On Sunday 22nd, Wayne,
Andrew, Hugo and I left Richards Bay harbour onboard “Galavant”. We headed up
north and set up in 70m of water. The water was beautiful! Strong current,
warm, and deep blue. We decided to try something a little different on this
day. Instead of pulling a bunch of lures around, we decided to rig up a few
halfbeaks and pull them behind our teasers.
I rigged up a few baits and
staggered them in the riggers. The clips and the drags were set lightly so that
the fish could be fed a bit before tightening up. We hoped that this would
improve the hookups on the stripeys as well as make the strike more exciting as
the anglers would be more involved.
At 7:30, we were in 250m of water
when the right long clip popped. I fed the fish for a few seconds then
tightened up. The line ran off the reel at quite a pace but there was no white
water out the back. The deck was cleared in a hurry and Hugo took the chair.
After the first long run, the fish slowed down then came in pretty easily. We
were not too sure what it was and only when it was a short distance away, did
it surface and show itself. It was a nice shortbill spearfish. I brought it in
on the leader where we took a few pics before releasing this rare billfish.
What a great start.
The lines went in again and
trolling resumed. There seemed to be a few fish on the 200-250m line so we
spent most of our time there. By midday, the wind had picked up quite a bit, so
we were being pushed south to the harbour. It was at about noon when the left
long popped and the reel ran. I fed the fish but before I could tighten up, it
was gone. The head of the bait came back, but there were no marks on the
leader. Despite watching the baits, none of us had seen the fish, only a
splash. We were pretty sure it was not a billfish, but the result was the
same... a missed strike.
By 3pm, the day was pretty much
over. We were trolling back to harbour in 75m of cold, green water, hoping for
a Hail Mary fish. Andrew and I were looking at the baits when we saw a dark
shape come up behind the right short. It was a small black marlin. The fish
showed no rush in attacking the bait and had no lights on. It leisurely approached
the bait and in slow motion stick its bill out the water and knocked the bait
out the clip. By now I was already standing at the ready with a few meters of
slack and the reel in total freespool. When the clip opened, the bait dropped
back, but the fish never ate it. I tried teasing it a bit, but it faded back
and out of the spread. The bait came back in perfect condition with only a
slight scuff marl on the leader. I guess thats also part of the game.
