Nominate the depth

On Sunday 29^th December 2019, At, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” at Cape Vidal. This was going to be my last fishing trip for the year and we had decided to target marlin with live bait. We were through the surf at 5am and quickly stopped on the point to catch some livies … just in case. From there we headed to Oscar to try for tuna species for out marlin bait.

We put out 4 rapalas/halcos and a small skirt and trolled around the marks. After 20 mins, the japan went away with what turned out to be an 8kg yellowfin. It went into the tube (just) and we continued looking. Half an hour later and we managed to find 3 beautiful bonito of around 2kg each. The Yellowfin was removed from the tube and bled to make space for the smaller baits. At headed out to 80m where I rigged up one of the bonnies and a big maasbanker. As we headed out, the water colour went greener so we opted to fish shallow in the clean water. At about 9:45, a big hammerhead came up and grabbed the bait. Luckily it bit off the hook and we were left with only 2 baits going into the prime. As At turned to go shallower, the live maasbanker went away with a 10kg dorrie which was a nice bonus for supper.

The prime time started at 10:35 and anticipations were high. Conditions looked good and we were sure something would happen. At had nominated the depth of 124m where we were going to hookup but as we headed deeper and over the 124m mark, it was still quiet. We turned at 175m and started out inward tack. As the sounder read 124m, the bait revved hard. I grabbed the line out the rigger and felt that sudden heavy weight that pulled the line out my hand. I fed the fish for a few meters then slowly tightened up, hoping that the circle hook would do the rest. The rod loaded up as we came tight and the line slowly angled to the surface. Behind a big swell, we could just make out the bill of a marlin breaking the surface. Pierre jumped into the chair and connected up the harness. The marlin didn’t take much line and it stayed just under the surface. I was sure that it was going to give me a hiding next to the boat as it was not using up any energy. We eased off the drag hoping that it would go on a run but only when it was on the double line did it sound and take some line. With its head turned, the fish picked up speed and made a few jumps before settling. 

This was the first good look we had of it. What was strange was that the circle hook was not in the corner, but in the bottom jaw. There was also quite a bit of blood coming out the gills. Pierre kept some pressure on and the marlin quietly came in next to the boat. I took the leader but there was no real resistance. The fish was lying on its side with little kick left. We decided to load it and give it to the local community instead of feeding a bunch of unwanted sharks. To make our job easier, I put on a bill rope and both Pierre and I pulled it into the boat. 

It was now 11:30 and we had an hour of prime left. Our last bonnie had died so it was back to Oscar pinnacle to look for bait. Luckily it only took 5 mins of trolling to get a 3kg yellowfin. Perfect bait! I rigged it up and put it out. It swam beautifully but despite our best efforts we could not tempt anything else to bite. At 13:30 we cut the bait loose and headed back to camp. The fish weighed 123.2kg.

Some fun at Vidal

At 5:30 on Saturday 7^th December 2019, At, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” off Cape Vidal. The NE wind was blowing but a SW was predicted for mid morning. There was a bit of surf, but the launch was uneventful. The first stop was to catch live bait off the point which proved to be challenging compared to most days, but after 45 minutes, we had a decent supply and headed south towards the lighthouse.

Pierre and I rigged up a few baits and settled in to wait. It was pretty quiet for about an hour before we got our first dorado in the boat. There seemed to be a few fish in the shallows, so we headed to that area. On the way, we had a pull on the deep line, but pulled the hooks on what was probably a cuda. At turned at about 15m and sure enough as the lines straightened out, the close reel went away with our second dorado. The NE started settling as the SW approached, but the fish also went quiet. Apart from another small dorado and a big shark, things were quiet. We were positive that when the wind turned that we would get a few more pulls.

At 11am, the SW came through at 15knots, picking up the sea a bit. By then we were far south so we had a big area to work back. There was not much current so with the boat’s nose facing north with the wind, we drifted towards home at a perfect speed. It took about half an hour for the fish to start biting and within an hour we had quite a few strikes. The majority of the pulls were dorado but I did manage to get a yellowfin tuna of around 8kg. It gave me a good rev on a long cuda rod.

At 2pm, we were off the lighthouse and the hatch was pretty full. We knew that there was a lot of filleting work to do, so we pulled in the livies and put on 3 small konas to troll home. The lines were out for a short while when the close lure had a bump but the fish missed the hooks. Moments later the far line had a bump. This time we could see that it was a sailfish having a go at the lure. Unfortunately, it missed the hook despite grabbing it 3 times. With that, we upped lines and headed home.

On Sunday 8^th December, At and I launched “Avanti”. The SW was still blowing so we headed south into the wind pulling small lures and strip baits as we went. It didn’t take long to get a pull and soon had a nice dorrie in the boat. Soon after, we missed on that threw the hooks. It was about 8am when we rigged the first livies and the lines were just set when the two close lines went away with dorries. At and I fought fish to the boat and landed both of them. At turned to troll over the same spot when we had another pull but it threw the hooks after a few seconds. Not to worry as moments later another dorrie ate the close bait and we had 4 fish in the hatch. We thought it was going to be a bumper morning, but just like that, things went stone dead. For a few hours, we had no action but finally as we passed the lighthouse, two rods went away. One was a really nice fish that took a lot of line. While this was going on, I saw a free swimmer, pitched it a bait and went straight on. The 3 fish were jumping everywhere but the show had to go on so I put out another livie close to the boat. It was barely 10m out when a dorado came flying in and grabbed. Now we had our hands full but luckily we stayed attached and boated all four fish.

We had drifted a long way from where we had hooked them so At trolled back on that line. It wasn’t long before we were on again. This time it was a bigeye kingfish that we released. It seemed like the shoal had moved on as we didn’t get another pull in that area so we headed north towards the point. Just before we upped lines, I managed to get one last dorado for the weekend. At noon, we headed back to the beach.

