First Garrick of the season

On Saturday 1^st July 2017 at 5:45, Tjokkie and I launched ABF off Richards Bay. We were hoping to open our Garrick account for the season and be the first boat at our Club to catch a Garrick this year.

Our first stop was at the pipeline where we were terrorized by big maasbanker. We really battled to find some shad but eventually, by changing the rigs and presentation, we started getting some lovely bait. With about 10 shad, I was about to leave to go fish when a friend called and said they were getting quite a few mackerel just a short distance away. I made the quick run and stopped on a big midwater showing. First drop resulted in a full string of mackerel. They went straight into the ice box. I held the boat on the shoal and Tjoks caught a few strings. The shoal moved off a bit so I sounded around to find them again. I noticed a pod of dolphin moving towards us. That was probably why the bait had disappeared so I packed up and headed to the south pier.

Tjokkie fighting a Garrick

The water was beautiful! I rigged up 3 shad and slowly trolled past the point of the pier. There were a few sock and surf anglers on the pier so I made sure I gave them a wide birth as not to irritate them. After I had turned and straightened out, the deep line went away. We thought it was a false strike as we were surging with the swell and I was in gear when it happened. Tjoks tightened up almost immediately to retrieve the bait and reset it when the rod keeled over and there was a fish on. Unfortunately, the hook pulled due to our confusion. This just shows you that you should treat every false strike as the real thing… just to be sure.

I rerigged the bait and made a turn over the same spot. The close bait revved a bit then sounded very deep. I thought it a bit strange so kept my eye on it. Moments later, the clip tripped and line ran off the reel. I fed the fish for some time then tightened up. There was a solid weight on the rod with the line almost straight up and down. I almost thought it was stuck in the rocks but then felt the head nods and the line angled to the surface where a nice Garrick thrashed around on top. I passed the rod to Tjoks who had a great fight before I brought our first Garrick of the season onboard. Mission accomplished!

A good size Garrick to start the season

I rerigged and worked the area a bit, but after half an hour, the dredger moved into the area and I was forced to pick up lines and head south into the backline. The water was a beautiful colour and there was a strong current line forming on the outgoing tide. I put out 3 lines and had only gone about 100m when the surface bait revved and there was a big swirl and chase on the surface. The Garrick chowed the shad and Tjoks fed it before hooking up. This fish also gave him a great fight and we managed to get our second fish of the season.

I rerigged and worked the colour line a bit but only had 2 big shad eat the live mackerel I put out. The dredger had left so I moved to the point again, but had no luck so at 12 o clock, we upped lines and headed back. It was a great day and I’m glad we have our first Garrick for the season.

Vidal Weekend

A healthy cuda to start the day.

On Saturday 24^th June, David and I launched “ABF” off Cape Vidal. We sounded around a bit and found some bait showings. It didnt take long to get some nice maasbanker in the live well. I headed for Oscar but after making a few turns and not seeing a showing or having a pull, I ran in to vegetation and at 30m started rigging the baits. I had one bait out and was busy rigging the second when the first was eaten. The reel smoked off and David took the strike. After a good fight, I gaffed a 10kg cuda.

David's 1st prodigal son 

I rerigged and managed to get a full spread out. 

I made a turn in 15m and the deep livie went away with a bit of a sluggish fish. I was pretty sure I know what it was and after a 15 minute fight David had his first prodigal son on the boat. About a 6kg fish. This was turning out to be a great morning. This was short lived however as a pod of dolphin moved in and started following us. When they started eating the livies off out traces, I made the call to pick up lines and move a few kilometres south towards Oscar. With no more dolphin in site, I rigged up a few baits. Things were quiet for an hour or so and when I saw the dolphin approaching, I suggested we move again.

David's pb tuna

I was busy retrieving the last surface bait when there was a big splash and the rod buckled. I tightened up and gave the rod to David. The fish took off on a smoking run so I rode after it. At one stage, I was on the plane and we were at a stale mate! Finally the fish slowed down and we could gain line. About 15mins in, the fish was straight up and down doing big circles. The dolphin arrived on the scene and chased after our fish. At one point there were 6 dolphin around the boat harassing what we had on. Eventually the leader was on the reel and we could put some pressure on. I hit the water with the gaff a few times to scare the dolphins and David pulled the fish out from under the boat. It was a big yellowfin… big enough so that the dolphin could not eat it. I took a shot and managed to gaff the fish. It was a good 22kg fish. David’s biggest.

After bleeding the fish and putting it on ice, I headed deeper to the ledge where I rigged some baits. We drifted along the ledge a bit but only had one pull from a big bottomfish before calling it a day and heading back in.

David's 1st Wahoo

On Sunday 25^th June, we launched “ABF” off Vidal. We didn’t have much time to fish as we had to vacate the cabin by 10am. It didn’t take long to find bait and in 15 minutes we had enough. The SW was blowing so I didn’t want to run too far. I put on some big lures and trolled out to the ledge and south towards the lighthouse. I had trolled about half an hour when the close reel smoked off. I continued trolling for a few seconds hoping for a second fish but that didn’t happen so I slowed down and David took the strike. The fish took a lot of line so I followed it for a bit until it settled. The fish went deep for a while before surfacing again. This time I got a shot with the gaff and pulled a good wahoo onboard. It didn’t fit in the hatch so it was wrapped in a wet towel.

The lines went out again but without another pull so I rigged up a few livies. We trolled between 35 and 20m all the way to the point but only had one pull on the surface that didn’t stick. We headed back and weighed the wahoo. It went 23kg. A great first wahoo for David.