Real men don't drink pink drinks

After a great day of dorado fishing off Richards Bay On Saturday, I was absolutely buggered and planned to get a good nights sleep. A mate of mine, Michael Duvenage, phoned me at about 7pm on Saturday evening to ask what had happened on the water. After telling him the story, he said that he and his Dad, Hannes, were going to sea the next day. I mentioned to him that if the two of them needed someone to share their boat lunch with, I would be happy to join them, but left it at that.

I went to sleep at about 8pm and slept like the dead. At about 04:45 my phone rang. I was still fast asleep but managed to make out that it was Michael. They were already at the ski-boat club and if I wanted to join them for a day pulling lures for marlin, I was more than welcome to. I told him I would be there in 15 mins. Dragging myself out of bed, I dressed and made my way to the club. When I arrived, the boat was already in the water with the outriggers up, an arsenal of 80Lbs and 130Lbs Penn Internationals at the ready and everyone waiting to go. Hannes has a beautiful 21ft Yeld Cat called “Lihann” powered by two 140 Suzuki’s. It is a pleasure fishing on his boat.

I boarded “Lihann” and Hannes opened the motors, heading out the harbour in a northerly direction. The area we intended working was about 30km north of Richards Bay called “Dawsons”. There had been quite a few marlin taken in that area over the past few days. At about 40 meters the water was purple and warm. There was almost no wind and the sea was as calm as a mill pond. Michael and I went to work setting the five lines. On the Shotgun (or Japan as we know it) Michael put out a 9inch cup-faced lure in the Lumo-Sprocket colour made by one of the local lure manufacturers (Moldtech) – we refer to it as an ‘Ice Cream’. This was headed by a medium sized bird. On the left long rigger, was a pink and white 12” Mold Craft Bobby Brown. On the right long rigger was a large halfbeak rigged on a 10/0 stainless mustad big game hook. There was an Islander Express over the top of this. On the left short rigger was a blue and white Williamson Bonito Smoker and on the right short rigger was a Pulsator purple and black Stripey Tickler (the one I used the previous day for the dorado). Off the transom we ran 2 teasers. One was a chain of Moldcraft squids followed by a medium super chugger. The other was a weighted swimming teaser covered in mirrors … a real Saturday night special! With all this paraphernalia out the back, Hannes worked his way deeper.

We had enjoyed the outing for a few hours with some great 80’s music in the background when Hannes shouted “Daar is hy!”. Michael and I both almost got whiplash spinning our heads to the spread. All I saw was a bit of a splash on the left long, then nothing. A few seconds later, the bill and dorsal of a marlin appeared behind the Bobby Brown lure. The fish looked determined to eat the lure and grabbed it in a ball of white foam. The rigger bent toward the fish as the line took the full tension of the strike. Next thing, the line started running off the 80Lbs International, but there was a problem … the line was slipping through the rubber band and so, the line ran from the rod tip to the rubber band in the rigger and then to the fish which was now taking line at an increasing pace. Michael and I jumped for the rigger clip and managed to break the rubber band. Not the line was where it should be. To my surprise, Hannes and Michael looked at me and said I should get in the chair - something I was not expecting. Normally I would drive the boat or assist on the deck when a billfish was hooked, but now I found myself in the fighting chair after so many years. Needless to say I was a bit rusty.

Hannes and Michael cleared the deck double time and I settled into the fight. The marlin was still taking line steadily when it jumped for the first time. No matter how many times I see a marlin jump, my legs still go like jelly. It is an awesome sight and I wish every angler gets the opportunity to see it at least once in their lifetime. The marlin only jumped that one time before it calmed down. Hannes slowed the boat’s speed to idle and I began the work of putting line back in the reel. I can remember joking during the fight that if it was a striped marlin we were going to boat the fish because that was one species that I still needed to tick off of my species list. After about 15 minutes the marlin was near the boat. We had all seen that it was a small fish and so planned to release it.

