Make Mine a Double

On Monday 5^th December, I launched “Drifter” off Cape Vidal. With me were John, Amanda and Chuck. The SW was pushing about 20 knots, but the surf was non-existent. I spent some time looking for bait off the point, but similarly to the previous weekend, there was nothing to be found so I headed south to the shallows at Bighill. We managed to find a patch of bait and filled the livewell with mackerel and maasbanker before setting 4 lines.

I had just started heading deeper when the far surface rod went away with an absolute smoker! By the time the rod was out the holder, a considerable amount of line was off the reel so I turned to chase the fish. Unfortunately, the rod shot straight and the fish was gone. It had bitten through the wire. Not a good start. I rerigged and continued deeper. At 30m, another reel went away and Amanda fought the fish to the boat. Before we could see what it was, it went on another run but got converted shortly after. The drag went up to sunset and changed hands a few times until it chafed through the leader. The lines went out yet again and on almost the same spot in the shallows, the far bait went off again with another smoker. I left the other lines in and immediately spun the boat around to slow the run and when the last line was cleared and the fish started to slow down, the fish bit through the wire again!

Chuck with his 1st Marlin

After losing 3 rigs, I regrouped a bit, making some new rigs and setting a new spread of livies. I tacked a bit deeper then back shallower and managed another pull. This time is was a dorado that found its way into the hatch. Finally! I turned deeper after setting new baits and as the boat straightened, 2 rods went away. John and Chuck boated 2 yellowfin of about 6kg each… not my favourite fish to catch. Things seemed to be looking up and in 30m, the surface bait went away. Chuck took the rod on a pretty heavy fish that took several fast continuous runs. After 20minutes, the fish was close to the boat. The line angled to the surface and I saw a big sickle tail surfing down a swell. I first thought it to be a sailfish, but then it lifted the short dorsal fin and I could see it to be a marlin. After some fancy boat driving, I managed to get close enough to grab the bill and get a tag into an estimated 60kg black marlin for Chuck. I was surprised that the fish came in so easily, but maybe it was a blessing considering the light tackle used.

Amanda with her 1st Sailfish

After releasing the fish, the lines went out again. I had been trolling a deep line, but had not had a touch on it so I took off the sinker and left it on surface. I was bust letting out the 3^rd line when the now surface bait went away. There was a commotion on the surface as a sailfish tailwalked out the back. Amanda took the strike and had a tough fight with a fish that was fowl hooked. After a while, I managed to get hold of the bill and lift it into the boat. The weather and sea were still unsettled, so we decided to call it a day. I was pretty chuffed with our double on billfish for the day.

Lucky Dip

On Sunday 27^th November, Terence and I launched AVANTI off Vidal. We fished for bait for an hour and only managed 6 livies. We decided to head south with some lures and see what was going on. It did not take too long to find a good current line and tent tight with a small skipjack which we released. There seemed to be some life on the line so I rigged up 2 livies, one deep and one on top. 

Terence with his pb cuda

About 10 minutes later, the deep bait smoked off and Terence fought a good cuda to the boat. I managed to get the gaff in and hauled a 14kg cuda aboard. Now the pressure was off so we could relax. 

A nice Kaakap

I reset the deep bait and minutes later went on with a small bonnie which went into the luna tube. I rigged up a heavy trace on a strong rod with 80lbs braid and pinned the bonnie. The rod was in the holder for about 2 minutes when the rod revved and then keeled over. The reel smoked off as on the surface as a marlin made a run for it. I cleared the other line and chased the fish which was heading for deeper water. Terence put some pressure on the fish and it made a u-turn and ran flat out shallower right on the surface, almost stripping the reel. I followed it with great haste and finally caught up with it. We thought it had settle, but it took off on a long run again. Eventually it was near the boat but when it took off on another run, the leader wrapped around the tail and parted off. Unlucky!

Fresh fish for supper!

I headed back to where we hooked the fish and rerigged. This time it took 20 mins before we got a pull. Terence battled a stubborn fish to the surface. It was a 7kg kaakap. Unfortunately they are now classified as a bottom fish so it was put away.

Things went quiet and we decided to head back early as there was almost no bait left. While I was retrieving the last line, the rod was pulled flat by a feisty dorado that snatched the bait! Awesome! It looked like every strike was a lucky dip as we never knew what they would be. After boating the fish, we headed back to shore and enjoyed the rest of the day on the beach.

