Thats a Wrap!

On 27^th December 2012 at 5:30am, Wayne, Hugo, David and I launched “Galavant” off Richards Bay. We were looking for marlin which seemed to be quite abundant. Wayne headed out to the 100m mark where I set 3 lures and 2 halfbeaks. There were a lot of boats fishing for marlin as the weather conditions were perfect. With all these boats looking for marlin, a trend could be seen and 400m seemed to be the place to be. Wayne worked the 300-500m depth concentrating on the plankton line that formed in the area.

By 11am, several boats had reported released fish and others were fighting. Our turn had to be close. At 11:30, as we moved out the plankton, a really nice blue marlin of around 200kg launched itself out the water and piled on the left long. The rigger popped and 80 Tiagra smoked off. As lines were being cleared, the fish went ballistic on surface taking a lot of line. Hugo strapped into the Black Magic harness and Wayne backed up to recover line. About 100m out the back, the marlin made a few more jumps but something was wrong... it looked tailwrapped. The line angle went down and down as we backed up, trying to put as much line on the reel before the fish went down. By the time the line angle was straight up and down, the drag was already on 14kg. The tempo of the fight slowed and line left the reel at a slow but constant pace. We upped the drag to just under full and but it was too late. The fish had died and sank to the bottom in 350m and only swell pulling line off. With the drag at sunset we turned with what little current there was to try gain momentum and lift the fish. The wind had picked up since we hooked up and was now pushing the boat forward quickly causing us to lose line. Knowing the wind was going to get worse and with it our chances of lifting the fish, I donned a pair of gloves and assisted the line out the water as Hugo wound onto the reel. Wayne did a great job to kept the boat steady in the swell and wind and after 20 minutes, we managed to lift the fish about 70m. It seemed as if the fish was slowly coming up when all of a sudden, under little pressure, the line parted near the fish and Hugo was left to retrieve about 200m of slack line. After working hard for this fish, our efforts went unrewarded... but hey, that’s marlin fishing for you... It was not the first marlin we had lost and it is definitely not the last one we are going to lose. Let’s hope the next fight goes according to plan.

Christmas Garrick

On Christmas afternoon, Carl and I decided to make a final launch out of Buffalo Bay on “ABF”. Over the past few days, we had tried a few spots to get our heads around the area. On these scouting trips, we found a few spots where the maasbankers were shoaling. We also saw a trend with water colour and wind direction which helped us with our daily gameplan.

 

In this day, the Westerly wind had blown a bit and at 3pm, we put to sea. After catching a livewell full of bait, we headed to the blinders between Brenton and the  Western Head. Carl and I were keen to try catch a Garrick, but we were not sure if we were in the correct season, place or using the preferred bait for the area. It seems the locals guard these secrets and leave the newcomers to figure it out themselves. Not to be put off by a challenge, I rigged up our standard Garrick setup, 2 surface baits and 1 deep. Carl slowly trolled between the blinders in the white water while I put out the lines. I was busy with the last line when the far surface bait was eaten. I fed the fish for a while and then tightened up... hookup! There were a few good head nods as it took some line on the surface. I told Carl that it was probably a hammerhead as we had caught several in the previous trips. I slowly brought the fish closer, expecting to be bitten off any moment. It was then that the line angled to the surface and the fish shook its head on the top. Carl and I looked at each other with the same expression. We both knew what specie fought like that... it was a Garrick! Taking it easy, I pampered the fish to the boat where Carl grabbed it by the tail and lifted it into the boat. I don’t think I have ever been so glad to catch a Garrick. The fish measured 82cm fork length and was about 6kg. Not a bad Christmas present.

ABF - Absolute Bloody Final ... First Launch

On Saturday 8^th December, Ray and I launched “ABF” for the first time. My Dad had booked the boat in for the 20hrs service and the motors only had 8 hours on them, so our job was to fill in the extra 12 hours. That meant an early morning and lots of trolling.

By 6am we were on the pipeline catching bait. This was for just in case there were a few dorado around. After getting a few maasies, we headed off to the ledge. The water was not great, so we headed deeper and found a beautiful colour line at 100m. I put out 4 rapalas and a small surface lure and headed north along the line. The water temp was over 25 degrees and the current was ripping! Several boats were already on the line ahead of us, and they had seen a few dorado so we were feeling positive that we would catch the first food fish on the boat. After about an hour, one of the deep diving rapalas went away. Ray took the strike and brought a nice bull dorado to the boat where I gaffed our first fish, hopefully of many. With the pressure off, we continued trolling north. The further we went, the closer the colour line moved in and as luck would have it, the water was clean on the northern point of the ledge. As I crossed over the reef, the deep diver went off again, but unfortunately, the hooks did not stick. On closer inspection, you could see the deep teeth marks of what I suspect was a wahoo. Oh well, that happens. I made a few turns without another pull so continued north. A short while later, another rod went away with a dorado. Again Ray pulled the fish in where it ended up in the hatch with the first.
The clean water moved right in over the next few hours, but apart from another on-off strike, it was quiet so we returned to port at around 3pm.

2012 Hemingways Captain Morgan Challenge

On Friday 23rd November 2012, a group of 50 South Africans arrived at Hemingways Resort for the 2012 Captain Morgan Challenge. After the briefing that evening, everyone had an early night as the travelling had taken it out of all of us.

After breakfast, the 7 boats put to sea and headed to Malindi. Right off the bat, "White Bear" released a sailie followed by "Ol Jogi", "Black Widow" and "Sea Storm". I was fishing onboard "Instedda" with the Captain Morgan team of Erwin Bursik, Greg Rae and Jaco Visser and Richard. By 8:30, the only action we had was from 3 wahoo chops. With all the boats fishing a stone’s throw apart, we could see all the action and were treated to a great display as "Simba" hooked and released a 70kg Black Marlin on a rapala right next to us.

In the next 2 hours, we raised 3 sails but could not get a hook into any. "B's Nest" managed to connect and released a sail. We were the only boat not on the board, but something had to happen... and it finally did. A sail came on the left teaser and switched to the flatline where it was promptly hooked up. Jaco was on strike and released a feisty 20 odd kg sail. While the fish was being released, the skipper had let out the bridge rod and as the rest of the baits went out, I saw a really nice fish come in on the far bait. As I shouted, the skipper fed and hooked up. Greg was on strike and after a 20minute fight, had a 37kg sail on the leader where it was tagged. We were glad that every boat was on the board and by lines up, 14 sails and 1 marlin were tagged.

