South African Fish Species: The Dusky Kob (Daga, Drum, Kabeljou)

Interesting Information On The South African Kob

This South African fish is one of the most well know Saltwater species that occur in the oceans of South Africa and because this is the case it has quite a few common names: Kob, Daga, Drum, Kabeljou and Argyrosomus holoepidotus. The Kob is a predatory fish that moves around in shoals. The Daga occurs in water of up to 400 meters deep! The South African Kob is a very versatile fish as it can be found in those great depths as well as in estuaries, along sandy beaches and even amongst rocky areas off the beach. The Kob is a very good night hunter as it uses it's sense of smell combined with it's lateral line to detect prey. The Kabeljou (Dusky Kob) is found along the entire coastline of South Africa and feeds mainly on small fish, squid, cuttlefish, prawn and crabs. The Drum is a beautiful fish and a very good angling and eating fish. As a result of this line fisherman and trawlers catch these Kob to sell. The South African Angling record is close to 80 kilograms... Which is a huge fish!

How To Catch The South African Kob (Daga, Drum, Kabeljou)

The Kob is the most widespread sport (Angling) fish in South Africa and can be caught with almost any bait or lure. Night time is the best time for catching Kob, so if you know somewhere where there is a light on the water, take full advantage of it because I guarantee you that there will be Kob in that area!

The best methods that I have found to work are as follows:

In Estuaries... The Kob fished for in estuaries are not always the juvenile fish. For example in the Bushman's river system in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa the record catch is close to 50 kilograms and Kob of around 15-25 kilograms are often caught! The best ways to catch Kob in estuaries are with baits such as prawn and squid, live baits such as Shad, Mullet and Pinky and with Spoons. You can't go wrong with these baits and lures!

Off The Beach... Sandy beaches are very good places to target Kob and my favourite method would have to be with a Spoon or similar lure. Squid, Pilchard and Prawn also work very well. If you are targeting Kob off a sandy beach I wouldn't advise you to use live bait as more than not a shark or ray will get a hold of your bait before the Kob does!

Off A Boat... Off boats is where most of the large Kob, which are often called Daga, are caught. Vertical Jigging and Dropshot are great ways of catching 40 kilogram Kob off a boat. When fishing for Kob at night it would be good to have a glowing lure, as the water is very dark and very deep. If you do not have one try buying glow sticks from your local cafe or news agents and attach them to your lure.

Other General Kob Information

Common Name: Kob...

Other Names: Kabeljou, Dusky Kob, Daga...

Scientific Name: Argyrosomus Hololepidotus...

Habitat: Kob prefer sandy beaches and bays. They can be found near river mouths and provide an exciting fight...

Distribution: Kob are widely distributed along the South African coastline. Kob is probably the most well known summer angling fish of the Cape and especially in False Bay...

Bait: Kob can be caught on soft baits such as sardine (pilchard) and mackerel. They will also readily take a strip of squid or a prawn. Generally the bigger the bait, the bigger the Kob you should catch...

Fishing Strategy: Kob are one of the few surviving shoaling fish so they can be caught in good quantities...

Eating Quality: Kob are excellent eating fish, particularly in the southern Cape where it is a sought after table fish. Along the East coast the flesh is often infested with worms, especially Kob caught in warmer waters such as estuaries. The worms are apparently harmless to man provided the flesh is cooked properly...

site map copyright Gareth Roocroft (The Wildlife Webber) © 2002 - 2010. | contact me |

Please Always Do Your Best To Help Conservation In The Natural World... The Wilderness Is Running Out; Fast...

And Please Limit Your Kill... Don't Kill Your Limit... Think About The Future Fishing Generations; Let Them Experience What We Do...