Running out of bait

On Saturday 26^th December at 4:30, John and I launched “Drifter” out of Meerensee Boat Club. There was a 15knot SE wind blowing with a bit of rain. The sea was exceptionally uncomfortable and the ride out to the pipeline took a while. Eventually we arrived and started looking for bait. With the difficult sea conditions, we struggled to get bait. After an hour, we had about 10 livies and decided to head off to the current.

Once we were in the strong N-S current, the swell picked up and we were thrown around properly. Somehow I managed to get 4 marlin lures out and we worked our way north. There was a good current line in 85m so I spent some time working along it. We were rewarded with a dorado of around 8kg. With only 2 people on the boat and shitty seas, it was tough going to clear the lines. We were going to battle if a marlin climbed on…

We fished through the prime and at 11:30 decided to switch to live bait. John and I were slowly clearing the rods when the far lure was eaten by another nice dorado which we loaded. We were pretty close to the ledge, so I rigged up a livie and put it out on surface. As I put the rod in the holder, the reel smoked off… we were on! I pulled the fish to the boat and could make it out to be a yellowfin tuna. All of a sudden it took off and a big electric blue shape charged after it. It was a marlin trying to eat it. Knowing that we were under gunned, I did not let the marlin eat the tuna and pulled it to the boat where it was gaffed and bled. I managed to rig up 3 livies, 2 on surface and 1 deep. No sooner had we started trolling, the far surface bait went away with a good dorado. John fought the fish and when it was close to the boat, the other surface rod went away with a second dorado. We both fought fish to the boat and managed to land them both… not bad. I rerigged and trolling continued. I tacked back over the ledge and the close surface bait went away. I was busy fighting the dorado when John went away on the deep bait that he was retrieving. Both fish gave us a good fight and we managed to land both again.

A good haul of gamefish in a terribly bumpy sea

Our bait situation was looking bad and we only had 3 livies left. I only put out 2 surface baits and made another turn. Sure enough, the close bait went away. I fed the fish a bit and tightened up. A small dorado bounced around out the back and managed to throw the hook. I pinned the last livie and put it out. This time it took about 20 minutes before we had a pull. The reel smoked off and I battled to get the rod out the holder. The fish took a lot of line but unfortunately the hook just fell out. Unlucky… 

We trolled the last livie around for a while but it just felt wrong fishing with one rod, so I suggested we switch to lures and troll with the current and head home as it was getting late. I put out 4 lures and trolled south along the ledge. It was not long before we were on with another dorado.

The current was running very strong and pushed us along at 16km per hour. So we could not work the area properly and only now and then we would pass over a high point. We were just getting ready to up lines when we went away with a big skipjack which took off so quickly that it had us thinking it was a wahoo. That was the last pull for the day and we headed back at 3:30pm.

Vidal Holiday

Recently I spent  few days fishing off Cape Vidal with good friend At van Tilburg on his boat “AVANTI”. The game fishing was really good and we had a few great days on the water.

A nice Sailie ready for release

On the first day, Saturday 5^th December, we launched early and caught live bait. Shortly after rigging the bait, we started getting a few pulls from dorado. The action was thick and fast and by 8am we had 8 fish on the boat. It was ridiculous fishing so we decided to try something different. I rigged up 4 small surface lures and headed north along a current line. It was not long when there was a bump on the one rod. I kept watching it and saw another bump. I took the rod and held the tip backwards. When I felt some weight, I flicked the rod forward allowing the lure to sink back then tightened up. Tight! The fish ran quite a bit before settling. A short while later, there were a few big head nods and the fish took off for the surface. A nice size sailfish cleared the water giving a great show. Shortly after, At’s boat-boy John, billed the fish before releasing it. Nice!

John fighting his first Sailfish

The lines were reset and about 15 minutes later, the spinning rod with the close lure went away. John took the rod and was treated to another sailfish dancing across the surface. This fish took a lot of line but after following it, John got it all back in a short fight. I leadered the fish and took a quick photo before releasing his first sailfish. Nice!

At one stage later that morning, we had a shoal of dorado around the boat. I had a 1kg outfit on board and fired out a live mackerel at them. Almost instantly it was swallowed by a hungry fish. When I tightened up, it went ballistic jumping all over the place. With the other lines cleared, At chased after it as I tried to stay connected. The fish settled and went deep. It took for ever to finally turn it's head and come to the surface, but would not come closer than 15m from the surface. The fish was clearly visible under the boat. It managed to get it's head down again and sounded. An hour and twenty minutes into the fight, there was a strange head shake and the pressure released. I retrieved the line to only to find that the hook had pulled! What a pity!

In the next hour, we caught a few more dorado and beached at 11am with 12 dorado and 2 sailfish. What a great day.

On Sunday 6^th, At and I launched and headed north. We were keen to fish for marlin. We battled to find live bait and were plagued by dorado. We caught 6 dorado and intentionally lost 4 before we finally caught a 3kg bonito. Unfortunately it was gill hooked and died, but a short while later we managed a 6kg yellowfin which was rigged. It was a few hours before the next prime so I rigged up a swimbait on a 30Lb rod and put it on the port rigger. It actually swam pretty well.

Finally the prim started and an hour in, the yellowfin began revving and went deep. While we were watching the rigger, the 30Lbs rod took off as something ate the swim bait! After some chaos, we were hooked up and settled. The fish had a lot of line out but after following it a bit, I had it quite close. I looked into the water and noticed a brown shape just beneath the boat. It was a big 200kg plus Zambezi shark that had come up to have a look what was going on. About 25minutes later, my fish came to the surface and showed itself to be another shark of about 130kg. At cut the leader off short and we headed home.

On Tuesday 8^th, we had a full crew on board. At, Wim, Brent, Jurie and I launched early and caught a few livies. The water was a bit green after the lightning storm the previous night and things were a bit slow. It took a while to get the first pull but eventually managed to get a small dorado on the boat. Just past the lighthouse, we trolled through an oily patch of water. Moments later, the medium bait went away. The fish was under control, so I left most of the other lines in. I did clear the deep line so that it didn’t tangle. I held this bait in the water and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a dorado coming in. I flicked the bait at it and went on. I passed the rod to Brent and watched the show. While this was going on, the far surface bait went away. Jurie took the rod and joined the fray. Wim brought in a nice 10kg cuda and Brent got his dorado. A while later, Jurie also landed a similar size cuda. 

25,8kg cuda

There was only one bait still rigged so Wim put it out about 10m behind the boat, just while we sorted out the deck. When things were settled, I reached over to let some more line out. I was not paying much attention at the time. I felt that there was not much line on the reel and that the spool was slowly turning. I assumed the drag had been left very loose and that the bait had slowly pulled off line while we were busy. I nonchalantly put the drag up a bit… holy Shit! The reel absolutely smoked off. I looked at the rod which was now keeled over, but it was bending to the nose of the boat, past the skipper! There was a fish on… and it had been for a while already! I took the rod while At chased after the fish. As we were getting close, a dolphin came flying past the boat after the fish… just our luck… I freespooled the reel and hoped that the fish would get away. After a smoking run of 100m, I went to max drag and At chased after it again. This went on a few times when finally the fish was close. At one point we remarked that the fish was probably too big for the small dolphin to eat, that’s why it had not been chowed yet. The fish finally neared the boat and came within gaffing range. At gaffed the cuda and battled to haul it on board. It was a beautiful fish and one of the biggest I had ever caught at Vidal. Things went quiet after that with only a few big sharks and dolphin eating the bait, so we headed home. The cuda weighed 25,8kg.