First Sailfish of the season

On Saturday 26^th November, Tammy, Suzzie and Terence launched AVANTI off Cape Vidal. We were there for a quick social weekend and were hoping to get a few gamefish. There was a 10knot SW blowing but with the strong N-S current, the sea was a bit bumpy.

We stopped off the point and looked for live bait which seemed to be almost non-existent. After two hours, we had about 10 baits so we decided to rig them and try our luck. Working between 20 and 35m, the current pushed us south and off the slides, the two surface baits started revving. Something had to be scaring them. After a few seconds, the rod that I was holding bumped and I freespooled the fish before tightening up. The fish felt heavy and there were a few big head nods… I was convinced that it was a billfish. As I turned around to pass the rod off, a sailfish stuck its head out and took to the air. It went on a good run which gave

us time to clear the other lines and get Tammy settled on the rod.

The fish gave a great show and with that managed to get the leader around its caudal fin. This made it difficult to turn the fish’s head where we wanted it. We had the fish on the leader about 4 times before I could grab hold of the bill and put the tag in. After a quick photo, Tammy released her first sailfish. Well done!!

Tammy with her first Sailfish

The lines went out again, but without any success. We put on a few trolling lures and made out way to Oscar. Once there we pulled livies over the pinnacles but again no action. Out of desperation, I trolled shallower onto the 30m current line and persevered there for the last hour or so. Just when we thought it was over, the close surface rod went away. Suzzie took the strike and fought hard on a deep fighting fish. After a while, it was a bit much for her and Terence took over. He managed to get a nice yellowfin into the boat. After that, we packed up and headed back.

Garrick all around

On Saturday 24^th September, Henk, Tammy and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch a few of the Garrick that were around. After trying for bait in the harbour for a bit, without any success, we headed out to the pipeline. It didn’t take long to catch a livewell full of shad and soon we were heading back to the pier.

Henk's garrick about to be tagged and released

One of the boats had already caught two fish, so I was pretty confident that we would get some fish. I rigged up 3 livies on spinning tackle and trolled around the point. The close shad was swimming pretty deep and started revving but nothing happened. The line angle came to the surface so we all thought the bait had come off the hook. Henk started retrieving to see what was going on when the bait went mad and there was a strong pull on the rod. Henk opened the baling are on the reel and fed the fish for a while before tightening up. The fish took some line before settling into the typical Garrick fight at the boat. The fish gave a great fight on the 6kg line and eventually I could grab it by the tail and bring it aboard where it was tagged and released. Not a bad start.

Good fight on 6kg line

The lines went out again and I made another turn. As I was approaching the pier, the far bait started revving and then got eaten. Tammy fed the fish and tightened up on another Garrick. The fish gave a good fight and after about 10 minutes, Tammy had her first Garrick of the season on the boat.

Trolling commenced but soon after, the dredger made an appearance and we were forced to move away from the pier towards the backline. The wind dropped totally and the fish went a bit quiet. After about an hour or so, while trolling through a small rip, the far bait revved and was taken. Tammy was busy feeding the fish when a big backline swell rocked the boat and caused the baling arm to clip over. Before it could be opened, the line took tension and the fish spat the bait. That happens... At lease there were still a few fish around.

I rigged up a fresh shad and about 10 minutes later it was eaten. Again tammy fed the fish but when we tightened up, the fish took a bit of line then spat the bait. On closer inspection, the hook had turned back into the bait and would never have hooked the fish. I guess that comes with the R&D of testing a new bait rigging style.

Henk and his garrick

We worked the area for about half an hour without another pull. I noticed that the dredger was packing up so we pulled lines and headed back to the pier. On arrival, the water looked awesome. There was a good rip and colour line formed by the outgoing tide. I quickly rigged up 3 baits and trolled along the colour change towards the pier. A few minutes later, I looked back and saw the close bait revving like mad. I ran to the rod and as I was about to grab it, the trip clip released and the rod flicked back as the reel freespooled. This flick caused the baling arm to bump against the rod holder and clip closed. The rod started loading up as I tried to open it under tension. By some miracle I got it open and the fish was still there. I fed it a bit then tightened up. The fish took quite a bit of the 6kg string against the light drag so Henk turned the boat towards the fish. I gained most of the line and finally had it around the boat. On closer inspection we saw the fish had 2 followers. This meant that the fish I was fighting put up even more of a struggle. The fish looked to be a nice one so I decided to take it for the Garrick Derby that was currently on at the club.

