Great fun after a year of Covid

I’ve just come back from my 2020 holiday. I was lucky enough to spend the time with good friends at Cape Vidal from 28^th November to 12^th December. Over the years, we have seen that the fishing is fantastic over those 2 weeks and then tapers off into December. This is due to that first appearance of warm current from north, bringing with it all the summer gamefish. This year was no exception. In fact, it was one of the best dorado seasons I can remember.

If I had to write a story about every day’s fishing, I would be writing for a long time, so I’m just going to give you the brief summary and maybe highlight a few days that really stood out.

The boat we fished on was the very first 22ft forward console Yeld Cat named “Avanti”, owned by At van Tilburg. I was super excited to fish on her and man was I impressed. This early season fishing is normally in strong wind and heavy seas, but on this boat, it was a pleasure.

In total, I fished for 10 days and our stats, even if I do say so myself, were pretty impressive.

Dorado:               83

Sailfish:                2 from 4

Cuda:                    26

Snoek:                  1

Tuna species:    13

Kaakap:                1

Marlin:                 0 from 2 

Our best day gamefishing was on 2^nd December. At, Henry and I launched at 5am and battled for an hour to get a decent amount of bait. The SW wind was blowing 20 knots and the sea was pretty big. This was a dorado fisherman’s dream conditions … well mine in any case. The game plan in these conditions is simple, find the depth where the fish are (normally where the bait is), turn the stern into the wind, turn off the motors and let the flasher do the rest.

Our baits were live maasbanker rigged with a cable tie through the eyes on 5/0 single hooks with 60lbs nylon leader. Three of these were fished around the flasher and one rod was further out the back. All were fished with light drags set just enough to stop the bait from taking line off the reel. 3 rods were on standby with single hooks to pitch livies to the followers. When the dorries are thick, anything with a pulse is fair game, sand soldiers and lizard fish included. 

On this day, the action was non-stop. Most of the time, when one close rod went off, the other 2 did as well. On many occasions, I would be feeding and hooking 2 fish at a time while Henry had the third. Our team production line worked well with myself rigging bait and hooking fish, Henry fighting them and At gaffing. Every time I passed the rod to Henry, I would put another bait out… as long as the flasher was in the water, the fish were there. At one point we had 4 dorado and a sailfish hooked up and managed to get all of them. It sounds unbelievable, because it was. One of the most action-packed days I’ve ever had. By 9:30 we had 28 dorado and 1 from 2 on sailfish. The smaller fish were released so that we could stay within our limit… and freezer space. 

The very next day also stood out in my mind as one that I really enjoyed. The SW wind from the day before had died and a NE wind was predicted. With enough gamefish in the freezer, we decided to target marlin but on 30lbs line. With the same crew from the day before, who between us we have been with over 600 marlin captures, I felt pretty confident of our chances.

We had some bad luck with a few live baits being hooked in the gills and dying in the tuna tubes. Also, the dorado, which were great fun the day before, were now a plague and grabbed any surface lure we put out. We moved to an area further north and managed to get a 2kg kawa-kawa which I rigged up on the 30lbs outfit. The bait had a small profile in the water, so out came the flasher. Suddenly it looked like a shoal of bonnies instead of just 1.

We picked up a thermocline at 180m and in 185m, the rigger popped. I fed the fish but it suddenly started jumping towards us, trying to throw the bait. I tightened up on the fish and it went mental on the surface. Just seconds later the fish was off. On closer inspection, the 400Lbs leader had broken. Probably due to a tailwrap. Oh well, the fish looked a bit small for the record, only about 90kg. 

We headed back to the bait pinnacle and managed another small kawa-kawa. This time we only made it to 115m when the rigger popped without any warning. I was dropping back when the fish erupted next to us with the bait hanging along the side of its body and the leader through its mouth. As can be expected, this didn’t last long and soon the party was over. Again, the fish was a bit small so no harm no foul. 

In all it was a great fishing trip. I know its going to sound like marketing smack, but what was strikingly obvious was how effective the flashers were. Later in the holiday, when the dorado tapered off, the cuda were also coming up on the short lines. Report from some of the other boats are that the sails and little marlin have come in on them, as I told them they would. It was also nice to see that the charter boats off St Lucia have ordered a few sets from me, so that tells me everything! Henry was baffled by them to the point that I made him a mini version that he is going to try for tigerfish and bass. 

I’m looking forward to seeing the results from the boat Cyclone. George and Geraldine Breedt and fishing light line exclusively and use my flashers to tease up their fish. I know of two double headers of sailfish they released on 4kg line so far and there are a few SA record applications in the post.

Good luck to everyone for the December holidays and have a great and safe festive season.

12:1 Sailfish

We were on the Vidal beach at 6am on Sunday the 8^th November 2020. After a bit of celebrations, the night before, we were a bit sluggish to say the least. Luckily the launch was as easy as the day before and we were through the surf in no time.