2019 12 x 12 Species comp

On Friday 25^th October, Okkie Theunissen and I launched “Hannock” off St Lucia. We were going to check out the conditions before the 12x12 species comp. Our first stop was to get livies which didn’t take too long. We then headed north in the backline checking out some likely spots as we went. We found a good rip and pulled a few livies around without a strike. I started casting lures and had a few strikes but didn’t manage to convert. At 8:30, we headed to the ledge to look for a tuna. Within a few minutes, we went on with 3 tuna, two of which were released. As we trolled down the ledge, we had a number of strikes and caught several tuna. By 10am, we were ready to beach and spend some time working on some tackle for the next 2 days.

That night, a cold front came through, bringing with it rain, lightening and wind. This caused a big change in the water and we knew things were going to be a bit tough. 

The next morning, Okkie, Frank, Zander and I launched at 5:15 and quickly caught some livebait. Again, we headed up north and fished the backline area. We managed to quickly release 2 kingfish and missed a snoek. At 9am we headed out to the ledge and managed to get 2 skipjack tuna. Things were looking good as we tried for our 3^rd species. 

This took longer than usual but eventually we managed to get a yellowfin tuna. There were a few reports of sailfish in the shallows so we headed in that direction, puling all the standard sailfish paraphernalia. Unfortunately, we could not raise one and made a switch to live bait, hoping to get a dorado, cuda or sailfish. The lines had just gone out when the far livie went away. The fish was at the boat fairly quickly and I managed to gaff a small wahoo. Things went quiet after that and we ended with just the 4 species. At the weighin we found out that the skippies were just under the minimum weight so we had to settle for a 6^th position.

Day 2 was another early morning and we were on the backline by 5:30. There had been a number of snoek the precious day so that was our first target species. It was almost too easy as within 15 minutes, we had a nice snoek in the hatch. After another few turns, we managed to get a small kingfish on a lure, but it was below the minimum weight. The next stop was to get some bait and within 10 minutes, the livewell was full of beautiful mackerel. The ledge was our next stop and soon after putting out lines, we caught 2 bonnies. These were also too small so we continued the search. The wind had now dropped and the sea was very flat. All the boats were battling for fish, including us. Apart from 2 sharks, we never had another pull and ended up with just one species for the day.

Unfortunately, this year’s comp was not ours to do very well in. We did manage to get the biggest wahoo of the comp, so it was not a total washout. Thanks to Okkie and the team for a great weekend.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

On Saturday 19^th October at 5:30am, Johan and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. We were hoping that the warm water had moved in, bringing with it a few dorado. As per usual, I stopped on the pipeline and filled the live well. There was a mix of maasbanker, mackerel and redeyes. Now wanting to waste too much time, we headed out to the ledge, hoping to find some fish.

On arrival, the water was far from perfect. There was a slight reverse current, 21 degree water and clean green in colour. Fearing the worst, I put out a few lures and trolled north along the reef, looking for any decent showing that I could work. There was absolutely nothing on the sounder and out of desperation, I headed out to see, hoping to find a colour line or something that would hold some life. I had just trolled through a bit of a current line when the surface lure went away. Johan took the rod while I cleared the other lines. The fish made a few jumps and we could see that it was indeed a dorado. It was however on the small side, but we were not complaining. After a quick fight, Johan had the fish in the hatch and we could continue fishing.

Johan fighting his first garrick in a decade

The day wore on without a touch. The conditions got worse as the reverse current strengthened so at 11am, I suggested we up lines and try around the south pier before heading home. When we arrived at the pier, the dredger was working there, churning up the mud and making one hell of a colour line. We put out 3 baits and trolled around, hoping that our day could be salvaged. On our second pass around the point, Johan saw a chase behind the boat. I immediately put the far line’s reel in freespool, anticipating the strike. When the Garrick did finally get hold of the bait, I was waiting for it and after feeding it for a bit, I hooked up and passed Johan the rod. This was Johan’s first Garrick in probably 10 years, so he had a great time fighting it. Unfortunately, the treble hook had snagged the gills and it was bleeding a lot so the fish was loaded.

With high spirits, we called it a day and headed back to the club.

Rock beats nylon every time

On Saturday 5^th October at just before 6am, Patat, Natasha and I launched “Joy Toy” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find those illusive snoek but had a plan b just in case.

Patat with a monster

We headed straight for the pipeline where, in a short time, we filled the live well with maasbanker and a few mackerel. The water was spectacularly clean so that meant we could start fishing close to home. We made a b-line for the backline, put out a few snoek lures and headed north in the shallows. It didn’t take too long before we caught a shad on a rapala. It was closed season, so we Patat released it.

'Tasha with a GT

Sometime later, we caught probably the smallest snoek of the year. From what the other boats were getting, it seemed like snoek fishing was a bust so we changed up the rigs to try for a Garrick. The surf was very small so I could get the boat right into the shallows. There were a few good rips around and as we went through one of them, two reels smoked off. These were definitely not Garrick so Natasha and Patat tightened up immediately and both went on to strong fish. I headed out the surf zone to try and pull the fish away from the rocks but unfortunately one cut us off. Natasha bullied her fish and managed to get a 13kg GT to the boat.

The lines went out again but things were very quiet. I made a deeper turn when the close line went away. Patat hooked up but a strange erratic fight. After quite a good tussle, a huge shad popped up next to the boat. It was in the region of 6kg! Just before I could get hold of it, it made another run and as it turned, it bit through the nylon leader. 

Trolling in shallow water

Patat and Natasha checked all the baits again. With fresh lively baits out, I trolled through a strong rip. The deep line went away and Natasha hooked up to a Garrick. It gave her a great fight and after several minutes, she had caught her first Garrick of the year. I made a turn and trolled through the rip again. This time the far surface bait went away. Patat hooked up and managed to get another nice Garrick which was unfortunately hooked badly. There seemed to be a fish or two in the rip so I made another pass through it. As the baits came into the clean water, the far one went away at a hell of a speed. This was no Garrick so Natasha tightened up immediately. The fish made a strong run and quickly cut us off in the rocks… obviously another GT.

