Record breaker!

On Sunday 14^th September, Tammy and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were looking to break the ladies 3kg line class SA record of 9,2kg (currently held by my sister). We headed out to the pipeline to catch bait but after an hour, we had not caught a single shad. There were plenty mackerel, maasbanker and pinkys but not what we wanted. By 7:30 we decided to go and pull for Garrick with the bait that we had so we headed off to the pier and started trolling.

We were fishing two 3kg spinning outfits that had produced a fish the previous day. After an hour, apart from one Garrick chase next to the boat, it was quiet. The conditions were perfect though so we persevered. I received a call from friends that found a big shoal of shad close to where we were so we immediately upped lines and ran to them. On the first down with the jigs, I brought up 5 nice shad. In 3 downs, there was enough bait in the hatch to last the entire day… Just shows you how important it is to have good friends on the sea!

By not, there were 6 boats around the pier so I moved away from the area. After a few hours without a pull, I heard a report that there were two Garrick caught off the pier. We upped lines and headed back to the area but did not want to contend with all the boats. I noticed that the water in the backline was beautiful with nice rips and colour lines so I ran a bit south to work them. The second line was just out when we had a pull. Tammy fed the fish but when she tightened up, she got the head back. It was a shark. Two fresh baits went out and I trolled on the edge of the rip, just in the clean water. I had just trolled through good looking water when I saw 2 garrick chasing razorbellies on the surface. I made a sharp turn and moved through the area where they had been. Nothing happened… I made another pass but still nothing.

Beautiful Garrick on 3kg line

I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong as I knew the fish were there but we were not getting the pull. I was about to move on when something told me to make another turn. The lines had just straightened out when the close bait started revving. Tammy picked up the rod as the bait was eaten and started feeding it. I cleared the other bait by speed, making sure nothing was going to eat it on the way in. I put both motors in gear and Tam started winding. It was a textbook hookup with the tackle loading up and the line racing into the backline. I headed out to sea to get out the surf zone while the Garrick tore up the surface between the sets of foamies.

Possible World Record Garrick

 After 10 minutes, it moved out the backline and I could get close to it. The leader came onto the rod and just when I thought I would get a quick gaff shot, it took off on a strong run. This happened about 5 times and only then did we see why the fish was acting so strangely… There was a second Garrick with it. Every time they would get close to the boat, the freeswimming fish would get a fright and take off. The hooked fish would see the freeswimmer spook and would do the same (adding to the stress levels)! This caused some tension between skipper and angler. Considering the trying conditions, Tammy did an excellent job on the rod and after an hour, the fish finally surfaced near the boat. Tammy presented it well and I managed to get a gaff into it. We were ecstatic! The fish was the biggest one we had caught for the season!

We headed back to the club to get the official weight. It came in at 13,6kg!!! If everything is approved, this fish will beat the existing Woman’s SA, All African and World Record! Well done Tammy!