On Saturday 26th
November, Tammy, Suzzie and Terence launched AVANTI off Cape Vidal. We were
there for a quick social weekend and were hoping to get a few gamefish. There
was a 10knot SW blowing but with the strong N-S current, the sea was a bit
bumpy.
We stopped off the point and
looked for live bait which seemed to be almost non-existent. After two hours,
we had about 10 baits so we decided to rig them and try our luck. Working
between 20 and 35m, the current pushed us south and off the slides, the two
surface baits started revving. Something had to be scaring them. After a few
seconds, the rod that I was holding bumped and I freespooled the fish before
tightening up. The fish felt heavy and there were a few big head nods… I was
convinced that it was a billfish. As I turned around to pass the rod off, a
sailfish stuck its head out and took to the air. It went on a good run which
gave
us time to clear the other lines and get Tammy settled on the rod.
The fish gave a great show and
with that managed to get the leader around its caudal fin. This made it
difficult to turn the fish’s head where we wanted it. We had the fish on the
leader about 4 times before I could grab hold of the bill and put the tag in.
After a quick photo, Tammy released her first sailfish. Well done!!
 |
| Tammy with her first Sailfish |
The lines went out again, but
without any success. We put on a few trolling lures and made out way to Oscar. Once
there we pulled livies over the pinnacles but again no action. Out of desperation,
I trolled shallower onto the 30m current line and persevered there for the last
hour or so. Just when we thought it was over, the close surface rod went away.
Suzzie took the strike and fought hard on a deep fighting fish. After a while,
it was a bit much for her and Terence took over. He managed to get a nice
yellowfin into the boat. After that, we packed up and headed back.
