Kings of the reef!

On Saturday 28^th April at about 6am, Jurgen Putz and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find some of the amberjack and kingfish we had caught the previous weekend. Our first stop was on the pipeline to catch some bait, but there was nothing to be found. After puzzling around on a few spots, we managed to find about 10 maasbanker. With a few livies in the well, we headed out to the reef.

GT released (100cm)

When we arrived, the water was a dark green colour and 23 degrees. Not exactly ideal, but I slowly drove over the reef and saw a really good showing. The other boats were trolling around and none of them had any action, so I quickly rigged a livie and put it out. I passed the rod to Jurgen and was still busy explaining what to expect when the rod was almost pulled out of his hands by a fish! He locked up and the heavy jigging rod buckled over. The reel was set on 12kg drag and it made little impression on the fish’s first run. Jurgen had to thumb the spool to eventually get the fish under control. I positioned the boat on top of the fish to keep the line vertical to prevent being cut off. The big head nods continued for most of the fight and after 15 minutes of extra heavy pressure, the fish was next to the boat. It was a beautiful GT of about 20kg. After a few pics, we speared the fish back into the water and it swam off strong. Not a bad way to start the morning!

Jurgen with another GT (109cm)

A good GT being tagged

I rigged another livie and drove to the same spot. No sooner had the bait hit the water, another GT grabbed it and the fight was on again. During the fight, I scratched around in my fishing bag and found my ORI tag kit. When Jurgen had the fish on the boat, we measured the length and inserted a tag before releasing another good fish. Again I rigged up a livie and stopped on the mark. This time, when Jurgen hooked up, the fish took a strong, sustained run and I had to chase after it a bit to get the line vertical. The fight was a bit different to the first two and when the fish was next to the boat, we saw why. It was a good Amberjack of about 14kg… Jurgen’s first. Stoked with this good fish, we headed back up to the mark. Two other boats were vertical jigging on the spot so I pulled in next to them. I was busy talking to Terence, the skipper of one of the boats, when Jurgen’s rod keeled over again. I took chase. It was another good amberjack. This was turning out to be a great morning! The other boats had not had a pull yet, so I assumed the bite was slowing. I moved in between the other boats and put a bait out myself while Jurgen took the controls. To the disbelief of the other boats, it took only a few seconds to hookup again! I put on as much pressure as I could and just before my back started to give out, the fish was next to the boat. Another great GT which we tagged and released.

25kg being released (113cm)

It was only 8:30 and we had 5 decent fish. I expected the bite to start slowing but every time we put a bait on the showing, we hooked up. By 10am, we had 4 GTs and 5 Amberjack. A few other boats arrived on the scene and with all the transducer pinging and vertical jigs banging on the reef, the fish became a bit shy. I suggested a slightly different approach to the situation, just to see what would happen. Sure enough, the subtle change saw us hooking up on every pass over the showing. When I finally felt strong enough to take another strike, it was my luck that I hooked a big potatoe bass!

Big pressure on an Amberjack

At about noon the bite finally slowed. The fish had scattered a bit the other boats started moving off. We had almost no bait left so I scrounged a few livies from Jorrie on his boat “Frigate”. I rigged up a tuna trace on a small spinning rod and pinned one of the livie. The showing had moved a bit so it took a while to find it but when I finally did, Jurgen put the bait out and quickly went on with a small yellowfin the we bled for sushi.

At about 1pm, we were the only boat left on the reef. Slowly but surely the life returned to the are with small bonnies on the surface and a proper showing. I put out another livie on the big rod and went on immediately! Jurgen was back in action again. I called Terence and suggested he come back to the area as it had switched on again. The two boats made turns swimming baits and fighting fish off the shoal. Terence had hooked up a fish and were spending a lot of time in it. We had managed 2 more released in that time, so it was obviously a decent fish. Eventually he called me on the radio and told me they had released a GT that measured 129cm… equivalent to 41kg… an excellent fish.

Jurgen's 100lbs GT (133cm)

It was getting late, so I suggested we make one last drop. The bait was in the water for only a few moments and Jurgen hooked up. Immediately we knew this was a bigger fish as it was fighting in a different league. It took us close on 20 minutes to turn it for the first time and from there it was another 10 minutes to get it to the boat. When we saw the GT, we were shocked at the size. It was quickly tagged, measured and released. The equivalent weight was 45.7kg! The tally for the day was 8 GT’s released (All over 100cm, biggest 45kg), 11 Amberjack (biggest 26kg), 2 kawa-kawa, a yellowfin and a potatoe bass. Talk about an epic day!

Buckled and Bent

On Sunday 22^nd April, At and I launched Avanti off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch a few jube-jubes for bait for the cuda season. The forecast was for a perfect day. The water was warm and clean and just enough current to keep things active.

