Fishing At Brazenhead & The Ledges In The Transkei
Brazenhead, in the Transkei area, is truly one of
the most beautiful rural areas you could ever wish to visit for angling
purposes. The natural beauty and
fishing spots are endless. The only
disadvantage of the area, is that you have to have a 4x4 and you need to
be quite fit to walk up and down the steep hills. Brazenhead is one of
the most well known angling spots in South Africa. It is very unique.
One can target anything at Brazenhead, from
Kob to
Blacktail to
Garrick
to Bronze Whaler sharks.
Brazenhead & The 3 Ledges
When
you arrive at the top of Brazenhead you will be greeted by lots of
Gillies who will come and help you carry your stuff down the 1.5km
slope, and trust me you need all the help you can get. The surface is
very slippery and very steep and one must be very careful walking to
Brazenhead. Once you get to the bottom you will be at First Ledge. Lots
of good water for targeting edibles and Gamefish and further on at First
Ledge, there is a large drop off into deep water where one can target
Sharks. First Ledge is the safest of the 3 Ledges and easiest to fish
off and land big fish.
A tricky walk around a narrow path at the end of First Ledge will bring you to Second Ledge. For Sharks and big Kob, this is the spot. This is where caution must be practiced however.
If you hook into a large fish, you will have to walk back to First Ledge to land it, as the elevation at Second Ledge is twice the amount of First Ledge.
Once
you feel comfortable at Second Ledge, the fishing is great. When the
water is very clear you might struggle to get any decent fish out.
Further along Second Ledge is a 'step down' which can be accessed when
the tide starts to drop. One can drop a bait 10 meters below into the
rolling deep white water that hits the gap between the second and third
ledge. Here you can find plenty of Blacktail and sometimes
Musselcracker.
One of the scariest moments of my life was walking to Third Ledge. It is a very tricky and dangerous half a foot damp path with a 20 meter drop on one side, a sheer rock face on the other and 4 feet above you is a rocky overhang. I can see why many Angling Companies do not take their guests to Third Ledge. It must of taken me about 5 minutes to crawl along the side of the rock to get to Third Ledge... And I did not even have any tackle with me! Once you get across you are greeted by one of the most stunning and breathtaking views... The fishing here is apparently very good with many Gamefish and big Sharks being hooked here; the problem is you have to guide the fish back to First Ledge to land it! When I was on top of Third Ledge which is very high above the water, I saw a school of good sized Kob swimming in the clear water below.
Fishing At Brazenhead
As
mentioned above, one can target almost any fish along the 3 Ledges of
Brazenhead. One thing that is necessary here is heavy tackle. Tackle up
for whatever species you are targeting whether it's an edible or
non-edible fish specie. The heavier the tackle, the more likely you are
to be able to land the fish. When fishing with the intention of
releasing fish, especially Sharks, a gaff is not essential. There is a
slope on First Ledge where one can walk down and grab the leader, or at
low tide, access the rocks and land the fish there. Pictured left is a
10kg Grey
Shark we landed without a gaff; obviously this would be more
difficult with a 200kg
Ragged Tooth Shark, but it has been done.
There are normally Shad that move through the area throughout the day and then the fishing can be frantic. The Shad often bring Garrick and other Gamefish species closer to the rocks as well as large Sharks.
All in all the Three Ledges of the famous Brazenhead are amazing for fishing and set in such a beautiful area! Every angler in South Africa needs to visit this place at least once in their lifetime; and trust me, the walk is worth it!
