On Friday 26th May at
7:30, Wayne and I launched “ABF” at Cape Vidal. We had just gone through for
the day to test the boat out. The wind was already blowing about 12knots so
there were a few white horses but it was still very fishable. We started off
catching livies off the point and missed a small cuda on a trap stick.
With the live well full, I was insistent
to pull a few lures around on the ledge hoping for a tuna and after about
20minutes, we had 2 rods go away. They were both big kawa-kawa which were
released. We trolled over the structure again and went on with another double.
Mine came in pretty easily. It was a 5kg yellowfin. Wayne’s fish on the other
hand was a lot more stubborn and gave him a good go before I gaffed a 12kg tuna
which we bled and put on ice. I made another turn and happened to look back and
noticed line running off the one reel. I had forgotten the ratchet off and went
tight without knowing it. Wayne had the task of bringing in a lot of line with
what turned out to be a small skipjack which had already drowned by the time we
got it. On the next turn, another reel went off. Wayne was again on the rod and
had just started gaining line when the rod was pulled flat and the line flew
off the reel. Something had obviously grabbed his fish.
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| Wayne with a shoal cuda |
The drag went up to
sunset and I charged after it to try and get line back. The line angled to the
surface and in the distance, there was a bit of a splash. It was a dolphin.
This was going to be a problem… Every time it surfaced to breathe, it would
release the tuna and we could gain some line but seconds later another one
would come and grab it. Eventually, we were right on top of one when it
surfaced and managed to pull the tuna away. Just a bit of luck… The dolphin followed
us for a while so I suggested we head north to Oscar so we trolled all the way
up there, leaving the dolphins behind. On the pinnacle, we got another
yellowfin which we released. There were a few showings, so I rigged up some
livies and trolled over the bumps. Unfortunately, all we got was a pull from a
shark. The day was dragging on so we headed shallower to fish for cuda.
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| 22kg Wahoo |
I put
out 4 livies and tacked between 16 and 25m. Not long after I had the lines out,
we had a pull on the surface, but it missed the hooks. I rerigged the bait and
was busy letting it out when the reel took off in my hands. I fed it for a few
seconds then tightened up. Holy moly! The rod pulled flat as the fish rocketed
off behind the boat, in the process burning off the 2 deep lines. After a
smoking run, it settled down and I could put some pressure on it. It was a
heavy fish that made several circles around the boat before it came close. It
took a few more fast runs and after about 25 minutes, came within range of the
gaff. Wayne made no mistake and lifted a beautiful 22kg wahoo into the boat. I get
excited every time I see the blue and white stripes in the water.
After regrouping, we reset the
lines and didn’t have to wait long before the deep bait went away. Wayne
managed to get a shoal cuda of about 6kg. The line was just reset when the
close surface bait went away with another small shoal cuda. I quickly had it in
the hatch with the other one. Other than a few chopped baits, there was no more
action, so at 2pm we hit the beach. It was great to be at Vidal again and to
have some fresh fish to eat. Thanks to Wayne for an enjoyable day!