A 16kg Amberjack 

Our first stop was on the bait marks and it did not take long to get a hatch full of bait. We headed out to the ledge and started trolling a few small lures around. There was not much activity and almost no showing on the reef, so we trolled south hoping to find the bonnies. Eventually we spotted a few splashed and as we trolled through the area, all the rods went on with beautiful small bonnies. We made a few turns in the area and managed quite a few baits and a small yellowfin tuna, but they grey wary of the boat and sounded, so we continued trolling south. A short while later, the big rapala close to the boat was eaten. It came to the boat easily, and in the clean water, I could see it was a wahoo. Unfortunately, it made a run at the boat and the hook pulled. Things were very quiet, so we decided to put some live bait down for bottomfish. The current was just perfect so with one motor in gear and the autopilot on, the boat maintained position and we could both fish. There were no takers on the bottom, so I rigged a live maasbanker and put it out on the surface on my light spinning rod. After about 20 minutes, there was a big splash on the surface and the spinning reel smoked off. We chased after the fish which all but spooled the reel. When it finally slowed, the fish changed direction. I’m guessing the leader pulled across its tooth as the 40lbs leader cut off close to the bait.

At with a 23Kg GT 

There was a good showing on the sounder, but nothing was eating. There were a few splashed near us, so we put out the small lures again. At one stage, I was bringing in a bonito when something smashed it, leaving only the head. I flicked it back into the water and a wahoo streaked in and grabbed it, biting through the nylon. I quickly grabbed a dead bonnie out the cooler and pinned it on my light spinning rig. As it hit the water, the wahoo grabbed it and streaked off. I fed it a bit, but when I tightened up, the fish made a short run before the hook pulled. Knowing there were a few wahoo around, I rigged up a live maasbanker and put it out on the surface. Moments later, I was onto a fish but it turned out to be another small yellowfin.

A 20kg GT about to be released

At positioned the boat on a nice showing and held the boat there while I put a livie into the showing. As the bait reached the right depth, the rod buckled and the reel smoked off. I had 80lbs braid with a 12kg drag on the fish but it still made an impressive run. About 15 minutes later, I had a hard fighting amberjack of about 15kg in the boat. My arms were tired so I took the wheel while At put down a livie. As the showing came through, he went tight! The fish didn’t make a long run, but it was difficult to lift it. About 20minutes later At had a beautiful kingfish next to the boat. Unfortunately the fish was in the gills so we loaded the 23kg kingie. We had drifted off the showing so a fare was so I put out a small lure while At took us back. Just as we arrived on the mark, I caught a small bonnie which I rigged up and let out on the surface. Before I could get a second bait rigged, the reel smoked off but moments later, the main line parted. On closer inspection I could see that it was cut off. My guess was it was a wahoo that doubled back and swam into the line. I put on a new trace and threw a small spoon into the bonnies. Soon I had another bonnie on the surface. At trolled slowly north and almost on cue, the reel took off. This time it was a slow but strong run and the fish stayed deep. We both thought it was a shark, but I could gain a bit of line and after about 20 minutes, the fish showed itself. It was another big kingfish of about 20kg. Luckily this one was hooked in the jaw and didn’t have any barotrauma so after a quick pic, I released it.

Me with a 27Kg GT

Again we moved back up to the spot and managed to get another bonnie on the spoon so it was rigged and put out on surface. There was a good mid water showing so I sent a livie into it. While I was waiting for a pull, the bonnie was eaten and At took the strike. While the fish was giving him a good pull, my rod was almost jerked out of my hands by a strong fish. It made a strong run big head nods. Both of us were bending on fish so I tried to stay at the back of the boat while At brought his fish closer. We were both surprised when his fish came into view. It was a huge kawa-kawa of about 9kg. With the worry of burning off gone, I could move to the front of the boat and fight from there. Eventually the fish tired and I could lift its head. It started coming up easily and I could see bubbles coming to the surface. Down deep I could just make out the silver body of a big kingfish. When it surfaced, the stomach was hanging out its mouth and it had blown badly. I tried to get it back down but failed so we reluctantly loaded the 27kg fish.

At with his 19kg Amberjack

We had one decent livie left in the live well so I talked At into going back onto the mark. I let the bait down into the small showing and almost immediately went tight. The fish made an incredibly strong run against a heavy drag and extra pressure from me thumbing the spool. After the run, I managed to gain some line, but my hands started cramping so I passed the rod to At. He too started cramping up but managed to pull it off the bottom. The fish fought him almost all the way to the boat before giving up. It was a lovely 19kg amberjack!

That fish was the nail in both our coffins so we packed the rods away and headed home.