Trophy Tails

13/08/2025

Its early August and Winter is starting to lose its grip on the Gamtoos valley, its almost time for the annual Kobtober..aka October Dusky Kob fishing. As the waters start warming up we find fish entering the estuaries and heading up-river in search of warmer waters. The upper reaches of the Gamtooos River are MUCH shallower that the mouth and lagoon areas and fish seem to take full advantage of this and venture up into the most unlikely spots.

There is a long standing belief that these big kob venture into the shallows of the intertidal river zones to breed, however this has long since been proven as incorrect. Although juvenile Dusky Kob are found in estuary systems they use the area mostly as a nursery before venturing out to sea where they will spend the vast majority of their time. The thinking these days is that mature Kob will use the variances between fresh and salt water to rid themselves of parasites and then also taking advantage of the warmer waters to predate on other juvenile fish species!

On this day I spend the morning casting Bucktail jig heads, at 10am my daughter was getting married in the Netherlands. Her actual big day is later in November when they return to South Africa for their 'formal' wedding and celebrations. After watching the proceedings on a live we**am link i was fully charged and ready for a afternoon spent in nature. I made the decision to venture up river as in previous seasons these hunting grounds had provided some memorable catches. I arrived late at the 'Old Buss', greeting two bank anglers fishing off the Wacky Woods Slip, I was greeted with the news that the small Garrick were on the bite.

Picking up a Trophy Tails Bucktail I was only a few casts in when I went tight with my first Garrick! Minutes later I landed a small Dusky Kob and again a few casts later another Garrick. When I was well past the Buss and almost at my turn around point when I decided to make a few more casts before heading up to the crook and starting another drift. Literally on the last cast my rod gave a quick flick, snatched a click...click of drag and I set the hook into what I though was going to be another young Garrick!

Immediately I felt a good amount of weight and though I had foul hooked a larger Garrick. It took off with a slow steady head shaking run and I immediately recognized the tell tale signs of a Dusky Kob on the run. Now with the outgoing tide and a large fish on the rod my little boat (Only 2.8m) it was cutting through the water at a rate of nots, this with line still coming off the reel. I was towed over 200m down river before the Kob seemed to run out of puff and settled into the usual pattern of HUGE headshakes and short powerful runs.

Fishing alone, and with shot nerves of how to go about landing this Kob single handed, the decision was made to push up to the side and land the Kob from the bank. This was a the right thing to do as a fish of this size would only get hurt while trying to haul him over the side of the boat. Then I was also very mindful that I could end up spilling buckets of water into a very small vessel. After some determined effort I managed to 'surf' a stunning 148cm, 35kg (34.78KG) up onto the bank. Keeping him well in the water between his photo shoots this brute kicked off like a steam train leaving a huge dust cloud in it's wake...by far once of my best releases. The entire fight from strike to release was 21min. Another incredible catch on light spinning tackle.

Trophy Tails 1/2oz Bucktail
Okuma Ceymar HD 3000
Okuma RAW 7ft 1oz Rod
15lb HMP Braid
Awas 0.50mm Leader

There is no doubt whatsoever that our once abundant fish stocks are under threat from overfishing and negative environmental impacts. As you improve in your success and your catch rate improves...give a little back as credit for the next BIG ONE! Limit your catch, don't catch your limit...catch n release! :-)

If you enjoy my content and have any questions, comment or suggestions to add...I would greatly appreciate your input. Also, a SUBSCRIBE would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Tight Lines
Brett Harris
[email protected]
+27(0)834125316

Its early August and Winter is starting to lose its grip on the Gamtoos valley, its almost time for the annual Kobtober..aka October Dusky Kob fishing. As th...

05/08/2025

Morning Artlure Anglers,
Some Trophy Tails 3/4 Tadpole Bucktails into stock at Trophy Tackle Den - Newton Park (Stefs) today!