'Tasha fighting a garrick

Patat made up a new double and leader and put out a fresh bait. As he was letting it out, a Garrick smashed it. After a short feed, the fish spat the bait for some unknown reason. It was good to be getting a few pulls, but the strike to landing ratio was not looking good. This worsened with the next strike when I hooked another smoker that ran out to sea and despite having the drag over the button and me thumbing it, I was still reefed.

On the next pass through the same area, the far surface livie was eaten. When Patat hooked up, the fish swam straight to the boat and past the nose before taking some line and putting up a bit of a fight. We were all very surprised when a 4kg sarda sarda came up next to the boat.

The action was pretty consistent, but all of a sudden, it went stone dead. Only after 3 passes without a touch did we notice that the dreaded easterly wind had started. It was a unanimous call to up lines and head back home.

Not all plans are cast in stone

On Saturday 21st September at 13:00, Johan de Jager (aka Patat), Angie and I launched “Joy Toy” out of Richards Bay. The rugby was not really worth watching so we decided try for a snoek or two. The boats had caught them in the morning so we were hoping that they were still there.

As we left the harbour, we saw a lot of birds working off the point of the south pier. We headed over to investigate and found a big shoal of sprats that the birds were picking off the surface. We drifted there for a few minutes and saw the water erupt as a Garrick smashed into the shoal. Despite throwing a few lures at it the fish ignored our offerings so we headed north to join the fleet that were seeing a few snoek jumping.

Patat with his first garrick of the season

When we arrived, there was quite a few bait balls on the surface. There were a few blacktip kingfish amongst them, but not many snoek. Every now and again there would be a bit of a bust but so spread out and short lived that it was almost not worth chasing them. This carried on for about an hour. We could see that we were flogging a dead horse so I headed into the backline to a patch of birds working a bait ball. I stopped next to it and the sounder went solid red from the showing. Patat and Angie both threw spoons and went on immediately. Each of them landed a nice side shad which went into the live well. In the meantime I sent down a set of jigs and before the last one dipped below the surface, I was on with a string of shad. The water around the boat went black as a massive shoal of shad chased the sprats to the surface. At that stage we were dipping the shad, hanging the lure over the side and lifting a shad out, without using the reel, shot for shot. In minutes, the live well was full of big shad. We caught and released about 50 shad before focussing out attention back to snoek. 

I suggested that we make the short run south of the harbour and look if there was any action there, away from all the other boats. Passing the point of the south pier, the water was a beautiful colour with a rip formed by the incoming tide. I could not resist and stopped to pull a livie just to see if there was anything there. The lively shad had just been put out when the reel went away. Patat hooked up and fought a lovely Garrick to the boat. There was heavy blood trail from its gills, so we loaded the fish. 

Angie enjoying close range combat with a garrick

We rerigged and made a few more turns without any success so we pushed on south to look for snoek. We had not seen any activity all the way to New Mouth so we gave it up as a bad call and went shallow into the backline where we pulled for Garrick. Unfortunately, apart from a small shark there was no action. After an hour we ran back to the pier and shortly after setting the lines, we went on with a nice Garrick. Angie was on the rod and fought the fish to the boat like a champ. I was reaching out to grab the leader then the leader parted. On closer inspection, you could see that the leader was nicked. Probably from the small shark that had eaten the bait earlier. Oh well… 

The skipper taking his time on the rod

The conditions were text book perfect and as I trolled into the area, the far line went away. This time Angie evened the score with her first Garrick of the afternoon. I made a turn over the same spot and saw a mid water mark on the sounder. No surprise when the surface line went away and I caught my first Garrick of the day. We had drifted a fair distance so I trolled back to the point. As I got there a Garrick chased a baitfish on the surface. Almost immediately we went away and Patat hooked his second fish. While he was fighting, another rod went off. Angie hooked up and we found ourselves fighting a double. After some fun and games around the boat we managed to get both fish. One was a good one of around 11kg.

There were obviously a few fish in the area so I put the boat on the mark and stemmed the tide, holding the boat in one spot, giving the baits more time in the zone. It didn’t take long for a pull but unfortunately the fish spat the bait. Patat brought the bait in to check it and a Garrick chased it to the boat but didn’t eat it. He rigged a new bait which was barely in the water when it was eaten. After hooking up, Patat handed me the rod to fight the fish. While I fought, the boat drifted along the rip. As luck would have it, we had another bite but pulled the hook after a short run. My fish in the meantime had me hanging over the side trying not to be cut off on the keel strips. The fight ended in my favour.

There was not too much light left so I made one last pass on the point. We had a half-hearted pull but were left with a squashed shad. With that, we packed up and headed home. Our game plan didn’t go as expected, but it turned out great in the end.

Garrick Derby 2019

On Saturday 7^th September 2019, At and I launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. Our club was hosting the annual Garrick derby and it is a tradition for the two of us to compete. The sea still had quite a choppy swell from the previous few day’s cold front so it was a bit uncomfortable.

We had just started running out the channel when I noticed a big showing on the sounder. I kept an eye on it and it continued for a while. Curiosity got the better of me so I throttled down and quickly sent the bait jigs down. Before I hit the bottom, I was on with a full string of bait, half big maasbanker and half mackerel! The Garrick plans went out the window and we went into bait catching mode with me focusing on mackerel and At on maasbanker. When the ship traffic started, the water became dirty and the bait moved off. We were pretty happy with the full coolerbox of bait and headed out to the pipeline. There was a massive showing on the bait marks and soon we were pulling up full strings of huge redeye sards which went straight into the ice.

