Swording is fun ... but its hard work!

On Tuesday 20^th March, Wayne Ritchie, Hansie van Wyk, Herman Olivier and I boarded a plane headed for Kenya. We wanted to focus on broadbill and learning the techniques used to catch them.

We landed in Mombasa at noon on Wednesday 21^st and had an eventful trip up to Watamu where we checked into Ocean Sports. Our charter captain Rob Hellier from “Unreel” met us there for a welcome drink and we discussed the plan for the week. The festivities carried on into the night but luckily, we had some time before we would head to sea.

On Thursday 22^ndat around 3pm, we hopped into a tender made our way to Rob’s boat. From there we headed out to sea for about 10 miles before putting out a few lures and trolling the rest of the way to the rips. Unfortunately, the water colour did not look good on the drop-off, but as we approached the seamount, the water cleared up and looked beautiful.

My Royal Billfish Slam completed!

At around 6:30pm, the lures with squid strips and light sticks were deployed. Two on the outriggers and one on the downrigger at about 30m down. Rob trolled south at about 3-4knots along an underwater ridge that went from 1700ft to 1300ft and back to 1700ft. There were several boats on the water and at 8pm two had released fish. We headed south to where they were fishing and at 10pm, the downrigger rod went away with a speed. There was a commotion on the surface and a big glowing foam as the fish thrashed on the surface. I was on strike and after backing up on the fish and getting it close, it took off on a 200m run straight down. After a further 20 minutes, it was back on top where we could see the light stick just inches from the rod tip. As the Daddus the deckie prepared to take the leader, the worst imaginable thing happened … hook pulled! We had no option but to try again.

Herman's 1st Broadbill

We had caught a few big squid on the surface lures earlier in the evening, so the fresh strips were rigged up. About an hour later, we had a pull on the long rigger, but it never stuck. It came back twice but never hooked up. Rob made a turn and we slipped back a small whole squid. I was busy feeding it out when it was hit. I fed the fish for a while, but again it didn’t connect. Trolling commenced and at 1am, the downrigger rod took off again. The lightstick raced across the surface as the fish went on a fast run. I took the strike and Rob backed up on the lightstick. There were a few tense moments as the fish violently shook its head and made short runs, but eventually it settled down and I could get it under control. Daddus took hold of the leader and brought the fish alongside. Hansie grabbed the bill and they lifted a feisty broadbill swordfish into the boat. After a few quick pics, it was released. I was over the moon! This fish was the last one I needed for my Royal Billfish Slam of 9 billfish species. My trip was made, and it was only night one!

Wayne with a broadie

Without wasting time, the lines went out again. Herman was up next and an hour later, he was hooked up to his first broadbill. This fish came to the boat quickly and after a few pics, was also released. What a night it was!

Things went quiet and apart from a quick on-off on the downrigger at dawn, there was no further action, so we trolled back to Watamu where I celebrated my Royal Billfish Slam and Herman’s first swordfish.

On Friday 23^rd, after a long afternoon / evening snooze, I woke up to the sound of the boats diesel motors idling along. The celebrations had obviously taken their toll on me, but I was glad to be back on the water. After 10pm, there was a hit on the downrigger. After a short run, the fish unfortunately pulled hook. At around midnight, the moon went down and we had a solid take on the downrigger. Wayne was on the rod and made short work of his first broadbill which was also released.

The night wore on with only a few squid bites, and at about 3am the downrigger rod went away again. Hansie took the strike but he immediately felt the heavy shakes of a fish that was wrapped in the leader. It was not surprising when the hook unfortunately pulled. This was the last swordfish bite for the night. When the sun came up, the lures went out and we trolled back. On the way, we managed to get a wahoo and two dorado. 

After two back to back nights, we decided that we needed a day off to recuperate. With all our sleep caught up, we were ready for another two nights.

Hansie "Polu Kai" van Wyk

There were a few fish down south of Kilifi on our off day, so Rob suggested we head there and work our way north if it was quiet. With the lures out, it didn’t take long for us to get a dorado. Not long after, a stripey came in and hooked up on the left short. Wayne was on the rod and after 20 minutes released a feisty marlin. 

There was a ship drifting near the seamount so we trolled around it and caught 3 more dorado. Just before dark, another stripey charged down the lure, but didn’t commit. It seemed there was some daytime action so we hoped that it would continue into the night, but it was anything but. Apart from a few squid, it was very quiet. At about 10pm, while checking the downrigger bait, the rod shook violently and the reel took off as a sword grabbed the lure. Hansie had the rod in his hands when this happened so he was fighting straight away. The fish took some line, but before we could clear the other lines, the hook pulled!

