After a great day on Saturday, and copious amounts of Brandy and Coke, we were a bit slow on Sunday morning, 12 December. At woke me at 5:00am and after the morning ritual of coffee and rusks, we hitched the boat. At’s son in law, Hubert Beuken, and Justin Otto were joining At and myself for the day. We launched in near perfect conditions and after an extremely easy launch, we settled into the daily routine of catching small livies on the sabiki rigs. After we had a few baits, we headed for Oscar.
When we arrived at Oscar, there were already 6 boats there. We knew we were going to battle for bait as all the boats riding up and down the pinnacles pushes the bait down, making them almost impossible to catch – hence the need to be on the water as early as possible. Hubert and I put out the usual selection of lures and At worked the pinnacles looking for a bait. After an hour or more we finally caught a bonito of about 6kg. It went into the tube and we continued our search. Divan was fishing on the boat “Deep Burn” to the north of us and he called At to tell him that they had a skipjack tuna for us. At headed in their direction but decided not to pull lines in and run as the bonito would probably not make the trip. We increased the revs a bit and trolled towards “Deep Burn”. About half way, one of the halco’s was eaten and the reel took off at speed. I handed the rod to Hubert and turned to the closest rod – with the islander Saillure - to retrieve it. When I looked into the water, I saw a sailfish chasing the lure. I gave two or three winds and the sailfish grabbed the lure. I gave it a few quick strikes and the fish took off. After anout 20m the hooks unfortunately pulled, but luckily Hubert’s fish was still on. I had just cleared the last line when we saw a sailfish erupt out the water about 100m behind us, the reel was emptying . Only then did we realize that Hubert was also hooked into a sailfish. At turned the boat toward the fish to slow its run and to allow us to gain some line. After about 20 minutes, the sail was near the boat. I was ready with the tag stick and was about to take the leader when At saw that the halco was not in the mouth but in the flank of the fish, three quarters of the way to the tail. Before I could get the tag in, the sail sounded. There was nothing we could do but wait until it tired. After an hour, Hubert managed to get the fish back to the boat. Unfortunately the fish was stone dead by then and we were forced to load the fish. I checked the bonito in the tube and it had perished. I called Divan on the radio and as luck would have it, the skipjack they had had also just given up the ghost – Back to the drawing board, or in our case back to Oscar.
There were by that stage 9 boats on the pinnacles and all signs of activity were gone. At suggested that we look a bit shallower to see if there were bonito on the 20meter depth. I changed the japan lure to a small feather and rigged it on a 50Lbs fluorocarbon leader. In about 23m the feather was eaten. The reel took off at speed but next thing the line parted. There had been a nick in the line from a boat that had crossed our lines earlier that day. We all looked back and saw a dorado dumping with the lure in its mouth. It was a bitter sweet moment because it was not a bait that we lost, but it was a good eating fish that we missed. I stripped about 20 meters of line and rerigged another live glow feather. At worked the shallows with no more success so we headed north and deeper. On the 47m ledge off Vegetation (a mark about 12km north of the launch) the feather and a halco took off. I grabbed the rod with the feather and Hubert the other. The fish were taking a lot of line when mine came off. I retrieved the line to see that the fluorocarbon leader had been bitten off. Hubert brought his fish closer and we saw that it was a wahoo. Probably a pair. I gaffed the fish and after e few quick photos I put it into the hatch – it was Hubert’s first wahoo.
At handed the controls over to me at about 10:30 and lay on the deck. I made a deep turn and decided to go back to Oscar. There were only two boats there by then as most had moved to greener pastures. I made a pass over the pinnacle and the close halco got eaten I ran back and grabbed the rod. As I looked back, I saw a sailfish stick his bill out the water. It was on for a few seconds before the hooks pulled. At was now awake and took over the reins. Both of us were scanning the water for any sign of movement. About 100m in front of us there was a bit of a swirl. At made a B-line for the spot and we were rewarded with a screaming reel. I grabbed the rod and fought the fish gently. I didn’t want to bugger this one up! After most of the line was back on the reel, we looked into the water and saw that most beautiful site … a yellowfin tuna of about 6kg … Finally, a bait! I passed the rod to Hubert and grabbed the fish’s tail. It went into the tube, but only just fitted. At headed for deeper water while I trimmed the baits tail. When we catch big baits, they are almost too strong to swim, so what we do is trim the tail fin using a knife. I cut the fin from the fork of the tail to the tip, effectively halving the swimming power of the fish.
When we were at 70m At told me to rig the bait. I bridled it with a hat elastic attached to a 20/0 circle hook. The tuna was let out about 20m and attached to the rigger with a rubber band. I put about 15 meters of dropback into the water and settled down to wait. At turned the boat in 200m and headed shallower. I prefer the inward tack when marlin fishing because over the years we have noticed that most of our strikes come when we are going shallower. In 180m the rigger revved properly. Hubert and I looked back and saw a blue shape in the water. We thought it was a big dorado so I pulled the bait closer so that it would not get damaged. When I looked again, the flash was a lot bigger than a dorado – it was a marlin! I let the bait out again and as the rigger took tension, the rigger popped. I fed the fish and when it came time to tighten up, there was nothing. I retriever the line and found that the marlin had hit the bridle with it’s bill and it parted. Talk about bad luck! Well, that marlin has not had an easier meal in its life than that!