The live bait catching session was a carbon copy of the day before and we struggled to get 15 baits. Eventually we had enough to start fishing and it didn’t take long to get a few pulls. Unfortunately, we could not do anything right and pulled hooks on 4 cuda in a row. This was getting a bit out of hand and after a bumper day the previous day, we were having a tough time.

36.75kg Sailfish on 3kg line

I had put my 3kg outfit a short distance behind the flasher, rigged with a maasbanker on a circle hook, hoping for a sailfish. Unfortunately, the previous day only resulted in dorries and this day, I only had a cuda chop. At around 9:30, on the inward tack, Terence noticed the maasie revving on rod tip. He sounded the alarm and I rushed to the rod just in case. Just then, the reel started running so I freespooled a bit then tightened up. There was some heavy weight and a few head nods. I had a pretty good idea of what it was and sure enough, the line angled towards the surface and a good size sailie went mental on the top. I slacked the drag and ran to the controls, rod in hand, while Andre and Terry ran to the back and cleared lines. I got the boat going after the fish which was not about to stop jumping. By the time it slowed down, Terry was on the controls and Andre had the gaff at the ready. With the fish on the top and a full compliment of crew, we closed the gap on the fish, hoping that it would stay on top. All of a sudden, the double line came out the water followed by the leader. I tipped the fish which then ducked under the boat. I put the rod down deep under the motors and moved to the starboard side where Terry could now see what was happening. He chased the fish in very tight circles without any line coming off the reel. We inched closer and I managed to get the leader on the rod. I wrapped it around my hand between the reel and first eye, then heaved the fish closer. Andre made the gaff of the century and stuck the fish perfectly in the head. We all grabbed the fish and lifted it aboard. The fight took a whole 7 minutes! The result was a 36.75kg sailfish on 3kg tackle! What a great fish. Awesome job to the crew!

The lines went back in and I had just straightened out on the inward tack when the far line went away. At the same time, a nice big sailie cleared the water but when it landed, the reel went quiet. The hooks had pulled! Unlucky. Andre had just reset the far line when the rod keeled over and he was on. The fish fought very strangely but came to the boat easily. Only then did we see that it was a small cuda hooked in the tail.

By now it was 11am and we knew there was a lot of cleaning work to do so we headed home to weigh the fish and do all the required admin work. Thanks for a great weekend guys!

Is there time for one more?!

At 6:30 on Saturday 7^th November 2020, Andre, Terence and I launched “Marakas” off Vidal. There was a 15 knot SW blowing, a few clouds around and a good N-S current… pretty much perfect conditions. The launch was a nonevent and soon we were on the live bait marks. There was a great showing, but nothing was eating. We scrounged around and eventually managed to get about 20 livies.

The current was pushing us south, into the wind, so I suggested we put out lines right from where we were. I headed out deeper and the lines were just when the far line went away, followed by the other surface line. I ran to the back and saw a big bull dorrie on the flasher. At the same time, it saw the close bait and absolutely crushed it! Terence and I kept our fish at a distance while Andre fought what turned out to be the biggest fish of the day. A good 12kg dorrie. Terence was next up and managed a big 10kg cow dorrie. Now it was my turn, the only problem was that my fish was on 3kg tackle. Eventually, one miss gaff and 15 minutes later, I had a nice 8kg dorrie in the boat. What a great start!

It took a while to rerig and bait up, but we were back in the game. I trolled shallower and just as we came into the same depth, another 3 rods went away with dorado. I turned the boat with the wind so that I could leave the controls then cleared the dead rod. As the bait came close to the flasher, another dorrie came flying in and grabbed it. 4 fish on! You just gotta love dorado fishing!!!

Some beautiful Dorado at Vidal

While the chaos reigned, the flasher stayed in the water and soon we were surrounded by dorado. I couldn’t help myself so put my rod down, pinned a livie and cast it out. Several fish went for it at the same time with the maasie jumping out the water to get away… real Nat Geo stuff. I went tight on a fish then passed the rod to Andre who already had a rod in hand. Before I grabbed another pitch rod, we loaded 3 of the 5 dorries. With 2 fish still on, there was place to pitch another few livies. On, on, on… back to 5 fish! It was insane. Eventually, when the dust had settled, the boat looked like a war zone. The live bait well was empty, burnt off lines fluttered in the wind, carpets were super slippery and tackle boxes were in a shamble. We took a moment to regroup and get to grips with what had just happened… It was one of those experiences that you never forget… and it was only 9:30am!

We slowly headed back to the live bait marks where we picked up a few more baits. While this was going on, I rerigged my 3kg setup which had not survived the onslaught. By 10:30 we were back on the troll but things were dead quiet. The wind had dropped and very little action was being reported. I suggested we head back to the beach and start the cleaning process, but I was interrupted by a pull on the 3kg. I hooked up and fought what turned out to be a 7kg yellowfin tuna.

That was our last fish and we happily returned to the beach. The staff at Cape Vidal were treated to a few fresh fish to thank them for their efforts.

Let the summer games begin!!!