Filleting dorado... waste not, want not!

On Wednesday 9^th, we were on the water by 5am. The SW chop made it difficult to see the shoals on the surface, but after searching for a while we managed to find some. While Jurie was lifting a bait into the boat, a dorado came flying in and snatched the mackerel off the sabiki jig. At threw a rigged livie at it and went on immediately. Henk took the rod and quickly had our first fish of the day. With enough livies, At traveled south towards the lighthouse. I put out 3 small high speed lures and it was not long before we were on with another dorado which Henk also caught. Nearing the lighthouse, the far lure was eaten by a nice dorado that Jurie caught. While the fish was on, there were 2 followers and At flicked a livie at them and went tight. Both fish made it into the hatch. There were a few big baitballs in the area so we trolled around them. It was not long when 3 rods went away. Jurie and Henk each caught a dorado and I got a nice yellowfin tuna which was bled for sushi. The wind dropped and the bite slowed down. Jurie took the spinning rod and threw a stick bait just to pass the time. Just as he was losing interest, out of nowhere, a dorado smashed the surface lure and Jurie went on! Classic! After a short fight, it was in the boat. At the same time, one of the other rods went away with another dorado. It was crazy fishing! At made a shallower turn and two rods went away with dorado. One pulled hook and the other made it to the boat. It was getting ridiculous, so we decided to take out the bait and troll lures to the point and then beach. About half way to the point, we got another dorado before calling it a day at 11am.

On Friday 11^th, At, Tammy and I launched at 5:30 and were treated to a flat calm sea with no surf at all. We quickly caught bait which was thick everywhere. As per the previous trip, we trolled lures south and soon went tight with a fish. It turned out to be a yellowfin. Nice for a change. Just south of the Lighthouse, we got another yellowfin, but the dorado were a bit scarce. There were a few shoals of tuna smashing on the surface and I managed to get a skipjack on a spinning rod and a small spoon. Things went quiet and after a few hours without a pull, I cleaned the lines and rerigged fresh baits. A short while later, we had a pull on the deep bait. It was a dorado that came flying out the water vertically for about 3m then threw the hooks. I worked the area without success and headed south. On one of the current lines, we had another dorado pull, but it also missed the hooks.

The wind turned direct East and everything went dead, even the bait disappeared off the surface. It was a sign to pack up and head home. This was out last day’s fishing at Vidal and we left on the Saturday morning with a coolbox full of fish for the festive season.

Beasterly Easterly

On Sunday 8^th November, my Dad and I launched “Selfish” out of Richards Bay. After the exceptionally strong winds that we experienced during the past week, we were pretty sure the water would be cold and unsettled. The plan for the day was to look for a bonito on light line. It didn’t sound like much of a challenge, but having tried it before, I knew it was quite challenging.

As usual, our first stop was on the pipeline to catch live bait. There was a strong reverse current but the water was relatively clean and 23 degrees. There was a lot of bait around and it did not take long to fill the live well. I had been requested to bring back a Rockcod for Tammy so just before leaving the pipe, I rigged up a dead maasbanker and sent it to the bottom. It didn’t take long to get a pull and brought up a nice catface rockcod that went straight into the ice.

With something for the pot, we headed to the ledge to look for a bonito. As we headed deeper, the water temp kept dropping. 14km later, the temp was 21 degrees. Not exactly ideal. On the positive side, there was little current and there was a good showing. I rigged up a 2kg outfit and pinned a maasbanker. I was busy letting it out when the reel took off in my hands. I fed the fish a bit and tightened up. The fish went on a bit of a run but nothing spectacular. I managed to lift it about half way before it made a second run to the surface. With the fish up on top, we chased after it and got some line back. A short while later, we had colour on a small tuna species. Only when it was on the leader did we see it was a striped bonito. Not what I had expected. We made another drift and sure enough went tight again. This time the fish gave a few head nods before the line parted under minimal pressure. Looking at the big showing on the sounder I guessed that another fish had swum into the line. On the next drift, I waited a while before getting a pull but finally went tight. This time the fish came straight to the surface and I could get a lot of line back. The leader was on the rod when the fish turned around and took off back down. I got a glimpse of the fish and it was also a striped bonito. 

Not long after, the fish was lifted into the boat. I wanted to take the opportunity to try catch one on 1kg line so rigged up a rod. As luck would have it, the showing had vanished so we moved around looking for them. After a while, a good showing came through so I put the bait out. It was only a few seconds before the bait was eaten and I was tight onto what felt like a nice fish. This fish made a few long runs and I could not gain an inch of line. After chasing it around the ocean for a while, it made another fast run but with quite a bit of line in the water, even with the reel in freespool, the line parted. I was pretty sure it was a bigger kawa kawa that had eaten the bait and not a smaller sarda. My Dad sounded around a bit more, and found another showing. Unfortunately at the same time, the wind changed to a direct easterly wind. It was like a switch going off and the fish stopped feeding. We made about 4 more drifts over the thick showing but could not get a pull.

This was enough for us to call it a day and head back home. The two fish weighed 2,8kg and 2,4kg respectively. Not spectacular, but still pretty challenging.

Big Bonnies!

At 5:30 on Sunday 14^th September John and I launched “Drifter” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch some small tuna on the new spinning rods that John had bought. As always, we stopped on the pipe to look for bait. On the first few downs, we caught mackerel  and shad. We spent some more time getting a few Maasbanker and then headed to the ledge. The SW wind was blowing about 5-10 knots but this was enough to keep the occasional rain squall passing over us. With the squalls, there was a stronger gust of wind that made a constant drift pattern very difficult. On the first 2 drifts, we never had a touch but finally on the 3^rd attempt, we had a pull but the leader was bitten through.

John with a 10.9kg Kawa-Kawa

The showing was very good near the bottom, so I set a bait with an 8oz sinker and as we neared the pinnacle, the rod keeled over. I fought a strong fish to the boat and after a good tussle ad a big kawa-kawa of around 9kg on board. The next drift was a carbon copy of the previous one and I soon had a second big kawa. I switched my rod to a surface bait and put John’s deeper down. Near the end of the drift, his reel took off and he had his hands full with a really strong fish. After a while the fish was near the boat when it took off and there were those dreaded bumps as a shark ate the fish. John retrieved the head of a nice amberjack. I slowly headed back to the pinnacle and put out a daisy chain to quickly catch some bonnies. It did not take long to go tight. John had the string of bonnies ear the boat when another shark grabbed them and the chase was on… Eventually it bit the leader off.

Whats left after tax...

On the next drift, John went on again with a strong fish. We both thought that it could be an amberjack, but after a long fight, a huge bonnie popped up next to the boat. It was one of the biggest that I had ever seen so I gaffed it to weigh. On the trip up to start the drift, we picked up a small bonnie that went into the bait box. The last drift never produced a pull so we upped lines and headed to the south pier. We tried there for a while around the south pier, but had no luck. When an ominous rain cloud was looming, we headed home to prevent being soaked.