At that stage, we were almost off of the launch, so we decided to call it a day. We beached and weighed the wahoo and sailfish. The wahoo was 9.8kg and the sailfish was 27,6kg. And a good time was had by all!
When we arrived at Oscar, there were already 6 boats there. We knew we were going to battle for bait as all the boats riding up and down the pinnacles pushes the bait down, making them almost impossible to catch – hence the need to be on the water as early as possible. Hubert and I put out the usual selection of lures and At worked the pinnacles looking for a bait. After an hour or more we finally caught a bonito of about 6kg. It went into the tube and we continued our search. Divan was fishing on the boat “Deep Burn” to the north of us and he called At to tell him that they had a skipjack tuna for us. At headed in their direction but decided not to pull lines in and run as the bonito would probably not make the trip. We increased the revs a bit and trolled towards “Deep Burn”. About half way, one of the halco’s was eaten and the reel took off at speed. I handed the rod to Hubert and turned to the closest rod – with the islander Saillure - to retrieve it. When I looked into the water, I saw a sailfish chasing the lure. I gave two or three winds and the sailfish grabbed the lure. I gave it a few quick strikes and the fish took off. After anout 20m the hooks unfortunately pulled, but luckily Hubert’s fish was still on. I had just cleared the last line when we saw a sailfish erupt out the water about 100m behind us, the reel was emptying . Only then did we realize that Hubert was also hooked into a sailfish. At turned the boat toward the fish to slow its run and to allow us to gain some line. After about 20 minutes, the sail was near the boat. I was ready with the tag stick and was about to take the leader when At saw that the halco was not in the mouth but in the flank of the fish, three quarters of the way to the tail. Before I could get the tag in, the sail sounded. There was nothing we could do but wait until it tired. After an hour, Hubert managed to get the fish back to the boat. Unfortunately the fish was stone dead by then and we were forced to load the fish. I checked the bonito in the tube and it had perished. I called Divan on the radio and as luck would have it, the skipjack they had had also just given up the ghost – Back to the drawing board, or in our case back to Oscar.
There were by that stage 9 boats on the pinnacles and all signs of activity were gone. At suggested that we look a bit shallower to see if there were bonito on the 20meter depth. I changed the japan lure to a small feather and rigged it on a 50Lbs fluorocarbon leader. In about 23m the feather was eaten. The reel took off at speed but next thing the line parted. There had been a nick in the line from a boat that had crossed our lines earlier that day. We all looked back and saw a dorado dumping with the lure in its mouth. It was a bitter sweet moment because it was not a bait that we lost, but it was a good eating fish that we missed. I stripped about 20 meters of line and rerigged another live glow feather. At worked the shallows with no more success so we headed north and deeper. On the 47m ledge off Vegetation (a mark about 12km north of the launch) the feather and a halco took off. I grabbed the rod with the feather and Hubert the other. The fish were taking a lot of line when mine came off. I retrieved the line to see that the fluorocarbon leader had been bitten off. Hubert brought his fish closer and we saw that it was a wahoo. Probably a pair. I gaffed the fish and after e few quick photos I put it into the hatch – it was Hubert’s first wahoo.
At handed the controls over to me at about 10:30 and lay on the deck. I made a deep turn and decided to go back to Oscar. There were only two boats there by then as most had moved to greener pastures. I made a pass over the pinnacle and the close halco got eaten I ran back and grabbed the rod. As I looked back, I saw a sailfish stick his bill out the water. It was on for a few seconds before the hooks pulled. At was now awake and took over the reins. Both of us were scanning the water for any sign of movement. About 100m in front of us there was a bit of a swirl. At made a B-line for the spot and we were rewarded with a screaming reel. I grabbed the rod and fought the fish gently. I didn’t want to bugger this one up! After most of the line was back on the reel, we looked into the water and saw that most beautiful site … a yellowfin tuna of about 6kg … Finally, a bait! I passed the rod to Hubert and grabbed the fish’s tail. It went into the tube, but only just fitted. At headed for deeper water while I trimmed the baits tail. When we catch big baits, they are almost too strong to swim, so what we do is trim the tail fin using a knife. I cut the fin from the fork of the tail to the tip, effectively halving the swimming power of the fish.
When we were at 70m At told me to rig the bait. I bridled it with a hat elastic attached to a 20/0 circle hook. The tuna was let out about 20m and attached to the rigger with a rubber band. I put about 15 meters of dropback into the water and settled down to wait. At turned the boat in 200m and headed shallower. I prefer the inward tack when marlin fishing because over the years we have noticed that most of our strikes come when we are going shallower. In 180m the rigger revved properly. Hubert and I looked back and saw a blue shape in the water. We thought it was a big dorado so I pulled the bait closer so that it would not get damaged. When I looked again, the flash was a lot bigger than a dorado – it was a marlin! I let the bait out again and as the rigger took tension, the rigger popped. I fed the fish and when it came time to tighten up, there was nothing. I retriever the line and found that the marlin had hit the bridle with it’s bill and it parted. Talk about bad luck! Well, that marlin has not had an easier meal in its life than that!
At that stage, we were almost off of the launch, so we decided to call it a day. We beached and weighed the wahoo and sailfish. The wahoo was 9.8kg and the sailfish was 27,6kg. And a good time was had by all!
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