Hiking the Wild Coast
The Wild Coast, located in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, is a truly magical place. Extending from the Umtamvuma river in the north to the Kei River in the south it encompasses a landscape of green, hut-dotted hills interspersed with forested and deeply incised river valleys rolling down to a breath-takingly beautiful coastline of precipitous cliffs, long sandy beaches, secluded bays and rich, fertile estuaries.
Because of historical neglect as well as terrain and access problems from the interior there has been little or no infrastructural development or access points for ‘fly-in’ tourists. Most of the extensive coastline of over 200km can only be visited by those prepared to hike along it! You will see little evidence of anyone else having been on on the beaches, just footprints and the occasional small boy herding cattle. The rural scenes have remained this way for ages so that you feel that you have stepped back in time.

Although a hutted trail exists along the entire coastline, it has (for a variety of reasons) not been adequately managed and maintained over the years and very little of the original infrastructure remains. This is compounded by communication and logistic problems along this ‘wild’ and sparsely inhabited coastline. It is strongly recommended that you do not attempt to hike the Wild Coast on your own, particularly if you are a tourist and unfamiliar with the region. Rather be guided by one of the independent tour operators who arrange hikes and other adventure activities along various sections of the coastline. Their network of local knowledge and connections and many years of experience will ensure that overnight stopovers, meals, guides, transfers and other matters are arranged that would be difficult or impossible for private parties to organize.
Mazeppa Bay is 65km from Butterworth, along a gravel road leading to the Wild Coast. Mazeppa Bay nestles in a beautiful setting of palms and tropical plants above the broad beach. Mazeppa is characterised by a quaint suspension bridge that takes one to a small island just metres off the main land.
Mazeppa Bay & Mazeppa point, a couple of kilometres South of the Qora River, boast the unique feature of an island out at sea which is accessible by means of a suspension bridge. The bay and the point were captained by a certain Allen who was engaged in coastal trading during the 1830s. Muchof its trade was believed to have been illegal. It was the Mazeppa that brought the survivors of Louis Trichardt party of Voortrekkers from Delgoa bay to Port Natal in 1839.

The S.S. Clan Lindsay, a Clan Line steamer of 2 668 tons, built in 1896 by Naval Contraction and Armament Company: Barrow, was wrecked at Mazeppa Bay on Clan Lindsay Rocks on the 20th March 1898 while on a voyage to Mauritius. No lives were lost. Due to the steep continental shelf, Mazeppa Bay has much appeal for the game and shark fisherman.
In Mazeppa Bay you will find some of the best beaches on this coastline, the most popular being First Beach from where you can walk over a 100m high suspension bridge to reach Mazeppa Bay’s famous island. The other two main beaches lie to the south of the lagoon and are ideal for long walks and collecting shells.
From Mazeppa Bay you can drive to East London for the day, or go hiking part of the Wild Coast Hiking Trail.

I cant call myself an expert on Mazzppa,but i’ve had success there long ago.Firstly I would invest in a 30 meter piece of rope in case you fish off a place called “Boiling-pot” I think the name is rather self-explanatory,just for in case you have to tie it to a chiller and throw it out to one of your party in the drink.
Albeit dangerous ,it is very productive for kobbies/salmon at night and early mornings.The Island is another beautifull spot,in the sense that you can cover a lot of water ,and position yourself favourably, irrespective of the prevailing wind.Many a Leerie/Garrick have been caught off the island,especially on live shad,”check shad season”Leeries/Garrick have also been caught aplenty on plug and spoon from the island,mostly off the northern side .Look for working white water close to the rocks,but, and sometimes it is critical,try and position yourself so that you can just about cast over the working white water,somehow if the Garrick starts chasing the spoon(sometimes without you even realising it)in the blue water and follow it into the more turbulent white,they are a lot less shy to take it ,must feel safe under cover of foam-water.If shad are biting abunduntly and suddenly stop ,it might just be the time to start throwing plug or spoon,TRITON-chisselnose in your chosen weight, comes highly recommended ,sometimes even an ouce or two below what you would really like to cast i.e 2.5 or 3 ounce max(size matters)
Dont underestimate how close to the rocks these critters will actually take a plug,a mate of mine has actually seen them get “stranded” on the rocks in their frenzy to chase aforementioned plugs.
Now that you are all charged up,bear in mind like everywhere else,be very cautious of children on the rocks,watch your back at all times,and do go and enjoy the fresh seafood ,late afternoon platters they serve at the hotel.”

