On Saturday 2nd March,
At and I launched “ABF” off Cape Vidal. There was an Amatikulu competition on
the go that we were not aware of, so the beach was very busy at launch time. We
only managed to get onto the water at 7:30 and by that time, the bait had
scattered making it really difficult. After almost 2 hours, we only had a handful
of baits proving that the early bird gets the worm... We decided to go and fish with the bait we had.
We stopped at the greens and I
put out 3 livies. At tacked between 18m and 30m and soon we had our first pull.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a big bonito which we released. I quickly
replaced the bait and no sooner had we trolled through the current line, it
went away what sounded like a cuda due to the speed of the run. Unfortunately,
as it slowed down, the hooks pulled and it was back to the drawing board.
There seemed to be action on the
20m depth so we focussed out efforts there. Our next pull was also a big
bonito, but it was hooked in the tail so it gave us a hard time around the boat.
Eventually we managed to release it and while I was clearing the deck, I heard
line running off a reel, but there was no ratchet on. I looked back and saw a
rod buckling. We were on with another fish. It didn’t take long to get it to
the boat and you guessed it… another big bonito. These fish were now a problem
as they had eaten all our big baits and we were left with only scraps of small
baits. I modified the traces a bit and put out 3 baits. Things were quiet for a
while and after an hour, I saw the deep rod flick. I ran to the rod and
freespooled the reel until the sinker hit the ground, then wound the line tight
and hooked a fish. There was not much of a fight and when it was next to the boat,
we were both surprised to see a cuda which At gaffed. The hook was in its throat
after being fed for a while. We were glad to have our first fish on the boat. I
reset the line and in the same area, the far surface bait went away. At fought
the fish which was just a heavy weight after a relatively fast first run. I
assumed it was another bonito, especially when I saw it coming to the boat tail
first. Only when I was about to grab the tail did I see that it was in fact another
cuda. The one treble hook had snagged it in the tail fin and it was DOA.
The next hour passed without a
pull so we decided to up lines and head back before the main rush.
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