Moggel
Labeo umbratus
A hard-fighting labeo of shallow, muddy dams, hard to target and usually caught by chance while fishing for carp.
Size: It grows to about 50 cm and close to 3 kg.
Where: Native to the Orange-Vaal system and rivers of the southern and Eastern Cape, and moved by anglers into the Olifants River (Limpopo system). Scientists recently named the Eastern Cape fish as a separate species.
How to spot it
A deep, silver-grey fish with very small scales, a rounded head and a mouth underneath with fleshy lips and two pairs of small barbels. Some have pink-orange flecks. It looks much like a mudfish, but its scales are clearly smaller and its dorsal fin is shorter.
Varieties and look-alikes
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Moggel - Much smaller, finer scales than a mudfish and a shorter dorsal fin.
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Mudfish - Bigger scales than a moggel and a large dorsal fin; lives mainly in the Orange-Vaal system.
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Rednose Labeo - Red bumps on the snout, a reddish top to the eye and a pinkish body; lives in lowveld rivers.
What it eats
Adults feed on detritus and soft mud, sucking up the food in it. Young fish eat small insects and other small animals.
Where it feeds
- Shallow, muddy bays and flats in dams
- The bank the wind blows onto
- Flooded grass along river banks after summer rains, when it runs upstream to spawn
How to catch it
Few anglers target moggel; most are caught papgooi-style while fishing for carp. Small, soft baits work best: sweet dough, egg dough, bread, mielies or an earthworm on a small hook. It also takes nymphs now and then.
| Way of fishing | How well it works |
|---|---|
| Bait on the bottomA sinker holds your bait still on the bottom. | Works well |
| 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. | Sometimes |
| Pap, mielies, boilies and floatsSweet baits on the hook (pap, mielies, boilies or floats), with more thrown in around them. | Best |
| Natural or dead baitReal food on the hook: worms, liver, sardine, chokka. | Works well |
| Live baitA small live fish or other live creature on the hook. | Not used |
| LuresArtificial baits you cast and reel in: spinners, spoons, plastics. | Not used |
| Fly fishingLight artificial flies, cast with a fly rod. | Sometimes |
Baits and lures that work
- Dough (sweet dough, egg dough)
- Sweetcorn
- Bread
- Pap
- Earthworms
- Nymphs
Flavours it likes
Plain or sweet dough, bread and mielies are the usual baits. No particular dip is known to work better.
When it bites
Time of day
| Time | Bite |
|---|---|
| Dawn | Best |
| Day | Good |
| Midday | Slow |
| Dusk | Best |
| Night | Slow |
Best in the early morning and late afternoon. The bite is slow at midday and at night.
Best months
- Best: January, February, March, November, December
- Good: April, September, October
Summer is best, from November to March. After good rains it runs upstream onto flooded grass to spawn.
What affects the bite
| Condition | What it likes | Effect on the bite |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | Best at 20–29 °C | High |
| Time of day | Best at dawn and dusk | Medium |
| Air pressure | Best when it is falling | Medium |
| Cloud cover | Best on overcast days | Low |
| Wind | Best with the wind blowing towards your bank | High |
| Rain | Best after rain | Low |
| Water clarity | Hardly matters | Low |
| Moon phase | Hardly matters | Low |
| Spawning | Feeds hard before and after spawning | Medium |
High means it makes a big difference to whether this fish bites. Low means it hardly matters.
Tips
- Fish small baits on a light hooklink in shallow, muddy water.
- When the dam level rises after rain, fish near flooded grass.
- Hold on after the bite: a moggel fights hard for its size.
Good to know: An indigenous fish. Moggel and mudfish can interbreed in dams, so some fish are hard to tell apart.
Are they biting today?
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