When the sards went off the bite, we were in two minds what to do. There was a rock and surf competition on the south pier and quite a few boats there too so we opted to head north and come back with the wind. It was a long run so we decided to head to the ledge and pull some lures as we headed north, hoping for a wahoo or yellowfin. I had just put the lures out when 3 rods went on with yellowfins. One pulled hook and the other two were bled and put on ice. We continued north and every 20 minutes or so we caught another tuna. We had 2 in the hatch so we released all but 1 which was in the gills. We finally arrived at Dawsons at around 11am. The water colour was not great but we rigged up for garrick and persevered regardless.

Fresh Mackerel

The tide had turned and there were a few rips forming. At trolled through them and the deep bait went away. Unfortunately the fish spat the bait before I hooked up and all I got back was a slightly roughed up shad. The next rip produced another pull but the result was the same as the previous one. Avanti 0 garrick 2. The NE had blown the brown water into the backline and the conditions were terrible. At suggested we up lines and head towards the harbor and see if we could find some better water. Off groenkop, there was a small patch of less dirty water with a nice rip. We stopped to try it and I was busy putting the last line out when there was a commotion on the surface. There was a fish chasing the close bait. I thought it was a shark as there had been a few chopping the baits in the dirty water. When the fish finally caught the bait, I fed it a bit hoping that it would bite the leader off. When I tightened up, the fish came to the surface and splashed around. I was confused as sharks don’t do that… garrick do. The fish gave me a run for my money and eventually came close enough to where At could gaff the 9kg fish. Unfortunately, the rules dictated that the fish needed to be weighed, under normal circumstances, it would have been released.

Sushi and a contender for the comp.

The water colour again went muddy so we headed towards the harbor mouth. At noticed that the water was a better colour on the point of the south pier so he stopped there for the last 30 mins before lines up. The wind was doing 20 knots and steering was a full-on job, especially with clears on and trolling at such a slow speed. At did a great job at the wheel and put the baits in the right spot. Just as the baits passed through the ‘hot spot’, the deep one went away. I fed it and hooked up to a fish that took quite a bit of line before we could clear lines and follow it. With the clock ticking, I put as much pressure as I dared and had the fish near the boat where At managed to get a gaff into it. It was a really nice one! We headed straight back to the club and made the weighin just in time.

Our perseverance paid off as our fish was the biggest Garrick for the comp at 11.2kg. There were a number of fish weighed and this attracted some negative publicity. I would like to suggest that the event change to a release format. Lets hope next year will be another successful event.

Jetski Fishing

On Sunday 18^th August, At and I launched his jetski off Ponta Mamoli. I had never been on a jetski before, let alone fished off one. It was going to be an experience. The surf was big due to the previous days howling SW but there was a lull before the predicted NE.

Once through the surf, we headed up north and when we were close to the area, we put out 2 speedpros and worked our way north. There were a few splashes in front of us and when the lures were close, both went on. This was going to be interesting! Both At and I fought strong deep fighting fish that pulled the ski all over the show but eventually we managed to land two big skipjack tuna.

With the ice broken, we trolled on. It wasn’t too long before the close lure went away. I fought the fish and felt some very quick head shakes. Both At and I were pretty confident that we knew what it was. When it was next to the ski, we confirmed that it was indeed a shoal size wahoo which was gaffed and loaded into the hatch. This jetski thing was quite fun.

We trolled shallower over a few marks hoping to catch a kaakap for supper. Almost on cue, the close lure went away with a small kaakap. Moving north, there were a few bonnies on the surface. I dug in the tackle box and all I could find was a white cuda duster which I rigged up on a popping rod with a nylon leader. At trolled over his numbers and there was a big showing almost to the surface. Unsurprisingly a reel went off. As I was getting ready to take the rod, there was a splash out the back and the popping rod keeled over and braid flew off the reel at an alarming rate. At took that rod while I fought the fish on the other. In the chaos of spinning jetski and smoking reels, my fish came off. At least we were still tight to the other one. We had just started following it when something parted. On inspection, the nylon trace had been sliced off. Talk about a hiding.

Not bad for a first time jetski trip

I scrounged in the tackle box and cut up a trace to use the last duster we had. I rigged it… with wire and put it out. We made a few turns and after some time, finally managed to get a bonnie. The tubes were not working so At held the bait in the water while I set the record for fastest live bait trace ever made! With the bait rigged, At headed back to the big showing. As we started seeing the reading, the reel smoked off. I took my time with the fish and after a few good runs, At managed to gaff a short but fat 18kg cuda. It was fun and games with the sharp teeth around your feet, but it found its way into the hatch.

The bonnies had disappeared so we put out a few dead mackerel and worked around. Soon the reel was smoking again and the ski was being towed all over. This fish did the same as the previous one and the result was another fat 17kg cuda.

The hatches were now pretty full but we had 2 more baits so At made another turn. I went on with a fish that fought like a kaakap but right next to the ski, a big potatoe bass came up and grabbed it and swam into its cave where I had to break it off. It was not the end of the world because second bait had gone away as well and At managed to get a tasty kaakap.

With enough fish to feed the masses, we headed home. It was a great experience and I will definitely try fishing on a ski again.

Shaken not stirred

On Friday 9^th August, Wayne, Lorenzo, Julio, Luke and I launched “Galavant” off Cape Vidal. We were there for the long weekend, hoping to the target sailfish that were around. The beach was not launchable without a tractor, so we were very glad that Wayne had organized one.

The SW wind was blowing about 18 knots which made the sea uncomfortable. To top it off, there was a bit of rain about that didn’t help the situation. The conditions were however good for tailing sailfish. We had some time to kill while the baits defrosted, so Wayne stopped at the first flock of working birds and the laaities went about catching jube-jubes on the light spinning outfits. At one stage, Lorenzo went on with a fish that took a lot of line in a hurry. Wayne chased it down and after quite a long fight, Wayne gaffed a yellowfin tuna that was bled and put on ice for sushi.