After a rest day, we headed out to sea on “Black Widow”. It was an exceptionally quiet day without raising a single sail. Out of desperation, we headed out into the deep where we managed a 13kg wahoo (which was the biggest bycatch up until that stage). A total of 3 sails were released for the day.

Our next fishing day was on Wednesday. We put to sea on “White Bear” and ran north to Malindi. There were large shoals of bonnies and frigates with birds working the surface. All the boats caught a few bonnies but failed to raise a sail. After the bait went down, our crew rigged up with fresh strips and circled the area. Not long after, a sail came up on the right long and took the strip. The fish was hooked up and jumped about 5 times before throwing the bait. Half an hour later, a movement behind the right long caught my eye. Moments later a fin appeared behind the bait. I told Jackson, our skipper, that there was a sail on the bait and as he turned to look, the fish came up and knocked the bait out the clip. After following the bait for a bit, it came up again and the crew managed to get a hook into it. The sail made a few great jumps and after backing up to it for 15mins, it was tagged. After a quick photo session, we released Richards first Sailfish. Great!

 

Things went quiet after that and so we worked to the boiling pot where we found 4 dorado before the day ended. Our sail was the only fish released by the fleet.

 

On Thursday, we were treated to a bottom fishing trip out on “Bamara”. This is the owner of Hemingways, Dicky Evens’, boat. Gary Cullen skippered us for the day and we had some great fun catching Ruby Snapper and some really nice Soldiers. The boat was nicknamed “Bamara’s house of pain” after having to fish in 700ft of water, 3 knot current and 35 degree heat! On the way home, we found a few dorado as an added bonus.

 

In all, this trip to Kenya was great fun. There were unfortunately very few fish around but the good times we had and the friends we made, made up for that. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Opening an Account

On Sunday 18^th November at 5:30am, Wayne, Riaan, Dudley, Willis and I launched “GALAVANT” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few striped marlin around the previous day so we were keen to open our account on them.

There was a south wind blowing at about 12knots but the forecast predicted it to get better through the day. As we travelled deeper, the current increased. As a result of the N-S current and the S-N wind, the sea picked up and made trolling really uncomfortable. After several tangles, lure and position changes, we managed to get the lines out as we went about looking for a fish. There were a few birds at around 350 – 400m so we concentrated our efforts in that area.

Due to the rough sea conditions, two of the crew lost their breakfast and took up a comfortable space on the cabin floor. This left us 2 men down but the show had to go on...

I was watching the short rigger lure with a halfbeak behind it. Every time the lure skipped, the long body of the bait would flick into the air and look just like a bill. It caught me off guard a few times, but eventually I got used to it. At around 9:30, I happened to see this bill again, but this time it came in from the left and was followed by a long dorsal fin! I ran to the rod to feed the fish and I must have shouted something because all of a sudden, we had a full complement of crew members on deck. I reached the reel just as the elastic popped so I fed the fish for a count of 10 before tightening up. The rod buckled and the reel ran as a nice striped marlin stuck his head out the water in the middle of the spread. I backed off the drag a bit and let it take some line to get away from the other lines. Meanwhile, the once seasick crew cleared lines as fast as possible. Once everything had settles, Dudley was strapped into the Black Magic harness and fought his first marlin.

After about 20minutes, the leader came up and I took hold of it. The big swell caused havoc but Wayne did a great job to keep the fish in the best position. After letting go a few times, I wrapped the leader and pulled the fish onto the surface. We snapped off a few pics before turning it loose. It was a great feeling to get that fish. Not only was it Dudley’s first, it was the first fish on Wayne’s new boat!

 

The sea started picking up and after trolling for another hour or so, we headed back to the harbour to celebrate this first fish. Thanks to Wayne for the trip and I hope there will be many more fish to come.

Bycatch Bargain

On Saturday 10^th November, Kevin Boonzaaier and I launched “SELFISH” off Richards Bay. We were keen to pull a live bait around for marlin, but there were reports of a few dorado being around so we were geared for anything.

Our first stop was at the pipeline to look for bait. I stopped on the marks and as the sabikis hit the ground, we went on full strings with nice big maasbankers. We made two downs and had enough bait to put a dent into a shoal of dorado ... if we found one. The next stop was on the 45m ledge to see if the mackerel were there. Unfortunately there were only maasbankers so we headed north to the kasteel. We were greeted to a beautiful green to blue  distinct colourline about 50m on the inside of the ledge. I was convinced we would find something along the edge so I put out 4 halcos and a medium sized marlin lure ... just in case. I trolled up the line zigzagging over the ledged. It took all of 20mins to get a pull. Kevin brought the fish in but unfortunately pulled hooks near the boat. I made a turn over the area and went 3 rods away with small bonnies. One pulled hook but the other 2 went into the tubes. We made a quick run to the 100m mark and rigged the first bait. There had been a black released on the 100m mark earlier and a few strikes at 350-400m so I headed out deeper.
The temperature dropped the deeper I went so at 500m I turned and worked shallower. The bait was not doing too great and gave up the ghost so the second bait was rigged. It swam like a machine and after working the 100 to 200m ledge for an hour or so, I made a shallower turn. I noticed a dark shape behind the bait and moments later the rigger revved and popped. After a short feed we tightened up and were solidly hooked up to something... Kevin took the rod and fought the fish with an 80lbs stand up rig. This was the first time he had ever fought a fish on heavy tackle and did very well. Some 20minutes later, the leader came up and we could see a +-80kg hammer. I pulled it closer on the leader then let go as it made another run. A few minutes later, the trace was bitten through. Probably better in the long run.

We were only about 1km from the ledge, so I started putting out the bait lures. I was busy with the 3^rd stick when the furthest rod went away. I passed the rod to Kevin and cleared the others. The fish was right on the surface and I could see that is was a nice wahoo. This was suddenly very nerve-wracking cause the lure was tied directly to the nylon! As Kevin fought the fish, it made a few blistering runs which I tried to slow down by chasing after it. The fish settled down and it became a subtle tug o war. Out of the blue, Kevin said I must quickly take the rod. I took over as he put on an impressive display of digestive pyrotechnics! When the show was over, I handed him the rod to finish the fight. The fish made a few big circles under the boat before coming within range of the gaff. We estimated it at about 15kg and were over the moon with the bycatch...

