nail a black croaker It is a before and after in coastal sport fishing, specifically in the sea. The fight it offers is enormous, regardless of the size of the specimen, and the challenge it poses drives more than one fisherman crazy. The area usually has the complications of showing stones on the bottom (main place where it feeds) and the amount of gear that is in the water, because there is always more than one rod posted. To all this we must add that the species literally “heads” the arena in the middle of a fight and seeks to go to the sides, in its desperate intention to get rid of the hook. All this is transmitted to the rod through the nylon. Crazy.
What were used in the last weeks between Cobo Sea and Chiquita Sea fits perfectly into that framework. The “morochas” surprised locals and strangers, but not because of the time, not even because of the weights of more than 20 kilos (although not abundant similar pieces usually occur in that area), but rather because of the number of copies and the signature that even today is the pique. And that is why fans from various places in the province of Buenos Aires came together, all with good results. Of course the timing helps, because January and February are excellent months for this fishing and because the sea conditions were ideal, even when the “grass” made it more difficult than necessary (Weekend Web addressed the problem of this phenomenon in the following article ).
But basing the excellent harvests solely on the context would be both wrong and unfair. Is that the experience del pescador has been playing a central role when it comes to getting on the pitch. Reading the water, choosing the place and knowing how to battle with the specimen are the main axes of a whole machinery that starts up long before the day of fishing and that brings together two keys that have not failed so far: keep the gear in the water according to the tide and use the liveliest bait possible. A combo that the black croaker cannot resist.
Although it remains constant throughout the day, the strong bite has been occurring in a higher percentage of hours before the low tide. And that’s why some catches were made at rod range, because it allows the caster to get closer to the scree. If that panorama coincides early in the morning, at sunrise, much better. But as the weeks progress, the movements of water in general are the most productive moments. Either before or after the minimum or high tide, the lines have to be in the water and the sense of the canoe fan as sharp as possible. They can start at any time.
modality anchoring It is the one that is being imposed and that has to do with the place. The famous “Piedra del Vidalero” is a wide rocky bottom that is located in the sea between about 200 and 300 meters from the coast, so the most fanatical use various gadgets to get there with the hook. The kayak is, without a doubt, the most used element to carry the lines (usually two or three), although some opt for the body and frog legs and others -with much more luck- using a jet ski. The person in charge of moving the items uses his companions in the sand as a reference, who with flags, lights and gestures indicate not only the straight line from the cane but also the desired distance.
He rig It is very simple. A 0.90 mm thick nylon, whose length can be 70 or 80 centimeters, which at one end has two number 7/0 tandem hooks; one of them is tied and the other is loose and slides to secure the bait. At the other end, it has a reinforced swivel to tie it to the load of the reel, and it is from there that the famous “fuse” is tied, which is neither more nor less than a 30 cm fine nylon tied to a dead body, which It is made with local stones and its function is to cut itself automatically when the fish touches the line.
The bait par excellence is the sea crab. Those who know the most agree that it has to be alive and that is why many of them extract it one or two days before and maintain it even with aerators, if necessary, with a constant change of water. Pure fanaticism. You can also get them alive in bait houses and more than one was lucky with frozen, although the result is usually less profitable. To offer a bait that is as natural as possible, they tie it to the hook so that its claws and legs remain in motion and attract the attention of the species being sought.
Unlike other fisheries, the more rustic equipment They are the ones that work best. That is why it is very common to see a battery of 10 or 12 fiberglass rods, the historical ones, from 3.60 to 4 meters long, with reels large enough to carry a good amount of nylon. While some prefer to fish with 0.35mm or 0.40mm, others play it safe with 0.50mm. Beyond personal tastes, the common denominator is that the reel must carry at least 250 meters, because it is not only about where the rig is, but also the possibility of having leeway when the catch shoots in.
Rarely has a similar harvest been seen for many weeks, despite the fact that the “Vidalero” is the fishing spot par excellence. Not even the mouth of Mar Chiquita, where year after year the fishermen flock to obtain the “moritas”, yielded in the same way. Terrible monsters that always exceed 10 or 11 kilos, that go through all the kilos and have even reached 22, becoming a trophy to be enjoyed and a indelible memory, hard to forget. Not to mention what it generates in the canyon environment when the rumor of the first of the season spreads like wildfire. The images speak for themselves. And in the expression of the protagonists is where you can see the true passion that the black croaker arouses in the coastal sport fisherman.
Thanks: Ivo Oliver, Bruno “Tato” Usman, Gastón Galassi and all the boys from the group “Corvineros Negros MDP”.