Tammy with a garrick

We each had a fish for the day so anything else was a bonus but knowing that there were a few fish in the water made us confident that we would get another one. Fresh baits went in and I trolled back up the rip. It was no surprise when we had another pull. Henk fed the fish but the line never picked up. He brought in the slack only to have the line suddenly take tension next to the boat. The fish had taken the bait and swam towards the boat causing the slack. Henk went tight and had a nice fight with another shoal size Garrick. He also wanted to take some fish home we boated his fish aswell.

It was about 1:30pm so we decided to fish until 2pm then head back. I rigged up the 2 biggest shad that we had and trolled through the rip again. The close bait revved for a while before being eaten. Henk fed the fish for a while, hoping that the fish would be able to get the big bait down. Unfortunately, it was a small Garrick and when we tightened up, missed the fish. With that, our day was over and we headed back. My fish weighed in at 12,5kg and the others were about 7kg.

Wish you were here

On Sunday 4^th September, we launched “My Wish too” out of Richards Bay. There had been a lot of Garrick around and Rey and Marnus were keen to get into the action. We headed out the harbour at 6am and headed to the pipeline. Every drop resulted in a full string of big mackerel. There were so many mackerel that the shad did not have a chance to get to the bait. Finally, after putting big chunks of bait on, we managed to get a few shad and headed north to groenkop.

The tide was going out and there were some beautiful rips forming. With the small swell, we could get pretty close to the backline and work the rips properly. The baits had been out for about 20mins when there was a big swirl just behind the boat. I ran to the back and picked up the close rod anticipating the strike. Moments later, the line started running off the reel. I fed it for a bit and then tightened up. The fish made a run to the backline taking a bit of line. Marnus took the rod and had a good tussle with his first Garrick of the year. With the first fish under our belt, the pressure was off.

I continued working north, but things were very quiet. After an hour and a half without a pull, we upped lined and ran back to where we had the first fish. The lines went out and about 20mins later, the shad on the spinning rod went away. Rey fed the fish and tightened up to his first ever Garrick. The fish took a bit of line then followed the characteristic Garrick fight at the boat. Eventually the fish tired and I could get a gaff into it. We ran up to the start of the drift and followed the same line. Not long after, the far bait went away but while I was still feeding it, the hook came out the bait and missed the fish. Unlucky. Again we ran up a bit and drifted down the same line. A bit further on, the mackerel on the spinning rod was eaten and again we were on to a fish for Rey. This fish was hooked in the gills and so we put it in the boat. The wind was picking up and the dirty water was being churned up so we decided to up lines. As we were clearing the lines, the far bait went away. Unfortunately, one of the other lines tangled with the line that the fish had taken and so we missed the hookup. Oh well, that happens. In all, it was a great day.

Picking Up Crew

On Saturday 13^th August, At, Hendry and I launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. We had had some success with the previous weekend with a few Garrick and we were hoping to get a few more. We battled a bit for bait but eventually had enough to go and fish. We tried a bit on the point, but nothing happened. The dredger was also operating in the area, and we didn’t want to get into trouble, so we headed south into the backline. It was much calmer there and we could work the area a bit. After about an hour or so, the deep line went away. The fish took off and I kept feeding it. When I tightened up, the line shot straight into the backline and flew off the reel. Everything looked good when suddenly the fish was off. I reeled in the bait and it was in perfect condition… it must have wrapped in the leader. Unlucky!

We turned to work the spot a bit more, but after spending some time there, we didn’t have another pull. We were expecting a friend to arrive at about 11am, and we said we would fetch him at the club and then go fish some more. We trolled towards the harbour and I happened to be watching the rod tip on the close livie when it started revving. There was a swirl out the back but I could not make out what it was. It looked to be a hammer head from how it was tracking the bait. Hendry and I pulled in the baits and the fish followed them to the stern. Only then did we see that it was indeed a Garrick. It chased the baits a few times on the surface, but only half-heartedly took the one and spat it out before eating it. 

Juri fighting his first garrick

We upped lines and went to fetch Juri. He is a laugh a minute and was super keen to catch his first Garrick. At headed back to the same spot where we had dropped the first Garrick and on our first turn, the close bait was eaten.  The bait was on a really light bass rod so we were in for a good fight. Hendry fed and hooked up the fish before passing the rod to Juri. The fish took a lot of line and put up a good fight for half an hour. It was Juri’s first Garrick so we gaffed the fish for him. He was over the moon.