A nice cuda on a sailfish bait

After we had enough bonnies and the other baits were rigged, we deployed the teasers and a good spread of swim and skip baits. Wayne worked the area between the point and the lighthouse and it didn’t take long to get a pull. This time it was on the bellystrip. Luke was on strike and had his hands full with something that took a lot of line and slowly headed to sea. After about half an hour, it started coming very easily and next thing just the head of a taxed yellowfin tuna popped up next to the boat. Not a great start. Trolling commenced and about half an hour later, one of the swimbaits went away. After a short feed, we tightened up. As the line went tight, a feisty dorado launched itself out the water. On the third jump, it spat the bait. Moments later the other bait went away and the same thing happened. We were left with 2 mauled baits and no fish to show. Wayne made a turn over the same spot and it was no surprise when we had another pull. This time I fed it a bit longer and the circle hook found the corner of the mouth. Lorenzo had a good fight with it and soon had it in the boat.

Bycatch while sailfishing

We were keen to see if there were more dorries around, so Wayne made a few more turns, but unfortunately without any luck. We worked north and in 40m, the far strip went away. Julio was now on strike and had a good tussle with what we thought was a tuna. When it came next to the boat, it turned out to be a nice cuda, a surprise to us all.

After the cuda, the weather turned nasty and the rain made it less that ideal so at 2pm we called it a day and headed back to have a warm shower.

On Saturday 10^th, the SW had gone but it was replaced by a similar strength NE wind. All the rain clouds that were blown up north the previous day were now on a return trip. The wind was however the same direction as the current so it kept the sea calmer.

The laaities were tired of being battered about trolling for sails, so we opted to troll slower with live baits, hoping for a sail but having more shots at gamefish to keep them busy. There were large shoals of baitfish on the backline and it didn’t take long to fill the livewell with maasbanker. I also managed to catch a single big mackerel. Knowing more or less what depth the fish were from the day before, Wayne headed to that area while I set the lines. On our second turn, the deep line went away. Luke took the strike and managed to catch his first cuda. At least the ice was broken. The current swept us south at quite a speed and we were just ready to wind up the lines to run back to the point when the far bait went away. This time it was a small yellowfin tuna which went straight onto the ice.

Luke and his first cuda

With the lines already reeled in, I suggested we try to catch a few jube-jubes to pull as live bait. I was hoping that these bigger baits would give us more of a chance to get a sailie or marlie. It didn’t take long to get 3 baits in the tube and with that we went back to the point and rigged 2 of them. I also bridle rigged the live mackerel on a circle hook and 100lbs nylon and pulled it on a spinning reel with 10kg line… just in case there was a billfish or bigger tuna around. 

It didn’t take too long for another pull. This time it was on a live bonnie rigged deep. Julio fought the a shoal cuda to the boat which didn’t put up too much resistance on the heavy tackle. Rerigged the baits and on the next turn, the same rod went away. This time there was a bit more speed and Luke had a good run around with what ended up being a 14kg cuda. The hatch was looking good.

Wayne had just straightened out after a shallow turn when the deep live bonnie went away quite slowly. I picked up the rod and felt some weight behind the fish. Unfortunately after a few seconds, the hooks pulled. I could feel that the bait was still there so I fed it back but nothing. On further inspection, we saw the tell tail sandpaper like billfish marks on the skin on the bonnie… Damn! 

Lorenzo with his first Sailfish

Just then, Wayne noticed the spinning rod with the live mackerel starting to bend. I immediately opened the bale and fed the fish a bit. We were pretty positive we know what it was and when I tightened up and the line ran off the reel, a beautiful big sailie jumped out of the water. It turned down sea and absolutely smoked off. Lorenzo took the rod while the rest of us cleared the other lines. There was a lot of line off the reel and getting less by the second. Wayne got the boat up to speed and Lorenzo managed to put some line on the reel. After chasing the fish from the beacon to past the slides, it finally slowed down and we could get it close. Wayne closed the gap between us and the fish and just like that the leader came out the water and onto the rod. I grabbed it and hoped to get it on the bill for a quick release, but the fish had other ideas. It took some more line then sounded and headed to sea. The swell and wind was against us and it took another twenty minutes of big pressure to get the leader up. Lorenzo did a great job, not giving up when the fight was not going his way. I took the leader several times but had to let go every time as the fish was still too green. Eventually the fish tired and I could coax it up and get hold of the bill. By the time I managed to get it under control, I was a more shaken than stirred, but eventually we could tag it and take a few pics before releasing it. It was a quality sailfish of close to 50kg. Not bad for a 9 year old on 10kg spinning tackle.

After the release, we were close to the bonnie shoals again so we quickly caught a few and ran back to the point. We had one pull on a live bonnie, but it missed the hooks when it grabbed the head of the bait. Apart from that, there was no more action so when the rain started again, we packed up and headed back to celebrate the great catch.

Thanks to Wayne and the boys for a great trip. I will remember it for a long time to come.

First garrick of 2019 season

On Sunday 4^th August, At, my Dad and I launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. There had been reports of Garrick so we decided to give it a go.

We stopped at the pipeline and quickly caught a string of shad. Within minutes, half the fleet swamped us and the bait showing disappeared. After some time, we were alone again and the bait reappeared. We managed to get some beautiful bait, then headed up north. We wanted to get away from the crowds and hopefully find some cleaner water.

The further we ran, the better the water became and when we arrived at our spot, were greeted with a lovely rip packed with bait. I rigged up a few baits while At trolled along the backline. After about half an hour, the far livie went away. After a quick feed I hooked up to a fish and passed the rod to my Dad. He had not fished in a while, so he enjoyed the fight with our first Garrick of the season. When it was next to the boat, I grabbed the tail and popped a tag into it before a few pics were taken and it was released. What a great start.