The bonnie weighed 10.9kg, 100 grams off the current All Tackle South African Record.

Ripper of a day

On Sunday 30^th August, we launched John Farndell’s “Drifter” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find a few Garrick as John had not yet caught one off Richards Bay. We stopped at the pipeline at around 6am and sounded around until we found a good bait showing. There were a lot of maasbanker, but it was shad that we were look

ing for. After searching the area, I found a spot where we managed to catch about 10 shad. With enough bait in the well, we headed north to Nhlobane.

Drifter in the backline fighting a garrick

We were the first to arrive and I quickly rigged up 3 shad. Two on surface on spinning gear and one deep on conventional gear. There were a few rips around so when we pulled the bait through the churned up water, it was no surprise when the far surface bait went away. I hooked up and passed the rod to John who had a good fight with his first Richards Bay Garrick. Great stuff!

I set the lines again and worked the next rip. Other boats had also arrived and were in the same area but were not having much luck. As the baits came out of the rip, the close surface bait revved before being eaten. John fed the fish and tightened up to his second Garrick of the day. This fish was turbo charged and gave him a run around before being boated.

With a bit of congestion from the other boats, we decided to head back south, slowly working the rips that were fading as the tide started to turn. Things were very quiet for a while but eventually the far surface bait went away and after hooking up, I passed the rod to my Dad. He had a good tussle with a similar size Garrick. When the fish was on the leader, it gave a last head shake on the surface and spat the hook. I suppose that happens.

John with his first R/Bay Garrick

We continued on out south bound route and saw a few fish chasing in the shallows. A short while later, the far bait was eaten again and when I tightened up, the rod took tension but then the bait came flying back. The leader had wrapped around the hook and then pulled the hook into the bait. This made it easy for the Garrick to spit the bait. By now the NE wind had picked up and the sea was getting bumpy. This combined with a slow bite let us to up lines and head back to harbor.

2015 Garrick Season begins with a bang!

At 6:30 on Sunday 23^rd August, Tammy, Terrance and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to get our first Garrick for the season and if we were lucky, a snoek or two. Our first stop was on the pipeline to look for live bait. I sounded around for a while and found big shoals of Maasbanker and mackerel. I tried hard to find some shad but after an hour and a half that we tried, we only found two. 

11.8kg garrick on 6kg line

Terrance's first garrick

It was getting late so we headed north past groenkop. There were quite a few boats looking for snoek so I rigged up two fillets and two lures and trolled around. There was a lot of life in the water with whales, dolphin, diving gannets and shoals of redeyes. Closer to the backline, there were a few boats working a small area. I headed in that direction and started to see big bait showings on the sounder. Only then did I look back and see all 4 rods with a slight bend in them. Tammy and Terrance retrieved the lines and to our surprise, each one had a small shad on them. Realising that the showings were shad, I drifted the area while Tammy and Terrance cast spoons at them. Every cast was a shad and when they were near the boat, they were followed by hundreds more. It was amazing to see! This also meant that we now had an excellent supple of livies.

Terrance's second garrick putting up a fi

The snoek fishing was abandoned as everything that we put out resulted in a shad so the snoek had no chance to get to the lures. I rigged up four rods, one 6kg spinning rod for Tammy and three conventional 10kg rods for Terrance. All four were rigged with live shad and once set, I putted into the backline. The water had quite a few dirty patches and it took a while before it cleaned up with the outgoing tide. After about an hour and a half, and several position changes, we found a spot where the bait was being smashed in the breakers. It did not take long before the close surface bait on the spinning rod was eaten. Tammy fed the fish and tightened up. The fish took quite a bit of line so we cleared the other lines and followed after it. After a strong back and forward fight, the fish was gaffed and hauled aboard. It was a nice size Garrick considering the line class it was on.

With the first fish under our belt, the pressure was off and we could relax a bit. While the lines were out, I headed back north to where we started and set out 3 rods to look for Terrance’s first Garrick. It did not take long before the close surface bait revved. I picked up the rod and felt the bait get eaten. I let it run and passed the rod to Terrance. When it had fed enough, he tightened up and tussled his first Garrick to the boat. In true Garrick style, the fish put up a fight at the boat but I finally managed to grab it's tail and haul it on board. It was quickly measured, tagged, weighed and photographed before releasing the 7kg fish. Great!

Again I headed back to the starting point and set 3 more baits. There was a swirl in the breakers, so I made a sharp turn to try intercept. When I came back in line and we had not had a pull, I retrieved the close surface bait and saw that it had tangled with the far line. While I was undoing the tangle, a Garrick came up just behind the boat and tried to eat the bait. What a cock up! I bit the tangled leader off and let the other line go so that I could feed the fish, but it was too late and I was left with a squashed bait. We regrouped and continued trolling with three tangle free fresh baits. I was busy heading deeper along a colour line when the reel with the far bait gave a short burst. I fed the fish and came tight to another Garrick. I passed the rod to Terrance who released his second Garrick for the day.

Tammy on her second fish before releasing it

By now the pattern was clear and it was just a matter of following the same routine. Run up to the northern point, set 3 baits and troll past the shoal of bait and you were almost guaranteed to get a pull. On the next pass over the spot, I went tight on a fish and managed to tag my first garrick of the year. 

The next fish Tammy hooked up and had it at the boat in a few minutes before it was released. It seemed too easy but again we ran to the start and set up. This time, it was near the southern end of the marks when the far bait revved. I put the reel in freespool and waited for the pull. After a short feed, I tightened up and fought my second Garrick of the day. It was also weighed, tagged and released. It was getting late so we opted to make one more turn and if we didn’t get a pull, head home. Apart from two good chases in the backline near our baits, it was quiet so we upped lines and ran home. Tammy’s fish weighed in at 11,8kg and set the benchmark for the Club’s Garrick Derby. In all it was a great day that won’t soon be forgotten.

Time and Tide...

On Saturday 15^th August, Jurie, Kobus, Gert and I launched “Avanti” off Cape Vidal. We were there for a At van Tilburg’s 60^th birthday and were hoping to get some fish for a paella later that night. After an interesting launch, we stopped behind backline and filled the livewell with Maasbanker and mackerel before heading to Oscar. 

I put out four big rapalas and trolled north into the current. The swell was big due to the upwelling created by the strong current and it made trolling uncomfortable. I trolled over the southern marks and saw a good showing on the sounder. Moments later three of the reels went away with small yellowfin. The fish were bled and put on ice before I continued trolling. Things were quiet and after passing over the northern pinnacles a few times without a touch, I headed back to where we had caught the yellowfins on the southern marks. As I trolled the lures over the spot, again three reels went off. One pulled hooks but the others were bled and put into the hatch.

I was pretty over catching small yellowfins so put out some live baits and slow trolled over the bumps. The current pushed us back quickly and before long we were near the point. I put on fresh baits and tacked over the bait showings but to no avail. The tide was pushing and with a big sandbank in the bay, it meant that we either had to beach on the low tide or on the full high, nothing in between. We decided to head home and as we were about to retrieve the last line, the rod keeled over and the reel smoked off! Kobus took the strike and after a good tussle had an 8kg cuda in the boat. What a bargain! With that, we headed back to the beach.

