After a spell of terrible weather, which kept most of us off the sea, we had our break and planned to make full use of it.
On Sunday the 7th November, Wayne Ritchie, Divan Coetzee, Ettienne de Villiers, Riaan Pretorius and I launched Wayne’s 900 Cobra cat “Big W”. We had entered the Master Builders Association Gamefish Competition held at the Meerensee Boat Club. The first day had been bad weather and we opted not to fish. Other boats launched and there were a few Dorado, tuna and sailfish around.
We headed for the castle with a SE wind of about 12-15knots. The forecast indicated the wind would settle and it was going to be a great day. The water was clean at 40m so I decided to put out a small high speed lure while we ran out, hoping to get a wahoo. In 55m we slowed to put out the lures and Riaan started retrieving the high speed lure. Halfway to the boat, he shouted that he was on! Classic. The fish gave a bit of a tussle before Divan gaffed a 5kg yellowfin. Wayne increased the speed to about 8 knots and Divan and I put out some lures. Div was busy placing a lure in the spread when the rod buckled in his hands. He was also into a yellowfin of about 8kg. We reset the lures and continued trolling.
At 350m we turned shallower as there had been more surface activity near the 100m mark. Moments later, the close lure was taken and a Dorado launched into the air. Seconds later the long rigger came down and a second Dorado, bigger than the first, took to the air. Riaan and Ettienne took the rods. We were busy retrieving the other lines when there was a loud crack. The next thing, the centre rigger fell from the sky and landed on the deck! Moments later the 130Lbs reel started running. We were on with 3! Chaos reigned for a few minutes as 3 guys tried to control 3 dorado. When the dust had settles, one Dorado made it to the fish hatch with the others pulling hooks. After clearing the deck and assessing the situation, we realised that the centre rigger had broken on a previously welded section which had become weak. When the Dorado took the lure, the rigger could not handle the strain and broke. Not to worry, we made a make shift plan and were trolling a full spread in no time.
We heard over the radio that one of the boats had a strike a bit shallower so we headed to the area where we had seen some skipjack feeding. At about 8:45 in 133m, the short port rigger lure was eaten. The fish took off to the starboard side at speed, so I picked up the rod and weaved my way through the other lines which were being retrieved by everyone else. The fish changed direction and shot past the starboard rigger causing the line to cut through the water. I tried to retrieve the slack but the fish was too fast. Wayne opened the throttle and after what seemed like ages, the line took tension. I handed the rod to Riaan who was by now in the standup harness. We clipped him in and left him to fight the fish which was still unidentified.
The fish fought on the surface for most of the fight and after about 30mins we caught a glimpse of it. It was a blue marlin of about 100kg. About 15 mins, I took the trace and Divan tagged the fish. After a few photos, we released a healthy fish which swam away strongly. This was Rianns first marlin and he had fought it well.
With a spring in our steps, we set the lines and Wayne continued working the area. About half n hour later, I saw a sharp dorsal fin followed by a sickle tail slicing through the water towards the short port lure (again). I shouted to the guys and everyone saw the bill and dorsal come up behind the lure as the marlin tried to eat it. The fish missed the lure about 4 times before it found the hooks and we were hooked up. The large dorsal indicated that this was a striped marlin and because Wayne had not caught one yet, we gave him the strike. I ran upstairs and took over the controls while the other lines were cleared. When Wayne was clipped in, he pulled the fish to the boat relatively easily.
About 30m from the boat, the marlin stuck its head out the water and then instantly turned away from us and greyhounded away almost pulling Wayne over the transom. At this stage, I put both 300HP Suzzies into reverse and charged the fish down. It looked like a scene from ESPN with white water coming over the transom. Absolutely spectacular! The fish stopped jumping and the fight slowed down. When we neared the fish, we could see that it had become tail wrapped. Luckily, as Divan took the leader, the line unwrapped and Divan could grab the bill. Ettienne tagged the fish and after a few quick photo and a reviving session, the striped marlin was released. Great! 2 marlin in as many hours!
The competition’s lines up was at 11:30 and apart from a quick strike with a skipjack tuna, the day ended. We were fortunate to do well in the comp and ended up taking the top billfish boat and the second biggest Dorado with a fish of 12,4kg. Congrats to Wayne, Riaan and the crew on a great achievement!
