On Monday 15th
February, Tim, Ross, Gareth and I launched “Tyler” out of Struisbaai. I was
invited by Brendan Davids to fish the Two Oceans Marlin Tournament, but adverse
weather had resulted in the comp being called off for a few days. The Westerly
wind that was blowing resulted in a sheltered bay just outside the harbour, so
we decided to have a go at catching a Garrick in the afternoon.
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| Gareth with a tagged Leerie |
Gareth had caught a few mullet
for live bait and we had a few other rods rigged up with chisel nose plugs. We
worked the southern point of the bay, but there was no action so we moved into
the bay. While we were slow trolling, Tim was casting a plug off the nose.
Gareth spotted a few dark shapes off towards the breakers and Tim’s next cast
resulted in a few Garrick chasing the lure but did not connect. We worked the
area for a bit and finally found them again. Ross cast his mullet into the shoal
and went tight almost immediately. While he was fighting, my live bait was also
eaten and we were hooked up to a double! Both fish were pretty close to the
boat when mine threw the circle hook, but Ross managed to get his fish onto the
leader where it was boated, tagged and released. Things were quiet from then
on, so we headed back to the harbour.
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| Feeding the locals |
On Tuesday 16th
February, the comp was called off again, but with the wind settling, we decided
to make a midday launch and headed out to the 12mile banks. We put out a few
marlin lures, and within a few minutes had a small yellowfin eat one of them.
It was rigged up for a livebait, but unfortunately, after about an hour it was
eaten by a mako shark.
The lures went in again and trolling continues. There
were big shoals of skipjack and small yellowfin that attached the swivels of
the lures whenever we got near to them. Every now and again, there were bigger
yellowfin that smashed the lures and we were kept busy for most of the
afternoon. There was a lot of bait around, but no billfish so we headed back to
the harbour.
On Wednesday morning the cold
front came through with vengeance and the comp was again called off.
On Friday 19th, he
wind had finally subsided and all the boats put to sea. We headed out towards
the 45’s but on route, the water colour got worse and worse so we made the call
to turn around and head 5 miles back towards the Halfway House as the water
looked good there. The lures went out and Gareth trolled the area looking for
signs of life.
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| Ross with a WP Wahoo |
After a while, the centre rigger
popped and the reel ran for a bit. Ross took the strike and managed to bring a
12kg wahoo to the boat. This was an exceptionally rare catch for the area so
everyone was very surprised to see it. The lines had just been reset when I saw
a small marlin grabbing the left teaser. I shouted from the tower to get the
pitch bait in the water, but the fish faded off as quickly as it appeared. At
least we were in the right area. Some time later, we came across a big
hammerhead cruising on the surface. Apparently also a rare sight. I was glad to
see it, as from my experiences, the hammers and the marlin usually frequent the
same areas. As luck would have it, we had just turned to work the area when
Brendan saw a marlin come in on the left long lure. It followed the lure for a
bit and when it finally attacked, it bill wrapped the leader and spooked
without hooking up. Despite making a few more turns, the fish never came back.
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| Releasing a Mako Shark |
I was up on the tower for a bit,
when I saw a commotion on the left teaser. Through the foam, I could make out
that it was a mako shark that seems adamant to destroy the squids. Brendan
pitched a bait on the spinning rod and went tight with the fish. At about the
same time, the right long came down and both lines ran to the same fish. After
some commotion on the surface, the one leader was cut and Tim was left to bring
the mako to the boat where it was released.
Again the lines went out and
after a few tacks, the centre rigger popped. The reel ran for a bit, but then
the fish as gone. We did not see anything, but on closer inspection, there were
bill marks on the leader. It must have been a shy fish that was not keen to
feed. The predicted front came through at 1pm and picked up to 20knots. We
turned for home but kept the lures in the water. In the next hour or so, we
caught two yellowfin and a skipjack before we upped lines and headed back to
harbour. Unfortunately none of the boats competing caught a marlin, but
considering the conditions…
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| Being a tourist... |
The weather forecast for the
Saturday (last day of the comp) was terrible and called a blowout. What was
surprising was that on the Friday evening, the tournament committee sent an sms
out to the competitors stating that the tournament was extended by an extra day
and that Sunday was now also considered a tournament day. Unfortunately many of
the upcountry teams could not take part as travel arrangements had been made
months in advance, based on the dates supplied by the organisers. This was in
my opinion a bad call and a bit short sighted. Never the less, a great time was
had by all.
