After a very busy few months, I
finally managed to get onto the water…
On Monday 2nd May at
8am, Hein, Wayne and I left Richards Bay harbour aboard “Galavant”. There had
been a few marlin and tuna around so we wanted to see if we could find anything
that would bite. We opted to fish strait out the harbour behind the ships. On
the way out, we stopped to troll over small high point but a large container
ship had anchored directly on top of it so we headed deeper. At around 100m, we
slowed down and set the lines. The water was a bit green, 24.2 degrees and no
current. Wayne trolled deeper to look for some better conditions.
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| Hein and his first Blue Marlin |
In 900m, we saw a few flying fish
and a bird or two. A short distance away, there was a piece of floating debris
so Wayne made a turn towards it. We passed by it but there was no growth on it
so we just carried on past it. A few minutes later, without any warning, the
right short rigger popped and the reel took off. I flew down stairs to clear
lines. Out the back, a small blue marlin of around 60kg tore up the surface.
Wayne kept the line running off the reel while Hein and I cleared the other lines.
The fish had a lot of line in the water by the time the deck was cleared so
Hein had a job to put it all back on the reel. The fish had done a lot of
jumping and was pretty docile when it was near the boat. I took the leader and
after a few photos, removed the hooks and turned it loose. This was Hein’s
first marlin so we were all really happy that we could check that box for him.
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| Jono and Wayne with a massive Spearfish |
The lines went out and trolling
resumed. The surface activity slowed down and soon there were no signs of life
so we headed a bit shallower to work the dropoff. The wind swung to the SW and
puffed at about 5 knots. Being nervous that the wind would strengthen, we opted
to stay shallow and not make another deep turn. After tacking over the dropoff
for a while, we found some more flying fish so I made a turn into the area. I
looked back and saw a splash on the left long. The rigger popped and the reel screamed
off. A feisty bull dorado of probably 18kg bounced around the surface a few
times but soon threw the hooks. I was busy retrieving the lure to check it when
the centre rigger popped and the 130lbs reel started running at a constant
pace. We all assumed that it was a second dorado so casually went about clearing
the lines. The reel picked up the pace and at the same time, there was a big
splash out the back. Wayne shouted that it was a billfish so Hein and I cleared
the deck double time. The fish jumped again and this time we got a good look at
it, but something was different about this fish. It looked like a massive
spearfish… I took the strike and hopped in the chair. I had never personally
caught a spearfish, so I eased the drag off a bit to prevent the hook from
pulling. This meant that the fish could take a lot of line, which it did.
Slowly Wayne backed up and I could put line on the reel. About 20 minutes
later, the leader came up. Wayne came to assist and take the leader. With the
fish at the boat, we could see that it was indeed a spearfish and a monster at
that. We decided to load the fish for the record books, so I gaffed it and
helped Wayne pull it into the boat. Only then did we see how big it really was!
But something still seemed off… the bill and dorsal fins looked a bit odd, but
no matter, we could worry about that later. I was just over the moon with my
first spearfish!
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| Once in a lifetime fish! |
We trolled for about an hour
longer without any more luck, so we headed back to the harbour. The fish
weighed in at 40,6kg. This is the biggest spearfish weighed in Africa. DNA samples confirmed that the fish is indeed a longbill and the first of its kind in the Indian Ocean. It is indeed a once in a lifetime catch and I'm glad to have shared it with a
great crew.