With food in the hatch, we continued looking for bait and after the second pass over the ledge we managed a 2kg bonnie. I rigged immediately as we were in the last 15 mins of the prime. I trolled to bait to 60m and turned south, slowly heading home. A short while later, the rigger revved and popped. As I was feeding, a huge fin of a great white broke the surface in the area where the bait had been. I fed a bit longer, to insure we would be bitten off (...if it was jaws). After hooking up, the line surfaced behind the white, indicating we were hooked up to something else... Kevin pulled the fish hard on the standup rig and within a few minutes he had a feisty 70kg reef shark on the leader where we released it. It was really nice to be on the water after so long, and to have good sports and something to eat was a bargain.

 

What a start for Stephé

On Saturday 20^th October at 7am, we arrived at the beach at Sodwana. Phillip Marx had just taken delivery of his new 24ft Tomcat “Stephé”. Joining him were Trevor Harvey, Markus and Madelene and myself. After an uneventful launch, we set the spread and headed for Diepgat.

With new Raymarine electronics onboard, Trevor showed Phillip the functionality and setup. Mid way through the lesson, the left long popped and the reel smoked off! A small but angry marlin cleared the water while the dead lines were being cleared. As the last of the lures were lifted into the boat, the fish threw the hooks. Unlucky!

The lures went back in and trolling resumed. At about 8:30, I saw a swirl behind the right short followed by a small bill swatting the lure. The fish seemed a bit lazy and after popping the rigger but not hooking up, it faded off.

Phillip worked the area a bit and at 10:30, a fish came up on the left short. It billed the lure and popped the rigger, still no hookup. I teased the fish a bit and it came up again. This time it took some line before coming off. Again I teased it and the bill appeared behind the lure. As it took the lure, I freespooled it for a few seconds before tightening up. The fish took about 50m before pulling hooks! It seemed like the fish were there, but not aggressive enough to commit on the strike. Speaking to other boats in the area, they were having the same problem. I was hoping that the turn of the tide (11:30) would change their feeding pattern.

As it was, at 12:30, a nice fish came up on the left short but missed. It came back with all its lights on and smashed the lure. The rigger popped and the reel smoked off. The other lines came in in a flash as the fish jumped out the back. Madelene jumped into the chair and took up the rod. The fish took a lot of line so we chased it in forward to slow the run and gain some line. After 15 minutes, the double line came up and soon I had hold of the leader. Slowly I muscled it up but just as I had the trace in hand, the fish took off, ripping the leader out my hands. Almost immediately the fish took to the air and greyhounded for a few hundred meters before settling down again. Every time it came close, it would go on a long run again. After over an hour, Madelene had the fish close again. I took the leader and brought a lovely 350Lbs blue marlin to the boat. Trevor took the bill so that we could remove the hooks but was given a beating second to none! We took a few photos before removing the hooks and turning it loose. Great stuff!

That was all the action that we saw for the day so we headed home very chuffed with a marlin on the first launch.

GALAVANTing

On Saturday 13^th October, a group of friends (Jacques, Divan, Neville, Trevor and I) accompanied Wayne Ritchie on his new boat’s first fishing trip. Wayne had bought a 30ft Citation called “Galavant” and we were all keen to see how it handled on the water.

After almost 2 month of terrible weather, there was a slight window for us to put to sea. We left the harbour at 6am and headed north. The water was quite cold and only when we got to 700m did the temperature increase. There were a few birds and flying fish on the 950m to 1100m line so most of our efforts were focussed. At 10am, there was a big splash on the left long lure. The rigger bent and just when we were expecting the elastic to pop, there was a loud crack and slack line came flying back into the boat! Something had gone terribly wrong, be it a bad patch in the line or a line around a clip, the result was the same... no fish.

The rest of the morning was quiet and at around 1pm, I changed the heading to tack shallower and closer to home. There was a colour change at about 500m with a few birds fluttering along it. I decided to troll along the line going north. The line moved in shallower the further north I went. Wayne decided to put out a teaser of squids which ran about 7m behind the boat in the pocket of clear water on the port side. In 450m on the dropoff, I happened to look back and while scanning the spread, a movement on the teaser caught my eye. There was an angry striped marlin, all lit up, in the teaser. I shouted to the guys down stairs and they sprang into action. Divan brought the short rigger lure in next to the teaser. Wayne pulled the teaser out and the fish switched to the lure. Divs gave it a short count before tightening up. The fish was there for a few seconds then off. Wayne put the teaser out again and in a flash, the stripey was back swatting at it. The switch was made again and after a longer count, Divs jammed the fish. This time it took quite a bit more line but unfortunately pulled the hooks before making tracks. Beautiful to see but still a bit disappointing. I continued along the line and about 45mins later, in 130m of water, there was another fish in the teaser. This time it was not very aggressive and quickly faded off to the short with a half hearted attempt at it. It then faded off to the right long where it charged in and gripped the lure, popped the elastic but pulled hook after taking a few meters off the reel.

The colour line faded in the wind and waves and so I changed the heading towards the harbour. In the green water at 52m, I saw a bill behind the right short. I teased the fish a bit which resulted in a small sailfish coming up and whacked the lure. Unfortunately it was not to be and the fish lost interest after a few seconds. That was all we saw for the day and even though we never caught anything, we saw enough to know the boat does raise fish. The upcoming season will hopefully be very successful.

Things that go Bump in the night

At 17:00 on Friday the 24^th August, Jannie Jacobs, Pieter, Wally and I launched “Ohana” off Richards Bay to do some night fishing for daga salmon. There had been some nice fish coming out the last while and the good weather forecast resulted in about 15 boats putting to sea with the same idea.