The wind had picked up a lot so we headed back to the harbour and saw a good colour line near the pier. We put out 3 baits and made a turn. Not long after, we had a pull on a Maasbanker, but got the head back. Moments later, the far line went away. I hooked up and passed the rod to Juri. This fish took a lot of line and kept him busy for a while before I could tail a really good fish. It was tagged and released in good condition and measured out at 12.5kg. That was the last pull we had so we headed back.

Dropping off crew

On Sunday 7^th August, we launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. We had a few of At’s friends on the boat looking for a Garrick. Knowing there was not much bait on the pipe, we opted to look on the shallow reefs near the nets and within 20 minutes, we had a hatch full of shad. The guys needed to leave for Pretoria at 11am, so it was going to be a short session. 

We headed to 5 mile and ducked into the backline. I rigged up 3 lines and At trolled through the rips. It took about half an hour for our first pull. I fed and hooked up the fish which ran straight into the backline. I handed off the rod and was busy clearing the other lines when the 40 lbs leader parted. Bad luck. We were back at square one. About an hour later, on the deep side of a nice rip, the short surface bait went away. Again I hooked up and passed the rod over. The fish didn’t do to much and was quickly next to the boat. I grabbed the tail and lifted it into the bot where it was tagged and released.

At made another turn while I let the new baits out. On almost the same spot, we went away again. This time the fish put on a better fight and took some time for me to get hold of the tail. This fish was also tagged after a few quick pics, then released. We had high hopes for another fish, but by 10:30, the had been no more action and we had to head back to drop the guys off.

It was still early, the weather was great and we had some bait left, so we decided to fish into the afternoon. We made the short run to the south pier and I had just set the last line when the first one went away. I passed the rod to Hendry who hooked up onto a shoal size Garrick. It gave him a good rev on the spinning rod and finally I managed to tail the fish and get a tag into it. Trolling continued, but it had gone quiet. 

The wind had picked up a lot and we were battling to maintain position so we headed to the north pier to give it a few minutes. Just before 4pm, the deep bait went away. Hendry fed and hooked up a good sized fish that gave him a nice fight before I could leader it. After tagging it, it was released and we called it a day.

First Garrick of the Season

On Saturday 6^th August, Wayne, Lorenzo and I launched “Da Boys” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to get into some snoek and Garrick action. Our first stop was to get livies which proved very challenging and could not find a single one. I headed shallower to the shark nets and found a few showings. Wayne and I started getting a mix of pinkies and shad and soon we were heading up north.

Lorenzo with his first garrick

I put out a few snoek baits and slowly trolled north. As we were going, we saw a few birds dipping. I fired a small spoon at them and on the third turn of the handle, I went on to a snoek. It didn’t take long to boat the fish and we could follow the birds to get another one. Despite putting the lure right in front of the snoek, we could not get another pull. The action subsided and we continued north. We heard of some action a bit further north, so we changed to a few rapalas and feathers to get there a bit faster. A few minutes later Wayne went on with a snoek which also found it's way into the hatch.

The snoek had sounded and things were very quiet. We decided to head into the backline and look for a Garrick. There was a beautiful colourline in 4m of water so we spent some time working alone it. After about an hour, we had a pull and went tight with a small Garrick. We gave the rod to Lorenzo and he had his hands full with his first Garrick. After about 20 minutes, I put the gaff into the fish and hauled it onboard. We made another turn over the same spot and had a Garrick come charging in to eat a shad, but it turned off at the last second. It bumped one of the further baits o the way back, but never ate it. Sometimes they can be difficult like that. We spent some more time along the colour line but had no more pulls so we headed back to port.

Richards Bay Gamefish Interclub 2016

On the weekend of 30^th July, we launched “Avanti” with the Richards Bay Ladies team consisting of Tammy Hammond, Loraine Kapp and Petro Schutte. We were fishing the RB Gamefish Interclub. The weather was pretty terrible but everyone was really keen t wet a line. Our first stop was at the pipe where we caught a few livies. We quickly ran to the south pier to try fish for a Garrick before moving to plan B. The lines were just set when the deep line went away. Loraine went tight on a Garrick and after a bit of a tussle, the fish was next to the boat. I was busy reaching out to gaff the fish when the hook pulled! Talk about bad luck. We shrugged it off and continued fishing without any further pulls so we headed out to small high point. We drifted there a few time, but there was nothing, not even a showing. We decided to put out some trolling lures to cover some ground. It didn’t take long to get a pull. This time it was on a big deep diver way out the back intended for wahoo. I was pretty sure that’s what it was, but after a few minutes, the fish bit through the #7 wire! Again the lines went out and we trolled the area. Petro managed to get a small rainbow runner that was under the minimum weight and Tammy caught a jube jube that we kept for bait.