The leader came up and Michael took hold of it. Due to the angle of the sun, I could not make out the specie until it was about 2 meters away. At first I thought it was a small blue, but when the fish opened it’s dorsal fin, I could not believe my eyes … it was a stripey! I was over the moon. The fact that the fish had not jumped much and it had come to the boat so quickly meant that it was still very energetic. This normally translates to a lot of thrashing next to the boat and usually the first aid kit is needed if the wireman is not wide awake! Michael took hold of the bill and the fish protested wildly! There was A LOT of white water coming over the gunwale and I can vividly remember the sound of Michaels hands being slammed against the side of the boat!
At one stage the fish decided that an “out of the water” approach would be better and launched itself into the air with Michael hanging on for dear life – Real ESPN stuff.

Hannes tried to put the ORI tag into the fish, but the soft stainless of the new tags folded over when it hit the marlin’s skin. After battling to straighten the tag, we decided to release the fish before it sustained any damage. Michael removed the hook and let the marlin be on its way. To say that we were happy was an understatement! There were hugs and shouts and yes … the inevitable air punches but luckily no pink drinks!

I was handed the video camera just before Michael took the bill, so I managed to get the whole thing on video. It is a classic man vs fish clip that had us in stitches every time we watched it.

Once the celebrations were over, Micheal and I set the lines again and we continued trolling. The fish was released by 8:30am so we had the whole day to find a second marlin. We were in 275m of water when I saw a big swirl on the port side of the boat just behind the halfbeak. I was not sure what it was until I saw the marlin come flying down the swell, all of its lights on, after the bait. I shouted to Michael and Hannes as the rubber band popped. I fed the fish for a few seconds and put the drag up. The fish took some line before the hook came out. It took the bait a second time but the same thing happened. The fish faded off to the japan lure where it grabbed it with a size splash. The rigger popped and the fish took about 40m of line before the hook pulled! Frustrating to say the least!

We reset the lines and continued trolling. About 3 hours later, a dorado came flying into the spread and ate the left short lure on the 130Lbs rig. The reel did not even tick once, the dorado just pulled along on the surface at the same speed that we were trolling. It was unceremoniously brought to the boat and lifted over the gunwale and straight into the open hatch. As soon as a dorado touches the deck, it goes completely mad! And it is not a good idea to get close to it with a few 12/0 marlin hooks flying around the place! Obout an hour later, other dorado fell to the same left short lure. It also ended up in the hatch with great speed!

The halfbeak had been damaged by the marlin strike so Michael replaced it with a belly shine from a dorado which was put on the right long rigger. Just as we were about to pack up, the strip bait was eaten by another small fish. I brought the fish in very quickly on 80Lbs tackle and Michael put a tag into it before releasing it. It actually felt good releasing a tuna for a change!

When it came time to pack up, I was given the honour of hoisting the release flag for my first striped marlin. What a feeling! We were back on shore by about 4pm and then it was time for the traditional drink for people that had caught a marlin. The Richards Bay Ski Boat Club has a “Yard of Ale” that is filled with 12 tots and 2 cans of mix. This beast of a drink is shared by the whole crew until the bulb of the bottom of the glass is reached, then it is up to the angler to polish it. Who am I to mess with tradition?! Bottoms up! What a great way to end a great day!

First Holiday Launch, 5 December 2009

With Summer in full swing, the dorado have started making an appearance. I did not have leave over the festive season because I took too much during the year (but it was worth it!). I received phone calls from people who were catching sailfish, marlin and some dorado on a regular basis. This just made me enjoy work like you can’t believe.

After looking out the window and seeing beautiful conditions for the past week, I had had enough. I checked the weather report (something I do religiously during the week!) one last time. Typically the weather will be perfect in the week and on Friday at around 2pm … when I knock off work … the cold front will move in and the SW winds will howl until Sunday afternoon. The prediction was for a SE wind of 15 knots swinging round to a NE in the afternoon.

I knocked off work and went down to the Richards Bay Ski Boat Club (RBSBC) to see what the other boats had caught. There were a few dorado and two marlin releases. Not exactly fireworks. I phoned a good mate of mine, Divan Coetzee, and asked him if he wanted to join me the following day. He was also in the unfortunate position of not having leave, so he was just as frustrated as I was. We decided that regardless what the weather was going to throw at us, we were going.

My plan for the following day was to run north to an area called the castle (several high points on the 50m ledge that runs the length of the NE coast of South Africa) with the wind. I would load up on live bait and then pull small lures up the ledge hoping for a few small bonito. I would rig the bonito for marlin bait and if there were no bonito around, I would pull the mackerel instead. At the end of the day, when the wind had turned NE, I would be able to come back with the wind – Brilliant!