This was the first time we had launched for daga and were not sure where the fish had been eating. When the salmon are around, it seems to be a state secret for some or other reason. We arrived at the pipeline and anchored over some good structure and bait showings. A few drops with the sabiki rigs saw the live well full of shad and maasbanker, even a nice rockcod. I had an 8kg rod rigged up so I pinned a maasie and sent it down. The sun went down and at just after 6:30, I felt a bump on the livie. After feeding it for a bit, I tightened up and went solid onto a strong fish. During the fight, there were a few big head nods and occasional short run. I had a ball with the fish and after 15 minutes or so, a nice kob of just over 16kg popped up alongside the boat. Jannie gaffed it and put it in the hatch. Not a bad start!

There was a major scramble on the deck as the crew made up traces and rigged baits. Finally, when the dust settled, we had 4 baits down. There were a few minor adjustments needed to prevent tangles, but finally we were all fishing. At one stage, my bait revved a bit, but then relaxed. Soon after, Wally’s rod tip bumped and keeled over with a heavy fish. I upped my line to get out his way and noticed my bait was dead and had several small puncture holes in it ... obvious daga marks. Wally meanwhile fought his fish to the surface but after an unexpected run, the trace parted. Unlucky.

New baits were rigged and lowered. Things went exceptionally quiet and at about 10pm, some of the other boats anchored shallower than us reported a few fish coming out. I put on the sounder to check if we were still on the structure. There was one nice showing of a bigger fish so I put the sounder off again. Not 30 seconds later, my bait revved and the rod bumped. I fed then tightened up. The fish nodded twice then made a 20m run before coming up a bit, followed by a few more nods. At one point, there was a bit of a stalemate and I put a bit more pressure on. This was met by a big head nod followed by a loud crack as the line parted near the reel. I could have kicked myself! I made up another rig and sent another bait down. After about twenty minutes, I felt a strange bump. I checked the bait and again the small bite marks were there. The fish were eating very shy. I put a new bait down and as it hit the bottom, the bait revved wildly. Before I could say anything, the rod bumped. I fed a meter or so then gingerly tightened up. Solid! Again the fish made a few short runs, one of which was around the anchor line. I could feel the line rubbing so I released the pressure. Luckily, the fish swam clear and I could lift it away from the rope. After 15 mins or so, I had a 17kg daga on the surface. I wanted to tag it but the crew asked if they could keep it so I obliged.

This was the last of the action we had for the rest of the night so we returned to port. There were a few really nice fish on the other boats with the biggest being 35kg.

Stubborn Sail

On Friday 10^th August 2012 at 6am, Carl and I launched “Selfish” off Richard Bay. We were keen to get on the water as the bad weather over the past few weekends had kept us shore-bound. We stopped at the pipeline and on our first down with sabikis, we filled up on maasbankers and shad. Within 10mins, we had more than enough livies and headed off north to look for a snoek.

I put out 2 redeyes and 2 fillets and trolled north between 14 and 25m. The water was 19 degrees and everyone was battling to get pulls. After about an hour the one redeye went away. Carl took the strike while I cleared the lines. The fish fought like a snoek for a few minutes but then things changed. The weight went heavy and the fish headed out to sea. Carl was fishing 8kg line and could not do much but hold on while I followed. After applying as much drag as we could, the fish tired and after an hour, Carl had a blackfin shark of about 60-70kg next to the boat. I managed to get my trace back before releasing it. We trolled until 10am then upped lines and headed for the 50m ledge.

I had 2 wala-wala pre-rigged and quickly put them out. I was busy rigging up a few other bait when Carl shouted “there it goes!” and the next thing, the TLD 20 next to my ear smoked off! Now thats how fishing should be ... 5 minutes in the water and on! I passed the rod to Carl and cleared the other line. He fought the fish to the boat where I gaffed a nice 11kg cuda. Great ... fresh fish for supper!

Without wasting too much time, I got the 4 deadbaits in the water. I was itching to get a livie in so I grabbed the closest rod (10kg line), attached a live bait trace and pinned a big maasbanker. I let it out about 30m on the surface and returned to the controls. We were on the shallow side of the ledge so I tacked deeper. As the depth sounder showed we were going off the deep end, we heard one of the reels slowly running. Both Carl and I swung around to see the rod with the livie bending double. As I picked up the rod, I could feel heavy head nods. There was a splash on the surface followed by more nods. Carl increased the speed of the boat and line began to smoke off the reel. Next thing a really nice size sailfish climbed out the water and started tailwalking. I passed the rod to Carl, as he had only caught one sailfish previously, and frantically cleared the other 4 rods and

down rigger... in record time ... Usain Bolt eat your heart out! Meanwhile, the sail was emptying the reel so we followed it to slow the run. It stayed on surface so I rode right to it where Carl managed to tip the leader (which was only 2 meters long). Carl and I thought it was going to be a quick fight but the fish had other ideas. It sounded about 10m and would not budge. In the next 45 minutes, I tried every manoeuvre in the book but could not get the fish up. The fact that there was no current or wind did not help either! I had one last trick up my sleeve and switched both motors off. Carl went up on the drag a tough and we let the fish do all the work.  

It took about 30m under some heavy drag before the line angled to the surface. I started the engines and moved to intercept the fish. As I pulled in next to it, it stuck its head out the water and gave a few jumps before sounding to the 10m depth again... but we had the trick. After repeating the process a few times, the fish began tiring. After an hour and 25 minutes, the fish was close to the boat again. The leader to double knot was just under the surface so Carl stepped back and I reached under water and gingerly took the leader. With this slight increase in lifting power, the fish lifted its head and swam to the surface where I took hold of the bill. We put in a tag, removed the hooks, revived the fish and sent it on its way. Carl and I both estimated the fish at around 40kg.

We returned to the ledge and trolled for another hour and apart from 2 big sharks, it was quiet so we upped lines and returned to port.

Lady Luck

At 6:00am on Saturday 21^st July 2012, Wayne and Elsa Ritchie and I launched Wayne’s 15’6 Vidal cat “Da Boys” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to get Elsa her first natal snoek. After launching, we headed north about 14km to the “Arial”. There had been a few fish there over the previous few days and seemed like a good place to start.

I rigged up 2 fillets and 2 small redeyes on light wire and small hooks to entice the wary snoek. Wayne slow trolled to around 25m and then back to 12m, hoping that the fish would be holding on the drop-off. After trolling for about an hour, the deep redeye went away. Elsa took the strike and quickly had a small snoek near the boat. Just before I could reach it, the hooks pulled, much to Elsa’s disgust. Oh well, you win some ...you lose some...

