Geelbek
Atractoscion aequidens
A shoaling ski-boat fish with a yellow mouth, caught mostly at night and at first light on sardine and live bait over deep reefs.
Size: Adults in the shoals are mostly 80–100 cm, about 5–9 kg. The SA angling record is 14.9 kg, from Algoa Bay.
Where: From False Bay to southern Mozambique. Adults swim up from the Cape to KZN each winter, spawn on offshore reefs there in spring, then head back south.
How to spot it
Looks like a slimmer, more silvery kob, with a blue to purple sheen on the back. The inside of the mouth, the edges of the jaws and the inside of the gill cover are yellow, which gives it its name, and there is a dark smudge at the base of the pectoral fin. The tail curves inward, unlike the rounded tail of a kob.
Varieties and look-alikes
-
Geelbek - Yellow inside the mouth and along the jaws, and a tail that curves inward.
-
Kob - No yellow on the mouth, a heavier bronze body and a rounded tail.
What it eats
Adults hunt shoals of sardine, anchovy, maasbanker and mackerel, mostly at night. Young fish eat mysid shrimps and anchovies.
Where it feeds
- Shoals over offshore reefs, wrecks and pinnacles, about 15–150 m deep
- Spawning shoals on KZN reefs at 40–60 m in spring
- Under sardine and baitfish shoals during the sardine run
- Now and then within casting range of the rocks and beach at night
How to catch it
Find a shoal on the fish finder, anchor or drift over it, and drop a two-hook paternoster trace with whole sardines or live mackerel to the bottom. Be ready the moment the bait lands: the bite is fast. Set the hook by winding quickly, then play the fish gently, because geelbek have soft mouths and pull off easily.
| Way of fishing | How well it works |
|---|---|
| Bait on the bottomA sinker holds your bait still on the bottom. | Best |
| Under a bobberA bobber is a small buoy on your line: it holds the bait off the bottom and dips under when a fish bites. | Not used |
| Natural or dead baitReal food on the hook: worms, liver, sardine, chokka. | Best |
| Live baitA small live fish or other live creature on the hook. | Works well |
| LuresArtificial baits you cast and reel in: spinners, spoons, plastics. | Sometimes |
| TrollingLures or bait pulled behind a moving boat. | Not used |
| Fly fishingLight artificial flies, cast with a fly rod. | Sometimes |
Baits and lures that work
- Sardine
- Mackerel
- Live baitfish
- Chokka (squid)
- Fish strips or dead fish
- Metal jigs
Flavours it likes
- Fish
- Squid
Geelbek hunt shoal fish, so fresh, oily fish bait works best: whole sardine, mackerel or maasbanker. When they are fussy, a sardine turned inside out and tied on with bait elastic gives off more scent.
When it bites
Time of day
| Time | Bite |
|---|---|
| Dawn | Best |
| Day | Slow |
| Midday | Slow |
| Dusk | Best |
| Night | Good |
They feed best at night, so first light and the last light of the afternoon are the best times for most boats. Once you have found a shoal, they also bite in daylight.
Best months
- Best: June, July, August, September, October
- Good: January, February, March, April, May, November, December
In KZN the run starts in winter with the sardines and is best during spawning, from August to November. In the Cape, smaller geelbek are caught mostly in summer.
What affects the bite
| Condition | What it likes | Effect on the bite |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | Best at 16–22 °C | Low |
| Time of day | Best at dawn, dusk and night | Medium |
| Tide | Hardly matters | Low |
| Swell and surf | Best when the sea is calm | Medium |
| Air pressure | Best when it is falling | High |
| Cloud cover | Best on overcast days | Medium |
| Wind | Best with a light breeze | High |
| Rain | Best in dry weather | Medium |
| Water clarity | Hardly matters | Low |
| Moon phase | Hardly matters | Low |
| Spawning | Feeds hard before and after spawning | High |
High means it makes a big difference to whether this fish bites. Low means it hardly matters.
Tips
- Put a glow bead and skirt on one hook and leave the other bare, then switch both to whichever gets more bites.
- Sharks often take hooked geelbek on the KZN spawning reefs, so bring fish up steadily and move if the sharks arrive.
- Wind steadily with a light drag: most geelbek are lost because the angler pumped too hard.
Good to know: Geelbek stocks have collapsed. Check the current rules: 2 per person per day, at least 60 cm.
Are they biting today?
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