So, at 04:30 on Saturday morning, my alarm went off. I looked out the window and saw that there was a bit of a breeze. I took a quick peek at my ultimatum tree (the tallest tree on the block which was a great indicator as to what to expect). It was a 50:50 call. Oh bugger it, I’m going. Divs arrived at about 04:45 and we hitched the boat and left for the club.

We were fishing on my Dad’s boat “Selfish”. It is an 18ft Hunter built by Trimcraft powered by two 60HP Mariner Bigfoots. The boat was built in 1994 but has been stored in a garage ever since, so it looks pretty good … if I do say so myself.

When we arrived at the club, I was surprised to see that there were no other boats out. Apparently the other skippers/crews were fair weather fisherman and decided to give the day a skip. Obviously they had been on leave for a few days already and were not as desperate as us. We launched at about 05:15 and headed out the harbour mouth and turned north. I headed East at first toward a few bait spots of mine. The sea conditions were less than perfect. There was a 15knot SE blowing with about a 2m swell. This was uncomfortable to say the least! At least the water was a beautiful blue colour and 25 degrees with a bit of current in a N to S direction.

When we arrived at the bait spot, we both dropped down with the sabiki bait jigs and instantly produced a full string of mackerel! Divs and I were busy making bait when I noticed a swirl on the surface about 30m away. I had a suspicion that it was a dorado and quickly tied a 6/0 single onto one of the game rods. I then grabbed a live mackerel, hooked it through the nose and flicked it overboard, free lining it. About 30 seconds later the line went tight. I fed the fish for a few seconds then pushed the drag up to strike. On! It turned out to be a small dorado of about 5kg. Divs and I put about 20 mackerel and about 10 maasbankers into the hatch before heading north to the castle.

On arrival, I rigged two halfbeaks (one on the japan line and the other on the port long rigger). This was just for incase a sailfish was in the area. I then put out a small black and purple Pulsator “Stripey Tickler’ on the starboard long rigger on the 50Lbs marlin rod, this was for the small black marlin that were being caught on the ledge. On the flat lines, I put out 3 halcos. These were intended for the bonito.

With the spread out I headed north zig zagging the ledge from 45m to 65m as I went. It was about 20 mins before one of the halco rods had a strike. It ended up being another dorado. When Divs brought the fish to the boat, it had a follower. I hooked on a live mackerel and flicked it out. It was like feeding candy to a baby. On! With 5 lines still in the water, two fish on, an unsettled sea and both of us trying to keep our balance, it was a bit of a mission to keep everything under control. Luckily everything went according to plan and we managed to get both fish.

I made a turn over the spot where we got the initial strike. The halco that had the strike earlier jumped out of the water due to the boat surging down the swell. I asked Divan to bring it in so that it could be tuned. As he got to the rod, the reel screamed. On with another dorado. I slowed the boat down to fight the fish when the port rigger popped - On with the second dorado. I left the second rod in the holder and waited for Divs to boat his fish. He then took the other rod and managed to boat the second fish as well.

The lines went back in and I continued north. The sea was gradually getting better and the clouds were burning off, letting the sun come through. The lures looked really good as they smokes behind us with the swell. Things were quiet for about 30 minutes when the starboard rigger popped. The 50Lb rod bent a bit and line slowly left the spool. Divan was tired of pulling fish and refused to take the rod. He said it way my turn and that he was busy with some other “stuff” at the moment. I reluctantly took the rod and pulled a good dorado into the boat.
I put out the lure again and had just settled down when the same rigger popped. This time I had “Stuff” to do and told Divan to pull the fish. He unceremoniously lifted our 7th dorado into the boat.

It was now about 9am and the other boats bad plucked up the courage to launch. There were three other boats near us, but they were battling to get fish. Everything went quiet from then on. We continued north about 10km in which time we had one other strike from a small wahoo. Unfortunately the fish pulled hooks at the boat. By 11am the sun was out and the white caps had vanished. It was turning into a beautiful day. I suggested that we bring in the lures and rig the mackerel for live baiting. I had brought a 50Lbs and a 30Lbs marlin rod with for the day. I was looking to catch a small marlin on standup tackle. If a black marlin happened to eat the 30Lbs outfit, and it was over 118kg, it would be a new SA record. The challenge was on.

