Early morning bite

On Saturday, our last fishing day at Vidal, John, Amanda, Tash, Kye and I launched. The previous few days, there had been a lot of early action from dorado by guys fishing with dead bait, so I decided to leave the early live bait catching session and focus on deadbait for a while. I rigged up 2 swimbaits and 2 stripbaits and trolled south along the same current line from the previous day. It took all of 5 minutes to get a double strike, but unfortunately pulled hook on both. I made another turn and went on. Amanda got a dorado in the hatch to open the account and trolling continued. In the next half an hour, we managed another 5 dorado from 6 pulls before the bite slowed. By then, I was pretty close to the bait spot so pulled lines and caught a few livies.

Kye with his first dorado

There had been quite a few fish on the point so I headed back there and set the spread. Things were very quiet, so I headed a bit south of the crowd and tacked deeper to see if the fish were out there. In 30m, we went on with a dorado and then again in 25m so I worked the area a bit. At one stage we were on to a dorado and when it was near the boat, I saw a big fin of a shark making a b-line towards the fish. I put the reel into freespool and let the dorado get away from the shark. When it had settled, we brought it in but unbelievably, the shark came in for a second try at the dorado. We followed the same protocol and this time it worked and the dorado was safely on board.

With the unsettled sea, Kye got a bit seasick and we decided to head back. We had one line left in the water when a dorado came swimming behind the motors. John threw a stick bait at in and went on immediately. The fish put up little resistance before being loaded. We headed back to the beach by 10:30 with a good haul of fish.

Dorado on the line

On Friday 9^th December, John, Chuck and I launched “Drifter” off Vidal. The live bait had been scarce off the point so I ran straight to bighill and found a good supply. There had been a few dorado on the dead baits in the morning, but by 7:30, it went dead so by the time I had livies, we missed the early bite. I decided to troll from the bait marks and see if we could find anything. The water temp had dropped 2 degrees over night and was sitting at 22. 

All the boats in the area were battling, so after two hours without a pull, I headed deeper to look for a temperature or colour break. I had just crossed over the 50m ledge when the far surface bait went away. Chuck hauled in a small skipjack that we released. In 75m, there was a current line so I trolled along it. Not long after, there was a big commotion on the surface and the long rod keeled over. I could feel that the fish was heavy, and there were some big head nods. I increased the pressure and the line angled to the surface where a big shark twisted out the water and luckily popped off the leader. About half an hour later, along the same line, we went tight with a dorado. While it was jumping, I could see a follower with it so I left one of the other lines in. sure enough, when it came into range, the second fish ate the bait and we managed a double. I let out another bait while the deck was being sorted out and just as I put the rod in the holder, it keeled over and we were on. Chuck took the rod on a deep fighting fish which turned out to be a 9kg yellowfin. 

Another dorado along the current line

The wind had picked up from the south and with the strong n-s current, I knew the sea was going to pick up quickly so we ran to the point and put out lines along a good looking current line in 25m of water. I worked the line for about half an hour and went tight with another dorado. Things seemed to be changing with the change in wind. Not long after, the close rod went away. While John was fighting that one, I saw a follower and flicked out a livie on a spinning rod. Almost immediately I went tight to a good dorado which gave me a hard time before I could boat it. The current line moved shallower and I just followed along the edge. In 18m, we managed another dorado on the live bait. Our time was a bit limited as Chuck needed to leave that afternoon, so we started pulling the lines. Just before the last line was in, there was a blue flash next to the boat as a dorado flew in and chowed the livie. Chuck had a quick fight with a shoal size fish before heading back to the beach.

I'll have another Double!

Chuck and his 1st Sailfish

On Tuesday 6^th of December, Chuck, Kyla and Tash launched “Drifter” off of Vidal. It was the first time the girls had launched through the surf and first time fishing for gamefish. There was a light NE wind and almost zero surf, so it was an uneventful launch. I didn’t even stop on the point and headed straight to where I got bait the previous day. After a bit of a run to Bighill, we managed to catch a hatch full of bait and set about slow trolling. There was a current line on 23m with some bait shoals on it, so I focussed my efforts there. We had trolled for about an hour when both far surface baits went away. Tash and Kyla took the strike and both caught their first dorado. I continued along the line and had another dorado eat a dead bait close to the boat. Chuck made quick work of it before trolling further. One of the boats next to us went tight on a sailfish so I tacked deeper to get out their way. When we were clear, I turned back to the current line and saw the far surface rod starting to load up. I fed it a bit then tightened up to a heavy fish. It bumped its head a few times and the line angled to the surface. I was pretty sure I knew what was about to happen and like a dejavu moment, a sailfish stuck its head out and tore up the surface giving us a great show. Chuck took the rod and had a good tussle with his first sailie before tagging it. Two sailies in 2 days… not bad.

