A slow start but strong finish

On Saturday the 24^th July, Michael ,Divan, Heindrich and I launched “Lihann” off Richards Bay to target Garrick. There had been a number of fish caught during the week and we were looking forward to an action packed day.

Our first stop was at the end of the pipeline where we normally catch bait. Divan and I went down with sabiki jigs hoping for shad, but instead came up with full strings of maasbanker. I am not personally a big fan of a maasbanker as a Garrick bait so we continued looking for better bait. After moving around a bit, we happened upon a shoal of mackerel. I handed the bait rod to Heindrich so that he could fish for a bit. While they were loading the mackerel, I rigged up a game rod with a bottom trace, pinned a live mackerel and sent it down. At the end of the first drift, I retrieved the bait to find it had been chopped. I rigged another bait and sent it down on the next drift. After a few minutes, the rod bumped and I fed the fish for a short while then struck. The fish ripped off line at a fast speed before I turned it. We all thought it was a shark, but the deep hard fight with constant tail beats suggested otherwise. I got the fish to the boat where Michael lifted it into the boat. It was a yellowfin tuna of about 5kg which we released. After catching quite a number of mackerel, we decided to head shallower to look for bait at a different spot. In 12m off the caravan park, I sent down the sabiki. It had just hit the bottom when I hooked something that felt like a shad. I quickly lifted it into the boat and saw that it was a tiny cuda of around 35cm, probably the smallest I have ever caught. I kept this as a pitchbait for the coming marlin season. We managed to catch several large pinky’s and then headed for the south pier to look for Garrick.

We rigged 2 mackerel, 1 maasbanker and a pinky and slow trolled along the backline toward new mouth and then turned back towards the pier. By 12:30 we had only had 1 half hearted strike on a mackerel so the decision was made to up lines and run north between 5 mile lighthouse and groenkop hoping that there would be a few fish holding in the rips. The baits went out and the trolling continued without a touch. After checking the baits, Divan opted to change his bait to a sand mackerel hoping that this would trigger a strike. About 15mins later, I saw a big swirl between the lines. Divan’s scarborough reel started spinning as something ate the sand mackerel. Divan fed the fish for a while before setting the hook. The fish headed straight for the backline which was a sure indication that it was a Garrick. The fish came to the boat where I gaffed Divan’s first Garrick of about 5kg.

The lines went out again and we trolled slowly north. At 16:15 the deep line with the pinky had a strike. I fed the fish but the line didn’t pickup. After a few moments, I put up the drag and wound the reel to check what had happened. The line started cutting through the water to the front of the boat and I realised the fish had taken the bait and swam toward me. I set the hook and passed the rod to Heindrich. The fish gave us a hard time around the boat, but eventually we managed to load the 7kg Garrick.

The lines went out quickly again to use what light was left and not 10mins later, the deep line with a pinky was taken. Divan fed the fish and hooked up. Michael took the rod and fought a 6kg Garrick to the boat where Divan gaffed it.

We were hopeful to get a fourth fish so that we all could have caught one, but it was not to be. At 17:00 we upped lines and headed for the harbour. After a slow start to the day, it ended off with a bang. We are all looking forward to the next day’s Garrick fishing.

Garrick Galore

At 7:30am on Sunday the 18^th July, Jacques Spence (Tjokkie) and I launched “KC”, a 14ft ski-vee to fish for Garrick. We headed for the end of the pipeline to catch live bait. This is always the hardest part of Garrick fishing because without livebait you are dead in the water. I sounded around the marks for a few minutes to locate the bait shoals. After about 4 drifts, I found a spot where the showings looked good. Tjoks and I caught a few pinky’s, razorbellies and maasbankers but not the shad that we were looking for. I filleted a few of the razorbellies and both Tjoks and I baited up with this. We both dropped on the showing and immediately went on. Tjoks lifted 6 shad into the boat while I had 3 shad and 7 missing hooks... Game on! Tjoks had a heavy duty sabiki rig on so I held the boat on the spot while he caught bait. With the live well full, Tjoks and I headed for the south pier to look for garrick.