Remember the good old days...

On Sunday 19^th July, Tjokkie, Tammy and I launched “Selfish” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to find a Garrick or two. We launched at 6:30 and headed to the pipeline. There were big showings of bait and every down with the bait jigs resulted in full strings of Maasbanker. I was hoping for a few shad so I put on some bait and soon had about 10 shad in the live well.

Tammy with a 6.4kg Snoek on 3kg line

We headed for the south pier and on arrival, I saw a Garrick smashing bait on the surface. Quickly the lines went out and I worked the area. There were about 5 other boats there and 2 fish had come out already. I trolled a bit further south into the backline and saw a few more chases but we just could not get a pull. I turned back to work towards the pier again and as we were getting close, the deep bait revved and was eaten. Tammy fed the fish but when she tightened up, the hook turned into the shad’s head and we missed the fish. We continued trolling but things went totally dead. I received a phone call from a friend fishing up north and he suggested I move up that way as there were a lot of snoek around. We quickly upped lines and ran a few kilometres north. It did not take long to see where the fish were as several boats were working an area where the birds were dipping and the snoek were smashing. I headed to a patch of fish that had no other boats around and Tjokkie and I threw spoons into them. Both of us went tight but unfortunately another fish swam into my line and bit it off. Luckily Tjoks got his fish out. The fish were pretty stationary so it was easy to move between the shoals. I rigged up 2 fillets and trolled them around. When we came within casting range, I would drift and see if we could get a fish. If not, I continued trolling. We had a few fish on the flick sticks, but pulled a lot of hooks and had several bite the swivels off.

9 Snoek for the day on "Selfish"

I made a big turn around the shoals while I was making up some tackle and one of the fillets went on. Tammy took the strike and fought a nice snoek on 3kg line. After about 10 minutes I gaffed the fish and marked it. The current ladies records are vacant so I didn’t want to mix the fish up, incase we caught more. The action continued for quite a while. The fish were gorging themselves on small sprats. These sprats would shelter under the boat as soon as we stopped near them. The snoek would just lazily swim through them with their mouths open. At any one time, there were 30 fish under the boat and there were snoek jumping as far as you could see. It was amazing to see and reminded me of the good old days of snoek fishing. The problem was that the fish were so full that they didn’t chase the lures and just hung with the shoals of bait. Every now and again, there would be a stupid greedy fish and it would swallow the lure.

We did not want to get home too late as there was still a lot of work to be done so at 3pm upped lines and headed back with 9 snoek. Tammy’s fish weighed 6,4kg and a record claim will be submitted for an SA and All Africa Record.

2015 Mapelane Junior Interclub

On Sunday 12^th July, We launched “OHANA” off Mapelane for the second day of the Mapelane Junior Interclub. Fishing with us was one of the Richards Bay U/16 teams of JP and TJ Jacobs and JP Krieg. The previous day’s fishing had not been too good with only a handful of fish being weighed. The 15-20 knot NE wind had blown consistently for the 2 days making the conditions difficult. After losing several fish the first day, we were hoping to get some points on the board.

After catching some livies on the backline, we joined the rest of the fleet fishing home reef. We were limited to the area due to the wind and so we had to make do with what we had. We put out 4 lines, 2 livies, a sardine and a small bonnie. These baits were drifted along the 16m to 25m marks. It was pretty quiet and only a few fish had been reported. To pass the time, JP played around with a sabiki jig catching the odd Maasbanker and a few sand soldiers as we drifted. We had just drifted onto a small patch of reef when the medium livie was eaten. The fish hardly pulled the reel, but no matter, we had a fish on. JP took the rod and quickly had a small 4kg cuda at the boat which I gaffed. Finally, something in the hatch. We drifted off the reef and decided to up lines and do a short drift over the same area. I was retrieving the deep livie and was holding the line, having just removing the sinker, when the line was ripped out my hand! The rod bent and another small cuda went on a run. Before anyone could take the rod, the hooks unfortunately pulled.



Richards Bay U/16 team with their catch

After running up and resetting the lines, we drifted south past the point. Realising we only had half an hour left of fishing, we decided to continue drifting until lines up. We were all pretty much falling asleep when the reel on the bow rod smoked off! Talk about a wakeup call… TJ took the strike while the rest of us cleared the deck. Jannie followed the fish with the boat and after several fast runs, I managed to gaff a 12kg cuda.

The comp came to an end shortly after that and at the weighin there were a few nice fish including two prodigal son of 17kg and 20kg. Congrats to the other Richards Bay team for taking the gold with a great cuda of 24kg on the first day.

I look forward to seeing all the juniors there again next year!

Slim Pickings

On Sunday 5^th July, Ray, Marnus and I launched “My Wish” out of Richards Bay. There had not been too many fish around the last while but we were hoping to at least hear a reel or two during the day.

We stopped off at the pipe line and caught a few livies before heading towards 5mile. The swell was pretty big so we could not get too close to the backline but the small reef that I have been fishing the past few days was fishable. I rigged up a few livies and trolled onto the showing. It did not take long for us to get a pull and after a bit of a stubborn fight, Marnus had a blackspot kingfish in the boat. At least the ice had been broken.

Bonnie and kingfish

We rerigged and I trolled over the showing again. This time the bait just revved a bit followed by a slight bump on the rod. Marnus checked the bait and found that there were a few teeth marks on it and it had been squashed slightly.
A fresh bait was rigged and I made another pass over the reef. Again the bait revved and the rod tip bumped a bit before going quiet. The bait had the same marks on it as the previous one. I could still not make out what they were so we tried once more. As I was nearing the mark, a shoal of redeyes popped up on surface so I lowered the sabikis into them and caught a few snoek baits. While this was going on, the deep bait went away. Marnus passed the rod to Ray who had a good tussle on his hands. I moved the boat away from the structure just in case it was a kingfish that wanted to cut us off. The fish fought deep and there were constant tail beats so we all assumed it was another king, but when it came into view, it turned out to be a big kawa-kawa.
I made a few more passes over the marks, but there was no more action so we upped lines and ran a bit further north and put out a few baits for snoek / cuda but after a few hours with no luck, we headed back to the harbour. The water looked good around the pier so we pulled some livies around hoping for a Garrick, but despite there being a lot of baitfish activity, we never had any pulls and headed home.

Play it by ear

7kg Queenfish

On Sunday 28^th June, my Dad and I launched Selfish out of Richards Bay. We were not sure what to fish for as results had been patchy over the past week. All we did know is that we were not going to have a very long day. I took a few basic rigs with for the day including 2 spinning rods and some light cuda rods. We were on the water at 6:45 and made our way to the pipeline to get bait. After sounding around, we found a big shoal of bait and almost every down I made produced a string of mackerel or Maasbanker. With no real game plan, we decided to fill up on bait while the opportunity presented itself. It did not take too long to fill the bait box and with the live well full, we headed North towards 5 mile.

13kg Kingfish

There were a few birds dipping in an area and the sounder showed some bait. We stopped and fished for them, hoping that they would be redeyes but unfortunately it was also Maasbanker. One of the strings was eaten on the way up so I rigged up a spinning rod and sent a livie down. It did not take long before the rod bumped and keeled over, the reel screaming as the fish took off. The line angled to the surface and a nice queenfish splashed around on top. It gave me a good go but I could not understand why it was that strong until I saw where it was hooked… in the tail. After a while I finally had it on board. We made another drift and again the rod went away with a strong fish. We both assumed that it was another queenfish as it was a similar fight. A while later, I had a nice kingfish in the boat. This was turning into quite a good day considering we had a game plan.

