Targeting My PB Couta From The Shore

Anglers are always looking for new ways to improve their chances of more frequently landing trophy fish. Obviously there are many ways in which to do so but the most obvious way is by making sure you use the best quality tackle available. In the recreational fishing industry there is always new and better fishing gear but the only way to determine if a new product is as good as the manufacturer claims it is, is to test it for yourself. I recently came across one such product that is highly rated by anglers across the world, namely the Sebile Stick Shadd. Rudolph Scheepers on the front cover. By no means do I claim to be an expert lure angler but in recent years I have been doing a lot of saltwater lure angling, so on a recent trip to Baboon Point Lodge in Mozambique I had a perfect opportunity to fish it. Lure fishing off the beach is a challenge in itself – it is an exciting and rewarding facet of angling that l have become very passionate about. SEBILE STICK SHADD Wave garrick caught on a smaller sized stick Shadd. The green spot was caught on the Sebile Stick Shadd. My aim for the trip was to cast a 155mm Sinking Sebile Stick Shadd from the beach to target the the big GT’s that Baboon Lodge is famous for, as well as the King Mackerel or Couta as we call them. Catchin Couta off the beach is very difficult and not many rock and surf anglers have succeeded in doing so. Over the years we have hooked and landed quite a few in the Baboon Point area using bait and lures, with my own PB off the beach being is approximately 10kg, and landing a 15kg one is an ongoing challenge. At first sight of the new Sebile Stick Shadd l knew that Cuta would not be able to resist it, but the difficulty would be finding the correct water and conditions for Cuta to come within casting range. At 85g (3 ounces) it was no problem casting the lure with my balanced rig consisting of a Penn Spinfisher 6500 reel loaded with 50lb Berkley Whiplash on a Penn Regiment 12ft 6, 2 to 6 ounce rod with a 1.5m Berkley Prospek Flourocarbon leader. I used a 0.81mm thick leader and would replace it with a 1mm leader if l encountered areas with lots of reef. There are various colours available but I chose to fish the Ghostescent, Nat Shiner and Bunker. So after a night drive cameraman and also a fishaholic liker myself Duncan Grant and I we arrived at Baboon Point Lodge in the afternoon, and noticed that the sea was still big and strong from a recent weather system that had passed the area, although the local prediction was that it would start settling from the day we arrived. But at first light the next morning looking out from my bedroom window I could see that the sea was still strong with the occasional big swell lifting on the backline. It was going to be a hard day’s fishing, and while the GT’s don’t mind rough conditions l prefer a flat sea with not too many sandbanks on backline to prevent the Couta from coming in. Nevertheless Duncan and I worked our way down the beach and I found an area where l could cast deep enough to give myself a chance for a bite. As this was the first time l fished with this specific Stick Shadd, l played around with different retrieves to see how the lure reacts in the water. Everyone worked well, and what excited me most was the fact that regardless of how fast l worked it, the lure always swam true, never spinning or losing its action. GT caught on a slide bait. One of the retrievals l used was to cast out the lure, let it sink for a few seconds then lift the rod and work the lure back by twitching the rod towards my body with each wind on the reel. Standing behind Duncan liked what he saw: ”do that again, it looks very good!” he shouted, and the “Duncan twitch” was born! Of all the retrieves I tried, it was the most comfortable to do and gave the lure a very natural look in the water. I soon had a decent bite that almost ripped the rod out of my hand, but unfortunately the hooks did not set and the fish was off. In the still unsettled sea I did manage to land a few smallish fish and had a couple good bites but with no success. After having a few good fish grabbing the lure but not staying hooked l decided to set the hooks hard on my next good bite. The Stick Shadd is a big bulky lure with relatively big hooks. Setting the hooks properly should solve the problem of fish shaking out the lure. The next morning, my last day, we woke up to a nice flat sea. Conditions were looking very good and l could not wait to get down to the beach. We walked north to an area with a lot of reef in the water. One specific area looked very good – part of a big bay with a point on the beach from where I could cast and cover a lot of water. To my left about 10m out was a shallow, sharp reef and 120 to 150m out was lots of scattered reef. If a big GT pulled me into any of it I would run the risk of being cut off, but I waded in to get as close as possible to the lip and made my first cast. I did the “Duncan twitch” and could see the Stick Shadd clearly in the water moving from left to right, flashing each time l twitched the rod. After that retrieve l waited for a big wave lifting in front of me to break before I could make my next cast, and with the sun just rising and shining through the crystal blue water of the big set lifting about 10m in front of me l saw a GT of about 25 or 30kg swimming fast down the wave from my right heading towards the shallow reef on my left. As the wave broke the fish disappeared into the white foamy water and I instinctively lobbed the lure in its direction. I twitched it once and saw the lure move in the water and when I twitched it again the GT shot up from underneath and grabbed the lure. I gave a step back and made sure l set the hook. After one or two hard head shakes the fish turned and swam up the beach past me heading south. My drag was set very tight, hoping to hold the fish if it headed for the sharp reef. The couta was caught on a Sebile Stick Shadd. Even with a tight drag l could not hold the fish and it started heading out to the reef on the backline. After some 100m it started to slow down but it was still only about 40m from the sharp reef so I had to try and turn it. I used my right hand to put gentle pressure on the spool and l managed to turn the fish broadside to the reef. Under full pressure l kept the fish in that zone for a while, and as it started tiring l managed to turn its head and after about 10 minutes I had the fish close to the lip. Here the water was sucking back hard after each wave. Normally l would loosen the drag a bit by this stage of the fight but due to the shallow reef just to my left and the chance that the fish could make a last minute dart there and cut me off, l decided to keep it almost locked – a big mistake! After pulling the fish over the lip and preparing to grab it, one last big wave sucked the fish back over the lip, and with the drag way too tight the hook opened and pulled out of the fish’s mouth. So close but so far! After the disappointment of losing that fish we moved to where there was a small flat reef close to shore with dark blue, deep water behind it with just the odd wave breaking on the backline. With long periods with no waves breaking it would give big fish ample time to move in and out. As l prepared to cast l noticed some baitfish being chased directly behind the small reef. I cast the Stick Shadd in their direction and after my second or third twitch l felt a fish grab the lure. Almost immediately l had slack line as the fish swam towards me with a few headshakes and big splashes on the surface as it tried to shake the lure. The bite was different and l immediately knew it was not a GT. After stepping back to get in contact with the fish and setting the hooks l quickly loosened the drag slightly. My first thought was that it was a big Couta. As soon as l got the drag set to the normal position the fish turned and darted off to the deep. After a short run l managed to turn the fish and could see the long silver shine in the water - definitely a Couta and a very nice one too! Unlike GT a Couta has a relatively soft mouth so I played it quite gently without too much pressure and got it into the shore break in a few minutes where I had a few heart-stopping moments before l managed to pull the fish up the beach with the help of a wave and grabbed it by the tail. The hook was nicely set in the corner of its mouth. At 125cm I was over the moon and could not have asked for a better way to end the day -my PB Couta on my newest favourite lure, the Sebile Stick Shadd. View the full video of Rudolph's catch at https://bit.ly/cutaR