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!
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