5kg Snoek

We made another drift and something small ate the bait. It turned out to be a Rockcod which went onto the ice. By now the bait had scattered and with no more pulls on the few drifts we did, we decided to head further north to groenkop and put out some livies for a cuda. Being in a good snoek area, I also put out a fillet on the surface. Things were very quiet and at noon, we turned back to the harbour saying that we would troll until 1 o clock then head home. We trolled into an area where there was a bit of life. There was some surface bait activity, a few showings on the sounder and even a lonely whale cruising around. I made a few turns without a pull so I straightened out and took a course to go home. As I turned to start clearing the lines, I noticed the surface rod with the fillet bait bending. I ran to it and wound tight. The fish took a bit of line and I passed the rod to my Dad. While he kept the fish under control, I cleared the lines and stowed the rods. I put a gaff into a nice snoek just in time to head home.

In all, it was a really nice day and considering we didn’t have a plan, playing it by ear seemed to work out. 
 
 

Losing baits chop chop...

On Saturday 20^th June, At, Tammy, my Dad and I launched “AVANTI” out of Cape Vidal. We were hoping to get a sailfish for Tammy. We caught a few livies before putting out the sailfish spread… just incase.

Sunrise at Cape Vidal... Beautiful!

I had a similar setup as we used in Angola with 4 spinning rods and 4 halfbeaks. Two behind the teaser and two off the riggers. All were rigged with circle hooks and fluorocarbon leaders. There was an exceptional amount of bait in the water, from red eyes, maasbanker and mackerel to frigates and jube-jubes. The sounder was packed with bait showings. There was a current line at 45m so we focussed our efforts between 50 and 30m. It did not take long before there was a strike on the close bait. It was a wahoo that smashed the halfbeak then doubled back towards the teaser and picked up the main line in its mouth and then bit us off while still in freespool. Several turns later resulted in two more wahoo smashing the baits and neatly slicing the hooks off before the riggers even popped. Pretty frustrating… Luckily I had rigged several spare baits and leaders and could replace them as soon as they were lost.

Pre-rigging a few sailfish baits

At made a shallower turn and both close baits were eaten. Unfortunately both baits returned neatly sliced off behind the heads. I assumed that they were cuda but who knows. We made a few more turns but things were quiet. I decided to check the baits and found that both rigger baits were chopped. This was getting ridiculous…

We decided to stick to the current line to avoid the cuda and were rewarded with a dorado of around 6kg that found its way into the hatch… Finally! Trolling continued but it went very quiet, apart from a small yellowfin that crushed one of the long baits. With the fish being pretty shy due to the abundance of bait, I put the one long bait 50m back. At around 3pm, this rigger popped and Tammy fed the fish. When she tightened up, the line ran off the reel at a medium pace. All of us were looking back when the fish went on an exceptionally fast run on the surface. Through the white water it was making, we could see that it was a billfish, but we could not id it as a big sailfish or a small marlin. At had slowed the boat and we were bringing in the other lines when the fish went even faster! Before the drag could be slacked off, the 10kg line unfortunately parted. Not great…

We rerigged and trolled to the point before heading in. We had tried our best, but unfortunately that’s how it goes. I'm sure we will try again and hopefully be more successful.

Fickle 'Fins

At 7:30 on Sunday 15th June, Tammy and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were keen to try for anything that would bite and it was really just a relaxing day on the water with fantastic weather.

We stopped at the pipe and filled the live well with mackerel and Maasbanker before heading to the kasteel. There were already a few boats there but it seemed quiet. I put out 2 daisy chains and 2 halfbeaks and trolled north into the current. It did not take long to get a pull and both daisy chains went on. Tammy and I pulled in a mix of small jube-jubes and yellowfin. The jubies went into the tube while the yellowfin were released. The current had pushed us back a bit so we trolled north again. Again the two chains went away followed by one of the halfheak. We winched in some more jubies and then a yellowfin that ate the halfbeak, which was released. We were battling to get north with the current as every time I stopped to pull in a yellowfin, we would drift back so I left only the chains in and trolled on the current line instead of over the reef. This seemed to work as all the pulls we had were jubies and no more yellowfins.

Finally we were far enough north to put out baits. I put a live bonnie down deep, a live maasie mid-way and a live mackerel on surface on the spinning rod… looking for trouble. I tacked over the reef a bit but nothing was happening. I checked the bonnie and found it to be dead. There were some scrape marks on it where a bigger tuna had grabbed it but not eaten it. I rigged up another one and sent it down. On the next pass over the reef, the rod went away at a very slow pace. There were a few nods then it headed to sea. Even on sunset with 50Lbs line I could not stop it. Finally I managed to break it off and we could continue fishing. I checked the other baits and saw that the surface mackerel had been mouthed by a fish so it was replaced with a fresh one. I put a live mackerel down deep and continued trolling. After a bit, I checked the deep bait and found that it too had been mouthed. There were a few fish around, but they were not eating properly. I was still busy putting a fresh bait on when the surface mackerel went away. Tammy fed it a bit and tightened up. The fish took some line but then settled to a strong deep fight. After 15 minutes or so, Tammy was taking strain and rather that have a shark eat the fish, she passed the rod to me and I put some more pressure on it. Not long after, we had a nice 18kg yellowfin on the leader and Tammy passed me the gaff. It was a bit awkward to fight and gaff the fish especially with it being quite feisty. In the end, I just put the gaff in anywhere so that the fight would be over… turns out the gaff shot was not that great… at least the circle hook was hooked in the right place. We bled the fish and put it on ice.

Bleeding a nice yellowfin 

We fished on for a while but it was very quiet. There seemed to be quite a few yellowfin around and the marks on the sounder indicated that they were the culprits mouthing the deep baits and the wire traces scared them off a bit. One of the boats near us was fishing in a competition and needed them for points so they sent a tuna bait down and ended up with 3 of them in the 13-16kg class. We had enough tuna in the freezer so I was not keen on catching another one. It was getting late so we took the cuda baits out and put out the two chains and trolled south along the ledge heading home. We managed to catch a decent number of the bonnies to fill the bait freezer. In all, it was a good day.

Some people just never learn...

On Sunday 24^th May at 5:30am, At, Tammy, my Day and I launched “AVANTI” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to get a few cuda that had been around. We stopped on the pipe line and quickly caught a few livies before making the long run to High Point.

On arrival, I put out 5 small lures to look for bonnies. At trolled around for a while but had no luck. I put one of the lines on the downrigger and didn’t wait long to have a pull. It was a big kawa kawa that we released. On the next turn, we had another pull but this time it was converted and the leader finally chafed through. We trolled for about an hour, releasing a few small yellowfin before we finally caught a bonnie small enough and swam it live on the surface. I rigged up a wala-wala and put it down 20m as well as a live maasbanker on the downrigger. At trolled around the showings and the pinnacle and soon the rod with the wala keeled over but shot straight as something broke… I retrieved the line and found that the fish had picked up the leader before the wire. Unlucky. I rerigged and trolling continued. A while later, we passed over a good showing and again the rod with the wala keeled over as a cuda chowed it. My Dad took the strike and had a good tussle before I could gaff an 18kg cuda. Finally, a fish in the hatch. 

