On Saturday 19th 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.
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| 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.