On Sunday 1^st November 2020, At and I launched “Vamos” off Cape Vidal. There had been a few dorado around, so we were keen to get a few. The SW had been howling the previous day and the surf was really big. It took a while before we found the right gap and could get through safely. There were a few livies around so it didn’t take too long to start fishing.

I was busy letting out the first line when the spool sped up then stopped before I could tighten up. The next bait was just set when the reel smoked off. The fish was on 3kg line so I had to play it gently. Unfortunately, a few minutes in, the hooks pulled. I managed to get another line out and within a few minutes, we were on to a nice dorado. It was good to get a fish in the boat. Things went a bit quiet and we only had our next pull about an hour later. It was on the deep line that I was about to check. It made a short run, then it felt as if the hook pulled. At the same time, the 3kg rod went away so I put the one rod down and grabbed the other and tightened up. There was a commotion on the surface as a shark ate my fish. At started retrieving the other line and felt that there was still a fish on it. It turned out to be a small cuda, a welcome addition to the hatch. In the meantime, I parted off the line on the shark.

With the lined in, we headed back to the point. I was bust letting the bait out when the reel took off in my hands. I tightened up and hooked another shoal cuda. There was not much of a fight even though it was on the light line. There seemed to be a few fish in the area and soon the deep line went away. We assumed it was a cuda but it turned out to be another dorado. It had a follower which grabbed the close surface bait next to the flasher. Unfortunately, it pulled hooks after a short run.

Vamos on the beach at Vidal

At made another turn and soon we had another cuda on the deep line. Things were looking good despite the cold wind and odd rain shower. We had two other pulls, but they turned out to be a small bonito and a big garfish. We were at the point where we were ready to call it a day when another rod went away. Almost immediately there was slack line and a small cuda came flying in between the motors and under the boat, followed by a big zambezi shark. I hit freespool as the cuda tried to get away. It seemed like I had a chance, but then the cuda just stopped on the surface. The shark crashed onto it, white water and blood everywhere. I parted off immediately to save me any pain.

Both of us agreed that it was a sign that we head back to shore. That night we had the best fresh fish for supper.

Heritage Day

On Thursday 24^th September 2020, Heritage day holiday, Patat and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. The forecast was for the NE to pick up to 30 knots by the afternoon, so we only had a small weather gap.

On the way out the harbour mouth, we found a few maasbanker and quickly caught a well full, just for a plan B if we didn’t come right with our game plan of pulling a few wirelines for snoek. I ran up north for a few kilometers then put out 2 wire lines with drones and a small feather on the surface, way out the back to prevent tangles.

Trolling wireline

The water was an off green colour with a few dirty patches. From experience, we know that the snoek tend to hang around the edges of these patches and it’s a good place to start your search. The lines were out for about half an hour when we managed out first snoek. It was a really small one and reminded me of those that we catch in the bay at the beginning of the year. Lines went back in and soon the feather went on. Patat brought the fish to the boat where is started giving him a good run around. Finally it came to the surface where we saw that it was a big striped bonito (Sarda Orientalis), not a fish that we get every day, but its meat is similar to a dogtooth tuna so I like to eat them. I made a lazy turn over the same spot and the small drone went away with another sarda.

Patat with a Heritage Day snoeklet

The wind shifted to the North East and things went quiet. I worked my way North without any luck. The water colour wasn’t great so we turned back towards the area that we had pulls earlier the day. I had just trolled over a small ridge when the bigger drone went on. There was some weight to the fish and Patat managed to lift a nice snoek into the boat. We were hoping that there would be a few more so I made a u-turn over the same spot. The lines had just straightened when the same rod went on. This time it was another sarda. They were now becoming a bit of a menace. In the next hour, we caught several more sardas and a small salad fish. The wind had really picked up so we headed into the backline and pulled some livies through the rips but apart from a few sharks, it was quiet. At noon, we called it a day and headed home to celebrate Heritage Day  with a braai.

20 year reunion

On Saturday 12^th September 2020 at 5:30am, Uncle Louw and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. There was a bit of a weather window predicted for the morning but the NE was supposed to blow by 11am so we didn’t have much time to fish. The plan was to pull a few wire lines around for snoek and then drift back to the harbour with livies, looking for a Garrick.

On our way out the harbour mouth, I saw a few birds dipping. This normally indicates baitfish so I slowed down looking for the showing. It didn’t take long before I found a red cloud on the bottom. Uncle Louw went down with the sabikis and immediately went on with some bait. He lifted 2 nice shad and 3 maasbanker into the boat. Not a bad start. On the next few drop we were plagued by small seapike which I don’t regard as a great Garrick bait, so we released them. After about half an hour, without any more decent baits, I suggested we head north and start fishing.

Wirelining

I stopped in 8m of water next to a bit of a colour line and put out 2 wire lines with drones. Uncle Louw had never seen wire line, let alone fished with them. He was very skeptical but only 5 minutes later, we had a fish on. I grabbed the rod and winched in a snoek which immediately went on ice. Not a bad way to start. I made a few turns in the area without any more action, so I made a turn on the 12m ledge. Apart from a saladfish, it was quiet so we headed back to the shallows and as the lines went through the colour line, we went on with another snoek that Uncle Louw winched in. It seemed like he was starting to enjoy these wire lines.

