On Saturday 16th June,
Jurgen and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch an amberjack
and maybe a cuda later in the afternoon. Reports from the previous day were
that there was no livebait on the pipeline or the usual spots, so we spent some
time looking around the bay and managed to get about 10 big maasbanker.
I headed out to the ledge and on
arrival, I saw there was a good showing on the reef. The problem is that it was
a bit high off the bottom. We rigged up a live maasbanker and Jurgen sent it
down. It did not take long for a pull but unfortunately the hook turned into
the bait and missed the fish.
The reverse current had pushed up
off the reef, so I took us back to the mark. As I stopped, there were a few bonnies
splashing near us, so I put a cast in with a spoon and managed to get one. We
rigged it up and sent it down expecting a good pull, but after probably 20
minutes and 3 or 4 drops later, the bait died without and bite. Jurgen rigged
up another maasbanker and sent it down. Sure enough, he got the pull and went
tight with a fish that gave him a bit of a fight before coming to the surface.
IT was a blacktip kingfish of about 8kg. Unfortunately, it was hooked in the
stomach, causing considerable damage. At least we had a fish.
There were a few more bonnies on
the surface, so I made another cast and caught one. IT was a bit smaller than
the first, so we hoped that we might get a fish on it. Unfortunately, nothing
was interested, and the bait ended up in the coolbox. Jurgen rigged up another
maasbanker and went tight again. This time it was a big kawa-kawa. After that
last fish, the showing dissipated and despite putting another live maasbanker
down, there was no action, so we headed back to the harbour and tried for Garrick
around the pier. Again, the fishing was slow and only produced two small
sharks.
