Baby Black

On Saturday morning at 5:30am, At, Fanie, Tammy and I launched “AVANTI” at Cape Vidal. The SW was blowing about 15-20Kt so there were very few boats launching. After negotiating the surf, we went about looking for live bait. At tried a few spots before we found a good showing and soon filled up the live well. While Fanie and Tammy were catching bait, I put out a livie on a circle hook, just in case there was a dorado around the bait shoal. When we had enough bait, I brought in the trap stick and the hook had been neatly bitten off.

It was pretty protected in the bay so I rigged up 4 lines, 2 deep and 2 on surface, and At tacked in and out moving south with the current. It did not take long to get a rev. This time it was the deepest bait that went away and Fanie managed a nice dorado. At made a turn over the same spot and the far surface bait went away very slowly. I thought it might be a sailfish, but when Tammy had it close to the boat, it turned out to be a dorado that was hooked in the gills. In the next half hour, we had 2 big sharks eat the deep baits. I was busy making up a few new traces when the medium rod smoked off and Fanie had a bit of a tussle with a nice cuda of around 10kg. Again we trolled over the same area and the japan reel smoked off. Tammy took the strike but something was wrong. the fight changed to that heavy weight that we all hate. While this was going on, I looked into the water and about 4m down was another big shark just waiting for us to bring a fish to the boat. We broke off the taxman and rode away from the area and regrouped. With fresh baits out, we tacked over the same depth that we had the previous pulls and quickly went onto another cuda. I was afraid of losing it to another shark, so I put the drag to sunset and pulled like hell. Luckily the fish stayed on and was next to the boat in a few minutes where At gaffed it. I was still rigging a replacement bait when the medium bait went away. Fanie took the rod and was told to pull the fish double time and soon had another nice cuda on the boat. A short while later, we had a full spread out again. This time it took about half an hour before we had another pull. I took the strike and again went right up on the drag. Within a few seconds, I had a yellowfin on the leader but it managed to evade the gaff and took off straight down where a waiting zambi had a free lunch.

With the shark in the vicinity, things went a bit quiet so At trolled a bit north to move out of the area. Eventually the far surface rod went away and Fanie took the strike. At saw a few dolphins in nearby so he sped towards the fish before they could take it. As it came past the boat, I put a gaff into a nice dorado. It was pretty quiet until I lifted it into the boat. The tail touched the side of the hatch and it went mental, jumping off the gaff. In the commotion, a treble found its way into the back of my leg and now both dorado and I were hopping around the deck. Finally we subdued the fish and I could painfully remove the unwanted body piercing… I felt like starting a new trend… something like the “Hook yourself Challenge”… I nominate you!



Small Black Marlin on the leader

Our bait stocks were pretty low so while the lines were up, we ran back to the bait spot and filled up on a few better size mackerel and maasbanker. The lines went out and At trolled south to where we had the pulls earlier. It did not take long before Fanie got another cuda. I rigged a replacement bait and put it out a few meters and went to attach a weight. I then noticed a dorado flying in and grabbed the bait. Unfortunately it missed the hooks. I brought in the close surface line and saw the dorado come flying in from the side and grab the bait. I fed it before striking and a good fish took to the air. It gave me a good fight and soon had the biggest fish of the day in the boat.

Tammy's first billfish

The wind had died down a bit and the sea was looking really good. Both At and I were convinced that some time or other, we would bump into a sailfish… a fish that Tammy had not caught yet. With this in mind, we persevered until the afternoon. Things went very quiet and so I checked the baits but they were all good. After about an hour, At turned back towards the point to head home. We were both looking at the far surface line when the rod bent a bit then straightened again.
I walked towards the rod when it suddenly keeled over and the reel smoked off. I thought it was a cuda by the speed it was going but then, way out the back, there was a big commotion as a small billfish tore up the surface! Both At and I shouted simultaneously “MARLIN!”. It was probably the smallest black that I have ever seen, but it thought it was a grander by the way it was jumping. Tammy took the strike and At slowed the run by chasing after it. There was a lot of line in the water, but she managed to get the fish to the boat in about 15 minutes. After a few jumps, one almost into the boat, I managed to get hold of the small bill and pull it over the gunwale. After a few quick pics, we revived it and sent it on its way. Awesome! With that, we unanimously decided to head back home.