Upcountry Success

On Saturday 6^th September at 7am, At, Danie, Les and I launched “Avanti” out of Richards Bay. Danie and Les were visiting from upcountry for the day and they were keen to fish a bit. The wind was a good 15 knot Northerly and the sea already had a few white horses. There had been a few Garrick in the area, so we decided try and tick this species off Danie and Les’ list.

Les' first garrick

After a bumpy ride to the pipeline, three of us went about looking to catch livebait while At held us on the spot. There were massive showings almost to the surface and it was no surprise when all three of us went on before hitting the bottom. Danie had a few maasbanker, which we released, while Les and I had full strings of mackerel. This seemed like a great time to stock up on bait for the coming summer months. Over the next hour or so, it was operation mackerel and the cool box quickly filled up. These prime baits would later be vacuum packed and stored for when the gamefish showed up. 

By 9:30, the mackerel had dispersed and we headed to the pier to look for a Garrick. The water was quite dirty so we slowly trolled south along the backline towards the New Mouth area. There was a nice colourline that had formed and At slowly worked alone it. On the first pass, we never had a pull so At turned into the wind and headed north, back up the line. This slower speed seemed to do the trick as the far surface bait went away. I fed the fish before tightening up and going on. The line angled into the backline, a tell tail sign of a Garrick. I passed the rod to Les and he fought his first Garrick to the boat. It did not put up much of a fight and only when it was in the boat did we see that it was hooked in the gills.

Danies first garrick

While the lines were in, At ran back to where we had turned. I quickly put out the 3 lines and just as I set the last line, the far surface bait was eaten. Again I fed the fish and tightened up on another Garrick that also headed straight for the surf. This time Danie took the rod and had a good tussle around the boat. After about 10mins, I managed to get a gaff into Danies first Garrick.

 

Upcountry boys with garrick

The wind was slowly picking up and the backline started building. At suggested we make one more pass before heading back. After setting the 3 lines, we sat back and had a bit of boat pack. I was looking back when I noticed a swirl a short distance behind the boat. When I shouted, everyone turned to look as the Garrick surfaced and chased the close surface mackerel. Despite the mackerel’s best escape attempts, the Garrick got hold of it and before the reel ran, I was ready to freespool. The line picked up and ran off the reel at a good speed. I tightened up and went on to a really solid fish. It went on a good strong run and I passed the rod to Les. The fish gave him a strong fight for nearly 20 minutes before I got the gaff in. It was the biggest fish of the day by far. With the lines already up, we decided to call it a day and headed back to harbour to watch the rugby.

Back at the club, the fish weighed in at 7kg, 8,2kg and 12,2kg respectively.