Comments by anglers who have visted Mazeppa:
Mazeppa is a strange place……it can be RED HOT or stone dead….like many places in the Kei.
The nice thing is there are only really three spots to concentrate on and one of them will be fishable in almost any conditions or wind.
To the left (North) of the cottages is Shark Point. A brilliant spot where you can get Garrick as well as huge Sharks. It is not an easy spot to land large sharks (no spot at mazeppa is really). When fishing here don’t over look putting a chokka bait in the white water right next to the point for a cob!!

Directly in front of the cottages is the island. This place can boil with garrick and the best spot is about 3/4 up the left hand side where the waves hit the shelf and cause a band of white water. For sharks you can fish off the left hand side or straight off the front. When the sea is relativly calm straight off the front is probabbly best and it is one of the easiest places to land large sharks at mazeppa.
To the south of the cottages is the Boiling Pot. Another amazing spot where you can expect almost anything in the ocean to rock up. Smaller sharks can be landed in the boiling pot itself but larger sharks need to be worked to the beach………MUCH easier said than done!! This spot is also very good for cob and other edibles.
As the beach starts south of the boiling pot is the 1st river….this is not really worth fishing unless you want to drop shot for moonies etc!!
If the sea is not being productive and you have a bakkie with diff lock or pref 4X4 you can drive out of Mazeppa and about 5kays out you will see a dirt road heading to the left. If you take this and follow it through the huts you will come to a trading store sort of thing and from there you will see a track heading down to the second river.
This is a little hidden gem and i beg you to please release all fish caught. It is a tiny river but there are really nice cob to be taken. If you get some live mullet you go the the spot where there is a cliff opposite you…you can’t miss it. you basically bounce your mullet off the cliff and it is in the deepest part of the river…(it is very narrow here). You can catch loads of cob this way (3-8kilos)…
You can also have a great time with dropshot and rapalas. But please release your catch……i have seen guys slaughter the fish here and it is just WRONG in such a tiny river!!”

Article from Overberg Angling

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It’s comical just how infatuated many fishermen can get on the subject of whether a selected color combination is productive. I know I’ve said it a million times before, but I’ll say it again: Most times it is Normally it will be considerations completely unrelated to lure color that take a lure from average to extraordinary.

As an example, lets talk about a commonly used lure painting color. It’s a color that heaps of guys swear by, and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that very often the fish would have more chance of spotting a flying pig than seeing this particular color!

Are you ready for this? It’s red! That’s right, Red. If you believe that maybe I am not the full quid, I want you to be aware that there is rock-solid scientific evidence why fish mostly see the color red as grey. It’s hard to find things in fishing that can be backed up by real science, but in this case you have.

This is why: The long wavelengths that appear red to our eyes don’t have the ability to pierce very deep into the water, even when the water is very clean and the sun is very bright and directly overhead. For any fish to be able to see the color red, those longer wavelengths have to penetrate past the water surface, through the water and bounce from and on to the fish. It’s impossible for them to do that if they can’t infiltrate more than the first couple of feet!

As if that’s not enough, there is a long list of other things that diminish the visibility of red colored lures to fish. To give an example, if the sun gets low on the horizon the light hits the water at a greater angle, which diminishes the penetration of longer wavelengths more still. The result is that even at quite shallow depths, lures painted in red start to appear grey to fish during the hours around dawn or dusk.

Likewise if the water isn’t crystal clear – the depth to which the red wavelengths can infiltrate is significantly reduced. Even a moderate amount of ripple or chop on the surface has exactly the same effect in diminishing the visibility of red.

In exceptional circumstances, lures that are mostly red in color can be distinctly red to around 10 metres or 33 feet deep. Beyond that depth they will look like shades of grey. Most of us would have more chance of spouting a second head than ever experiencing such perfect circumstances!

Within fresh water fisheries, coastal systems and estuaries, reds vanish much faster – often as little as one metre, or 3 feet, which is not too deep for the majority of diving lures.

And how does this affect surface lures? Well, hold a red colored fishing lure overhead with a bright light behind and notice how the red hues are not so noticeable from below. What you see now is a silhouette.

That makes the ”proven” wooden lure making tradition of painting a splash of red around the throat to mimic the gills and throat of bait fish is little more than an old fishing tale!

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