In the next hour or so, we only caught one other snoek which was small enough to pass as a shad. The wind had also started to pick up so it was time to make a switch to live bait. We pulled into 4m of water and I put out 3 livies on the light spinning rods. The wind pushed the boat south at just the right speed, so we were very comfortable with the

Fishing the backline

situation. Unfortunately, there was very little action. No baitfish or chases anywhere. I suggested that we give it until 11am then we pack up, giving us 30mins left of fishing. There was a big rip just in front of us and the baits were about half way through it when the close surface bait revved like hell. Moments later, the clip released and line ran off the reel. I fed it for a while then tightened up. The rod loaded up and I was on to what I hoped was a Garrick. I passed the rod to Uncle Louw and cleared the other lines in anticipation of the bun fight around the boat. The fish headed out to sea which is not very characteristic of a Garrick, but when it

Uncle Louw's garrick

came to the surface and thrashed around, it was obviously that it was indeed a Garrick. The fish gave us a good rev around the boat, as they normally do. The 6kg line also added to the fun. It was only then that it dawned on me that the last Garrick that Uncle Louw had caught was probably more than 20 years prior. After a great fight, the fish was boated, much to our relief.

With the target species acquired, we packed up and headed home with the strong NE at our backs. Back at the club, we were informed that it was the last weekend of the Garrick comp and that not one fish had been entered yet. Unfortunately, we had not entered the comp so it was our bad luck. Be that as it may, we were happy with our results for the day.

A Flash in the pan. Some things just work.

This post is a bit different from all the others. Normally I just write about the basics of where we fished and what we caught. I decided to let you all in on a little secret that has been working for me for a few years now, especially for dorado and sailfish.

Years back, I had a few discussions with my spearo mates regarding the flashers that they used. There were many different configurations and theories about them but the basic concept worked … and worked well.

I decided to make my own flasher, but for ski-boat fishing, taking into consideration the pros and cons of diving flashers.

Since then, I have tweaked them to a point where I am really happy with their performance. So much so that I do not fish without them. I first made them public knowledge after a convincing win at the St Lucia 12x12 species comp. Dorado were not very easy to come by and every day we managed to get our numbers. Most were on the rod right next to the flasher.

Next up was the St Lucia Snoek Derby where the top performing teams were pulling them. There was then a request to make a smaller version for the snoek and it proved dynamite.

I then wanted to know how they operated from a diver’s point of view so I gave it to a mate on the south coast. His feed back was great. The flasher made no metallic noises, they had twice the action in the water and on the odd occasion, the fish would swim up and actually grab the flasher.

I then turned my focus to the smaller billfish. Heading to Morocco to fish for white marlin. Trolling at around 5 knots, I put out a flasher behind a trolling weight. It swam just below the surface so that we could see anything coming up behind it. I was pleased to see several fish raised by it. Granted, we did also have a dredge in the water and other teasers, but it was interesting to see how the fish would become more aggressive around the flasher than the straight running teasers.

Here at home in local waters, I trolled two flashers off the stern while pulling swimbaits for sailies. It worked a treat, not only for sails and dorries, but also for the small 20 to 40kg black marlin.

This December, I tried it while live baiting for marlin. We had a live bonito swimming on the starboard side and the flasher on the port stern cleat. I’m not sure if it brought the fish in, but we caught a black marlin for out efforts. What was interesting is that a big hammerhead came up to look at the 5 flasher blades before it spotted the lone bonnie. This gave us time rip the bait in and save it.

I have been lucky to play around with different methods to incorporate these flashers into my fishing and now use them when slow trolling for gamefish, on the surface and on the downrigger, when fishing for sailfish, off the riggers and in the small dredges I make and when drifting. They are surprisingly versatile and I will not be caught without them.

If anyone is interested in buying a set or two, drop me a comment with your email address and I can send you the prices.

Below are some of the many fish taken with the flashers.

Cat and mouse

 On Sunday 6^th September 2020 at just before 7am, Terence, Andre and I launched Terence’s “Marakas” off Cape Vidal. It was the first launch for the boat and with the surf being a bit unsettled, Terry asked me to take the boat through the surf. After a bit of bob and weave, we were behind the backline and looking for bait. We were lucky to get some really nice mackerel and maasbanker before heading north to Leven Point.

Bluefin Kingfish

About a kilometer south of the point I slacked off the speed and Andre and Terry put out four lures, hoping for a snoek, kingie or bonnie. The big swell made it difficult to get in close, but I managed a depth of around 6m. We had just gone through a nice rip when a reel went off. Terry took the strike and had a good tussle on the light gear with a beautiful bluefin kingfish which was released.