04/08/2025

Might just go give Swartkops Mouth a visit soon....will put these Trophy Tails to the test? :-)

01/08/2025

Its slap bang winter in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Generally, it's has been a cold winter with cold front after cold front, which amazingly, always hit the worst just in time for the weekends! :-)

My fishing has been much slower than usual, I still believe it's the combination of fewer fish in the estuary along with less hour's fishing. An uneasy doubt keeps creeping into thought that...perhaps conditions have changed so much that I need to devise new tactics and discover new 'Hot Spots' to ply my fishing! The Old adage says, "Hold the line", but as a fisherman confidence is key. Nothing tests your confidence quite like a quiet spell! LoL

A question I get asked allot in conversation is always about lure actions. Now, I believe certain lures catch more fish than fisherman and once you have weeded through all the masses of 'gimmick' lures you will whittle lures down and classify them down to action only. Very loosely this will boil down to the following: Top Water, Flutter/Slow Pitch Jigs, Sinking Stick Baits, Soft Plastics and Bucktail Jigs. Within that broad classification of lures you will find hundreds of variations and then naturally thousands of patterns or colours!

The trick here is to discover a lure that meets the basic quality in build, finish and action that will suite your fishing style and preferences. This, while still being suitable for the species found in your local waters. Buying lures for any passionate angler is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE and we have to avoid the consumer traps which are intentionally placed in our minds eye through social media feeds. The best lures are not always the most expensive brands and the most expensive brands are not always the best actioned lures...never minding the intended actions and results!

A simple way to wade through all the lure clutter is to pick a lure classification and use variations until you find a setup with which you feel comfortable and confident. Confidence in fishing plays a major part in your success. If you are doubting every cast made...well, it's going to become a long old day spent at the water while you hope for some 'luck' to swing the momentum! Once you have selected a good all-round lure type you can experiment with two or three lure variations and colours. The trick is now to zone in onto these lures, fishing them constantly until you have mastered several actions. Once you can consistently and confidently target various species, then it's time to expand your choices moving onto the next lure classification and repeating the learning process!

In this video I have picked up from where I started my journey, using the humble Bucktail Jig as the first line of gaining knowledge. Within the simple Bucktail Jig there are countless options in lead head, material, builds, colours, weights...to consider. Then the ongoing question of colour always crops up and adds confusion! Here, we have not even considered where to cast, depths to fish and action to be applied. If you have access to a swimming pool you can practice visually and perfect a number of lifts, twitches and pokes to make that bucktail jig literally come alive under the water! Best practice now is to apply these live in the theatre, remember or record your experiences as these will be the tools you will recall when trying to 'Think Like a Fish'!

In this tutorial I will take you through the three typical retrieves I have used to produce some stunning catches. Its the retrieves I'm most confident with and seldom doubt the processes I'm going through while the score card still reamains ZERO! If you take the time to gather experience, then these three simple retrieves will produce your catches. Within these three retrieves you also need to consider your speed, cast weight and colour. A good topic for another video! LoL

Fishing was a bit slow on this day, but conditions were perfect for the purpose of the video. I enjoy making these tutorials and hope that they make a slight difference to the success of other anglers. Remember that a confident angler is always a consistent angler, try to do repetitive actions, but don't shy away from doing a few different things in your retrieve here and there. There is no doubt whatsoever that our once abundant fish stocks are under threat from overfishing and negative environmental impacts. As you improve in your success and your catch rate improves...give a little back as credit for the next BIG ONE! Limit your catch, don't catch your limit...catch n release! :-)

If you enjoy my content and have any questions, comment or suggestions to add...I would greatly appreciate your input. Also, a SUBSCRIBE would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Tight Lines
Brett Harris
[email protected]
083 412 5316

Its slap bang winter in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Generally, it's has been a cold winter with cold front after cold front, which amazingly, always hit ...

30/07/2025

Morning Artlure Anglers,

While fishing for a Dusky Kob, this Lunker Grunter snorted and sucked up my 6 inch Mermaids Tail in 6m+ of water! :-)

Another glorious winter afternoon spent on a glassed out Gamtoos River!My winter Kob catches have been a tad lower than last year...think it's a combination ...

28/07/2025

Another glorious winter afternoon spent on a glassed out Gamtoos River!

My winter Kob catches have been a tad lower than last year...think it's a combination of fewer fishing hours...and fewer fish in thr river??

I was trying some old hunting grounds bouncing a 6 inch Trophy Tails Mermaid Tail off the Fig Tree at the Kraansies. Fishing in six meters of water I was working the drop off rock ledges on this feature.

After many casts, tweaks and twerks I noticed that my braid made a sharp twitch on the drop of the lure.

I've now learnt to react to every touch on the line and instinctively set a solid strike in a nice heavy fish. By all bets it had to be a Kob because of the intensity that it stuck the lure...but this 'Kob' was making strong runs without any headshakes?

