Tangling with Daga

On Friday afternoon 14^th June, Jannie Jacobs, Jannie's brother, Robert and I launched “OHANA” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find a few dagga salmon that had been around. After arriving at the pipeline, we sounded around for a while to look for signs of life. It was not long before we found large bait showings indicating the spot to focus our efforts. We checked the drift before setting the sand anchor. We positioned ourselves perfectly on the top of the showing and I set about catching a few maasbanker before the sun went down.

As the sun set, the bait went off the bite so we set about rigging up the bottom rods. While Jannie rigged 2 rods to catch shad, I hooked up a live maasie and sent it down. It only took about 15 minutes before I felt the heavy bumps on the rod. I fed the fish for a few turns before I tightened up. The rod buckled over as the fish ran, but this was short lived as the hook pulled out after a few meters. After losing the first fish, everyone scrambled for a rod and sent down a livie. With a few lines down, our chances improved and Robert was the next to get a bump. This turned out to be a really nice rockcod. By now, the shad were around the boat so it was operation live bait and within half an hour, there was a healthy supply of bigger livebait for the evening.

Jannie put the bait rod down and rigged a shad on his bottom rod. The bait was only down for a few minutes before he had a pull. Unfortunately, his result was the same as mine... pulled hook. Things went a bit quiet and by 7:30 we still had no dagga on the boat. There were about 14 boats on the pipe and by the sounds of things, there was very little action. I switched on the echo sounder to see what was going on below. I saw that we were a few meters off the pipe, probably due to the wind and current pulling on the anchor. We pulled in a bit of rope until we were on top of the pipe and the showing... things had to happen. I put out a trapstick with a live maasie and floated it out the back. There had been a few kingfish in the evenings and I was hoping for one to climb on. Probably 10 minutes later, Robert had a bump and hooked up to a nice fish. Moments later, Jannie also hooked up so there was a bit of weaving to keep the lines apart. Jannie mentioned that he could feel another line on his line and next thing, his line parted! Robert managed to get his fish to the boat where we gaffed a 16kg dagga. When we lifted his fish into the boat, I saw that my trapstick line had been tangled up and while loosening the knot, I felt something pulling back on the other end... there was a fish on my line. Quickly we undid the tangle and I went about fighting the fish. As it came close, my trace cleared the water, with my bait still intact. There was however another line tangled around it... it was Jannies fish that had burnt off earlier! After handlining the fish, Jannie gaffed a 14kg dagga. Talk about lucky!

We had caught 2 fish in 15 minutes so there was obviously a shoal under the boat. I set my trapstick again and then put out a bottom rod looking to hookup the conventional way. I had just hit the bottom when the trapstick reel went away. I handed off my bottom rod and took up the other rod. Thinking this was a kingfish, I fought it really hard and within a few minutes, the fish was next to the boat. It turned out to be another salmon of 18kg... what a luck. I rerigged another bait on the same rod and had just turned to drop another bait when the reel went again. This time It took off at quite a speed with some good head nods. At one stage, I felt a rope on my line so I freespooled for a bit. Luckily the line came free and I muscled the fish to the surface. It turned out to be yet another salmon. This was the biggest so far and ended up being 21,3kg... not bad for a cuda stick.

It was now 8:30 and we had out quota of salmon. We opted to continue fishing and release any further fish we caught. Despite fishing for another hour, we had no further action and headed back to port. Thanks to Jannie and crew for a great night.

A Royal Flush ... complete with a Joker

On Saturday 8^th June at 6am, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. The weather forecast indicated that this would be the only fishable day before a big front came though. There were already a lot of boats on the water, most of which were headed north to look for snoek. The snoek catches had been very sporadic and I was not keen to hassle with 30 boats for maybe 1 fish. With the water being so clean, we opted to fish close to the harbour at the spots that we very seldom try.
Our first stop was at the pipeline where we caught some livies. They were a bit on the small side so we headed to a deeper bait mark. The showings on the echo indicated a big dense shoal of bait on the bottom so I went down with the jigs. As I hit bottom, I was on. After a few winds, the rod bumped and pulled down as something bigger latched on. It took a bit of line but unfortunately broke the jigs off. I rerigged and went down again. I was busy retrieving the next string of bait when I saw a big silver number plate a few meters below them. There were obviously a few bigger fish feeding on these baitfish so I rigged up a cuda rod with a make shift trace and bottom sinker and sent it down... just to see what they were. I had just put the rod in the holder, so that I could continue with the bait jigs, when the ratchet went. I tightened up on the drag and went tight on a fish that took a few meters of line then sat sulking. Every now and again, it would bump and take some line. It fought just like a flat fish. About 15 minutes later, I managed to muscle the fish to the surface. When I looked overboard, I got the shock of my life when I saw a big silver shape. I slacked the drag and pampered the fish to the boat where my Dad gaffed a beautiful 8kg queenfish! It was hooked in the dorsal fin which explained the hard fight. We very seldom catch queenies so it was a treat to get one. I went down again with a second bait and again, just after putting the rod in the holder, the reel went and I was on again. This time the fish took quite a bit of line and shook its head violently. I suspected it was another queenie so took my time and managed to get another 6kg fish to the boat. What a treat.

By now we had seen that the fish were right on top of the bait showing and if we were 20m off, we got no pulls so my Dad held the boat in position while I fished. Because queenfish are not a target specie here off Richards Bay, I was keen try and figure out how to catch these fish, while I had the chance. I rigged up a second rod with a double hook trace and 8oz sinker on an elastic. On the other rod I kept the original make shift trace. As my Dad trolled over the mark, the double rig went away but the hooks missed. Moments later the other rod went and we duffed that one too. I rerigged a lighter rod with a trace and sent it down. Almost on contact with the bottom, I went on and hooked a strong fast fish. About 5 minutes into the fight, the line parted and I retrieved a section of very frayed line. I had been cut off on something... After a bit of head scratching, I decided it was no more Mr Nice Guy and the heavy cuda stick came out. I beefed up the rig, including line, hook, leader etc and made another pass. As the showing started, I felt the bait rev followed by a strong take. I hooked up and passed the rod to my Dad. He put good pressure on the fish and 15 mins later had a nice 13kg kingfish next to the boat. On the next pass, I hooked up again. This time the line went slack followed by a big splash on the surface as another queenie cleared the surface. On the second jump, it spat the hook. What a great sight to see. The wind died down, the bait showing thinned out and the action slowed down. In the next hour, I had 2 other takes which were less aggressive and as a result, I missed the fish. My Dad suggested one more drift before moved on. As the bait showing came through, I had a pull followed by a hookup. After a strong fight, I had another 8kg queenie on the boat.

As per our plan, we left the spot to look for a cuda. I rigged up 3 livies and 2 dead baits. We trolled along the ledge looking for some activity. The sea was like a mirror and after nearly an hour of silence, my Dad shouted “There it goes!”. I spun round to see the deep rod bending to the water. The reel ran in short bursts and the line angled to the surface. It did not take a rocket scientist to know what was going to happen next. About 20m behind the boat, a nice sailfish tore up the surface. We cleared lines in a flash and my Dad took the rod. I chased the fish for a while before the sinker came up. I removed it and pulled in alongside the fish. We had no gloves on the boat so an old rag was the substitute. I billed the sailie, tagged it and removed the hooks before taking a few quick pics. It swam away strongly and ended the day off perfectly. We were back in the harbour by 1pm. Not bad for a quick morning.