On Saturday 26th 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 3rd. The difference between us and the 2nd 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 27th, 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...
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