The lines went out again and while I was letting out the last bait, it was eaten. I fed the fish and when I tightened up, the fish spat the bait. On closer inspection, the single hook had turned into the head of the bait. Just a bit unlucky… At turned over the same spot and almost on cue, the close bait was eaten. I fed the fish which ran quite fast before stopping. There was no tension on the line so I started winding. The line arched to the boat and the line came tight right next to the boat! The fish immediately surfaced and again spat the bait… the hook had turned again! Frustrating to say the least. Oh well…

Things went a bit quiet so at 11am we ran to another rip further north. The last line was just set when it went away. I fed the fish and hooked up. My Dad took the rod and had a hard fight with a really nice Garrick of around 12kg which was also released.

The next pull came soon after the lines were set, but unfortunately the fish didn’t swallow the bait and we were left with a mauled maasbanker. The marks did not look like a Garrick though. We had an idea of the species, but would never know for sure. A short while later, the close bait went away and after a short feed, we hooked up. Again, my Dad was on the rod and had a very stubborn fight with what turned out to be a kingfish (GT). I popped a tag into it and sent it on its way.

The wind had started picking up and the sea became choppy. We decided to head home before it got too uncomfortable.

Daytime Daga

On Saturday 13^th July at 7:30am, Wayne, Lorenzo, Julio and I launched “Galavant” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch some bait for the upcoming sailfish trip.

Lorenzo's 1st daga (18.1kg)

Our first stop was on the pipeline. I sounded around and found a few nice showings but unfortunately, they were mostly small maasbanker and pinkies. We kept looking and eventually found some really nice marks. Wayne and the two boys sent jigs down and came up with a mix of shad and big maasbanker. I was not too interested in the shad, but the maasies looked great. We made a few drifts through the shoal when something big ate one of the baits off the hooks. This peaked my interest so while the bait brigade was filling the live well, I rigged up a trapstick with a bottom trace and pinned one of the maasise that was in the live well. Unfortunately, there was no action but the showing had also moved a bit. We sounded around a bit more and found another great showing. There were a lot of shad following the jigs to the surface so I changed up the bait and rigged a live shad. On the next drift, I had a pull on the shad and hooked up to a fish that took quite a bit of line. Lorenzo took the rod and about 10 minutes into the fight, he was wishing that he hadn’t. The fish gave him a good go but eventually, it tired and Lorenzo could get it up to the surface. We were all guessing what it could be, but finally the big silver shine gave it away and a lovely 18kg daga popped up. It was Lorenzo’s first daga and he was over the moon.

After a few photos, we continued catching bait. When we had enough, we headed back to the club for a beer. Not bad for a morning’s bait fishing.

Mid-week daga

A nice daga on light tackle

On Wednesday 3^rd July at 18:30, Hansie, Terence, Ruben and I launched off Richards Bay. We were hoping to get Ruben his first daga salmon. It was still very early in the season, so we did not have our hopes too high. We stopped on one of our old faithful numbers and put the anchor down.

We waited about half an hour before we started getting shad but soon, we all had a livie in the water. Now the fish just needed to find us. There seemed to be very little action and by 9:30 none of the boats had bites. It seemed as if it was going to be a bust, but we thought we would give it another hour or so and then pack up.

I had put my light spinning rod in the holder for a while so I was keeping an eye on the tip. At one point, I thought I saw it bump differently to the normal swell action. I picked up the rod and felt the lightest of taps, almost like the shad was revving. I waited a second of two then wound up. To my surprise, the rod bent over and I was tight onto a fish. It want on a short run, shaking its head on a regular basis. I could not put too much pressure on it with the light line, but after a 15minute fight, I finally had a nice 18kg daga in the boat.

I was out for the rest of the night as I had my one fish limit, but the guys could still fish on. Despite fishing for another hour, there were no more bites so we packed up and headed home.

Father's Day fishing trip

At 7am on Sunday 16^th June, Father’s day, my Dad and I launched “ABF”. The weather forecast was for very little wind and a small swell, so we were keen to fish on the ledge and hopefully get a dorado or sailfish.

We stopped at our bait spot and sounded around. There was absolutely nothing on the sounder! We tried all out spots but got naught. There were a few birds dipping nearby so out of desperation, I put out a few small feathers and trolled around them. It didn’t take long to get a pull and soon had a few small frigate tuna in the bait box. Unfortunately, they are not a great live bait and die very quickly but a fresh dead one is a top-notch bait.

Fathers day Daga

We headed out to the ledge and put out a few dead baits. The deep one was not out long when we had a pull. My Dad took the rod and had a bit of a tussle, but nothing to write home about. After a few head nods, the fish came up and eventually popped up next to the boat. It was a big yellowbelly rockcod of around 15kg. It had a bit of barotrauma, so I made a small hole in the swim bladder with a bait needle and waited until the air had escaped before releasing a healthy fish.

The current was really strong so we ran north a fair distance before setting the lines. Despite going over some beautiful showings, we never had a pull. This quiet spell went on for a while until I sent a bait right to the bottom. As the showing came through, the deep line went on with a nice fish that bumped a lot, but didn’t take much line. My Dad pulled the fish in pretty quickly and to our surprize, a lovely daga salmon came up. We took a quick pic and put it back in the water. I was busy preparing a tag when the fish kicked hard and managed to get free from my Dad’s grip. To our surprise, it headed straight down without any assistance. Was good to see a healthy fish swim away.

The rest of the day went by without a pull, other than a few more small bonito so at 1pm we upped lines and headed back home.

Cape Vidal Jnr Comp

On the weekend of 25^th and 26^th May, Cape Vidal Ski-Boat club hosted their annual Cape Vidal Junior competition. The rules were simple… one fish per angler per day, biggest gamefish wins. Knowing there were some excellent skippers and anglers in the fleet, and it was their home water, we had to think outside the box if we wanted any chance at taking a prize. Because some of the juniors were still small, it was stated at the briefing that adults were allowed to assist them, especially when it came to their safety.

