white foam to be classified as ideal galjoen water.

Galjoen prefer the water to be slightly discoloured with some wave action, should the water be too clear and transparent you can be sure no galjoen will be around.  A dirty green milky colour seems to be the colour preferred by the galjoen.  The ideal water temperature for galjoen fishing is between 15º and 19º Celsius.  Should the water be too cold the fish will go off the bite, too warm water will not have enough oxygen and also cause them to go off the bite.

Most experienced fishermen will avoid going fishing should the sea be to rough.  Huge swells running in smashing against the rocks followed by the water pulling back leaving the area you wanted to fish all but dry is not the way to spend your free time.  With this type of sea condition there is usually free floating kelp that is bound to find your line and cause many break offs and possibly even a broken rod for good measure.  Your sinker and bait will not be in the same place long enough for you to stand a chance of hooking a fish.  Move away from this area and try and find deeper water with some protection in small bays that will not be hammered by the surf,  by doing this you will find the galjoen has done the same and luck could be on your side with a fish or two.

There are areas along our coast where stronger water is referred, usually shallow rocky areas like Pearly Beach and Rietfontein that only allow galjoen to come into the shallow areas when there is a strong sea breaking over these areas.

Most fishermen prefer calmer seas with waves running in evenly in threes and fours.  This causes only slight waves to hit the rocks with only enough strength to wash around rocky outcrops causing small worms and bits of food to be washed free attracting feeding galjoen.  The water should not be to calm, there must be some foam breaking to ensure sufficient oxygen in the area being fished. 

The galjoen fisherman is always on the lookout for holes that have opened up, this is caused by rough seas washing open areas that have been covered by sand for some time exposing small black mussels, worms etc.  Keep a look out for are rocky areas exposed after storms, shale and bits of rock washed up on a beach, beach areas with higher embankments  and steep drop offs should indicate good areas to fish for galjoen and other fish like steenbras.

  Should you however only get to the water on a higher tide be on the lookout for areas  where the waves tend to sit while rolling in on either side leaving a darker area that is deeper than the surrounding area.  These areas will have a darker blue colour to them, by casting your sinker into these holes you should feel a rocky bottom when slowly retrieving your line.  The moment you feel your sinker touch an object under the water let it stay there for a couple of minutes, any fish in the area is bound to pick up your bait.  Try casting your bait into this area for another 30 minutes or so, if you don’t feel a fish move to another spot, the hole has been open for to long or the fish are not feeding in the area at the moment, maybe try the spot later on in the day on a different tide.

Fishermen will know that wind plays a large role in catching most fish, this is also true for galjoen fishing.  Most fishermen will agree that fishing when the wind is howling is no fun at all, your line gets blown into a bow that makes it just about impossible to feel a bite unless the fish takes the bait all the way down hooking itself.

However wind is extremely important to bring about the necessary cycle in weather that is needed to bring favourable fishing weather.  The cycle usually runs over a 7 day period starting with lovely sunny weather with no wind and bright blue ocean, no galjoen would be caught near the shallower areas. On day 2 the North Westerly wind starts blowing up a gale, the water still has the pale blue colour to it, making it very unpleasant for fishing. 

On the 3rd day it usually starts raining causing the North Wester to slacken and turn to a South Westerly wind.  Large swells run inshore bringing about a very rough foamy shore line.  The sea is to rough to fish.

The 4th day will have scattered showers with a light southerly wind, the water will still be very rough with lots of loose floating kelp and strong side washes making it impossible to fish.

Day 5 will have a Strong South Easterly wind blowing, flattening the sea.  Water colour has improved and waves are foaming through evenly in 2s and 3s, the water temperature has gone up making it a very good fishing day.

Day 6 will have a light South Easterly blowing, sunny skies.  Waves are breaking evenly close to shore bringing feeding fish into the tidal zone within casting distance.  Good fish should be taken.

On day 7 a light North Easterly wind blows causing the water to start changing.  The water looses its colour and gets colder making the fish go off the bite. 
 
Marine reserves protect galjoen

 

New evidence has shown that marine reserves play an important role in safeguarding galjoen stocks for the future. The De Hoop Marine Reserve and the Tsitsikamma National Park provide total protection for inshore fish species like the galjoen. As a result adult fish are protected in these reserves and make an important contribution to spawning stock, although many move out of the reserve into adjacent areas where anglers catch them.  

Based on tagging statistics, it was estimated that a net mass of between 10 and 20 tons of galjoen leave the De Hoop Marine Reserve every year. De Hoop is therefore supplying anglers with a steady source of galjoen which will not dry up.
 
Rigs for Galjoen fishing:

Pulley-rig by Hannes101  

Note that coloured line used for illustration only.
 

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Back to the basics. On the attached photo you will see that you don't need much to go catch that big galjoen, just add a rod and some bait and your off!!!
 

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The Standard rig for galjoen fishing, the only difference between anglers will be the length of the sinker and hook trace that could vary from angler to angler.
 

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Bait preparation and different kinds of bait:

There's many different kind of bait that one can use for galjoen, out of my personal experience red-bait (sandaas) and wonder-worm works the best. Here's a list of some galjoen baits:

Red bait

Wonder-worm

Bloodworm

Moonshine-worm

White mussle

Prawn

Coral-worm

Pudding-worm

Mussel-worm

I'm not going in detail of all the different kinds of bait but will post a few photo's of some bait combinations.
 
This is what red bait (sand aas) looks like...uncut...thank Killer Strepie for the pic.
 

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