I soon got a peek at a nice sized Spotted Grunter which had my Mermaid Tail, 3/4 Keel Jighead with a 5/0 hook, straight down the hatch with only the leadhead showing out it's mouth!

Now I have spent countless hours trying catch these Spotted Grunter on light light tackle using 2 inch plastics on 1/8 Jig Heads. I've caught plenty on Top Water and a good handful on Bucktails and various Sinking Shiver Sticks, but on a 6 inch plastic...that's a first!

28/07/2025

Another glorious winter afternoon spent on a glassed out Gamtoos River!

My winter Kob catches have been a tad lower than last year...think it's a combination of fewer fishing hours...and fewer fish in thr river??

I was trying some old hunting grounds bouncing a 6 inch Trophy Tails Mermaid Tail off the Fig Tree at the Kraansies. Fishing in six meters of water I was working the drop off rock ledges on this feature.

After many casts, tweaks and twerks I noticed that my braid made a sharp twitch on the drop of the lure.

I've now learnt to react to every touch on the line and instinctively set a solid strike in a nice heavy fish. By all bets it had to be a Kob because of the intensity that it stuck the lure...but this 'Kob' was making strong runs without any headshakes?

I soon got a peek at a nice sized Spotted Grunter which had my Mermaid Tail, 3/4 Keel Jighead with a 5/0 hook, straight down the hatch with only the leadhead showing out it's mouth!

Now I have spent countless hours trying catch these Spotted Grunter on light light tackle using 2 inch plastics on 1/8 Jig Heads. I've caught plenty on Top Water and a good handful on Bucktails and various Sinking Shiver Sticks, but on a 6 inch plastic...that's a first!

19/07/2025

Winter is in FULL swing in the Gamtoos River Valley, temperatures have been literally freezing. Its out first proper Winter since the long standing drought conditions broke. Fishing has been slow and steady throughout the Winter season. I tend to keep detailed fishing notes and measure my catches of Dusky Kob per season in linier meters...its been my lowest measurement in five years, however i believe this may be due to fewer fishing hours and possibly the late arrival of Dusky Kob into the estuary?

Rumors were running that some good catches had been made by 'brave' night time live bait anglers during the school holidays. I joined my good fishing mate Floyd Morrison (Formally of Triton Lures) for an opportunistic Monday afternoon session. On the water I soon found a sand cove filled with Mullet and it did not take long before I had Dusky Kob smashing baitfish on the surface all around my boat! Floyd passed me several times on the troll while I flogged the water for three hours using every likely lure I owned this without a touch!

As the sun set I decided to troll towards home and no sooner had I started when I noticed Floyd was onto a good fish. I parked up beside him to witness a stunning 30kg+ Kob landed and safely released. Tuesday I found myself at Trophy Tackle Den for a days graft and eagerly awaited news from Gamtoos. That afternoon my phone received a message and the photos were of another 20kg+ Kob taken that afternoon. Wednesday could not come soon enough and I was looking forward for some more time on the water!

I found myself on the water at sun rise, dressed for the artic in what must have been somewhere between zero to five degrees. Conditions were magical with the water being like a plate of glass with thirteen degree water temperature and a mystical mist rising off the water surface. On my fist troll all hell broke lose for a few minutes, but sadly I dropped what would have been a VERY large fish. The only evidence of that strike are several deep tooth holes in my Rapala Super Shad Rap...first of many more to come. The rest of the morning produced no takes and I planned to have another session in the late afternoon.

That afternoon I repeated the same trolling lines from my morning session and it did not take to long before a stunning Dusky Kob made a meal of the lure. The fish gave a very good account of itself and in the process fouled up my second trolling line on-route to the landing net. Luck was in my favor and I managed to land the Kob, but it resulted in a total mess of my terminal gear. After a quick photo session, and some confused hesitation, the Kob was safely released and swam away strongly. I had another much lighter Kob hit the lure, but still getting to know the 'lay of the land' on my much smaller boat and then fumbling with the camera, I managed to drop the fish! With that I called it a day and headed off home while witnessing another stunning winters sunset over the majestic Gamtoos River, Eastern Cape, South Africa!

Mine was the only catch and it seems the shoal has since move back out to sea or sneaked away to a yet to be discovered section of the river!!

