Mid-week break in the Weather

On Tuesday 23^rd July at 5pm, Wayne, Neville, Zander and I launched “Galavant” off Richards Bay. The weather forecast was excellent and we were keen to get into some Daga Salmon action.

By the time we arrived at the pipe, there were already about 10 boats there. We sounded around until we found a good showing and threw the anchor. The NE was still blowing and this made things more interesting. The wind resistance on the cabin caused the tandem anchors to continuously slip and we could not stay on the spot that we wanted. While retrieving the rope, the anchor hooked up to an old rope that had been discarded by someone else... we were now tied to a spot, 50m away from where we wanted to be, and could not get the anchor untangled in the wind / swell. We decided to stay right there, in the desert, and give it a shot.

 

We went about catching some live bait and in no time we had 4 baits in the water. Things were exceptionally quiet and not one of the boats had had a touch yet. At 7:30, Wayne informed us that he was getting a pull but when he tightened up, the hook pulled! Unlucky. At least we were now more confident about the spot we were in.

I was using 8kg line instead of 100Lbs braid. Knowing that there is a 1 fish bag limit, I was hoping to have some fun with the fish as opposed to ripping it in as fast as possible. About half an hour later, I felt my bait rev followed by a heavy bump on the rod. I fed the fish a few meters then tightened up. The rod keeled over as the fish went on a run. The other guys lifted their lines generously to avoid tangles and breaking off. The swell gave me a hard time but eventually, I turned the fish and got it to the surface. Wayne gaffed a nice daga that we estimated 17kg. With a fish on the deck, the pressure was off. I was out for the night and kept myself busy catching shad.

The wind started dropping and it turned into a beautiful evening. Zander was the next one to suddenly stand at the ready as his rod bumped. After a short feed, he hooked up and was pulled flat to the gunwale. The scarborough reel knocked him a few times before he got control. This fish was very strong and kept him busy for a good 10 minutes we got colour. It was a beautiful daga that I gaffed and hauled aboard. We all called it 30kg plus! What a nice fish.

As Wayne’s bait hit the bottom, he felt a bump but it was not his lucky night and missed the fish. The bait came back with teeth marks everywhere. Things went quiet again and at 11pm we upped lines. After struggling to get the anchor loose for about an 20 minutes, we headed back to the harbour. The fish weighed in at 18,8kg and 33kg. Really nice fish considering...

 

Putting the Fun back into Fishing...

On Sunday 21^st, Wayne, Zander and I were bored and looking for something to keep us busy so we launched “Galavant” in the Bay. There had been the odd Garrick around so we took a few small rods and headed for the south pier. We anchored and set about looking for live bait.

 

The pickings were very slim and none of the boats were finding suitable bait. At one stage, Zander caught a small seapike which he was about to release when I asked him to keep it so that we could rig it... desperate times call for desperate measures. I pinned the small pike and put it out in a balloon. I had hardly finished setting the line when the reel gave a short burst. The balloon broke away and I started feeding the fish... hoping for a Garrick. I tightened up and as the rod buckled, the tip shot back. It was a small shark that bit the hook off... This was the start of the shark plague and almost every bait we put out produced one.

Wayne had a tiny rod onboard, intended for the kids to catch blacktail and moonies at the mooring. I could not pass up the challenge and rigged up a bottom trace with a bloody chunk of sardine. I struggled to get a shark, but managed to get a few small bottomfish. I cut up some chum sardines to try and attract the shad. Eventually, Zander caught one and rigged it on a balloon. While this was going on, I persevered with my “Noddy” rod.

Finally, I felt the line tighten up and the game was on... The little rod bent to angles that I have never seen before as reel screamed off. AWESOME! I had a great fight with the fish making a few good runs before it was close enough for Zander to grab it. Classic! Its amazing how a bit of light tackle can bring the fun out in any kind of fishing.

 

Unfortunately the day ended without a Garrick, but we all had a great day on the water.