Double or Nothing.

On Sunday 20^th April, we launched “Seaduction” out of Richards Bay. We were looking for something for the pot so decided to fish for cuda. After filling up on live bait, we headed to the kasteel. There were a lot of bonnies around so we put out a few trolling lures and headed up the ledge. It did not take long to get a rev and soon we had 2 small bonnies on board. A short while later, we had another bonnie. At the northern tip of the ledge, I rigged 4 livies and proceeded to slow troll into the strong current. We were going backwards at 4km per hour and all I could do was to try and cross over the marks as we were swept south. We went over several good showings but could not get a pull. Probably an hour later, I checked the baits, but they were all swimming fine. Something had to happen… it was just a question of time. We were almost on the last southern mark when the deep bait went away. It only took about 15m of line, so we thought it was a very small fish. I left the other lines in the water while Andre fought the fish. While this was going on, there was a bit of a commotion on the surface just behind the boat. I saw a yellowfin chasing a baitfish around but it could not catch it. Only then did I notice what looked like a green cuda duster in the next to the baitfish! I grabbed the short surface rod and retrieved the slack line. This restricted the movements of the maasbanker and allowed the tuna to get hold of it. There was a big splash and the line took tension. I freespooled for a moment before tightening up… vas! The yellowfin took off on its first run so I passed the rod to James. Meanwhile, Andre had his fish next to the boat where Dewald gaffed a 12,4kg cuda…  bigger than I expected. James was having a hard time with his tuna which had now sounded and was making big circles down deep. About 20 minutes of back break, the fish was at the boat where I gaffed it. After bleeding it, it pulled weighed in at 16kg. Its strange that you can troll the whole day without a pull, but when you get one, it’s a double.

We fished till 2pm without any more action so returned to port happy with the 2 fish in the hatch.