Trolling commenced and at about midnight, the short rigger popped and the reel ran a bit. The light stick hopped in the air as the fish jumped, but it didn’t fight like a sword. It ended up being a small dorado!

Hansie's Swordfish

The moon went down at 1am and we were hoping for the swords to come up, but nothing happened. Rob decided to troll north with the current to the ledge where we had fished the previously. He worked the area for an hour or two and began marking fish. At 4:30, the downrigger rod went away and Hansie was into a broadbill. It went on a deep run and Hans said it felt different, almost as if it was a dead weight. He fought the fish for about 25 minutes before the light stick hit the rod tip. With the fish next to the boat, we could see it had totally wrapped in the leader and was DOA so it was loaded. We were over the moon as all of us had caught a broadbill for the trip!

Grand Slam Blue

With very little time left, the lines went out again and Rob made a turn over the same spot. The short rigger popped and the reel gave a short burst before the hook pulled. I held the bait there and sure enough the fish came back. It missed the hook twice before fading to the long bait which it crashed and hooked up. I could feel it was a small fish so Rob backed up on it and Daddus grabbed the leader. While he was trying to calm the fish down, the hook came out and the fish was released. By now the sky was light so the marlin lures went out. Rob trolled through the rips and over a few seamounts on the way home. First we got a nice dorado and a 20kg wahoo. 

Shortly after, the centre rigger popped and Herman was hooked up to a 300Lbs blue marlin. The fish made several jumps then sounded. After about 45 minutes, it came up and Daddus grabbed the leader and brought the fish along side where it was released. Only then did we realise that we had caught a boat grand slam of 3 billfish species in 24hrs … a first for all of us! Awesome! Despite looking for a black or a sail, it was not to be and we headed back to Watamu. It goes without saying that there was a bit of celebrating that went on that morning…

On our last night, we fished aboard “Tarka” with Cullem. The conditions were a bit bumpier than the previous evening and we rocked and rolled quite a bit in the rips. Things were quiet in the early part of the evening but at 10pm, the short rigger popped. Herman was on the rod and was hooked up to what seemed to be a small sword. Before the other lines were cleared, Herman had the lightstick right next to the boat. We were ready to take the leader when it turned and made a bit of a run. This run then accelerated with big head shakes. Realising it was not that small, the deck was cleared and the fight started in earnest. An hour later, with the line now straight up and down, we got Herman into a harness so he could put some heat on the fish. Unfortunately after only a few minutes, the harness straps ripped off and Herman just managed to grab the rod in time. With another harness on, he fought on into the night. Finally the line angle came up and we could back up on the fish. The light stick was on the surface only meters from the boat. 

Herman after 2 hours

The fish moved out from under the boat’s shadow and obviously did not like the bright moon as it got its head down and made another 100m run straight down. Two hours into the fight, the fish shook its head and shot to the surface. We all thought it had come off, but the rod then keeled over again as the fish changed direction. Again the lightstick was close, but we just could not get the leader and again the fish sounded. This time it swam just below the thermocline and would not budge. There it stayed for another hour while we tried every trick in the book to get the fish to change its mind. Eventually the angle increased and the fish came up. The lightstick was clearly visible 20m from the stern. Cullem backed towards the fish but when it was only meters away, it shook its head and took off on a run that was as strong as its first one more that 3 hours earlier. With the fish still on surface we again slowly backed up on the fish. Herman was gaining line steadily and all was under control when the hook pulled and the fish was gone! 

Wayne with Broadie #2

It was enough to make one cry. After 3 and a half hours, we were so close yet so far. We had drifted 7 miles with the fish and it took us a while to get back to the area we hooked it. By now it was 3am and we were in position again on the ledge. I heard the rigger pop and then the reel took off. Wayne was on the rod and the deckies were clearing the downrigger, so I cleared the long rigger rod. The swivel hit the rod tip and I leaned over to lift the lure into the boat when there was an almighty splash just 2 meters from the transom. The leader ripped out of my hand the rod keeled over. We had a double! I just managed to hold on to the rod as the lightstick flew under the boat and out to the side. The fish went on a mental run on the surface while Wayne’s fish sulked near the boat just under the surface. I let my fish run while Wayne fought and eventually released his second swordfish. By that stage, I was into the backing with 200m topshot off the reel, but we took it calm and soon had the fish just below the boat. Just as the deckie was reaching out to grab the leader, the hook pulled! Nuts!

Jono Boosen Tours

With just an hour of darkness left, the trolling commenced. As the sun came up, the downrigger popped, but when the fish jumped, we saw that is was a dorado which quickly threw the hook. That brought our Kenya Broadbill trip to an end. The aim was to tick a sword off all our boxes and we had done just that … and more. Thanks to the guys for a great trip.