Typical Murphy's Law

Not long after, I saw the rod with the live bonnie give a quick flick then there was nothing. I retrieved the line and found just a bit of skin left on the one hook. The back hook was missing and wire had been bitten off…  and it was pretty thick wire…

With the lines out, we decided to look for another livie so At made a few turns on the pinnacle. It didn’t take too long and we were on with 3 bonnies that went into the tube. I rigged up two, one on surface and one down deep. As we went over the pinnacle, a shark ate the deep bait. I pulled it to the boat and where it was calmed down before being cut off. A similar fate lay ahead for the other 2 bonnies over the next 20 minutes. I was pretty much over the sharks and opted to put out a few dead baits and a small live maasie. At moved to the southern point of the ledge and trolled into the current. There were a few nice showings down deep, but the fish were not eating. I decided to play “Murphy’s Law” and rigged up a long 10kg rod with light leader and wire. I pinned a small live maasbanker which went out on surface a long way back. Within a matter of minutes, the rod went on and I pulled in a tiny yellowfin that I released before setting the line again.

Back breaker of note!

Things were a bit quiet but then the long rod keeled over and the reel ran. This fish took a bit of line then went deep followed by a smoking run. I was sure that it was a small tuna that took the bait and was now being chased by a shark. This run continued for a while before it stopped and there was just a solid weight which I could not budge. At followed the line and I retrieved what I could. When we came close, the line angle surfaced and there were some big head shakes. I thought it could be a hammerhead, but next thing, the fish took off on surface with the line bubbling through the water. At chased after it but even at speed, I battled to gain line. The angle went down again and the rod tip indicated constant tail beats. I was having a dejavu experience from last February…Some people never learn from their mistakes! This was without a doubt a big yellowfin. 

33.5kg YFT after a shark bite

For an hour I tussled the fish putting as much pressure as I could. It had been on the double a few times but could not get a good look at it. It sounded again taking a lot of line. I was pretty buggered by then and decided to free spool hoping it would stop running and come to surface. After giving it slack for a few minutes, At followed the line and the fish angled to the surface. Most of the line was back on the reel so I could put pressure on it again. The leader came up but the afternoon sun made it extremely difficult to see the fish. My Dad took a gaff shot, but the fish spooked and went down a few meters. I leant back and it felt like the fish just gave up as it came straight to the surface. Only then did I see that a shark had grabbed the tail. My Dad gaffed the fish and needed help lifting it over the gunwale. I was absolutely broken. My arms were like jelly. Long soft rods and big tuna are not a good combination. Even though the fish was bleeding from the tail, I raked the gills to bleed it properly. By now it was 4pm so we headed back to port. The yellowfin weighted in at 33.5kg…

Cannibals

On Saturday 2^nd May, Bryant, Tammy and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. The Northerly wind was blowing a bit but was predicted to settle through the day. Our first stop was at the pipeline and it did not take long to fill the live well before heading out to the ledge.

Bryant with a Kawakawa

When we arrived, we put out a few small lures and trolled around the pinnacle. It did not take long before we caught 2 small bonito. These were put in the tubes and we continued trolling. After a while, the  other boats left and we could spend more time on the marks. I rigged one of the live bonnies and put it on the downrigger. I was hoping for a kingfish or something. On the second pass, there was a good mid water showing and it was no surprise when the livie was eaten. Bryant took the rod and put big pressure on the fish, just in case it wanted to go for the rocks. The fish did not fight too much and came in relatively easily. I was slightly disappointed when I saw that it was a big kawakawa of about 7kg. We unceremoniously released it and rigged up the other bonnie. After a few passes, I pulled it up to check it and found that it had been mouthed by something and it was dead.

I rigged it up to swim better and sent it down again. Bryant put out a live maasbanker on the surface, hoping for a yellowfin. As I was approaching the pinnacle, the surface livie was eaten. Bryant took the strike and quickly brought in a small yellowfin which was bled and put on ice.

There was no action on the deep bait so we pulled it in and drifted over the pinnacle. Bryant put out a live maasie and went tight on a 5kg bonnie which we released. It looked like fun so I rigged up a light spinning rod for Tammy and pinned a livie. On the next drift, she went on with a strong fish that took a lot of line. I chased after in and just as we had it under control, the rod gave a big bump and the fish was gone. I assume it was eaten by something larger. On the next 4 drifts, we hooked up to small yellowfins and big bonnies which we released. By 12 o clock we decided to run to Petingo and fish there for an hour or so. Unfortunately we never had a pull and when the Easterly wind started blowing, we upped lines and headed home.

Umlalazi Cuda Classic 2015

On Saturday 25^th April at 5:30am, At, Gert, Tammy and I launched “AVANTI” out of Richards Bay. We were fishing in the Umlalazi Cuda Classic. Our first stop was a the pipeline to catch bait before heading to Petingo.

When we arrived, At stopped short of the wreck and I put out a livie and 2 wala-wala. I was busy rigging up 2 bonnies when the surface wala went away. Gert took the strike and soon had a 12kg cuda on the boat. Not a bad start. I rigged up all the rods and At circled the wreck. There were a few boats around so it made things interesting. After an hour or so, the surface livie rod bent a bit then straightened. I picked up the rod to feel what was happening when it was pulled flat and the reel ran. It was a short run and quickly turned to the boat. The other lines were left in the water while I bobbed and weaved my fish through them. Soon I had a 10kg cuda on the boat. Not what we were looking for, but better than nothing. Trolling resumed and on the next turn, the livie on surface went away again. Tammy took the strike and brought in a rather small 6kg fish. I didn’t like the downward trend in size… Something had to happen.

Things were a bit quiet for about an hour so I decided to check the baits. I pulled in the surface bonnie and was shocked at what I saw. The bonnie had been chopped off clean behind the pec fins, including the wire to the tail hook. What was scary was that the ratchet never even ticked once!

 

I rigged up a fresh bait while At worked the wreck. I noticed the deep rod dip a bit then straighten. There had definitely been a bump. I retrieved the sinker and put the rod in the holder while I handlined the bait to the boat. The bait was near the boat when the line ripped through my hands. I let go of the line and the rod keeled over. We were on! At took the strike and fought another small 10kg cuda to the boat. Petingo was just not producing the goods for us.

Lines up came and we headed back to Zini. At least we were all on the score board.

On Sunday 26^th, the NE was blowing 15 knots and predicted to strengthen during the day. There had been a few nice fish at high point the day before so after catching a few livies, we headed 40km with the wind to the ledge. On arrival, we caught a few bonnies which I rigged up live. We had gone about 100m when the deep bait went away at speed… obviously a good cuda. Gert took the strike while I maintained a tight line on the other livie on the surface. I felt the bait rev followed by a sudden heavy pressure are the bait was eaten. The reel smoked off with the line cutting a bubble trail through the water. Gert’s fish sounded and then there were a few big bumps on the rod. The fight changed to a slow and heavy weight. Obviously a conversion resulting in the leader being rubbed through on the shark’s skin. My fish was still on surface and taking long fast runs. At followed it and soon it was close to the boat. It made a few circles before going on one last run. It was then that I felt the dreaded nods and the conversion. After going to sunset on the drag with 50lbs line, I could still not stop the shark. Both At and I had to grab the spool to break it off. How frustrating! I had 2 more bonnies and again it didn’t take long before we were on to another good cuda. This fish smoked off on surface before sounding and… yip, you guessed it, conversion… Other boats were having a similar issue with the sharks and from then on, every bonnie that I rigged was eaten by one.