The baits went back in and trolling resumed. It was very quiet but as the offshore wind died down, the baitfish came to the surface and we knew things had to change. There were quite a few showings in 17-20m so we concentrated our efforts in this depth. The slow trolling was not producing anything, so we increased the speed a bit. We had not done 200m when the japan fillet went away with a good fish. Wayne slacked the speed a bit while I cleared the other lines. While I was clearing the surface lines, the line with a 12oz weight and redeye slowly sank close to the bottom. Before it could be cleared, the rod keeled over and the reel smoked off! A double ... Nice! Wayne took the strike and both husband and wife did battle. Elsa brought her fish alongside where I gaffed a healthy snoek. I cleared the deck as Wayne brought his fish to the boat. As I was about to gaff, the snoek spooked and took a short run. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big brown shape cruising towards the boat. Wayne put the reel into freespool as the snoek bolted away from the shark. I revved the motors and made a bit of noise before the shark disappeared. I chased the fish while Wayne regained line at speed and within no time, the snoek was at the boat where I gaffed a really good size fish.

With our mission for the day successfully accomplished, and the SW wind picking up, we headed back to port. Elsa’s snoek weighed 7kg (joint first with the biggest snoek in the ladies section of the RBSCB Snoek Derby). Not too shabby! Wayne’s fish surprised everyone and pulled the scale to 9,2kg!

2012 Mapelane Junior Interclub

On Saturday the 7^th July, Herman, Brin and I launched “Mitsufishi” off of Mapelane in the Junior Interclub. Both Herman and Brin’s kids were in the Mapelane U/16 Development team. Being the first time Brin’s daughter had ever been to sea, we were nervous to drift as this might cause her to feel sick. It was decided to just pull lures around and hope for a few yellowfins or bonnies. The lures went out and 10 minutes later, a first time angler caught a bonnie! Welcome to the world of deepsea fishing... We trolled deeper out to the ledge but the sea was picking up due to the 15+ knot wind. Brin suggested we turn back to the shallows and calmer conditions. His words were not cold when 2 rods went on with small jube jubes. These went straight into the bait box. Herman made the proverbial “one last turn” and again 2 rods went away. This time it was with 2 small yellowfins. By now the kids were feeling uneasy so we headed back to base.

At the weigh-in that afternoon, there were only  a few fish, but a few really nice ones. The Richards Bay team got a 25kg cuda to win the comp. Cape Vidal had a snoek ad a 16kg cuda, both on spinning outfits. Although not eligible for the competition, a 32kg musslecracker was also weighed. The Sunday was blown out and the prize giving brought forward to 10am. My hat goes off to the organisers for a superb job. Everything was great, food, boats, accommodation, logistics, everything. The prizes were excellent and every angler received a prize, regardless of whether a fish was weighed. This is definitely THE junior comp to be part of... till next year.

Late Season Cuda

On Saturday 30^th June 2012 at 05:30, we launched Jannie Jacob’s boat “OHANA” off Richards Bay. We were keen to catch one of the late season cuda that were still around. Our first stop was at the pipeline where we caught a few shad and maasbankers before running deep to small highpoint to look for jube-jubes. After trolling small lures around for a while, we managed to get a small yellowfin tuna which we bled and put on ice for sushi. With no more success, it was off to the 32m ledge off Petingo.

On arrival, the water was a clean green with a slight north to south current. The off shore wind was dropping as predicted resulting in perfect conditions. I went about rigging a livie, bonnie and wala-wala while Jannie rigged his wala and a redeye sardine. The baits looked good and after trolling around for about an hour, the bonnie went away with the first fish. Chris, a mate of Jannies from the Cape, took the strike and boated a nice 14kg cuda... not a bad start. The lines went back in and 20mins later, the surface wala screamed off! Jannie fought the fish to where I could gaff it and an 18kg cuda joined the first in the hatch. Things went a bit quiet for a while due to a pod of dolphins harassing us, but as soon as they moved on, the bonnie was eaten by a smoker! I took the rod and tussled a 20kg cuda to the boat where Jannie gaffed it. Nice ...we each had one for the day!

A fresh bait was rigged and trolling continued. I was watching the deep bait when I noticed the rod bump and pull down. Just before the reel went, the tip flicked up. I wound like hell, but the fish was already gone. I got back half a bonnie with 2 trebles dangling where the tail used to be. Sometimes I can’t believe a fish can miss those hooks! I was down to the last fresh bonnie and lovingly lowered it to the ground, armed to the teeth with trebles. It was not even 15 minutes before I saw the same deep rod dip. This time I was quick off the mark and started cranking immediately. The rod stayed bent to the water and finally loaded up to where the reel ran. Chris took the strike and had a strong tussle with a fish that stayed deep. After a long fight, the 16kg cuda circled under the boat where it was gaffed. The trebles were all hooked down the flank of the fish which resulted in the long fight. We were now out of decent bonnies. I scratched around and found a frot, pale, soft bonnie which was tossed in the chum bucket earlier that morning. It looked awful but it was still a bonnie. Somehow it stayed together long enough for me to rig it and it too went to the bottom.

It was now 3pm and nearing the end of the day. Jannie suggested we troll to the northern most coordinate then up lines. About half way there, the surface wala took off, almost giving us a heart attack! Jannie took the strike and after a few long fast runs, the 14kg fish was gaffed. With time running out, Jannie let out the livie while Chris cleared the deck. I noticed that we had drifted quite far and suggested we pull up the livie and ride a bit north then put out else we would take forever to get to the last coordinate. As Jannie retrieved the livie, a +-15kg cuda came swimming in after it. We tried everything to get it to eat, but it was just window shopping and left as soon as it arrived. Without saying, the lines went out right there! We trolled until 4pm before upping lines. When I retrieved the deep bonnie, I saw that it was chopped! Oh well, can’t catch them all, all the time.

We ended the day with 5 lovely cuda. This was the best that Jannie’s boat had ever done with cuda so he was really chuffed, so were we all...