On Saturday 25^th May, Wayne, Lorenzo, Julio and I launched “Galavant”. The conditions were perfect… no swell, no wind, lots of bait. On the backline we caught a few livies. They were on the small side but would have to do. While we were drifting, I managed to catch 2 small bonnies which I kept alive for later use. Reports from the week before were that the fish were on the ledge but the current was flying at 4knots. This was going to be a problem similar to what I experienced the previous weekend.

18.6kg Amber

I suggested that we try to get a live bait down to the bottom as friends had been getting all their fish deep. With a big weight on the line, I let a bait down close to the bottom and quickly felt a strange bite. I waited for the rod to bend, but nothing. On closer inspection of the now dead bait, I saw that the bait had some rough sandpaper like marks on it… The next bait that went down had the exact same thing happen to it. This had to stop so I opted for one of the small live baits that we had, hoping that the fish would be able to get it into its mouth a bit easier. This worked like a treat and very quickly, we were hooked up to fish. It tussled a bit then started coming up easily we were pretty sure it was a bottomfish so we gave it to Lorenzo to bring in. With Wayne’s help, he brought the fish up and near the top, the line angled to the surface, just like a bottomfish. When it popped, something looked very strange… It was too long to be a bottomfish. When the leader was on the rod, we saw that it was a good size amberjack! We all scrambled for a gaff and managed to lift an 18kg fish into the boat!

36.7kg Amber

Our bait stocks were a bit low and the wind was picking up so we put on a few trolling lures and headed along the ledge and then shallower. It was very quiet but finally managed to get a strike that turned out to be a yellowfin of about 4kg. At 1pm it was lines up so we headed back to the beach for weigh-in. Out amber was the biggest fish for the day followed by two wahoo (12kg and 14kg).

Our plan seemed to have worked, so with the conditions for day 2 predicted to be a carbon copy of day 1, the game plan would stay unchanged… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

On day 2 we were on the water bright and early, but the bait just refused to work with us. In an hour we only managed a handful of bait, but the fishing time was only until noon so that would have to do. Just to break the ice and get on the board, we trolled lures along the ledge until we found a bit of a showing that looked like gamefish. I changed up the spread and put out 2 lines.

Kaakap released

One on surface for a dorado and one down deep for hopefully another amberjack. The boat trolled slowly into the current but we were being swept backwards at 6km per hour! As soon as the showing started, the deep bait went away at an alarming speed. I had an idea that it was another AJ so I put the breaks on it in a big way. I was almost pulled overboard while Wayne sped forward to keep pace with it. Finally, it slowed down and started coming up. There were no more big runs, only a few head nods so Julio had a turn on the rod with Wayne’s assistance. In the next 20 minutes, Julio felt the burn and almost gave up, but stuck with it. When the leader came up, we were all dumbstruck at the size of the fish. I had never seen an amberjack that big before. Wayne gaffed it and needed some help lifting it overboard. It was a fish of a lifetime.

There was not much time to waste, so Wayne took us back to the top of the drift (which was a long was away) and I set up the baits again. This time we had a kaakap take the bait and after a quick fight Lorenze released his first kaakap. Wayne’s sister was on the boat for the day to take some pics and when we hooked another fish, we gave her the rod. About half way up, it was taxed by a shark and she brought the head of a potato bass to the boat. We could clearly see the zambie circling below waiting for the head.

30.3kg Amberjack

After that we managed a few bonito on the surface line before the deep line went away again. It was a similar fight to the first amberjack and when the fish settled, Lorenzo and Wayne managed to lift the fish to the surface. It was another huge amberjack, just a bit smaller than the first on. The fish was boated just in time for lines up so we could get to the beach just in time for weigh-in. The fish were a jaw dropping 36,7kg and 30,3kg respectively. Absolutely phenomenal fish.

Well done to Wayne and his boys on some amazing fish.

Kingfish and Potatoes

On Saturday 18^th May 2019 at 6am, Jurgen and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. I had commitments for the afternoon so we could only fish for a few hours, but when the weather is good, you need to get on the water.

Jurgen with a 20kg Potatobass

We stopped at the wave rider buoy and quickly filled the livewell with maasbanker before heading out to the ledge. The current was flying at over 4 knots and the upwelling that it caused made it very uncomfortable. I put out a few lures and quickly caught a few bonnies for cuda bait. While trolling, I looked for a decent showing, but there was nothing to write home about so we decided to put some baits out regardless. The current was challenging to say the least and we ended up killing most of the baits due to the speed at which we pulled them. To overcome this, we rigged dead baits and tried to maintain position. Just as the baits were swept past the marks, one was eaten and Jurgen had a hard fight from what turned out to be a potato bass which was tagged and released. On the next drift, we hooked a shark that chafed us off. 

We decided to make one last drift and try a live bait. I stopped the boat a long way up current and Jurgen managed to get the bait in the right spot. He got a solid bite and hooked a fish that gave big head nods. We thought it was another potato bass but when it finally showed itself, we were pleasantly surprised. It was a nice GT of 103cm which we tagged and released.

After catching a great fish in the short morning session, we decided to head back to port.

Solo GT

On Sunday 5^th May, I launched ABF off Richards Bay. It was a solo mission as my normal fishing partners were either in the dogbox or away for the weekend, but the weather window was too good to pass up. There had been a cold front that passed through the previous night and the sea was unsettled and dirty but the forecast showed a lull at midday. I scrounged around on the pipeline and only caught 3 yellowtail scads. Speaking to the other boats, the water was dirty in the shallows so I decided to head out to the ledge.

