Avoid the Crowds

On Saturday 25 May, Bryant Beukes and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. By 05:45, there was already a queue for the slipway as the boats lined up to get in the water. The weather prediction was very good and all the guys wanted to see if they could get a snoek or two. Knowing that the snoek grounds were going to look like a highway, I opted to fish South hoping for a last cuda before the season came to an end.

We stopped at the pipeline at 6am. The water was beautiful and in 3 drops Bryant had a hatch full of livebait. With such good conditions, I was keen to see if there were any mackerel on the deeper marks so stopped there on the way, but to no avail. While we were running south, I saw a swirl in front of the boat, then the blue streak of a fleeing dorado. I hit the brakes, quickly rigged a livie and flicked it out hoping the fish was still around. After drifting for a few minutes without any luck, I was about to pull up when I saw a nice showing on the sounder. Bryant went down and went on with a few mackerel. I worked the area and got some more bait before moving on.
 

Bryant with a fat 24kg cuda

We arrived at the 32m area at around 7:30. I rigged up a few bonnies, wala and a surface livie and then started tacking deeper and shallower to look for some activity. It was not long before I picked up a the odd showing on the drop off. Slowly I worked the area and was rewarded with a smoking reel! The surface bait had been eaten by a good fish which was taking a lot of line in a hurry. We cleared the lines before following the fish. When the reel was nearly full, the fish smoked off again, the line pulling a line bubble trail through the water. Both Bryant and I said that there must be something scaring it and moments later, when the fish was on the leader, a big Zambezi shark materialised from the deep. Luckily the fish was tired after the long runs and it was gaffed just before the shark could get hold of it. Talk about good timing. We battled to get the fish into the hatch but with a bit of force, it went in ... just.

 

The lines went in again and the search continued. About an hour later, I we went over a bit of reef and a bottomfish came up and took a few chunks out of the deep bonnie, so we replaced it with a livebait. I made a turn over the same showing and this deep livie went away with speed. As I picked up the rod, the fish broke off. On closer inspection, the mail line between the sinker and the bait had parted. Not great at all. I rerigged the rod and put out another livie. On the next turn, we went over a showing about 5m off the bottom and it was no surprise when the livie went away again. Bryant took the rod and after a good tussle had a shoal cuda in the hatch. Again the lines went back in and trolling resumed. Things went a bit quiet for a while but finally we went over a good showing and the deep wala-wala was eaten. It was quiet  slow pull, ant there were some big head nods. Before I could clear the lines, the fish was off. When Bryant retrieved the line, the 60lbs leader had been broken. The whole leader, double line and about 5m of main line were badly frayed.

 

By 12 o clock, we had not had another pull, so we upped lines and moved to Petingo for the afternoon session. Unfortunately, even with ideal conditions, we did not have a pull and returned home. The cuda was weighed in at 24,0kg. A nice fish to say the least.

2013 Umhlanga Prestige Interclub

At 6am on Saturday 18^th May, Craig, my Dad, Dale and I launched out of Granny’s Pool. We were competing in the 2013 Umhlanga Prestige Interclub. This was the 5^th year in a row that we attended the competition and in my opinion is the best interclub in the country. As defending champions we had high hopes that the fish would play the game again.

 

We were the first boat to launch and had about a 30 minute wait on the backline before the first batch of 10 boats were ready to go. All the boats sped off to the various bait spots. Craig suggested we stop at the Cason as there had been more bait there in the last few days. All the boats battled to get a good amount of live bait but eventually, by the time the second batch of 9 boats were let loose, had a decent supply in the live well.

 

The plan was to look for a queenfish, yellowfin or bonito on the bait marks as they scored more points than a cuda or other gamefish. We made 2 drifts, but had no pulls. I decreased the size of the leader on the surface bait and on the next drift, that rod had a strike. I took the rod and fought a big bonito to the boat. Our first points on the board. The problem was that we were only allowed 1 bonito per angler per day, minimum weight of 6kg. If there were more bonnies, then Dale or my Dad would have to get them... but what if the next pull was not a bonnie?! The next drift produced another strike on the surface and my Dad brought in a bonnie which was too small weigh. The next drift produced a double strike. One on the deep line and the other on the surface. Unfortunately Dale got an overwind on the strike and missed his fish. My Dad went tight and the fish ripped line off the reel... obviously a yellowfin. With the massively high number of sharks in the area, we had to pull every fish as hard as humanly possible. After 20mins of huge pressure on the yellowfin and some fancy boat manoeuvring, the fish was just under the boat, but then there was a short burst of speed and the 50lbs flouro parted. Whether it was chafed off or if a shark got it, who knows, but the same result... no points. Apart from 1 more small bonnie, we had no action and decided to move out to bulldozers.