Snookered by the Weather

On Friday 8^th June, a small group of friends left for Sodwana for a weeks daytime broadbill fishing. We would be fishing on Mike Leenstra’s boat “Beluga”. Mike, Dale and I were there for the entire time but my Dad was only here for a few days. The weather forecast looked ominous for the first few days, but the long term forecast had a better prediction.

On Saturday morning, we launched and headed to Big W canyon where we had success before. On arrival, we were greeted with green cold water... not what we were hoping for. Our first bait went down at 8am but after an hour or so nothing had happened. We upped the line to check the bait and reset the drift. There had been an inquiry, but it came in the form of other squid that had mauled the bait. The pieces that were left had a number of “V” shaped cuts from the sharp beaks. This episode was repeated with the same result on every drop of the day, regardless of depth. Oh well, at least we tried.

On Sunday Morning, the 35 knot SW that was predicted came through and the day was blown out.

There was still a 15kt SW on Monday morning, but we launched regardless. This time we headed south to Diep Gat. The swell was really big, so deep dropping was out, instead we scratched around for gamefish in the green water. By the end of the day, we had 5 yellowfins (3 released), 1 cuda and a dorado.

The Tuesday forecast was for a 3-7kt NW wind ... this was everything but! We launched into a full on 20kt NE. The sea at 500m was unfishable for swordfish and we had no other bait to fish for gamefish. To make matters worse, the rough seas caused a screw to rattle loose in the controls which meant we could not pull it into neutral. All these issues called for a short day and we beached at 9am.

Wednesday morning looked a bit better, but on the way to the beach, the SE picked up and by the time we were on the backline, the wind was fresh. It took us a while to get to Diep Gat where we trolled lures for marlin bait. We managed two 3kg bonnies, one was rigged and the other went into the luna tube. After trolling for 3 hours in big swells, the bait died. The sea slowly started settling so we decided to rig the last bonnie on a deep drop rig and troll it into the canyon. As it got deeper, the weight was lowered. In 300m, with the bait just off the ground, the reel took off. Dale fed the fish for a while, but failed to hookup. The trip line on the weight did not break and the bait was torn off the bridle. On closer inspection it was evident, from the marks on the trace, that the strike came from a marlin... a surprise to all of us. The bonito was replaced with a squid and slow trolling commenced. At about 3pm, in 500m, the rod bumped a bit and the braid pulled off the reel. I slowly fought the fish to within 200m of the surface before the hooks pulled. There were no marks on the trace so who knows... That concluded the days fishing.

Thursday mornings predicted 4 kt SW to NE 5 kt only came true in the latter parts of the day. The 20kt SW that was actually blowing forced us to fish for gamefish off Witsand while waiting for better conditions. We managed to get a cuda, yellowfin and a nice dorado. Other than a missed strike on a live jube jube, we also caught a really big ... wait for it ... toby! By midday, the wind settled and we managed 2 drops. The squid were a problem on both drops and we assume the bait was eaten before anything worthwhile could get to it.

Friday morning was finally a nice day. The NW wind of 4kt and calm seas helped us get in 3 drops at Big W before the NE wind picked up to 18-20kt. In 650m the line went slack. Dale wound the slack in and found the line to be solid. Assuming we were stuck on the canyon wall, I turned the boat around and tried to free it. No matter which direction we pulled, the line remained solid in one place. The only option was to break the line. Mike and Dale both grabbed the spool of the reel (which was now on sunset) while I rode away. Nothing would give. I turned back and stopped directly above the line. As we were about to increase the preset, the rod bumped heavily and the reel took off! Mike took the strike and tried to lift whatever it was. After 20 minutes the 500m marker finally cleared the surface. Inch by inch, for an hour and a half, Mike pulled the fish until I traced a healthy 150kg thresher shark. Before I could cut the leader, it bit through the mono leader. 3 more drops produced baits mutilated by other squid, but nothing more tangible.

Saturday was our last day and once again the NE was blowing when we launched. Pre-empting the bad weather, we took a box of sardines with and managed 3 cuda and dropped another 2 before the wind settled. Two drops resulted in one mauled bait and another untouched after an hour of soaking!

Our week came to an end without success. We did however learn a few new tricks and had good laughs! Thanks to everyone involved. Hopefully next time the conditions will be in our favour...

2012 Umhlanga Prestige Interclub

On Saturday 26^th May, Michael Duvenage, Divan Coetzee, myself and Shane Dennis (our skipper) launched out of Granny’s Pool at Umhlanga. We were fishing in the Umhlanga Prestige Interclub, representing Richards Bay SBC. In the past, we have placed second and third in this competition and we had our hearts set on taking the top spot so the pressure was on.

The surf was very unsettled and after a few close calls, all the boats were safely behind backline and headed off to the “Fonteo” to catch live bait. As we arrived, Michael, Divs and I went down with sabiki rigs. Before the weights hit the ground, we were full strings. The bait was a mix of maasbankers, mackerel and shad. I had a heavy duty sabiki rig on, targeting shad while the rest were using the lighter version. At one stage, I felt that I had a single bait on one of the hooks so I left it down for a bit hoping to get more. All of a sudden, the rod tip pulled down and the reel smoked off! I held on hoping for the best, but alas, it only lasted a few seconds before the hook was bitten off. Divan had a similar experience but no result. Shortly after, the SW wind, which was predicted for 11am, came through at around 15 knots making things interesting on the small boat we were on. With the live well full, Shane was pretty insistent that we move north to Umhloti to look for a cuda, so after a 20 minute run, we stopped and set out 5 rods.

