To protect natural marine living resources and regulate fishing, the South African Government enacted the Marine Living Resources Act in 1998. Recreational and shore-based line fishing is regulated by "bag limits," which prevent people from catching too many fish. All recreational fishermen are required to have recreational fishing permits. These annual permits are obtainable at post offices throughout South Africa. Fish caught under a recreational fishing permit may not be sold.
There is no shortage of boats offering big game fishing charters, and a fisherman can get a day's fishing for around $150. Fishermen can commonly expect to catch marlin, swordfish, barracuda, yellow, blue and long fin tuna, yellowtail and Cape salmon year round. Kob, Cape snoerk and dorado are seasonal species.
Fishermen can cover a lot of ground quickly by using trolling. This is the technique of dragging an artificial lure or live bait behind a boat. By keeping the boat and bait moving, the fish below see the bait and instinctively react by striking for it.
Chumming is the practice of dropping different types of bait in a specific area for a given time to attract fish. Using different types of bait will help to attract a wider range of species, all of which are attracted by different smells and food types. South African surfers and beachgoers are trying to get chumming banned, because since South Africa is the home of great white sharks, they believe this practice encourages sharks to attack humans.
The attraction of big-game fishing as a sport is the fight involved in attempting to reel in the catch. Either sitting or standing, in the stern of the boat, the fisherman places the butt of the rod into a gimbaled mount, from where he works on reeling the fish in. Specialized seats, with harnesses, can assist the fisherman to maintain the strength and endurance needed to land powerful fish. It is not unusual for the fight to take many hours, particularly with species such as the barracuda in South African waters.
