The curse is lifted

At 5:45 on Saturday 8^th February, Tjokkie and I launched “ABF” at Cape Vidal. We were there for the weekend and were hoping to just have a bit of fun with the gamefish on lighter tackle than we use at Richards Bay. The reports from the previous week were not good and all the boats were struggling for fish. There was however a lot of livebait around…

Our first stop was just off the launch to look for bait. I was expecting full strings on the first drop, but there was nothing! There were 7 of 8 boats around but everyone was struggling. After an hour of struggling, I went over a current line with nervous ripples on the surface. There was a showing halfway down and as the jigs went through them, we were on. There were a few decent size baits, but most a bit small… but beggars can’t be choosers. With a few baits in the well, I headed off to Oscar.

There was no current, 27.3 degree water and purple water. I was keen to get a feel of the area so that I knew where to focus my efforts so I bombed out a few halcos/rapalas and a surface lure and started trolling over the marks. I had also promised the ground crew sushi that afternoon, so I was hoping to get a yellowfin. There was not a lot of activity on the shallow marks, but when I went over the deep mark, the sounder went crazy with good showings. They started 10m off the ground and went up for 10-15m. this was obviously the place! As we passed over the showing, one of the halcos smoked off. I cleared the other lines while Tjoks fought the fish. It seemed just too easy, but then the fish sounded and the fight changed… The drag went up and up but we could not budge it. I looked on the gps and we were going circles over the same spot. Tjoks, suffering from a bout of nausea, passed me the rod to see what I could do. Immediately I could feel the line in the rocks and realised that it was probably a potatoe bass that ate the tuna when it sounded. Not wanting to waste any more time, I parted off. Knowing where to fish, I rigged up 4 bait sticks. Still hoping for a yft, I hooked a livie onto a single hook directly to flouro carbon leader and let it out. I was busy freespooling when the reel took off in my hand. I gave it 5 seconds then tightened up… vas. The fish did not seem too heavy so I put some pressure on it to get it in and start fishing, but as the fish sounded, there was a big nod and the fight changed to a slow give and take. I upped the drag to full and held on, slowly gaining line. I peered over the side and in the depths saw a big grey shape of a potatoe bass. I gained about 10m  more, then the fish headed back down. I put the brakes on and finally it chafed through the flouro.

Finally I managed to put out 4 baits and get a trolling pattern going. I was just approaching the showing when both deep baits went away. Both of us pulled as hard as we could, but Tjoks lost the battle when his fish turned into a frayed leader after another potatoe bass ate his fish. I managed to get a 5kg cuda to the surface and into the hatch. Finally something to eat. The baits went out and I made a turn. As I straightened out, the surface livie on flouro went away. I hooked up and passed Tjoks the rod. This time he pulled the crap out of it and we could gaff a small yellowfin which was bled for sushi. On my next turn, I saw the deep rod bump and when I checked the bait, it had been chopped. I checked the other deep bait and the same thing had happened to it as well. There were obviously a few cuda around, but they were chowing skelm. On the next turn, I was trolling with the wind, so I pulled neutral to get the lines down. It was not long when the surface rod just bent then flicked back with slack line. The cuda had picked up the leader in its teeth in front of the wire and bitten off… it seemed that I just had no luck today.

At long last!

Tjoks was feeling really bad, so I decided on one last turn, then I would take him back. I checked the deep bait before the last approach and it was fine so I let it down again. I turned to go to the controls when that rod bent over. The fish took some line but not like a cuda. Thinking it might be a kaakap or some or other bottom fish, I pushed the drag past the button and pulled the $#!% out of it. The line angled to the surface the sinker came up. I broke off the elastic and kept pulling, expecting to see a bottomfish pop. When the fish surfaced 20m from us, I saw a brown shape. First I thought it was an amber that had come up, but I looked closer and saw big pec fins and the white lines on the side… it was a prodigal son! I was so nervous that I could hardly think. This fish had eluded for so many years, and here I was with one on the line. I pampered it closer but something caught my eye to the right. It was a massive tiger shark! At that point, all subtleties went out the window and I pushed the drag right up. The fish came straight to the boat where Tjoks gaffed the 12kg fish. As it started twisting, we ripped it onto the boat. FINALLY!!! The curse was lifted. At that point, I was over the moon, so I we headed back to the beach.