On Monday 20 August at about 6pm,
Andre, Hansie, Terence and I launched “Good Time” out of Richards Bay. There
had been a few salmon coming out, so we were hoping to get a few.
We stopped at the pipeline and
there were about 10 other boats there already. Sounding around, we found a spot
and put out the anchor. We went about catching some live bait and soon had some
baits on the bottom. I was secretly hoping to get a big fish as I was using 8kg
line, hoping for another record like the week before. At around 7pm, Hansie had
a bite. He tightened up to a good strong fish that gave him a great fight on
the light gear he was using. After about 15minutes, he had his first daga for
the season. A good 24kg fish.
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| A few beautiful salmon |
The rest of us continued fishing
while Hansie played around with the maasbanker that were attracted to the boat
lights. At around 7:30, Andre hooked up and managed to catch his personal best
salmon of 26kg. I don’t think I have seen anyone prouder of a fish before. In
the meantime, Terence and I were holding pole, watching everyone else catching
fish. Hansie then caught a really big shad and Terence rigged it up. At about
8:30, Terence had a big bite and went tight on a fish that fought in another
league. The spinning reel that he was using stood up well to the strong 25minute
fight and after a few trips around the boat, the fish popped up next to the
boat spent. We could see that this was a record size fish so we kept it.
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| New Club Record |
I was now the only one still
trying for a fish, but luckily this meant that there were no other lines in the
water to cut me off. In the next 2 hours, I had three fish that mouthed the
bait without me even feeling the bump. Eventually, after rigging up a really
lively shad, I had a solid take. I tightened up pretty quickly and went on with
another strong fish. The light tackle took strain with the strong runs of the
fish and my heart sat in my throat with every head nod. After a long dogged
fight, the fish was visible in the lights. The size looked close to the size
that I needed for the record, so Andre gaffed it and brought it onboard. It had
been a long night and having all caught a fish, we could not have asked for
more.
We stopped at the club and
weighted my fish first. It pulled the needle to 26.8kg, narrow missing the record.
I’ll just have to try again… and I will. When we put Terence’s fish on the
scale, even though it was late in the evening, a small crowd gathered to see
this weight. We were all astounded to see the weight of 49.1kg! A fish of a
lifetime. I congratulate Terence on a fantastic fish. You are the envy of many
an angler.
