The kob – Namibia’s bass?
Most of you have probably heard of the quite awesome shore fishing out in Namibia, and quite rightly so the place is associated in our minds with huge copper sharks caught in amongst the breakers. If you like your fishing to be challenging, demanding, frightening, exhilarating, mind-blowing and physically knackering, then those desolate beaches are the place for you. If you go or have been, then you will understand my next statement; at some time your body is going to demand a break from the physical rigours of pulling vast sharks in. Now I have absolutely no interest in shopping or dune-surfing and if I go abroad, for I want to fish until I drop! Fishing for the kabeljou, or kob, is the perfect way to rest those muscles, unless of course you hit them big time, and yet again catch numbers of quality fish from those golden sands.

The kob is a shoal fish that can run in huge numbers and is very highly prized as both a sporting quarry and a serious delicacy; in fact it is mostly tourists like us who are guided for the sharks. The majority of the local anglers prefer to fish for the kob and steenbras. Up to around the 20lb mark, you can see the similarities between our bass and their kob, but above that and this stunning fish takes on a look all to itself. The biggest I have seen is 58lbs and that is quite some fish; I can accept a shark being huge, but to see a “fish” so large is amazing to say the least. Bigger fish have been caught, but in reality if you catch one around the 20lb mark then you have done well; get in amongst a shoal and you will reap the rewards. Up in Henties Bay there are some pictures hanging on the wall of the local pub of a kob estimated at 200lbs, caught further north in Angola, and it is so big that it almost looks unreal.

If you have a good guide, then your chances of catching kob increase tenfold, and they run around the same times of year as the bulk of the sharks, albeit in slightly different areas. As we “read” our rock marks and tidal rips, so the decent guides read the turbulent waters running onto the deserted beaches; they are looking for the signs of big sandbanks where the kob like to congregate. To us, one piece of water looks much the same as the next out there, but your guide will suddenly stop the 4by4 and jump out, saying that the kob are in front of you. Most of the time they are exactly right and it is for that reason that you should save yourself a lot of time and hassle by booking the best people. To travel all that way and skimp on the most important thing is pointless; go with a decent company and it will all be sorted for you. There is nothing better than a day on the beach catching sharks, spotties and kob, then tumbling into your hotel with arms ready to drop off. Load yourself up with a big steak and prepare to battle again the next day!

There is absolutely no need to take any tackle out there as your guide will have everything necessary, but it is fun to take a UK style beachcaster and multiplier to fish for the kob and spotties. Leave our stuff on the truck though when targeting the bronzies. Any powerful 13’ beachcaster will do for the kob, but do go for something that has some grunt and guts, for if you do hook a big fish then you want to land it. A reel such as a SLOSH 30 is ideal, loaded to the gunnels with 20 or 25lb line; coloured line does not matter at all and I used, as nearly always, Ultima Red Ice, and had no problems. A long 60-80lb leader is ample, for at times you need to cast a relatively long way. If you do not want to take any gear (any you really do not need to), then your guide will be more than happy to cast the bait out there for you with their own excellent tackle; the smallest reel they tend to use is the SLOSH 50, overloaded with line and completely un-braked, and they are extremely lively to say the least! They thumb a reel as naturally as we leave one alone for the brake blocks or magnets to take effect; their reels are placed exclusively down the butt of one-piece 14’ rods, mainly Purglass blanks in 3 or 4 weight (3 for spotties and kob, 4 for the bronzies). You wear a butt pad and hold the rod at all times, very ready to strike the fast moving kob; everything seems to run fast and fight hard over there!

The kob seem to bite just like our bass at times and there seem to be two distinct ways in which they signal their presence. You may be standing there, quietly watching seals playing in the surf as pelicans strut their stuff on the beach, when something out there once again tries to rip the rod from your hands. If the kob does this then it is basically unmissable, for the fish has hooked itself with the power of that first hit. But fairly often the kob will just simply charge in towards you so fast that you would think somebody had cut your line; reel as fast as you can, if you can catch up, and set that hook. The kob I have caught then tend to make for deeper water and just let the clutch do its stuff if needs be, but as the pressure tells on the fish, so they like to kite up and down the surf-lines, trying to shake that hook free. Bring the fish in on a wave and either grab it yourself or let your guide go and do it for you if you are not keen on getting wet! Remember, the big sharks are never that far away!

The favoured bait for these kob is sections of pilchard bound onto 4/0-6/0 pennel rigs, with a 60lb trace; the simplest set-up is what they mainly use, a fixed or running ledger. But last time I went, I took some of my pulley rigs with 6/0 Mustad Ultra Point hooks (10829BLN) and these were deadly, especially in heavy tide and surf conditions when teamed with a 6oz gripper. In fact, I left all my rigs behind for our guides to use and copy as they liked them so much; hope I tied good knots! Once those razor-sharp hooks go in, they do not come out and although relatively expensive, they hold their point well and are worth every penny.

If you have any interest in shore fishing, and have both the time and money (it is not half as expensive as you might think, plus is extremely cheap once out there), then I implore you to get yourself out to Namibia; in my humble opinion, it is the ultimate fishing that we can conceivably do. You will catch sharks, plain and simple, and often it is a case of catching as many as your body can physically take. The kob is a bonus fish, for if they are running you are assured of some quite spectacular sport in the most incredible surroundings. Whack a fresh fillet on the barbecue and you will be a convert, and that is coming from a confirmed non-fish eater.

Henry

If you'd like to ask Henry a question about this trip you can Email him here - henrygilbey@anglinglines.com