With nothing going on, we headed for Petingo hoping for a cuda or kingfish. The ladies worked jigs and live baits for a while but never had a bump so we put on a few cuda baits and trolled around for a bit. Just before lines up, we managed to get a pull and Petro released a nice bigeye kingfish.

Day two saw a late launch due to the weather being fowl. At 7:30 we all put to sea and managed to catch livies in record time. We headed south to where there were a few birds working and it didn’t take long to get a few pulls from snoek. Unfortunately a few fell off and the ones we caught were too small to weigh. With the sea being terrible, we headed to the harbour and pulled some livies around for Garrick. It was really quiet but finally we had a pull. The fish took off like a rocket when it ate the bait. Tammy fed it for a while before we tightened up… nothing! The shad came back in perfect condition! The Garrick must have swam into the line when it was chasing the bait and got tangled up. What are the chances of that? So our comp came to an end with a lot of good laughs and bad luck. We will be there next year to try again.

2016 Mapelane Junior Interclub

On Saturday 9^th July, we launched Tyron Gruar’s “Kaskasi” off Mapelane. We were fishing in the Mapelane Junior Interclub and I was the manager of the U/16 Richards Bay team. Hannes and Gideon Steenkamp and TJ Jacobs were in the team. After a bit of a wet launch, we headed for St Lucia swimming beach where we filled up on live bait and then headed for the 50m ledge.

TJ with a nice Wahoo

Gideon pulling a yellowfin

There had been a lot of small tuna around the previous week, so that was part of the game plan for the day. We put out 3 large halcos, a small kona and a smaller rapala then trolled north into the current. After about half an hour, we went on with a small yellowfin which was quickly boated. I happened to look at one of the lures that we had been pulling and saw some proper teeth marks on it. It must have happened in the last few minutes, as the lure was brand new. Trolling commenced and every half an hour or so we would get a pull from a small yellowfin. By the time we were at the northern tip of the reef, we had 6 small tuna. We were only allowed to weigh 3, so we needed to look for a different species. I suggested that we run back to a mark that we trolled over earlier that had some good showings and make a drift. Maybe for a cuda. Tyron came into the area and slacked off the speed to look for the showing. In the meantime, I put out 2 halcos just in case… As we were nearing the marks, the close lure went away at speed! Hannes took the rod while TJ started retrieving the other far line. Almost immediately, the rod was pulled flat and the reel smoked off as a second fish grabbed the lure! Unfortunately, Hannes’ fish pulled hook while TJ fought his. There were a few good smoking runs along the surface, leading us to believe that the fish was a wahoo. Sure enough after about 20 minutes, I gaffed a really nice one.

Richards Bay U/16 Day 1

Being a species comp, we needed to look for another species to double the points. But even though we tried really hard for a cuda, we never had another pull and headed back to the beach at 2pm. The wahoo weighed 18kg and the small yellowfins were between 4 and 6kg. Enough for 2^nd place for the day.
On Sunday 10^th, we again headed to the livebait spot and caught some bait but didn’t want to spend too much time as the day was shorter than the previous day. Again we headed to the ledge to troll for the yellowfins. Relatively quickly, we got out 3 weighables but then had a shark tax a tax us and take the best halco with it.

 We opted to look for another specie as the 3 yellowfins would not win us the comp. Tyron lined up the boat for a drift and while he checked the GPS, we let out a livebait on surface. While still freespooling, the reel took off and we went on to a better size yellowfin which unfortunately pulled hook at the boat.

Day 2 Mapelane Junior Interclub

With the drift line sorted, we ran to the top of the reef and drifted back. Knowing there were a few bigger tuna around, we put out a fluorocarbon rig with a livebait. While TJ was feeding it out, it was picked up but after a short run came off. On closer inspection, the flouro had been bitten off. Unlucky! We put on a piece of wire and made another drift. This time it took a few minutes to get a pull and after tightening up, the fish made a few good runs before it was at the boat where I gaffed a cuda. Now the hatch looked better. Unfortunately after a few more drifts we only got a shark.

At the weigh in, the 3 yellowfins weighed between 4 and 5kg and the cuda went 12,6kg. There were a few other nice fish that were weighed, and we ended up maintaining our 2^nd place. Thanks to everyone involved.