 

On the first drift, I hooked a 4kg bonnie but pulled hook on the leader. Seconds later, 2 rods went away and both Dale and my Dad went on to big bonnies which joined mine in the hatch... now I could take a rod again! Our stock of maasbanker was now low so Craig held us on the marks and we managed to get 8 or so fresh baits.

 

There was no action on the next 2 drifts so Craig took us to Fontao where we set up for a drift. At the end of the drift, both Dale and I went tight on good fish. They ran in a similar direction, but when mine gave a few big bumps, I knew there were problems. Moments later, a shark grabbed the fish, followed shortly by Dales fish! The next drift, Dale went on and managed a small bonnie. We had time for 1 last drift before lines up. Again, 2 rods went away and after hard fights, both were taken by #%$#& sharks...

 

Back at the weigh-in, we found ourselves in 5^th position on day 1 after weighing in 3 bonnies of between 6,7kg and 7,5kg.

 

On Sunday 19^th, we launched at 7am. As we had launched first on day 1, we were in the second batch on day 2. By the time we arrived at the bait marks, there was a lot of traffic. Everyone was battling for bait and only after an hour, did we have enough. We made 2 drifts over the wreck without a pull. Craig said we needed to change tactics and head to a deeper spot of Umdloti. After a quick test drift to get the correct line, we went back up and set the lines. After about 30minutes, the long rod with mid water bait keeled over and the reel smoked off! I took the strike and fought what turned out to be a big yellowfin. The long rod had my back aching and after about 20 minutes, the fish was close to the boat but then it bumped its head and took off. Seconds later, the leader was bitten through but another #@$%& shark.

We started the drift again and I changed the long rod to the surface position. Again, near the end of the drift, the mid water bait took off. The lines were cleared and Craig took chase. I was a lot more comfortable on the short heavy rod and lifted the fish a bit quicker. About 10m from the boat, the dreaded head nod began so I freespooled the fish which took about 100m of line before it settled down. The drag went up and I wound till my arm wanted to fall off. The line surfaced and Craig put me on top of the fish where after 3 big circles, my Dad gaffed a nice yellowfin! Finally we got one out.

Back to the start of the drift and it was not long before the surface bait (on the long rod) went away. It took a lot of line in a hurry so we were up and after it in no time. I lifted it to within about 15m from the surface when believe it or not, the head bumps began. I freespooled and again gave the fish over 100m until it slowed down. The drag went up and the long wind began. Luckily, the fish came to the surface and made it easy for me to gain line. Craig sped towards it and the leader came out the water. After 1 circle, the gaff went into a good yellowfin. We were cooking with gas.

By now the wind was blowing about 15knots and the sea getting uncomfortable. 5 other boats had joined us and it seemed to be putting the tune down. Right at the end of our next drift, the surface rod pulled away slowly in short bursts. I fed the fish and as I tightened up, a dorado jumped out the water. I was over the moon as this was going to be an easy fight on the long rod... or so I thought. The lines were cleared and Craig took chase. Within minutes, the fish was in gaffing range and my Dad brought it onboard. It touched the deck and went ballistic, jumping off the gaff. As the fish jumped to the back of the boat I freespooled the reel just incase. Dale and Craig jumped on the fish and in the process got tangled in the bait jigs. The fish made another flip and escaped overboard, back into the water where it took off! Luckily I could let it go and the line ran free. After some choice words, we were chasing after the fish for a second time. In the end, it was gaffed and put straight into the open hatch. That was a close call.

Craig positioned us for another drift. It went very quiet and at the end, while Dale was retrieving the last deep line, had quietly announced that he was on. The fish took line very slowly leading us to believe it was a shark. The drag went to 3,5kg and in low range he pulled the fish to the surface. I removed the sinker and then Craig shouted it was a cuda! We could not believe it. Both my Dad and I took gaffs and on the first turn my Dad missed the fish as it was a bit deep. On the next turn, I missed it and managed to get the hook around the tail which shook off. On my next attempt, the gaff went in and I hauled a nice cuda on board... Great stuff.

There was no more time, so we headed back to the beach. At the weigh-in, the dorado was 8kg, the cuda 12,5kg and the 2 tuna were 13.2kg and 18.65kg respectively. At the prize giving that night, we managed a second place by only 60 points. Thanks to Craig for putting up with us for 2 days. Well done to the winning Zinkwazi 2 team. Thanks to the Umhlanga Committee for putting together a Fantastic event. We hope to be there next year.