Fighting a losing battle

At 5:30 am on Saturday 17^th May, Craig Farren, Ettiene, Divan and I launched “Gaffer” out of Durban. We were fishing in the Umhlanga Ski-Boat Club’s Andy de Wet Prestige Interclub. The wind was blowing South at a good 15knots and the forecast was for it to pick up even more.

At 6:30, all the boats set off for the bait marks before heading to the different fishing spots. We ran North to the Cason where we very quickly got some nice bait. While this was going on, Ettiene and I rigged up 2 livies hoping for an early morning tuna. The lines were out for about 5 minutes when both baits were eaten. Mine was a shark while Ett’s fish was a medium yellowfin. As the yellowfin came near the boat, it took off like a rocket past the boat with a shark on its tail! Etts freespooled the fish but it was too late and the shark grabbed it before breaking off the leader. Craig took us back to the mark and again Etts went tight. He pulled the sh!t out of it and Divan managed to get a gaff into a big bonnie. As he lifted it out the water, we could see 2 sharks circling below.

In the next 5 drifts, we had 5 strikes. One was a cuda that bit through the leader, one was a small tuna that only mouthed the bait and another pulled the hook. 2 fish were eaten by sharks. This was getting ridiculous! By 9m, the fish went off the bite. The other boats had left and we were the only boat left on the marks. With the wind now pumping at 20-25 knots, we put the anchor out and set a few baits on balloons and 2 on sinkers. About an hour later, the need bait went away, but the leader was bitten through almost immediately… obviously a cuda. The next strike was on a balloon, but unfortunately the hook pulled. A few minutes later, Etts was busy letting the bait out when it was eaten. He tightened up and immediately freespooled the fish while Divs and I cleared the lines and Craig buoyed off. The fish moved about 500m off the marks before we tightened up and pulled the fish really hard. Eventually the leader came up and a nice yellowfin circled under the boat. As I went to gaff it, three sharks came flying in! I managed to get the gaff in and lift the fish into the boat. Talk about a close call!

One of the culprits

In the next hour, we had 4 more strikes and all were eaten by sharks. One fish estimated at over 20kg was on the double line when the sharks ate it! We were fighting a losing battle. Just before the lines up, we hooked a shark on one of the live baits. Divan fought it close to the boat until his back was buggered and then I took over the rod. I managed to get the Zambezi in range and Etts stuck it with the gaff. It rolled  around and the gaff pulled loose so I brought it closer again. This time it was gaffed in the gills and when it rolled, the gaff straightened. I was not keen to waits any more time on these … pests, so I parted off.

We beached at 3pm batted and broken. Our bonnie weighed in at 8,3kg and the yellowfin was 13,6kg. This was enough to get us into 8^th place. For the day, we had 12 strikes, 2 bite offs from cuda, 2 hooks pulled, 6 fish eaten by sharks and only managed to get 2 fish out.

On Sunday 18^th May, at 6:30, the race for the bait marks was on. The wind was a light SW and the sea was a lot better. On our second drift, we hooked a yellowfin of over 25kg which I fought for half an hour on maximum drag. The double knot was on the rod when out of nowhere a shark ate the fish. @#%$@!!! The next drift, Etts hooked up and the fish ran shallower off the marks. As the fish came to the surface, the shark chased it but Divan managed to get a wild gaff shot in and lifted a nice yellowfin into the safety of the boat. The next 5 drifts all resulted in strikes and fish eaten by sharks. We had a few cuda eat the leader off, but every tuna was eaten. Including another fish close to 20kg. By 11am, we moved to the barge and made a few drifts, hoping the sharks would be less prolific. Boy were we wrong! On the first drift, Divan hooked a shark on a mackerel. While he was busy with it, Etts hooked a big bonnie which immediately launched itself out the water like a polaris missile. On re-entry, it landed in the mouth of the waiting wolves. Game over. Divs broke the shark off and we made another drift. I hooked up a good yellwofin and after 25minutes, a big Zambezi ate it on the surface. The next drift saw Divan hook up and within seconds, it was eaten. Near the end of the day, I managed to finally get a big bonito out, but only just as the sharks were already circling under the boat when Divs gaffed it.

In total, we had 17 strikes, 2 cuda bite offs, 2 hook pulls, 11 taken by sharks and 2 fish in the boat. We ended up in 5^th position overall which is not bad considering there were 25 teams. The worst part is that we technically outfished the other teams in that we had probably four times as many fish on as the nearest team, but with so many sharks, it was impossible to get the fish out. No fish were lost to tackle failure. Only a few pulled hooks and chop offs. But to lose 17 fish to the sharks, that’s just unnatural. There is definitely an imbalance in the environment somewhere.