If you enjoy my content and have any questions, comment or suggestions to add...I would greatly appreciate your input or suggestions. Also, a SUBSCRIBE would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Tight Lines
Brett Harris
[email protected]
+27(0)834125316

Winter is in FULL swing in the Gamtoos River Valley, temperatures have been literally freezing. Its out first proper Winter since the long standing drought c...

14/07/2025

Duanne & Wikus braved the winter conditions for an early morning session on Swartkops River in Port Elizabeth. Rocking a Trophy Tails Bucktail Wikus went tight with a solid hookup. It was fighting with what seemed like big headshakes and Wikus first thought it was a Dusky Kob until Duanne saw the flash of a very nice Garrick!

After a good tug of war fight the net was slipped under a sizable Garrick. A quick measurement confirmed it was a legal sized Garrick. The chaps both agreed that this Gentleman of the Ocean would be safely released to make plenty babies and even make another anglers dream! :-)

This awesome catch was fooled into the strike using a Trophy Tails Bucktail...if you want to enquire into purchasing some of these proven lures pop into Trophy Tackle Den in Port Elizabeth or pop me a mail to [email protected]!

Duanne & Wikus braved the winter conditions for an early morning session on Swartkops River in Port Elizabeth. Rocking a Trophy Tails Bucktail Wikus went tig...

06/07/2025

On this day I made a call for a quick late afternoon fishing session up-river on Gamtoos. I took my new small boat out for a spin to test the motor after adding a spacer to the transom. Its 95% better and no longer causes the spray either side of the motor! I will have the transom raised properly when I have the boat modified. Must admit I was a little worried the motor might pop of at speed! LoL

The tide was in the last hour of the push and with a strong wind at my back I did a few drifts through the 'Old Buss' and found the juvenile Garrick properly on the bite. Fishing a 3/8oz Trophy Tails Bucktail Jig I quickly managed to land a few Garrick and two juvenile Dusky Kob. On the turn of the tide the wind and tide acted in opposite directions which allowed me to almost stay put...natural GPS Spot Lock!

I positioned the boat over the rock ledge / pile and switched over to a 7'2 3/8oz rod, 2000 Shimano Ultegra with 8lb braid. Attached to the business end I pinned a 1/8oz Trophy Tails Leadhead and a 2inch McArthy River Prawn Jerk Minnow and got to work. I managed a few more catches of Garrick and Dusky Kob before I hooked into a decent sized fish!

After a very nice fight I managed to net a, almost legal size, Dusky Kob on that light outfit. With that the sun had started setting and the temperature dropped enough for me to call it quits and head off back home. With the temp changes to the transom my little vessel managed a respectable 27km p/h. Fast enough for me!

If you enjoy my content and have any questions, comment or suggestions to add...I would greatly appreciate your input or suggestions. Also, a SUBSCRIBE would be greatly appreciated!! :-)

Tight Lines
Brett Harris
[email protected]
+27(0)834125316

On this day I made a call for a quick late afternoon fishing session up-river on Gamtoos. I took my new small boat out for a spin to test the motor after add...

30/06/2025

Wow...plate of glass conditions and although it's no Trophy, this fella is a Thumper on the Gamtoos! :-)

I actually spotted him flashing on some Mullets and cast onto the area...one twitch using a Snow White Trophy Tail Bucktail and it was game on! :-)

Nice good strong fight, typical of all Garrick, quick photos and a safe release! :-)

16/06/2025

After spending the morning tying Trophy Tail Bucktails I was itching to test a 3/8 Chartreuse and Pink bucktail that I had tied that morning.
High tide was earlier that morning and the tide had long turned and there was a good dropping tide draining the Gamtoos River. I decide to shoot up to the 'Old Bus' and fish the drift from the new Wooden House towards Wacky Woods. The river was wind still and the water surface was like a plate of glass on route upriver!
Arriving at the Wooden House I quickly snagged a few smaller Garrick on the bucktail and also managed a fair sized one in the mix. As I approached the rock ledge, I could see some Garrick chasing bait fish up against the rock ledge and managed to get the perfect cast lined up along the front of the ledge. The bucktail dropped to the bottom and on the first flick I got a solid thum and instant hookup!
The Garrick was strong and gave some great runs on a tight drag. In true Garrick style it gave a very good account for itself right to the point where I slipped the landing net under it. Safely landed, I took a few quick photos before safely releasing. Catch n release folks...it's the right thing to do!!