On Sunday 1st October,
I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. My crew was a no show so I decided to go it
alone. There was a small weather window so before the NE was going to pick up
so a quick Garrick session was in order. I headed out the harbour at 5:30 and a
short distance out of the mouth I noticed some baitfish on the surface. I
stopped and sounded around. There were big bait showings so I went down with
the jigs and managed a few maasbanker. I thought that I didn’t need many as I
was alone and was only going to try for a few hours.
I put out 2 surface baits and one
deep and trolled around the bait showings. The outgoing tide pushed me out to
sea so I turned shallower and worked the colour line. An hour or so in and
there was very little action. I saw one kingfish from a boat anchored nearby
but not one Garrick. The water was pretty dirty but there were some good
showings. At one point, I stopped the boat and dropped the bait jigs.
Immediately I went on to some bait but then there was a heavy pull as something
ate it. I instinctively released the drag assuming it was a Garrick that had
eaten it and I didn’t want to break it off. While I was tussling the fish, the
deep line had sunk and the reel went away. I leaned over and freespooled
thinking it was a second Garrick. Unfortunately with too few hands onboard and
too many fish on, I lost both fish. When I retrieved the bait, they had heavy
bite marks… definitely not a Garrick.
 |
| Some great eating fish for the family |
I made a turn and passed over the
same spot and it was no surprise when the deep reel went away. I ran back and
tightened up immediately. The rod keeled over and there were some big
headshakes, but not much of a run. While I was tussling, the surface rod went
away. After a short feed, I hooked up. The fish went on a short run and after
some head shakes, the hook pulled. At least I could now focus on the first
fish. The fish tired and came to the boat. It was a decent size kob of around
100cm. fun on a light Garrick rig. Knowing there were a few fish there, I only
rigged 2 rods and made a turn. Again, as I went over the spot, I got the pull.
The fish were all about the same size and gave me a great fight. The fish were
really eating but being alone on the boat, I missed quite a few. So much so
that I ran out of bait. Luckily the bait spot was not too far and when I
stopped on the mark and sent the jigs down, I managed a string of maasbanker. I
made a b-line for the spot and this time only sent 1 bait down. As I trolled
over the spot, I hooked up and had another great tussle. By now the other boats
had cottoned on to what I was doing and soon there were 4 boats around me. Luckily,
I only needed one more to get quota and it did not take long to get the pull.
I had my tag kit onboard and
thought it would be a good chance to tag some fish so I rerigged and headed
back into the fray. It was difficult to get into position with all the boats
jockeying for pole position. The strengthening wind also made driving/fishing
difficult. When I did finally get onto the mark, the showing had vanished. I
sounded around, but found nothing. I can only assume it was the sudden increase
in boat traffic everyone with their echo sounders on. Be that as it may, I had
had a great morning with the surprise salmon catch so even though it was still
early, I upped lines and headed home.