The lures went back out and I worked the area for a bit without any more luck so I headed north along the 12m line. Terry and I were discussing the area when a good showing appeared on the sounder. Moments later all four reels went away. One pulled hooks while in the holder, but the other three stayed tight and we managed to boat 3 shoal cuda. What a bargain! I had marked the spot so without wasting any time, we put out the lines. Just as the third rod was out, the showing started. Again, 3 rods went on with one pulling hook and two being boated. It was great to see the fish eating lures as it is much easier than rigging baits so I made another turn. Just as I was approaching the spot, a pod of dolphins pulled in front of us and the showing disappeared. I made several turns but the cuda had vanished.

Shoal size cuda

Hoping to find them a bit deeper, we changed over to live bait and slow trolled the area for a few hours without any pulls. We decided to make one last turn then go back to lures. As we were turning, I saw a splash and big swirl near the surface bait. There was a lot of slack in the line due to the turn so I ran back and cranked on the reel. The line came tight and the rod loaded up, followed by a few head nods. The fish went on a bit of a run so I passed the rod to Andre and helped Terry clear the lines before going back to the steering. The fish wasn’t doing much but when Andre put the drag to strike position, the were a few big head nods and the line angled to the surface where a nice sailfish climbed out. We knew it was going to be a tough fight… not only because of the light tackle and the 12kg leader, but we also noticed that the fish’s bill was broken so that would make it interesting around the boat

Over the next half an hour, we played a game of cat and mouse with the fish only jumping a few times, conserving its strength while it headed offshore. We had the fish in the “leader” several times before Terry could safely grab the bill, narrowly missing the hooks. We took a few pics then revived it before turning it loose.

Terry and Andre with a Sailie

With there not being much action, we decided to put on the lures again. I trolled over all my usual spots, but there was no action, so I turned to head home in the backline. We had just gone through a good looking area with lots of bait when the far lure went away. Terry took the strike and had a strong fight with an unknown customer. We were not making much headway in the fight and to make things worse, the pod of dolphin that had scared the cuda away, were back in town and heading our way. A few minutes later, the fight changed and we were now pulling against one of the dolphins that decided our fish was an easy meal. We had no chance at pulling the fish free from the dolphin’s grip and after putting max drag for a while, another dolphin swam into the line and parted it off.

With that, we called it a day and headed back to the beach to clean fish and have a cold beer. Thanks to Terry and Andre for a fun day on the water.

Possible SA Record Kingfish

 On Saturday 29^th August 2020, George, Geraldine, Patat and I launched “Cyclone” off St Lucia. We were hoping to catch a few snoek and any other critters playing around the shallows.

We stopped at the bait marks and filled the live well with maasbanker. As we started running south, George spotted a few birds working so went to investigate. There was a big showing so Patat and I sent down sabikis. Both of us came up with full strings of red eyes. After spending some time on the shoal, the icebox was full of beautiful baits.

Our next stop was at Crayfish Corner where we put out 2 fillets on 4kg rigs and 2 drones on wireline. It didn’t take too long before both drones went on with small kingies which we released. While putting the lines back out, we went on with another small king on a fillet. This was followed by a saladfish and another small kingie before we moved away from the shoal. It went very quiet, despite there being some life around. There were milkfish, dolphins, flyingfish and maasbanker shoals everywhere, but no snoek. At one point, George made a slightly deeper turn to avoid some big surf. As he straightened out, one of the fillets smoked off. Hoping it was a big snoek, we told Geraldine to take the rod. With all the lines cleared, I followed the fish and after 15mins, it was near the boat. The tail beats on the rod tip indicated one of 2 things, either a tuna species or a kingfish. Hoping for the latter, Geraldine inched the stubborn fish closer to where we could see a number plate of a kingie. This made things interesting as we knew the ladies SA record was vacant and this could be a contender. Eventually the fish gave up and came within range of the gaff and George lifted it into the boat. It looked to be over 4kg so we were pretty chuffed.

6.36kg GT on 4kg line

Trolling continued but there were no further pulls so we switched over to live bait and trolled back along the backline through the areas that we had seen action. We had just gone over the spot where the kingie had eaten when the far livie went away. George took the rod and had to hold on as the fish stripped a lot of 10kg line off the reel under decent drag, straight into the backline. We had no option but to increase the drag to 5kg to try and turn it. By some miracle, the fish turned deeper and out of the backline. There was a chance. Not knowing if there was any damage to the line for the rocks, George backed off the drag when we were in the clear. Most of the line was back on the reel and I was slowly backing up on the fish when, under no major pressure, the line parted halfway to the fish. We were gutted, but could not do anything about it and rerigged the baits.

Our Mystery fish

It was extremely quiet, so we headed north towards the launch site and put in a few fresh baits. As we were passing the end of Mapelane’s reef, George went tight on a bucktail jig and managed to release a small kingie. We carried on working north and soon had a pull on the close surface bait. Geraldine was on strike and had to hold on as the fish smoked off line. The lines were cleared as I followed the fish and we got some line back. The fight was very strange and every time it came close to the boat it took a strong run with big slow head nods. After half an hour the leader was out the water but we couldn’t geta good look. Only after the fish was truly tired, could was get it up and take a look. All of our guesses were way, way out. It was a sandshark of around 35kg. Talk about a disappointment. It was released after taking a few pics.