Early morning wake up call

On Saturday 7^th January, Hansie and I launched Mitsufishi off Richards Bay. The weather forecast was great so we decided to fish for marlin. After a short run to the ledge, we put out a spread of lures and worked out way south. The water was a good colour and there were a few good showings on the reef. At about 6:30, I trolled over a good showing in 80m. There was some bait down about 30m so we were pretty sure there might be a fish around. Probably within a minute, Hansie saw a marlin grab the right long lure. The reel took off and the small black went mental on the surface. It greyhounded for a few hundred meters then doubled back straight towards the boat, almost joining us on the deck. The fish turned away from us and too

k some more line while the deck was cleared. Hansie was a bit hesitant to get into the chair, but when he saw that I had no intention of doing so, he had no choice. The fish stayed on the surface and I could back up on it so that Hansie could gain line. As we got closer, we could see that the fish was tailwrapped and belly up on the surface. I quickly grabbed the leader, unwrapped the tail and grabbed the bill to revive it. Hansie got the boat going forward and we could get some water moving over the gills. After probably 20 minutes, the fish started kicking and shaking. When it was released, it hung in the water for a bit before righting itself and swimming off. It was a black marlin of about 70kg.

It was a great way to start the day, but unfortunately other that a window shopping marlin later that afternoon, there was no other action.

Painful end game!

On Saturday 6^th January, Terence and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to get a few gamefish. At 5am we were on the pipeline and found a few decent size maasbanker and one mackerel. With the well full, we headed to the ledge. 

On the mark, there was a good mid water showing so Terence send down a live bait on a jigging rig. The bait was on the bottom for a few seconds when it was eaten. Unfortunately, the hook turned into the bait and missed the fish. On the next drop, Terence went tight with a fish that pulled line off the heavy drag as if it was nothing. There were big head nods and strong short runs before it started to tire. Terence had it about half way up when for no apparent reason, the hook pulled! We made a few more drops but had no more luck so I put out a surface bait. It did not take long to get a pull and I went tight with a tuna of some sort. The fish was very stubborn and after a strong fight, I had a big kawa-kawa next to the boat, where we released it. We made several more drifts but the fish seemed to have vanished. I suggested we head into the deeper water on the drop-off and see if we could find some dorado or possibly a marlin. 

We ran out to 100m and put out 2 big live maasbanker and the mackerel and trolled them deeper. Things were very quiet after 2 hours so when I heard that there were a few dorado in shallow I suggested we move. Terence slowly cleared the teasers and two nearby baits. As he was retrieving the far bait, there were a few flying fish that spooked and took to the air. Moments later, Terence shouted he was on and fed the fish bef

ore hooking up. The fish’s first run was hectic, taking a lot of line in a hurry. I chased after it, allowing Terence to gain some line. The fish sounded very deep and settled into big circles. It was obvious that it was a tuna. The long rod took its toll on Terence and after an hour, he passed the rod to me. I pulled as hard as I could and soon it was on the leader, but after 20 minutes, I put Terence back on the rod with the fish still in sight. After a further 20 minutes, I was back on the rod. This was getting ridiculous, so I upped the drag a bit and used what little strength I had left to get the fish on the leader. Terence was able to get the gaff into the 35kg fish and end the pain. The fish was bled and spined before being boated. Both of us were pretty over catching tuna so we called it a day and headed home.

Ending the year with a blue

On 31^st January, Herman, Quinton and I launched Mitsufishi off Richards Bay. We were hoping that the last day of 2017 would be good to us. We worked the drop-off straight off the harbour but despite finding some bait and current lines, there was no action. The day wore on and out of desperation we headed shallower to see if there was a black marlin that would be interested.

We were in about 80m when I saw a fin flash behind the ruckus on the left short. The rigger popped and the 130 took off. The fish never jumped and just made a constant run on the surface. This gave us a chance to clear the other lines and get Quinton into the chair. It was the first time he had fought a fish on the big tackle and was lifted out the seat a few times. After a few minutes, he settled into a good rhythm and had the fish near the boat. The fish was on the leader, but by no means tired! It made a few big head nods, turned 180 degrees and took off on another good run. Thee heavy drag took its toll on the fish and it was soon on the leader again. It was extremely stubborn, and I struggled to get its head out from under the boat. At one stage, it touched the boat and went mental, ripping the leader out my gloves as it took off straight down. All we could see was the electric blue tail kicking hard as it swam into the depths. After a few minutes though, the fish was on the leader again. This time I managed to get a few wraps on the leader and pull the fish up against the side of the boat. We were all surprised to see that it was in fact a blue marlin of about 120kg and not the black we were expecting. This fish was hooked in the top of the eye socket which is probably why it gave us such a tough time. On closer inspection, there was also a longliner hook in the corner of the mouth, so the fish obviously had some experience. Herman removed the hook and sent the marlin on its way.

