On Sunday 21st April at 11am, Riaan and I launched ABF for a quick afternoon session. We were hoping to stock up on some bait for the next few trips.
The weather was beautiful and the water was exceptionally clean. Our first stop was at the pipeline but after a few drops, we headed out to the ledge to look for mackerel. As we arrived, there was a massive showing just off the bottom and Riaan immediately went on with a full string of redeye sards. These went straight into the ice water. The current was ripping and in a minute we were well off the marks so I made another turn. As so typically happens with redeyes and strong current, the showing had vanished! I zig zagged the area and found a nice showing. Both Riaan and I got a few redeyes on the one drop that we could make. This went on for a while until the showing had faded. I suggested we put on a few feathers and troll down the ledge to look for jube-jubes.
With 5 lines out, we trolled down to small highpoint. On the way, a few splashed caught my eye near the furthest lure. Next thing, the rod keeled over and the reel took off. This was no bonnie! As what often happens with tuna, 2 other rods took off as well. Riaan took the japan and I took the close line. I put the drag up to full and hauled a 4kg yellowfin tuna in which was bled and put on ice. Riaan was still busy with the long line, so I pulled in the other stick and released a similar size yellowfin. After some time, Riaan’s yellowfin came to the boat. It was a bit bigger than the others, but we had enough to eat so it was released. The lines went in again and about half an hour later, 4 rods went away. This time we both took the close lines and each released a yellowfin. The other rods were left in the rodholders and unfortunately the hooks had pulled. The lines went back in and we trolled over the pinnacle a few times without a touch so we headed shallower to the ships where we found a few more redeyes and mackerel. By 3pm, we upped lines and ran home. Hopefully the bait mission will pay off for us on the next trip out.