I had no option but to rig up other baits so I put out 2 wala and 2 livies. After a few minutes, the deep livie went away and Gert fought a 9kg bonnie to the boat. By 12 o clock, we were tired of fighting sharks, heavy winds and other inconsiderate skippers so we upped lines and headed to Zini.

 

Our fish from the first day netted each of us some nice prizes. Well done to the winning angler with a cuda of 33,5kg. Congrats to the Umlalazi Ski-Boat Club for a great competition. See you next year.

Catching bait and having fun...

On Sunday 19^th April, At, Tammy and I launched “AVANTI” off Richards Bay. We wanted to catch some bait for the next few weeks. After stopping at the pipeline and catching maasbanker and redeyes, we headed deeper and found a few mackerel. With the bait box looking good, we headed to the ledge to look for some bonnies.

I put out a few daisy chains and trolled over the reef. All five rode went away on small yellowfins. While we each fought fish, the other rods in the holders got slack line and the fish pulled hook. At had his fish at the boat when it turned around and took off. Seconds later a small black marlin stuck its head out the water! The conversion did not last too long before the leader parted. I managed to bring in one small yellowfin.

On the next few turns, we found some kawakawa. There was a good showing on the reef so we stopped to drift over it. Tammy and I each hooked a live maasbanker on and let them down to the showing. Both of us went on. Tammy pulled the hook while I fought a big kawakawa to the boat. It was around 9kg. On the next 3 drifts, we had a few pulls and caught more big bonnies. It was now 1:30pm so we decided to head for Petingo and try for a cuda in the afternoon.

On arrival, I let out 5 lines with livies and bonnies. It did not take long for a pull. The surface livie went away at a medium pace but the line angle then went deep. Tammy fought the fish for a while before it went on a run. It all suddenly ended with the leader being cut off. Not sure what happened there. Trolling continued and a while later the surface livie went away again. I took the rod while the other lines were moved out the way. We had just settled when the surface bonnie was eaten and the reel took off. Unfortunately the hooks pulled quite quickly. I continued to fight and soon had a 12kg cuda in the hatch. It was getting late so we made one last turn over the wreck and had a blacktip shark eat a bonnie before jumping and breaking off. That signalled the end of the day and we headed home with a few baits for the next  few trips.

One down, more to come.

On Saturday 11^th April, Wayne, Tammy Lorenzo and I launched “Da Boys” off Richards Bay. We were keen to get some fish to eat as the pickings had been slim. We stopped at the pipe and caught a few livies before heading south to Petingo. The Northerly wind was blowing a bit, but we were willing to take the punch on the way home.

Wayne and Lorenzo with some cuda

The water was a nice green colour and there was a 2 knot N-S current. We had to come right with a cuda. I put out a few lines while Wayne crossed over the wreck. There were a few garfish swimming with the boat and there was a good showing on the sounder.  I was busy letting out a live maasbanker when the line took off. I tightened up and went tight onto a baby cuda. Within seconds, it was in the boat and chilling on ice. Trolling resumed for a few hours without a pull. The wind had picked up to a 15 knot NE and we knew the ride home would be bumpy. I made one last turn over the wreck and drifted with the wind. As we reached the southern end, the surface livie went away but almost immediately pulled hook. On closer inspection we saw that the fish had picked up the leading wire before the bait and never hooked up. I rerigged and made the same turn, drifting back with the wind. Again at the end of the wreck, the rod with the deep bonnie bumped a few times but never came tight. I was busy telling Wayne that it was time to go home when the reel with the surface bonnie smoked off! I passed the rod to Wayne while Tammy and I cleared the other lines and stowed the rod. The fish gave Wayne a good fight before coming within gaffing range. I lifted a nice cuda into the hatch. Great stuff, but it was time to go home before the wind caused problems.

After a long bumpy ride we arrived at the club where the cuda weighed 18kg. ot bad for the first fish for the season. Hopefully there are a few more to come.

FIPS-M World Big Game Trolling Championship, Lobito, Angola

On Monday 23^rd March, the Protea Angling Team boarded a plane at OR Thambo bound for Luanda. The team consisted of Friedel Kirstein, Neil Coetzer, Handro Swart and myself (Captain). After a one night layover in Luanda we caught a quick flight to Lobito where the 24^th FIPS-M World Big Game Championship was being held. We met up with good friend Carlos Moran who was our guide for the next few days. Carlos took us to the Tropicana Hotel where we would be based for the few days before the tournament.

Captain leadering a feisty sailfish

We had booked 3 days fishing with Carlos on "Espirito do Raimundo", a 28ft Butt Cat with 175 Suzies on. It was a great boat to fish from and learn the tricks of West Coast Sailfishing. Over the next 3 days, the team found our feet and got to know each other’s fishing styles. We focused on each person’s strengths and became accustomed to this type of fishing, with Carlos coaching us as we went. The fish were a bit scarce, but we managed to release 3 Atlantic Sailfish and quite a few dorado.

After a two day break, during which Captian / Skippers briefings and public parades were held, the official practice day dawned. We had drawn the boat “Pikalunga”, a 37ft Triton with 3 x 250hp Mercuries on the back. Joao and Nunu were the crew for the day. After leaving the mooring at 7am, all the boats headed for the sailfish grounds. On the way, the team went about the daily task of rigging halfbeaks, some swim baits and some skip baits.

Practice day on "Pikalunga"

By the time 25 baits were rigged, we had arrived at the grounds and put out the teasers and 4 lines. Joao worked the current lines trying to find a few fish. There were a few hook-ups on the other boats, but nothing spectacular. We got the feeling that the skippers were scouting the area and as soon as they found a few fish, they moved away keeping the location a secret for the competition days. Things were a bit quiet for us but as we worked north of the fleet, we found a decomposing dolphin floating in the current line. As we passes by, we hooked 3 dorado. While fighting, there were a few free jumping sailfish around too. On the next turn, two sails came up and ate the long baits. Friedel and Neil hooked up, but unfortunately Neil’s fell off. The fish was quickly released and trolling resumed. On the next pass, Neil hooked up and managed to release his first Atlantic Sailfish. The wind picked up in the afternoon so we slowly worked South back towards the harbour. Just before lines up, Friedel released another sailie to give us 3 for the day.

