On Saturday 15th
August, Jurie, Kobus, Gert and I launched “Avanti” off Cape Vidal. We were
there for a At van Tilburg’s 60th 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.
