Consolation prize

On Saturday 22^nd March, we launched Jannie’s “Ohana” off Richards Bay. The NE was already blowing 15 knots and the sea was unsettled. Our first stop was at the pipe where we caught some maasbanker. During this time we tried to decide where we were going to fish for cuda but the options were few and far between. The water at the normal spots was dirty and the hotspots were just too far to run with the 20kt winds. We decided to fish the ledge south of the harbour.

The run there was with the wind so it was pretty comfortable, but as we travelled further from shore, the sea and wind picked up. Jannie held the boat into the wind while I struggled to get the 4 lines out. After about 20minutes we had lines out and were fishing. I took over the controls and tried my best to zigzag over the reef and showing. It was impossible to leave the steering to have a drink, something to eat or put sunscreen on. The second that you left the wheel, the wind and swell would turn the nose and push the boat over the lines. It was terrible! To make it worse, some of the crew was sick and I ended up getting helping of someone’s breakfast on my foot… not very pleasant.

Just when I was losing hope, I saw Jannie run to the back, only then did I see that the surface rod was bending. I increased the speed to get the line tight and let the drag run. There was a splash out the back as a dorado took to the air. Jannie fought the fish to the boat where we saw a second fish with it. I could not assist at all and hung onto the controls, trying not to ride over the fish. Jannie passed the rod to his brother and grabbed another rod with a daisy chain on it. He hooked a live maasie through the nose and flicked it out. Within seconds, the follower ate the bait and was hooked. Jannie’s son TJ took the rod and tried his best not to fall overboard. By this time, the first fish was next to the boat where Jannie gaffed it and put it directly into the hatch. TJ brought his fish in and it joined the first one in the hatch. Feeling much better about the day, we fished for another hour until the sea was covered with white caps. When the second wave broke over the nose, I suggested we call it a day… everyone agreed so we upped lines and headed home.

We ended up taking the 3^rd biggest unspecified gamefish prize in the Umlalazi Cuda Classic… a bit of a consolation prize I guess.

The Early Bird Catches the Worm

On Friday 21^st March at 3:30am, Jannie Jacobs and I launched “Ohana” out of Richards Bay. It was a miserable morning with a SW wind blowing and a light drizzle. The forecast was that the wind would drop and become NE in the afternoon, so there would be a good lull. At one stage, we thought that we were absolutely mad to be on the water at this hour, but we had a plan… Our first stop was at the pipeline to look for some shad. Unfortunately the water was dirty, so we ended up with not a single livebait. At 4:30am, we headed for Zini Hi Point, hoping that we would be the first boat there and have the place to ourselves for a while.

We arrived at the pinnacle at just before 6am and I put out 3 daisy chains hoping for some jube jubes. On the first pass, we caught a big kawakawa that we released and on the second, we had 2 small skippies which were rigged up. Jannie just turned to the reef when the surface bait was eaten. The reel ran a bit then stopped.I felt that the bait was still there so freespooled a bit. Something ate it so I tightened up. It ended up being a hammerhead of about 40kg. I went about rigging some dead baits and while this was going on, the other skippie was eaten. It was another hammerhead of a similar size… frustrating to say the least.

We abandoned the live bait option and put out a few wala, mackerel and bonnies. I was just rigging the 4^th bait when I saw the deep rod bend. The reel smoked off as the fish went on its run. I looked back to the other lines and saw the medium depth rod keel over and smoke off… we were doubled. Jannie took that rod while I had the first. When my fish was close to the boat, I turned around to get the gaff. That’s when I saw the surface rod bend over and go on. We had a triple… nice! By now my fish was at the boat where I gaffed it and hauled a good cuda aboard before taking the next rod. Jannie’s fish was close too and just when we were ready to gaff, the hooks came out! Unlucky. I picked up the last rod and brought an 8kg shoal cuda to the gaff.

I rerigged and set the full spread of 5 lines. I could see the other boats on the horizon so we did not have much time. Jannie trolled over the northern tip of the reef and was rewarded with the surface bait being eaten. I was the closest, so took the rod and brought in another shoal cuda. In the next hour, 11 boats arrived and the cuda went quiet. We decided to move a few hundred meters south away from the traffic and see if the fish would eat there. We trolled over a good mid-water bait showing and the deep wala went away. Jannie took the strike and had a hard time with a fish that was fighting strangely. After 15minutes, a shoal size cuda came up tail first.

Early morning cuda

Again the lines went in and we trolled past the showing. Jannie had just said that we should get a pull when I saw the downrigger rod pull down followed by a smoking reel. I took the strike while Jannie cleared the other deep line. The fish took a lot of line to the front of the boat and I had quite a job moving around the T-top to follow the fish. At one stage, I was fighting directly over the steering wheel to the front of the boat… gotta love it. Finally I had the fish next to the boat where Jannie gaffed another nice cuda. The fish were obviously not keen on the traffic but luckily we had found a few ready to feed. After setting the lines again, Jannie trolled over the same area but the showing had gone. We tacked the area and finally found it again. It was no surprise when the deep line went away. Jannie took the rod and had an unusually easy fight with another good fish which I gaffed and brought aboard. In the next half hour, the sea changed. A strong reverse current came through bringing with it a lot of slime. The lines were covered in the stuff and made the tackle very visible to the fish. We trolled the area for another 2 hour, but apart from another 40kg hammerhead, we had no action so headed back to port where the 3 biggest fish weighed 20kg, 19,6kg and 17,5kg. Sometimes the early bird does catch the worm.

2014 Amatikulu Cuda Classic

On Sunday 16^th March at 5:30 we launched Andrew Saville’s 19ft Tom Cat “Mye Babo” out of Richards Bay. We were fishing in the Amatikulu Cuda Classic, but due to the mouth being closed, we could not launch out of the mouth so alternative launch sites were allowed. Fishing in the team was Gert Nel, Peppie van Rooyen, Andrew and I.

We headed out for the pipeline and caught a few livebaits before heading south to Petingo. The reverse current had come in overnight and the water was not a good colour. We had no other options as the water was bad past 200m so we decided to persevere on the wreck. I put out a few dead baits and 2 livies then trolled over the wreck. There were a few boats there, but they soon left as it was stone dead. With the wreck to ourselves, I could work every inch of it to see if we could scratch out a fish. After 4 hours of trolling, we finally had a strike on a livie. Gert fought the fish which came in relatively. The water was a bit murky, so only when it was really close, could we make out what the fish was. It turned out to be a nice size queenfish of 9kg. At least we were not “mombakkies”.

I rerigged and continued trolling. An hour later, the deep livie went away with a nice fish. It took quite a bit of line before doubling back and heading straight for the wreck. I stayed on top of the fish while Peppie tried to keep it off the bottom. Unfortunately the fish managed to cut the leader off in the rigging leading us to believe it was a kingfish. I rerigged the rod and kept at it.

It felt like the day was dragging, but finally, at 2pm, one of the surface wala was eaten and the reel took off. We cleared the lines and Gert took the rod. The fish came in relatively easily and swam parallel to the boat where we could just make it out. In the dirty water, it looked quite small but it was giving Gert quite a good fight. I turned the boat toward the fish to close the gap and when the fish was in range on the surface, I put the gaff in. When I lifted the fish over the gunwale, I was pleasantly surprised at the size. Back at the club, it weighed in at 17,8kg. Not bad considering the poor conditions we had to fish in.