The rest of the afternoon produced no pulls, so we packed up and headed home. The kingfish weighed 6.36kg and has been submitted for a ladies SA and All Africa record on 4kg line.

Just me and the fish...

On Sunday 2^nd August 2020 at 6:30, I launched “ABF”. There was a bit of a weather window and I wanted to target my first Garrick of the season. All my mates were working or had prior engagements, so I went it alone. There was a good Samaritan at the club that assisted me with launching and soon I was heading to the bait spot. There were surprisingly few boats out, but I assumed it was due to the poor catches the day before.

A few light spinning rigs for garrick

I scrounged around for bait and managed some maasbanker and shad. I was not planning to fish for a long time so I thought a handful of bait would be fine and headed off to the South Pier to try my luck. I rigged three light 6kg spinning rigs and slow trolled around looking for some life. It didn’t take long to get a pull. This time it was a live shad rigged deep. Unfortunately, after hooking up and fighting the fish for a while, the hook pulled for no apparent reason. Not the best start. About half an hour later, I had another pull on the surface shad but again the hook pulled. Hopefully it was going to be 3^rd time lucky.

I trolled along the pier and into the backline, being pushed slowly by the NE wind. The swell was building with the tide change so I had to keep my eyes open. Luckily it didn’t take long to get another pull. This time I made no mistake and managed to release my first Garrick of the season. Continuing down the line, I managed to get a few more pulls and caught a couple more Garrick before the bait ran out. I was thinking of looking for more bait, but the wind had picked up and it was becoming a bit bumpy. Not wanting to have a late boat cleaning session, I headed back at 12:00.

It was great to have some light tackle fun with these fish. I will hopefully get a few more in the weeks to come.

In it for the long haul

On Thursday 30^th July 2020, At and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. Again, the target species was snoek as the previous day, there were a few nice ones caught. Unfortunately, news travels quickly and half the town was on the water even though it was a week day. We trolled up north looking for some life, but it was pretty dead. There were a few patches of bait but only saladfish were eating them. To make things worse, the swell had increased over night to close to 4m so there was a huge ground swell.

We pushed north regardless and just as we arrived at nHlobane, a friend phoned me to say that they had found a few fish to the south. He sent me a coordinate and it was 35km away! It was now or never so we made the executive decision to up lines and make the long run to try and salvage the day. As we ran South, I kept in contact and got a running commentary of their tally. Luckily, when I arrived, the fish were still feeding and the first pass with the wire lines produced a nice snoek. At turned to make another pass and we went on again. Luckily, with the wire lines, we could continue trolling while fighting the fish, and this helped us get a few more pulls in a short while.

At with a nice snoek after a long ride

When the birds stopped diving, the fish became a bit weary of the boat and the only thing that got pulls was a wireless rapala fished way back. In all, we were in the action for about an hour and we managed 9 snoek. Much better that what we would have done if we had stayed up north.

Thanks to my mates for calling me when we needed it. I will remember you guys that called me the next time I find them… and forget about those that didn’t.

Wired for snoek

At 5:30 on 21^st July 2020, Gary Heath, At and I launched At’s Kosi Cat “Vamous” off Richards Bay. There were reports of Snoek up north so we were keen to try for a few. We all had a few snoek tricks in our tackle boxes as they are notoriously unpredictable. I was also keen to learn a few new tricks from Gary as he is a good snoek angler.

Wire line for the win

While we were running north, we noticed a boat fighting a fish in the shallows. A short distance later, there were a few splashes that warranted closer investigation. Gary suggested we put out a few small lures and make a few turns before moving on. While At and Gary were getting their rods ready, I had two wire line rods rigged up and ready to go so I put them out. I had barely put the ratchet of the second reel on when the first rod went away. In no time, the first snoek was onboard. There was a scramble to get lines out again and no sooner was the second drone out that both wire lines went on. At kept the speed up while Gary and I unceremoniously lifted another two snoek into the open hatch. It was a unanimous decision to make another turn. As luck would have it, as we went through the area where we had the action, we went on again, and again and again. Every time, it was the wire line that went away, despite having small rapalas and feathers out as well. When the bite finally slowed, we had 12 fish in the hatch.

We made a few calls and heard that there were still a few fish further North so we upped lines and headed in that direction. There was congregation of boats in the distance and it was obvious that that was the place to be. We stopped short and put out the trolling gear before creeping our way through the boats. Apart from 2 on offs, it was quiet, so we changed over to bait. It was slim pickings and we got one or two fish an hour before it went dead. With a hatch full of great eating fish, we headed back for a well deserved refreshment.

Currently active

On Saturday 26^th at 10am Andre, Terence and I launched Good Time off Richards Bay. There had been a few cuda at Highpoint so we decided to try our luck. We managed to get a few big maasbanker and headed south for 40 odd kilometers into a 15knot SW wind. On arrival, the water was a bit green with no current, but there was a big showing.

