Mossel Bay | Garden Route
Before we launch into our own reasons, just read 5 glowing reviews from our Salt Life Fishing Charter guests, who blow our trumpet for us. We are very proud of our 5-star Google review rating as giving our guests the best possible boat fishing charters Mossel Bay is our main goal…
There are a few deep sea fishing charters in Mossel Bay and we honestly can say that they each have their merits. There are some we’ll very happily recommend and a couple we’ve fished with ourselves in the past. But we wouldn’t be doing ourselves justice if we talked about the others! So what we will do, is tell you what sets us apart.
Introducing our owner and skipper, Justin McCarthy. He has been saltwater fishing for over 30 years and has been landing edible fish since he came out of nappies. He has a natural gift for reading the ocean and finding the hot spots for target fish species. He has lived locally all his life and deep sea fishing tops the activities Garden Route.
The Salt Life Fishing Charter team are highly committed to sustainable fishing and marine conservation. We always adopt ethical fishing techniques, respecting our marine life and ensuring that we stay well within the regulations set out in the Marine Living Resources Act (Act No. 18 of 1998).
Long-term sustainable utilisation of our fish resources is imperative. Effective fisheries rely on scientific advice and ecological information that lead to such regulations, but can only work if they are adhered to by any recreational line-fishers in South Africa‘s marine and estuarine environments.
Our fishing charters Mossel Bay include all bait, tackle, fuel and the skipper. We just ask our guests to bring their own water, snacks and fishing permit unless you’ve been in touch with us to organise your permit in advance.
Our owner, Justin, has a long history in the maritime environment. He joined the National Sea Rescue Institute at the age of 15 and spent 16 years volunteering with the organisation. He spent his latter years holding the position of deputy station commander. As you can imagine, safety is our highest priority on each and every charter.
As one of the few South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) appointed surveyors in the area, our 26ft boat is kept in tip-top condition. We regularly conduct statutory surveys and issue Certificates of Fitness (COFs) for recreational vessels, ensuring that our own vessel is fully compliant at all times. We also provide consultancy to recreational vessel owners on maintenance, technical, and safety matters. You can chat to us if you need a survey or any vessel repairs.
We also offer expeditions for filmmakers, documentarians, photographers and researchers and tailor our trips to suit your needs. Our specialised trips have been very well received and photographers and filmers love the set-up of the boat with its large platform on the bow that can hold camera equipment to capture that all-important sweeping view.
Mossel Bay is best known for its catches of select fish species. Kob and shad are a favourite target species, since both are very tasty and good for the braai. You’ll find both of these more in summer, although shad is subject to a season and should never be targeted in October and November.
Stokvis/hake are a great target species for our winter months. This is certainly South Africa’s most popular eating fish and is very versatile in lots of dishes.
Dream catches for many of our fishing charter anglers are stumpnose, steenbras and musselcrackers. The bag and size limits for these are highly restricted so we will often release some of them.
One of our youngest guests’ favourite species to catch are Atlantic bonito or bonnies. These are caught via trolling using Rapala, and offer an opportunity for a quick fishing charter trip within the bay.
There’s nothing that beats the dip of the tip of your fishing rod when you hook onto something. When it comes to bonito, this feeling is often doubled or quadrupled as where there’s one bonito biting, there are usually many more, since they’re a schooling fish.
The great thing about bonito fishing is it’s a quick and easy fish, that usually only takes you to sites a few minutes from the harbour. For families, this is ideal, as young anglers tend to have limited patience.
One of our favourite things about Bonito is that they make delicious sashimi. We’ll have ours that same day just sliced up raw with some dark soy sauce and wasabi.
Our 2024 prices are R1,300 per person for our deep sea fishing Mossel Bay day trip. You can book the whole boat to yourself, for up to six friends or family members. Reach out to us to discuss the price.
Just like the fish, we are early risers and usually set sail at the crack of dawn. Our guests meet us at Mossel Bay’s harbour and have to come through one of two security gates. Be aware that the security guards will often breathalyse the driver, so make sure you take it easy the night before if you’re taking part in any alcohol fueled activities Garden Route!
We will head straight to one of our favourite fishing spots or a spot recommended by our friends in the local fishing community. The spots vary depending on the time of year, the species that are around, and the weather and sea conditions.
We’ll spend enough time at each spot to see if the fish are biting. If there are no bites, or just small nibbles we’ll move on to another spot. The same for only catching sharks, which are certainly not a target species unless we’re tag-and-release fishing with researchers.
If we are getting good bites and landing desirable fish, we’ll stay at the spot for as long as we keep catching. And so the morning goes like that. Sometimes, the fishing spots will be just a few kilometres from the harbour and sometimes we’ll have to travel several kilometres down the coastline. It all rides on the fish and what they’re up and where they are.
During fishing, we’ll always be on the lookout for interesting marine species. Winter is best for spotting whales, and we see plenty of humpback and southern right whales. Dolphins are around all year, and we get the bottlenose, common and humpback species here.
Summer sees hammerhead shark aggregations and other species such as white sharks, thresher sharks and even makos can sometimes be spotted. Orcas are a sporadic visitor to the bay and a very impressive sight. Birders will love the variety of seabirds we get, including albatross, shearwaters, petrels, and gannets.
On the way back to shore, and if there’s time at the end of the trips in season, we may troll for bonnies to see if we can land a couple for a sashimi treat.
There is, of course, an element of luck to fishing. We will use our decades of knowledge to guide our guests to the fish and help them land their dream species. You can chat to us about our charter trips or to book your deep sea fishing adventure. We promise you it’s one of the best activities Garden Route.
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