VIDEO: Couta and snapper fishing

King mackerel or couta can be hooked near the ocean surface, while red snapper dwell on or near the ocean floor.

Couta will be a target species at Quattro King of the Sea at Pumula on the KZN south coast this weekend.

However, competitors will not be allowed to target bottom fish.

Billfish will also be off the menu at Quattro.

Couta certainly tend to fight better than snapper, but the bottom fish are much tastier in my opinion.

It is no wonder Captain Wiggins is so quick to release his couta, while opting to keep the snapper for dinner.

Couta tend to have much sharper teeth than bottom dwellers.

However, handle all your catches with care as fins and other sharp bits can hurt.

It also improves survival chances if you handle a fish carefully before releasing it.

A circle hook is also useful in minimising damage to fish.

I hope to share some awesome footage and photos from the action at Pumula this weekend.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy Captain Blair and his contrasting catches.

 

Twitter - @SportswaveAndre