Terence and I rigged a few baits and Andre trolled over a few of his numbers. Things were exceptionally quiet apart from a small yellowfin tuna I caught on a bucktail jig. While we were working the area, we could see the current moving in, bringing with it cleaner water and some bonnies. We were sure things would pick up soon. No sooner had the current pushed over the reef when the deep livie went away. Andre fought the fish but halfway to the boat, it was converted and the line was bitten off. On the next turn, the wala-wala was bit and we were on to a 12kg cuda. Unfortunately the hooks pulled right next to the boat and we were still left without a fish in the hatch. Things had to change.

We put out a few small lures and soon went on with 2 bonnies that we rigged up live and a small yft that we bled for sushi. It wasn’t 5 minutes and we had a big shark eat the deep bait, followed smartly by the surface bait. The sharks had obviously also come in with the current. As quick as we could catch the bonnies, the sharks ate them so we changed back to live maasbanker and held our position over the showing. Terence worked a vertical jig while I worked a bucktail. We both had action on the jigs, with Terence getting a tropical yellowtail and me getting a much sought after cuda of about 7kg.

It was getting late and as the sun dropped over the horizon, the deep livie smoked off. Andre battled to get the rod out the holder under heavy drag but eventually settled down into a strong fight. The fish came to the surface and made a few fast runs, typical of a big cuda, and finally came close enough to where I could reach out to remove the sinker. I was about to grab it when the fish smoked off, making the 16oz sinker look like a ruckus as it smoked along the surface. The line angled down again and that’s when our fears came true. There were a few big bumps on the rod followed by a heavy weight that was unmovable. After a while, we had no option but to part off. !#@$!#@

Back on the showing, Terence hooked up on a jig and was pinned to the gunwale with a heavy drag. 10 mins later Andre gaffed a 15kg yellowfin in almost complete darkness.

This was the end of our gamefish session so we packed up and headed shallower to the salmon marks. On the first down, we all hooked keeper size salmon. Andre then showed us how its done with a 12kg daga, just to end off the session. Thanks again to Andre for a great trip. For those of you wanting to book a trip, contact Andre at Good Time Charters here off Richards Bay (+27 (0)72 639 9366). He really goes out of his way to find fish for his clients and I can highly recommend his services. 

https://www.facebook.com/GoodTimeFishing/

One more for the bucket.

On Sunday 20^th June, Terence and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. I had never caught a black musselcracker so it seemed like the perfect time to target one. After catching a few livies, we headed down south to a few numbers that I got from a friend.

It was the first time that I had anchored the little boat but it was all smooth sailing and everything

worked a treat. With the anchor set, a cuda trapstick out the back and Scarborough in hand, I sent down a live maasbanker. It didn’t take long and I had a pull, but it wasn’t the target species. It was nice to get a decent soldier in the hatch though. The next bait I sent down was a live shad. It was only down for a few minutes when the rod bumped with a good bite. A short feed and I hooked up. There was some weight and big head nods. I was pretty sure it was the right one. The fight was short but memorable and when I saw that big number plate down deep, I felt like a child opening a present on Christmas morning. Terence helped gaffed it and loaded it into the boat. It was by no means a monster but I think its better that way as smaller fish normally taste better than monsters.

It is such a great feeling when you target a species and achieve success. I can remember my hands shaking for probably half an hour after catching it, battling to pin another bait. Eventually we had lines back in the water and the waiting continued. There seemed to be quite a few fish around from radio reports so we were confident that we could get a second fish. A while later, Terence put down a fresh slinger fillet and hardly had time to settle when he went tight on a fish. It was also one of those out the nursery and even though it was size, we decided to tag it and let it go.

Things had gone very quiet and despite moving to a few other spots, it was dead. At the end of the day we stopped back at the spot where we started the morning and after a short while, Terence hooked a sizable fish. Unfortunately, after a few big head nods and a short run, the hook straightened and all he got back was a crushed flapper.

That was the end of the day for us. I was super stoked to have ticked off a bucket list fish.

I'm free!!! First launch after lockdown.

Sunday 12^th June Terence, Oom Andre and I launched “Marakas” out of Meerensee Boat Club. This was the maiden voyage for Terence’s new boat, a 17ft Yeld Cat, as well as out first launch after lockdown. The idea was to just take the boat for a spin and get some salt water on our skin. Just a general soul soother after being locked up.

We had heard that the live bait had been scarce so we caught a few razorbellies in the harbour before heading out to sea. We scratched around at the usual bait marks, but the water was terrible and there was zero showing. Terence took us North to look for better water but it was nowhere to be found so we headed deeper to the 50m ledge. There were a few birds and a bit warmer water, so we put out a few lures and tacked along the reef, adding new marks to the gps as we went.

After about 20 minutes, we caught a small frigate which went into the bait box without too much pomp and ceremony. Terence had just set the lines again when we went on again. This time it was a bit better fish and Oom Andre took up the fight. We were all surprised to see a dorado pop out the water. Not a common fish during the winter, but very welcome indeed. It gave us a bit of a runaround on the deck when it jumped off the gaff, but it was good to get some blood on the deck.

