Lessons Learnt

On 18^th February 2008, my Dad and I launched “SELFISH” off Richards Bay to fish for cuda. It was a bit early in the season for the big cuda, but this day we were hoping to avoid the bigger fish. I was looking for an SA line class record cuda on 1kg line. Ultra light line and big fast fish are not a good combination so we were looking for the smaller cuda that had been around in the size rang we were after.

We stopped off at a few bait spots but could not find anything. There was not a breath of wind, the water was gin clear and 24 degrees... not great for big cuda. We gave up on live bait and headed off to petingo. Arriving at 9am, we joined the other boats in trolling around the wreck. I put out 2 rods, both with mackerel on the surface. I had very light wires and leaders so my traces were pretty much invisible. I had just put the baits out when the starboard rod bent and the reel took off. Before I could pick up the rod, the fish was off. The 3/0 hooks did not set with the light drag ... that’s par for the course. In went a new bait and my Dad continued trolling. With this light line, you need to be close to the rod so that you can slack the drag as the fish speeds away. Most times, I would only fish with 1 rod and I would hold it all day.

The water was so clean that you could see down the sides of the wreck. There were shoals of bigeye kingfish, seapike, batfish, scads and other bottomfish. It was beautiful! With so much activity, it did not take long for another rev. This time the hooks sat and the fish sped off. The other line was cleared and my Dad chased the fish. I was on it for about 20 minutes when it took another long, deep run. We could not chase the fish as it went down and it managed to get out enough line to result in the friction parting me off. When the line parted, I was in free spool! With this light tackle, the odds are never in your favour.

I rerigged and made another pass over the wreck. Again the rod bent as a fish took off. This time it did not fight on the surface, but rather went deep. The head node indicated that it was probably a kingfish and with such a big structure, it was no surprise when it cut me off... back to the drawing board.

In the next 2 hours, I had 3 other fish on ... presumably cuda. One pulled hooks on the first run and the other two popped the line after about 15 minutes. I had had enough so I brought out the big guns ... the 4kg rod J Now these fish had problems. I pulled one 1kg rig and the 4kg rig. On the first pass over the wreck, the 4kg went. I put some pressure on the fish and turned its head. Not long after, I released a bigeye kingfish of about 3kg... Revenge!

It was now about 11:30am. We were on the southern side of the wreck when I saw the 4kg rod bend a bit. I went to the rod and tightened up. There was a bit of weight, but then the bait came out. I held the bait there and the fish came back. Again, when I tightened up, it was on but then off. I was sure it was a small hammerhead so when the fish came back, I fed it a bit before setting the hook. This time, there was some good weight and the fish took some line. I told my dad not to worry about the other line as it was a shark and I would force it a bit. As I applied more pressure, there was a few big head shakes. I thought it a bit strange and told my Dad that something was not right. My words were not cold when the line angled to the surface and a sailfish out the back! NICE! It took off across the flat surface putting up a great show. The other line was cleared and we followed the fish. In the clear water, the sailfish was clearly visible and we stayed on top of it until it tired a bit. I worked the fish up where my Dad grabbed the bill. I took out a tag and popped it into the shoulder before taking the bill. We revived it for a bit before sending it on its way. We followed it for a few minutes, the orange tag clearly visible from a distance away. Finally it disappeared into the depths. Great. I estimated it at about 18-20kg ... a perfect fish for 1kg. Oh well, lesson learnt.

The day ended without any cuda, but it was still a great day on the sea.