The wind was pushing us quite fast, so we opted to drift so that the lines would get down deeper to where we saw a the odd showing on the echo. After about 2 hour, we were close to Seabell when the deep line with a live mackerel took off! Divs, Mike and Shane cleared the other lines while I kept the reel under control. Shane chased the fish down while gained line as fast as I could. Within about 10 minutes the double line came up. As the fish came out from under the boat, Divs put the gaff in and hauled a beautiful 20,4kg cuda aboard... NICE! With a fish on the board, the pressure was off and we could relax a bit. By 11am, nothing else had happened so we headed back to the “Fonteo” to look for a yellowfin. The ride back, against the SW was wet and uncomfortable, but we finally made it and went about rigging 2 tuna baits and 2 cuda baits. Shane did a short drift to get the right angle and went back up where we set the lines. With the drift almost at an end, the deep cuda bait smoked off. Divan took the strike while the lines were cleared. There is an exceptionally bad shark problem off Umhlanga and so Divs pulled the fish exceptionally hard to prevent being taxed. Within a few minutes, the fish was at boatside where I gaffed a nice 12,5kg cuda... more points! We road back up and made another drift. Again, at the end of the drift, the surface tuna bait was taken. Divs fed the fish then tightened up and went on to a small tuna. While pulling it, the fish exploded out of the water... there was obviously something after it... Divs freespooled the reel to let the yellowfin get away. At the same time, Michael went on with the live mackerel on the surface. This turned out to be the shark which was hassling the tuna. With that, Divan put the drag to sunset and pulled like hell resulting in a 6kg in the hatch. Michael broke off the shark and we called it a day. That evening, we were lying 3^rd. The difference between us and the 2^nd team was a 5kg bonito. For us to beat the leaders (who weighed one 27kg yellowfin), we needed a 6kg bonito (which was minimum weight) and 2 yellowfin of around 11kg... the comp was on!!!

On Sunday the 27^th, The day dawned with a light SW wind and little surf to speak of. With all the boats in the water, we headed off to “Fonteo” to get bait. This time, only Michael and Divs went down with sabikis. I held back and waited for the first maasbanker which I rigged and flipped overboard, sending it down near the bait showings. Within a minute, the line was ripped off the reel. I fed the fish for a few seconds, then hooked up. The fish took off between the other 25 boats with us in hot pursuit. We were lucky that there was a clear path for us to run and managed to get off the wreck quickly. I pulled as hard as I could and finally had the fish close enough for Divs to gaff a nice yellowfin which we conservatively guessed at 10kg... what a start... only 2 more pieces of the puzzle left to go and it was 7:30am!

After filling the livewell, we headed south to the barges where we rigged up the same gear as the day before. The first drift resulted in a missed strike from what we suspect was a queenfish. I changed to a double hook nylon trace for the next drift and resulted in a quick strike followed by a bite off from a cuda... Unlucky! The next drift produced a strike on the surface tuna bait which Michael hooked up. Shane chased the fish down and with some major pressure from Michael, the fish came within range where I gaffed another yellowfin, slightly bigger than the first one... 2 down, 1 to go!!! The following 6 drifts produced only sharks so we headed back to the “Fonteo”. The first 2 drifts resulted in sharks so we decided to run to Umhloti to look for the last fish we needed. Before we ran, Shane said we should try to get a few shad and mackerel as they were the preferred bait for that area. He sounded around until he found a midwater showing. I went down with the sabiki and went on with a few mackerel. While this was going on, Divs flicked a live maasbanker overboard, just in case... I continued with the bait and managed a few more shad and mackerel. As I was packing the baitrod away, Divan announced that something had grabbed his bait. After a short feed, he hooked up and the fish raced away! Immediately Shane chased it down. At one stage it seemed as if there was a shark after the fish so Divan freespooled the reel but the line never ran off. There and then, the drag went to sunset and it was make or break. The fish came spiralling up and when the leader broke the surface, I took a wild gaff shot at a vague shape in the water. To everyone’s surprise, especially mine, the gaff found its mark and I hauled a big bonnie of around 6kg! The tension was palpable and we knew we were within one of two points of the leaders (who had not yet caught a fish). We did another 2 drifts which resulted in two more sharks so the call was made to run to Umhloti and try our luck for an hour.

After a quick run, 5 livies went out. Most of the fleet was there so we could keep an eye on what was happening. Apart from 2 small seapike of about 2kg which were released, there was no action. We beached at 1pm and made our way to the Umhlanga Ski Boat Club to weigh the fish. The four of us could hardly speak we were so nervous. It was unfathomable that a bonito could be so important. The bonnie was passed from the hatch to the weigh master with the same care as would a newborn child. It pulled the scale to 6,6kg!!! We were over the moon. With the most important fish weighed, the yellowfins were next. They pulled the scale to ... drum roll ... 13.4 and 13.8kg!!! We had pulled it off!!! Classic! Thanks to Shane, Mike and Divs for a great weekend! Same time same place next year...

Quick Morning Session

On Saturday 12^th May, At van Tilburg, Konstant Viljoen (Snr and Jnr) and I launched “AVANTI” off Cape Vidal. We were looking to pass the time before attending a good friend of ours wedding that afternoon. With no real game plan, we stopped off the point and At sounded around for bait showings. While we felt the area, we noticed a few small bonnies popping up every so often. I put out a small minieye and let it out about 20m ... just in case. At found a few showings and both Konstant and I went down with sabiki jigs and caught a few maasbankers.

With a good supply of livies, At suggested we go north to the greens where a few cuda came out the day before. As I was retrieving the minieye, a small bonnie grabbed it. It was unceremoniously dumped in the lunatube. We decided we would make another turn to see if we could get another one. I put out 2 minieyes, a daisy chain and 2 big rapalas. At trolled in a big circle and after about 5 minutes, we went on with 3 rods. Suddenly the game plan was to catch bonnies for bait to take back to Richards Bay! This went on for a while then the bonnies went off the bite. Slowly we trolled towards Oscar pinnacle. We found a few more bonnies and 3 yellowfins. These kept little Konstant busy on the coffee grinder and 16lbs braid! The next pass saw 2 rods on with yellowfins. As the fish got to the boat, there was a big splash in front of the boat... it was a big dolphin... It came flying in and snatched the yellowfin. Konstant senior took over the rod and tried to get the yellowfin out the dolphins  mouth. After about 10 minutes of tug o war, we got just the head back. The lines went out again but the dolphin followed in the distance. As luck would have it, another yellowfin grabbed the japan lure and ran off. The dolphin accelerated towards the tuna and the tug o war started again. This time, we were not keen to sit tied to a mammal for a long time, so we parted the line off.