Apart from a few Albatross that grabbed the surface lure, we had no further action so we headed back to the harbour. There was a huge swell running, but the water around the pier looked good so we rigged up 2 livies and drifted around the point of the pier. It didn’t take long to get a pull but unfortunately the bait was ripped off the hook before I could tighten up.

No further inquiries for the day, so it was “Home James”.

Congrats on your boat Terry. I wish you calm seas and screaming reels.

2020 Cape Vidal Billfish Comp ... more like gamefish

On Tuesday evening, 4^th February 2020, Herman Olivier and I arrived at Cape Vidal. The Marlin Comp was on and I was going to fish the last 3 days onboard Wayne Ritchie’s “Galavant”. The weather forecast didn’t look great and on Wednesday morning, the weather committee called a blowout.

We were not about to stay in camp the whole day so we launched at 7am to fish for some gamefish. There was a lot of bait around and after filling the tank, we headed north to Oscar. Herman and I put out a few small halcos and rapalas while Wayne trolled over the pinnacles. It didn’t take long to get a pull and Herman ripped in a small yellowfin tuna. Unfortunately, we didn’t have and big rods on the boat, otherwise we would have swam it for a marlin. The sea was very fishable for marlin if were pulling live bait.

We continued trolling and soon went on with a better sized fish. Wayne took the rod and had a tough fight with a strong yellowfin which we eventually boated. It was around 15kg, a contender for the bycatch Calcutta if only the comp was called on.

Live baiting

After an hour or two of trolling, we didn’t have any more pulls so we headed into the shallows and rigged 4 livies and drifted towards the point. On the bait spots, we had a pull and Herman caught his first cuda for the year. He was lucky to get it in because there was a big Zambezi shark chasing it when we gaffed it. Our drift continued for a while and south of the lighthouse, as we were packing up, I managed to hook and land a nice natal snoek of about 5kg. I was just as lucky as Herman as another big Zambie was after it at the boat.

On Thursday morning, the comp was called on, but only just. The forecast did show that the wind would settle so all the boats launched. After catching a few livies we headed back to Oscar and pulled lures around. It didn’t take long to get two 3kg bonnies. With the bait in the tubes, we headed north to the marlin hole off Vegetation. The current was ripping and the temp was 28 degrees. Not exactly ideal live bait conditions, but we rigged to baits and trolled them through the hole. The prime time came and went without any action and soon the baits both succumbed to the hot water. Despite looking for more bait, we didn’t get any bites. The wind turned easterly and at 1pm we beached to beat the rush.

After a long night, we were on the beach at 6:30am. There was a queue of boats waiting to launch but eventually the comp was called off … I’m not sure what the reason was. Most of the boats launched regardless and went game fishing. We joined them on the water and after getting a few livies we went back to Oscar and started pulling lures. It didn’t take long and we had a smoker on the far line. Unfortunately it bit us off and we were left to continue the search. As I trolled over a good showing, we went on again. I was hoping it was a small tuna but to our surprise, it was a 5kg cuda. I made another turn over the same spot and went on again. Unfortunately the hooks pulled on the fish, but it was enough to suggest that we change over to bait and work the area. 

Herman fighting a tuna

17.8kg YFT

The baits had been out for a few minutes when the far line went away. Herman took the strike and was in for a tough battle. The fish fought deep for a while and the light cuda rod had little impact. After putting some pressure on (thinking it was a shark) the line angled up and cut through the water. I chased after it as Herman put line on the reel. The line then went slack. We were wondering what was happening but as the last bit of slack line was wound in, the line went under the boat. In the water next to us was a big oceanic white tip shark. It had chased the fish we were fighting under the boat. Now it was hiding under the tunnel and we couldn’t get to it, even though it was on the leader. Eventually it came out and took off away from the shark. After freelining it for a while, it settled and we were after is at speed. Again the fish came flying up under the tunnel but after some fancy footwork, we managed to gaff an 18kg yellowfin. Another contender for the Calcutta but alas…

Lines went out again and soon we had 2 big kaakap on the lines. Wayne and Herman both fought them to the boat where they were released. There was quite a bit of action and on the next drift, Wayne managed to get another shoal cuda.

PB Kaakap

I kept the boat on the marks, stemming the current. I happened to see a strange showing on the sounder about 3m down. When I looked back, I could see a big Zambezi shark just cruising behind us. There was going to be a problem if we hooked anything. It wasn’t 5 minutes when the surface rod went away again. Wayne took the rod and had a very similar fight to what Herman did. This time the fish didn’t hide under the boat, it took off on surface with the shark behind it. Wayne freelined it for probably a few hundred meters before we started after it. Again, near the boat, the tuna made an erratic run so Wayne freelined it again. Unfortunately this time the shark caught up with the tuna and bit through the leader.

We made one last drift and hooked a small bonnie on a livie. We rigged it up and swam it for marlin, but the 28.2 degree water took its toll and it perished after a short while.

That was the end of our fishing for the trip. It was very eventful and we all had a good time. The Vidal Committee organized a great event and hopefully we can make it next year.