8 Sailfish released for the first day

On 31^st March, the first day of the tournament dawned. We were on “Pura Vida” skippered by Marco Couto, considered the top skipper in the tournament. We needed to make the day count. After the mass start, all the boats headed for the grounds. We went about rigging halfbeaks and when the boat slowed, 4 teasers and 3 baits were put out. Marco trolled the area and Handro quickly released a dorado. The next pass over the area saw a sailfish hooked up on the left long and Neil quickly released it. It seemed as if the fish switched on and on every pass over the area, we hooked up. The fish were not coming up on the teasers, but rather on the long riggers where Friedel and Neil were fishing. When the dust settled, Friedel had released 5 Sailfish and Neil had 2 dorado. The bite went cold and so we regrouped, rigged up more baits and waited for the afternoon bite. At around 1pm, the fish came up again and the radio ran hot with the action. Friedel started us off with a dorado on the long, followed by a teaser bite which Neil and I turned into a double header on sails. By lines up, we had released 8 sails and 4 dorado. This was enough to put us into 2^nd position for the day, scoring 2 points.

Marco's selfie with the Protea team

On 1^st April, we were on “Pikalunga” again with Nuno and Joao. We were comfortable with the boat as we had fished on it during the practice day. With the “lines in” call, we went about rigging halfbeaks while Joao headed for the grounds at 35knots. As we slowed, the teasers and long rigger baits went out. Moments later, both riggers popped and Neil and Friedel were hooked up to sails. Neil’s fish came in easily and once released we focussed on Friedel’s fish. This sail was stubborn as can be and took 45 minutes to release. While this was going on, the rest of the fleet were caning the fish. Unfortunately due to the long fight, we missed the rest of the morning bite and waited 4 hours for our next pull. Handro picked a sail off the teaser and got the monkey off his back with his first sail of the trip.
Joao made a turn over the same spot and another sail popped up in the teaser. I got the pull and released a super charged fish that made me run around a bit to prevent a break off. We were alone in this area and there were a few fish around so we focussed our efforts there.

Another acrobatic sail

Trolling along a weed line, Handro released a dorado followed shortly after by Friedel with a sailfish. This fish never jumped once and only when the leader came up did we see what it was… talk about a scramble! With the lines in again, Handro managed 2 quick dorado before Neil hooked a sailfish after spotting it free jumping. As the fish neared the boat, I spotted a follower and grabbed the closest rod with a bait and flicked it out the back before passing it to Friedel.

Double trouble on "Pikalunga"

I was busy reaching out to leader Neil’s fish when Friedel went tight on the second fish! Both sails took off and went mad on the surface but luckily stayed separated. Friedel’s fish made a mistake and jumped towards the boat. I managed to reach out and grab the leader and cut if before it knew it was caught! We chased Neil’s fish down and released it as well. With the bite on, the baits went back in and as we were turning, Neil went tight with another sailfish. It was a small fish that took less than 10 minutes to release. There was a bit of time left, so we made another turn and 3 sails came up in the teaser. I hooked up and let it run while The other guys tried for a second and third. Unfortunately, after several strikes and feeds, the other fish were dropped so we could focus on the fish I was on. It was another easy fight and soon our 9^th and final sail for the day was released. We again ended in 2^nd place… just 2 dorado behind the top team. Our current position was 1^st overall with 1 day left. 4 teams were within a few points of us so it was still anyone’s game. Unfortunately, we were warned that the boat we were going to be on was the worst boat in the fleet, so things didn’t look good.

 

Day 1 on "Pura Vida" with Marco Couto

On 2^nd April, we boarded “Vigues”. The deckie Rui was very helpful and went out of his way to assist us. The run out to the grounds was very quiet as we went about rigging 40 halfbeak. When we stopped, the daily routine of putting teasers and lines out wet very quickly. There was a nervous tension onboard as we awaited the first strike. I was looking at the teaser and noticed a dark patch behind it. It seemed a bit odd so I moved my bait a bit closer. I felt a bump on the rod and instinctively freespooled the bait… Just incase… I tightened up and the rod keeled over and the reel screamed as a sailie tore up the surface! Nervously we backed up on the fish and after a few tense minutes, released our first fish of the day. What a relief. Baits went back out and on the next turn, I saw a fish in the right teaser. Handro got a pull and when he hooked up, I had another pull off the other teaser which I also hooked up. With 2 wild sailfish on and the press boat buzzing around us, things were a bit hectic. We managed to keep our cool and released both fish to score valuable points. Our next turn resulted in a dorado that Handro released but then the bite went quiet. Other boats left the area and with everyone spread out, it was difficult to keep track of where the other teams were. Things seemed a bit strange as our skipper kept heading north, away from the other boats. After several requests for him to stick with the fleet, he muttered a few words in Portuguese and continued on his route. The afternoon bite started at about 1pm and several teams were on a hot streak. Two teams released marlin and were fighting sailfish. We in no uncertain terms told the skipper to head back to the other boats which he reluctantly did. As we slowed down and put lines out, I had a pull off the teaser. When I tightened up, another sailfish cleared the water. We needed a double to make up the points but unfortunately there was only 1 fish in the spread. We asked the skipper to back after the fish, but for some or other reason, he made out as if he didn’t understand us. With a lot of line out, there was a lot of tension on the fish, even with the drag backed off. After a few minutes, and well into the backing, the sail jumped and parted the leader off!
The skipper only then decided to back up on the line… From then on, it was a losing battle as we fought against the skipper, the masses of floating debris he put us into and clock… The deckie was absolutely devastated at the situation we were in and not even he could get the skipper to take us back to where the rest of the fleet and the fish were. Be that as it may, the time passed by and so did the hopes of a win. At 4pm we upped lines and the skipper raced back to the harbour, destroying the inside of the boat to get into the harbour first. Talk about a bad attitude…

2nd Place overall

We were pretty sure we had slipped out of the running for a medal after ending 8^th for the day but to our surprize, after the jury had concluded the video verification, it was announced that we ended up second overall for the tournament! AWESOME!

Atlantic Sailfish with Carlos Moran and the Proteas

On 3^rd April, we had a spare weather day that was not used during the tournament, so we hopped onto "Espirito do Raimundo" with Carlos and headed to sea. After fishing south for the morning, without a pull, we upped lines and ran back to the grounds we had fished the previous few days. The lines were just out when Handro hooked up a sail that ate the right long bait. After a few pics, it was released and trolling resumed. Moments later, there was a pack attack of sails and both Neil and Handro went tight. Unfortunately Neils fish fell off but Handro released another fish. We were hoping for a marlin, so we moved out the area and onto the 500m dropoff. Not long after, the left rigger popped and Neil hooked up to a nice Sailfish that gave a good show before being released. With no marlin interested, we headed shallower where I picked a sail off the teaser and quickly released it. We saw a free jumping sail a short distance away and as we neared it, the close bait behind the teaser was chowed by a dorado.

Protea Team arriving back in South Africa

I cranked up the drag and winched in a nice dorado. While this was going on, Carlos turned back to where we saw the sail and as we turned, it came up on Neil’s bait which he fed and hooked up. it was another good fish that spent a lot of time in the air before release. It was now 3pm and we had to get back for the prize giving so we decided to get one last fish then up lines. Soon a fish came up on the teaser and I fed it a bait before tightening up. I looked over and saw the other flatline running so I clipped the bale over and it too went on. Carlos took the rod and joined the fray. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the lines angled to the same place and it was clear that the fish had eaten both baits! Nothing like a bit of insurance… With this 6^th release for the day, we headed back to Lobito where our trip came to an end.

Thanks to everyone who assisted and supported us before, during and after the event.