We decided that the point was the better bet and ran back to where we had started the morning. There were no cuda traces so while I made up a few, we trolled the feathers around and yip, you guessed it ... more bonnies. By not I had the traces made and put out 2 live maasbankers and 2 live bonnies. At trolled south towards the lighthouse but things were quiet. After about an hour, the deep bonnie died so I rigged it as a dead bait and put it down. At about 11:30, At said we should pull up lines as we did not want to be late for the wedding. I was busy retrieving the surface livie when I noticed the tip of the rod with the dead bonnie bump a few times. I gave two turns on the reel and the rod keeled over and the reel took off! Konstant took the rod while we cleared the other lines. The fish came in quickly and showed itself to be a shoal cuda of about 6 or 7kg. After I gaffed the fish, we headed back to the beach. All in all, it was a great relaxed morning.

Petingo Cuda

At 6am on Sunday 6^th May, my Dad, Divan, David and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. After a quick stop at the pipe, we had a few livies and headed out to the ships. On arrival, we found large showings of bait and were rewarded with several strings of nice mackerel and redeyes. After filling the bait well, it was off to small highpoint. The SE wind made the trip a bit uncomfortable as our heading was straight into the teeth but eventually we arrived. There were no other boats so I slowly idled onto the pinnacle and found a big showing. At the same time, small yellowfins and big kawa-kawa started jumping around the boat. Divan freelined a livebait while my Dad threw a spoon into the shoal. Both were rewarded with fish on in short succession. Unfortunately both fish parted ways with us. While this was going on, David rigged up his fly rod and made a few casts. I wanted to have some fun and tied on a small spoon and removed the hook. On the first throw, I had several small tuna clearing the water behind the lure trying to grab it. This went on for a while with a few fish holding so tight that they started taking line ... what a sight! The boat had drifted off the pinnacle, so I slowly headed back. As we stopped on top of the pinnacle, David managed to get a frigate tuna which went into the bait box.

 This was followed by a kawa-kawa of about 3kg which gave him a bit of a workout. After about half an hour, the surface action slowed so we put on a few rapalas and pulled through the showing above pinnacle. As we passed through the showing, all the reels took off. This time they were yellowfins and 2 were bled and put on ice while the others were released. We could have caught tuna all morning, but dragged ourselves away to target a big cuda, so off to Petingo wreck we went.

The conditions were perfect again. Beautiful water, good temperature and little traffic, but with all this, we battled to get a strike. Finally after about 3 hours, there was a big splash behind the boat and the surface rod smoked off. Divan took the rod as the rest of us cleared the deck. I followed the fish off the wreck to what we hoped was shark free zone. After a few anxious minutes, Divs presented the fish and my Dad gaffed a 20kg cuda... Great stuff! The lines went out again but other than a half hearted strike on a livebait, the day ended without another fish.

They always take the big ones...

On Saturday 5^th May, David, Divan and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were looking for cuda which were making the odd appearance. Our first stop was at the pipeline where we caught several maasbankers. Next we headed to a reef between the ships and caught a bunch of redeye sardines. With the bait stocks replenished, it was off to the 50m ledge to have some fun with the bonnies and small yellowfin. On the first pass, 4 rods went away with kawa-kawas. Unfortunately the hooks pulled on 2 and we released the other 2. On the next pass, all 5 rods went on with small yellowfin. We kept 2 for sushi and released the rest. After a few more turns, and releasing several yellowfin and kawas, we headed for Petingo.

The water was perfect. A clean green, 23.5 degrees, slight current and a slight chop. The baits went out and I trolled around the wreck. T just after 11, the big bonnie on the surface was eaten by a fish which took very slowly. We assumed it was a shark, but it turned out to be a 12kg cuda that had been foul hooked. Oh well, you sometimes you get lucky...

Trolling resumed and about 20mins later the deeper bonnie was eaten, this time by a smaller cuda of about 8kg. Divan rerigged and I made another turn over the wreck. As we came over the northern tip, Divs and I saw the surface livebait rev followed by a bending rod and screaming reel. Dave made short work of a 7kg shoaly. Things went a bit quiet and apart from one missed strike on a livebait, nothing much was happening. At about 1pm, I trolled over a really thick showing of bait and just as I was about to say we should get a strike here, the wala on the surface was eater and the reel smoked off ... a real screamer. I immediately turned towards the fish so Dave could gain line and Divs cleared the other rods. I got right on top of the fish and next thing there was very little resistance and then the head section of the cuda popped up. It had been taxed within about 2 minutes of hooking it! Not great. The fish would easily have gone 18kg but we will never know for sure.

We fished for another 2 hours without a pull then upped lines and returned to port.

Gone with the wind

At 6am on Tuesday 1 May, Carl and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. There was a 20 knot SW wind predicted to come through at 11am so we wanted to get a shot in before the wind came up. The first stop was on the pipeline where we made 2 drops and had 2 full strings of maasbankers. Livebait was sorted in 5 mins! Next stop small highpoint...

We arrived on the pinnacle and set a spread of small bait lures. The first pass over the pinnacle almost always indicates if there is anything in the area and when we had nothing on the first turn, we knew we were going to battle. After half an hour, I found a showing near the surface and 2 rods went on. Carl released a big kawa-kawa and I caught a small frigate tuna. A while later we had a triple on frigates but only got 2 of the 3. I made 1 last turn and was rewarded with a small yellowfin which was bled and put on ice for later. We upped lines and ran to Petingo to fish for cuda before the wind came up.

On arrival, the conditions were perfect. North to south current, clean green water and no other boats in sight! What more could you ask for?! BUT, what was in sight was strange mist on the southern horizon. It looked ominous... the SW was obviously early and we were running out of time. I quickly rigged the baits and set the spread. The last line was being set and Carl was busy turning back to the wreck when the surface live bait was eaten. Due to the turn, there was a lot of slack in the line and not enough tension to set the hooks. The reel ran for a second when the hooks pulled... damn! I replaced the bait and commenced the trolling pattern. The sea was like glass but in the distance, the cigar shaped cloud was fast approaching and a fine ripple was heading our way. As the “nervous” water reached us, the SW started to blow ... within minutes, the sky went from sunny to overcast and misty. The wind strength intensified and was soon blowing 18-20 knots. We made a few more turns but when the spray from the white horses looked like spindrift, we packed up and headed home. I am positive that if the wind had come through a bit later, as predicted, there would have been a few fish. Oh well, that’s fishing for you... at least we had some sushi J