I rigged 2 mackerel on 14/0 circle hooks on 250Lbs trace. The bridle I used was a #32 rubber band. After putting the 30Lbs outfit out about 25m, I attached the line to the starboard rigger clip with a thinner rubber band and put about 8m of drop back into the water. The 50Lbs outfit was set at 15m and attached to the port rigger also with 8m of dropback. I headed out from the 50m ledge toward deeper water. The marlin had been coming out between 75m and 200m of water so I wanted to troll in that depth range.

At 12:00 we were in 90m the starboard rigger popped followed shortly by the port rigger. I fed the fish on the 30Lbs while Divan fed the one on the 50Lbs. We both tightened up at the same time. Divan went tight but my fish came off. I retrieved the line as fast as I could to make way for Divan. As I did this, a good size dorado came flying out of the water after the hook that was pulling a bubble through the water. I lifted the hook into the boat and hooked another live bait and flicked it to the waiting dorado. It gulped it down as it hit the water. I fed the fish and tightened up. The hook missed again! By now, Divan’s fish had started jumping, showing itself to be a nice big dorado, with a follower! I went into panic mode and grabbed the first rod I could find with a ‘J’ hook on it. On went the live bait and into the water. It was a coconut every time we fed a fish a live bait. Now we had 2 fish taking line in opposite directions. I put my rod into the holder and got another rod ready for Divan’s follower. Divan shouted that the free swimming fish was around the boat, so I flicked it a bait. Coconut! Now there were three! Divan pulled the fish hard on the 50Lbs and I lifted the dorado into the boat and straight into the hatch. Divs took the next rod and pulled that fish in aswell. After being pulled around by a few fish, he downed tools and told me to bring in the last fish (which was about 100m out by now!) A short while later and the last fish of the triple hookup was onboard. Brilliant!

It was getting late so I rerigged the baits and trolled south toward the harbour. In about 60m of water, just deeper than the ledge, Divan spotted an old net floating in the water. I trolled past it and was rewarded with a double strike. We fed both fish but the line never picked up. I retrieved the lines to see that one of the rubber bands was bitten off and the other had pulled through the head of the mackerel. I assumed that these were small wahoo as some of the other boats had caught shoal size wahoo in the same area earlier in the day.

We decided to make another turn around the net and had a dorado come swimming next to the boat. It quickly turned to the baits and with little surprise, the rigger with the 30Lbs popped. Divan connected the fish and brought it into the boat. While this was happening, I let out the 50Lbs a bit futher and put it into the starboard rigger. Divan rerigged the 30Lbs and put it out. About 15mins later, the starboard rigger popped. I fed the fish and had a solid hookup. This time the rod bent double and the reel took off! I told Divs that I suddenly had “Stuff” to do and that he should take the rod. To my surprise, he laughed at me and handed me the harness – great, with friends like that who needs enemies! In any event, I strapped myself in and pulled the fish hard. My back was aching after 20 mins but I was determined to beat the fish. After a strong hard fight, I managed to get a hammerhead shark of about 140-160kg to the boat. The leader was quickly cut and the shark went on his was.

I had had enough for one day so Divan and I cleared the deck to go home. I increased the speed and headed for home. I did not want to pound all the way, so I slowed to about 12 knots and asked Divs to put out the 50Lbs rod with the black and purple “Stripey Tickler”. We had done about 500m when I noticed the lure was tumbling a bit too much. I told Divan to let the line out a bit further to stop it from jumping out the swell. He was busy letting the line out when the reel took off in his hands, burning his fingers a bit. He put up the drag and attended to his fingers. I didn’t understand what was going on until I saw the rod bending and the dorado jumping out the back - Classic! To add insult to injury, I told Divs that I was a bit busy and he would have to catch the fish. After a few choice words, he brought the dorado to the boat … and believe it or not … there was a follower! By now it was second nature … hook a mackerel … flick it out … coconut! This brought the total for the day to 14 dorado.

By now both of us were tired and the rods were packed away and we headed for home. What a Legend day! Thanks Divs!