We arrived at 9:30 and I rigged up 3 shad, two on spinning rods and one on conventional tackle. There were a lot of people fishing off the pier and I could not get close enough to be productive. I opted to make my was along the pier working south towards the New Mouth area, along the backline. At just after 10am, I saw two Garrick chasing baitfish near the surf. This was exactly what I was hoping for. I headed for the area and a few minutes later, I saw a fish surface near the baits. I picked up the rod and held it in free spool anticipating the strike. I felt the bait rev and then there was a heavy pull on the line. After feeding the fish, I set the hook and passed the rod to Tjoks. The fish surfaced in the surf shaking its head violently. On the second breach, the hook and fish parted company and we were left with a mauled shad and 0-1 score to the Garrick, but we knew they were there. I rerigged the bait and continued along the backline and as we approached a good rip, the far bait was eaten. Again I fed the fish and hooked up before passing the rod to Tjoks. The other lines were cleared and the fish was brought to the boat. There was a second fish with it, but it refused to eat the bait that we offered it. I gaffed the fish and rigged up again.

Tjoks and I both agreed that the area we had just been through had a number of fish in it, so I turned around and headed north. We had not gone 100m when the bait on the spinning rod was eaten. I fed it and tightened up as the fish surfaced some distance away. Again Tjoks took the rod and fought a nice fish to the boat. He wanted to release it and so I traced the fish and when it was close, I cut the leader and it kicked away strongly. 2-1 to team “KC”... much better!

By now I was itching to get my first Garrick of the season and I didn’t have to wait long for a chance. We were nearing the pier when the close bait revved and then disappeared in a big swirl. I fed the fish and hooked up. At this stage, there were two other boats next to us and I am sure they were a bit envious that we were hooking up at such regular intervals (I know I would be!). As the fish neared the boat, I noticed that it had a tag in it so we put the fish on the deck, measured it, cleaned the tag and released it. 3-1 team “KC”. Great stuff.

By now, we were seeing a pattern and most of the fish were being caught on a colour line formed by the outgoing tide. I rode back to the beginning of the rip and put the baits out. We had just settled when a fish swirled between the lines. One of the shad jumped out of the water and when it landed, a Garrick engulfed it. This fish was on a light spinning rod and after I fed the fish, I set the hook. The fish ran for a short distance and then spat the bait. 3-2 ... we were slipping! Again I went back to the start of the rip and put out the baits. After about ten minutes, the far bait on the spinning rod was eaten and after feeding it, I hooked up. The fish fought strongly and after a good tussle, Tjoks gaffed a nice Garrick for me.

The other boats had moved away by now and we had the area to ourselves. Again the baits went in and 20 minutes later, when baits were in the same area as the previous strike, the close bait was eaten. I handed the rod to Tjoks to feed the fish himself. He did a great job and set the hooks like a pro! I had left the other lines in while I headed out of the danger zone and next thing the far bait was eaten again. I hooked up and we were on a double! Both fish fought away from each other any making it easy to handle. Tjoks brought his fish in first and after it was gaffed, he returned the favour and gaffed my fish. 6-2 team “KC” ... Awesome!

We had a shad and a pinky left so we rigged them both and made one last turn. Like clockwork, the shad was eaten and Tjoks fed the fish. I was clearing the other line and when the pinky was about 5m away, a Garrick came flying up behind the bait. I stopped winding and opened the bail of the reel to feed to feed the fish, but it just circled the bait and in a flash disappeared. Tjoks tightened up on his fish and I helped with the motors. The fish took about 30m of line before it spat the bait! Unlucky. 6-3 Team “KC”. It was 14:30 and we were now out of bait and the see was picking up due to a 15 knot NE wind, so we decided to call it a day. The fish were weighed and they ranged from 8-10kg. The information on the tagged fish was astounding. It was tagged 323 days prior off Richards Bay and had grown 20mm. What made it unbelievable was that it was tagged by me! What are the chances - Classic! What's more is that this was the fish that I won the Captain Morgan Challenge with! Needless to say, Ihave entered it again and who knows, maybe my ticket #13 comes up again!