Bycatch Cuda.

On Monday the 21^st April, my girlfriend Tammy, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few snoek around so we wanted to get Tammy her first one.

We were on the water quite early and ran up to Groenkop. I went about rigging 5 snoek baits, including 3 tiny redeyes and 2 bigger redeyes, and started working the area looking for signs of fish. It was a slow morning and by 8am, we had not had a touch. I decided to troll south to get away from the other boats and was rewarded with a pull on the surface redeye. The fish took a bit of line but when it slowed down, the hook unfortunately pulled. I rerigged and worked the same area. We had another pull on the bigger redeye, but the fish picked up the wire and came off. At lease we were in an area where there were a few fish.

Nice cuda on a snoek bait

At about 10am, we had another pull on the small surface redeye. The fish took about 20 meters then came straight to the boat. I wound like mad and my dad got the boat going too, just to get tight line. When the fish finally turned away from the boat and started taking line, I gave the rod to Tammy and cleared the other lines. Tammy brought the fish to the boat quite easily but then the fight changed totally. The line went straight down followed by a few big head nods. The spool kept slipping and Tammy could not gain an inch. I was convinced that the fish was converted, but we could not be sure. There were a few more head nods and then all hell broke loose! The fish absolutely smoked off along the surface taking lot of line. Thinking the shark was chasing the fish, I leaned over and put the reel into freespool to let it get away from the shark. When the spool slowed down, the reel was engaged and my dad charged after the fish with the boat. The line was cutting through the water at speed but we managed to get most of the line back. We stopped on top of the fish and Tammy managed to lift its head. When the double and leader came out the water, we could finally see the fish. It was a nice size cuda. The fish was tired after the last run so it made the gaff shot easy and I lifted it into the boat. We were all relieved that we got the fish considering the light rig it had eaten. We regrouped and continued trolling but by 11am, we had not had another pull so we returned to port where the cuda weighed 17,6kg.

Double or Nothing.

On Sunday 20^th April, we launched “Seaduction” out of Richards Bay. We were looking for something for the pot so decided to fish for cuda. After filling up on live bait, we headed to the kasteel. There were a lot of bonnies around so we put out a few trolling lures and headed up the ledge. It did not take long to get a rev and soon we had 2 small bonnies on board. A short while later, we had another bonnie. At the northern tip of the ledge, I rigged 4 livies and proceeded to slow troll into the strong current. We were going backwards at 4km per hour and all I could do was to try and cross over the marks as we were swept south. We went over several good showings but could not get a pull. Probably an hour later, I checked the baits, but they were all swimming fine. Something had to happen… it was just a question of time. We were almost on the last southern mark when the deep bait went away. It only took about 15m of line, so we thought it was a very small fish. I left the other lines in the water while Andre fought the fish. While this was going on, there was a bit of a commotion on the surface just behind the boat. I saw a yellowfin chasing a baitfish around but it could not catch it. Only then did I notice what looked like a green cuda duster in the next to the baitfish! I grabbed the short surface rod and retrieved the slack line. This restricted the movements of the maasbanker and allowed the tuna to get hold of it. There was a big splash and the line took tension. I freespooled for a moment before tightening up… vas! The yellowfin took off on its first run so I passed the rod to James. Meanwhile, Andre had his fish next to the boat where Dewald gaffed a 12,4kg cuda…  bigger than I expected. James was having a hard time with his tuna which had now sounded and was making big circles down deep. About 20 minutes of back break, the fish was at the boat where I gaffed it. After bleeding it, it pulled weighed in at 16kg. Its strange that you can troll the whole day without a pull, but when you get one, it’s a double.

We fished till 2pm without any more action so returned to port happy with the 2 fish in the hatch.