On arrival, the water was 24 degrees and a clean green colour. There was a strong reverse current, but the sea was a lot more settled than closer in. I put out a daisy chain and a feather and trolled over the pinnacle. There were a few bonnies splashing on the surface and it was no surprise when I went on with a jube-jube which went into the tubes. On the second pass, I caught a second one and was ready to rig up. There was very little showing on the reef and the other boats there had only caught big bonnies. I stopped above the pinnacle and sent down a live bait. Just as I was coming off the pinnacle, I had a bite, but missed it. The bait came back with teeth scratch marks of what I assume was a kingfish. I ran back up to the start of the drift and sent another bait down without any action. On the next drift I also came up blank and the bait had expired. I pinned one of the scads and sent that down. It was on the ground for a short while when I had a bite. The circle hook found its mark and I was tight with a really strong fish that was determined to get back down to the rocks. After a short dogged fight, I had the fish on the leader. It was a healthy GT of over 20kg. I lifted it into the boat and readied my tag kit. Just when I was about to insert a tag, I noticed that there was already a tag in the fish. It was covered with growth so I cleaned it, took the number down, measured and released it. It was great to see it swim away strongly, hopefully for another person to enjoy the fight someday. Unfortunately there was nobody to take a photo.

The next few drops produced no action so I caught a few bonnies on the light flick stick. The wind had settled completely and before the NE wind picked up, I made the long run home.

The tag data indicated that a friend of mine had tagged the fish last year in April at the same spot that I had caught it. Its growth was negligible.

Rainbow without rain

On Saturday 20^th April 2019, the bonanza had been called off due to strong NE winds in the morning but there was a SW predicted for later in the day. We decided to take the opportunity and fish socially during the lull.

At 11am Hansie, Ruben, Terry and I launched headed to the pipeline and managed to get some nice livies. We then headed to the ledge to look for bonnies. The sea was surprisingly flat and we were a bit disappointed that we had not launched earlier. Be that as it may, we set about looking for bait and within a short time, we had some bonnies in the tubes and some spare in the bait box. The SW was already on the horizon so we didn’t have too much time and high-tailed it to Petingo.

On arrival the water looked great, there were no boats and the garfish were everywhere on the surface… things had to happen. I quickly rigged up 2 bonnies, a wala and a live maasbanker while Hansie trolled over the wreck. We were expecting a pull at any moment… but nothing. After several passes over the wreck the SW wind came through. It was about 15 knots so we continued fishing.

We had just gone over a good showing when the deep live bait went away. Ruben fought a small blacktip kingfish to the boat where it was released. The bait was quickly reset and on the next turn, it went away again. The fish gave Ruben a better pull and soon he had his first rainbow runner on the boat.

The bonnies were very quiet and just as we were ready to pack up, one was eaten by a hammerhead shark. At 4pm we upped lines and headed home.

Bonanza

On Good Friday 19^th, over the Easter weekend, Hansie, Ruben, Terry and I launched Mitsu-Fishi off Richards Bay. We were competing in the Richards Bay Ski-Boat Club Bonanza. The weather looked good for only one of the days so we needed to have a game plan. We opted to head north to look for some snoek as there had been a few nice ones the previous week.

On the bait marks, we managed to get about 10 redeyes and a bunch of maasbanker. With bait in the well, we headed north and put out a spread of snoek lures. Hansie trolled over all our favourite numbers without even a hint of a fish. By 9am, we made the call to switch over to bait so I put out fillets, redeyes and two cuda baits, just in case. While working the area, there were a few birds fluttering about. We slowly followed them around hoping they would lead us to some fish. Eventually one of the birds started working and as we came within range, Terry and Ruben fired out 2 spoons. Both were chased by snoek, but none hooked up. Shortly after, the surface redeye went away. Ruben fought the fish to the boat where we saw it to be a small cuda. Just as we were about to gaff it, the hooks pulled. No worries, we had snoek to chase.

We upped lines and closed the gap between us and the birds which were now all diving. There were fish on the surface and were feeding on small sprats. Both Terry and I cast into the shoal and both hooked up. Almost immediately, two big sharks chased after my fish and managed to eat it despite freespooling for a while. Terry managed his fish. The chase continued and luckily we were by ourselves so we could get a few fish before the rush. Eventually, we were spotted and about 10 boats surrounded us. The fish became very skittish and eventually sounded.

We headed home with 8 snoek and 2 kingfish for the scales. The rest of the comp was blown out and Ruben managed to end up with the 3^rd biggest snoek prize.

Practice makes perfect

Bait showings

On Saturday 30 March, Oom George, Hannah, Rorke, Jan and I launched “Cyclone” off St Lucia. The youngsters had come to St Lucia to pick up a few tips for the upcoming Gamefish Nationals. Our first stop was on the bait shoals just past the backline. There were huge bait shoals everywhere and it didn’t take long to fill the live well.

We headed out to the northern ledges, but the water conditions were terrible… off green, reverse current, cold and full of slime. Things did not look good. We trolled lures around for quite some time and eventually found a current line where the warm water came in. I was over pulling lures around so suggested we rig up a few livies and see if we could tempt a fish. The current line was beautiful… tons of bait, foam, upwells, you name it. The baits had been in the water a short while when the close surface one went away. Hanna was on the rod and soon had a really nice dorado in the boat. 

Not a bad start. I continued working the line while George assisted on the deck. After about an hour, the close livie went away, followed in short succession by the next surface bait and the medium line. With 3 dorado in the air, it was fun and games and unfortunately two of the lines burnt off and the last one pulled hooks! We thought it was all over when the rod in the T-top went away with a 4

I made a few turns in the area but didn’t get another pull so I moved on along the line. George took over skipper duty while I helped check the baits and reset the lines. We had just settled when I saw a splash out the back. There had to be a fish there but nothing… moments later, the rod in the T-top went away again and Jan managed his second fish for the day.

Unfortunately, despite trying a few more things, we didn’t get another pull and at about 2pm we headed home.