Things went a bit quiet for an hour or so I moved a bit further south to get away from the other boats. This move seemed to work and we went away with a really nice bull dorado that gave Kyla a hard time before it was boated.

Chuck with his 2nd Marlin

With the lull in the action, a few boats left the area. The NE picked up a bit and the dorado went quiet. I decided to let one of the lines out further and a few minutes later, the reel went away. Chuck fought the fish which turned out to be a cuda of about 8kg. I repeated the exercise and again we hooked a cuda that Tash boated. One of the other boats also had two cuda pulls, so it seemed like they were in the area. I was busy setting another bait when the line pulled out my hand. I put up the drag, but the hooks missed the fish. I quickly rerigged and just as I got the rod in the holder, it keeled over and we were onto another cuda that Kyla caught. We fished for a bit longer without another pull so I suggested we head closer to the launch so that the increasing wind did not catch us far south. I stopped off the point and put out 4 lines. I was busy heading out to sea when the far rod keeled over and the reel took off. Looking back, I saw a marlin launch itself full length out the water and start greyhounding away from us. The lines were retrieved double time while I chased after it. Chuck had the rod and survived the first run. We managed to get on top of the fish after about 10 minutes and got a quick tip on the leader. The fish took off and made countless close range jumps, almost ending up in the boat a few times. After about 40 minutes, the fish made a last jump and lay quiet on the surface close to the boat. I swung the stern next to the fish and managed to grab the bill of a 70ish kg black and pop a tag into it. Chuck posed for a quick pic before reviving the fish and releasing it. What an awesome end to the day. Two doubles in as many days! That’s great fishing in anyone’s book.

Make Mine a Double

On Monday 5^th December, I launched “Drifter” off Cape Vidal. With me were John, Amanda and Chuck. The SW was pushing about 20 knots, but the surf was non-existent. I spent some time looking for bait off the point, but similarly to the previous weekend, there was nothing to be found so I headed south to the shallows at Bighill. We managed to find a patch of bait and filled the livewell with mackerel and maasbanker before setting 4 lines.

I had just started heading deeper when the far surface rod went away with an absolute smoker! By the time the rod was out the holder, a considerable amount of line was off the reel so I turned to chase the fish. Unfortunately, the rod shot straight and the fish was gone. It had bitten through the wire. Not a good start. I rerigged and continued deeper. At 30m, another reel went away and Amanda fought the fish to the boat. Before we could see what it was, it went on another run but got converted shortly after. The drag went up to sunset and changed hands a few times until it chafed through the leader. The lines went out yet again and on almost the same spot in the shallows, the far bait went off again with another smoker. I left the other lines in and immediately spun the boat around to slow the run and when the last line was cleared and the fish started to slow down, the fish bit through the wire again!

Chuck with his 1st Marlin

After losing 3 rigs, I regrouped a bit, making some new rigs and setting a new spread of livies. I tacked a bit deeper then back shallower and managed another pull. This time is was a dorado that found its way into the hatch. Finally! I turned deeper after setting new baits and as the boat straightened, 2 rods went away. John and Chuck boated 2 yellowfin of about 6kg each… not my favourite fish to catch. Things seemed to be looking up and in 30m, the surface bait went away. Chuck took the rod on a pretty heavy fish that took several fast continuous runs. After 20minutes, the fish was close to the boat. The line angled to the surface and I saw a big sickle tail surfing down a swell. I first thought it to be a sailfish, but then it lifted the short dorsal fin and I could see it to be a marlin. After some fancy boat driving, I managed to get close enough to grab the bill and get a tag into an estimated 60kg black marlin for Chuck. I was surprised that the fish came in so easily, but maybe it was a blessing considering the light tackle used.

Amanda with her 1st Sailfish

After releasing the fish, the lines went out again. I had been trolling a deep line, but had not had a touch on it so I took off the sinker and left it on surface. I was bust letting out the 3^rd line when the now surface bait went away. There was a commotion on the surface as a sailfish tailwalked out the back. Amanda took the strike and had a tough fight with a fish that was fowl hooked. After a while, I managed to get hold of the bill and lift it into the boat. The weather and sea were still unsettled, so we decided to call it a day. I was pretty chuffed with our double on billfish for the day.