With the new years festivities happening later that evening, we decided to head back to port, ending off the year in a good way.

Striped Afternoon

On 28^th December at 11am, Hansie, Quinton and I launched Mitsufishi off Richards Bay. The weather had settled and looked good for an afternoon session. With a full spread of lure and teasers out, we worked the 200m to 400m dropoff just north of the harbour.

There was no current, but the water colour looked really good. We had been trolling for a while without any action. There was a big tanker drifting in 350m, so we trolled past it hoping there might be a dorado or something lurking in the area. We were all looking at the sounder when the 130 in the gunwale gave a short burst. None of us saw the strike, but when we looked back, there was a billfish on the teaser. Quinton threw out the pitch bait and while I retrieved the teaser. Thee fish stayed on the teaser for a while until I could clear it, it then switched to the halfbeak and grabbed it. Quinton did an excellent job with the feed and hooked up to a very acrobatic striped marlin. The fish took a lot of line while I retrieved the other lines. Hansie followed the fish and Quinton could put some line back on the reel. After about 20 minutes or so I could get hold of the leader and grab the bill. The current junior 37kg SA Record for Striped Marlin is vacant, so we decided to take the fish home.  

Despite trolling until late into the afternoon, we never had another strike so headed back home.

Vidal Switches On

On Sunday 5^th November, Mike, At and I launched “Thresher One” off Vidal. We were on a bit of a rekkie to see what was happening in preparation for the annual Nov/Dec pilgrimage. We stopped on the backline at 5:30 and went about looking for live bait. There were shoals and shoals of mackerel on the surface as far as you could see. Unfortunately most of them were really small so we moved from shoal to shoal looking for some larger baits.

While we were drifting, I rigged one of the small livies on a small bass rod and flicked it out. About 5 minutes later, the reel took off and I was tight to a strong fish. It sulked near the bottom for a bit, then finally the line angled to the surface and the water erupted as a solid queenfish took to the air. It made a few great jumps before tiring enough to bring onboard. Talk about a bonus fish.

A nice Queenfish off Vidal point

We slowly worked our way north stopping at the bait shoals as we went. While Mike and At fished for bait, I put out a livie. When we had enough livies, I started to retrieve the bait and the rod keeled over in my hands. There was a heavy weight to the fish, which probably didn’t know it was hooked yet. Eventually, there were a few head nods and the fish took off! We followed it a bit and eventually had a nice yellowfin in the boat which was bled.

The whole time we were catching bait, there were boats launching and heading to Leven Point. We knew that there would be too much traffic so we stopped at Greens on a good looking current line. Mike and I put out 5 livies and as we were heading deeper, there was a commotion on the surface just behind the motors. It was a nice size sailfish. The problem was that it was not attached to any of our lines, it was just a free jumper. While this was going on, the rod Mike was holding went away. He fed the fish and tightened up. Line flew off the reel, but the fish stayed deep. With a lot of line off the reel, we looked a long way back and saw a sailfish jumping. On the second jump, the fish threw the hook and Mike had a long wind back.

Things went very quiet, but we stuck to the current line and after an hour or so, the deep line went away, shortly followed by the second deep line. Two nice dorado bounced around out the back. While this was going on, the close surface line went away and we had a triple. I put my rod in the holder to clear the other lines. I just started winding when the rod pulled flat and we had a 4^th fish on. This was going to be interesting! At’s fish unfortunately burnt off and when my fish jumped near the boat, it spat the hooks, but there was another free swimmer around the boat, so I grabbed the bass rod and flicked it out. Immediately I went on to a really nice fish which ran out a lot of line, luckily away from the other fish. Mike and At both boated lovely 10kg class dorado. When I finally got mine to the boat, it was a similar size fish.

Fighting my 1st dorado of Summer

With all the lines in the boat, At ran back up North and we put out a fresh spread of bait. It did not take long for one of the close baits to go away and Mike fought another nice dorrie. When this fish was near the boat, it had a follower, so I pitched it a livie on the bass rod and went on immediately. We managed to boat both fish after really great fights! The wind had picked up a bit, so we drifted south in the current line and when I noticed a bit of floating debris, I threw a stick bait at it. The lure just started moving when I went on. This time it was a small tropical yellowtail. While this was going on, Mike hooked another dorado on a close bait. When I looked up after releasing the tropical, I saw a few dorado in the water and quickly flicked out the stick bait again. Three dorado charged in to grab the lure and I hooked one. The fish went mental in the air and when it landed, the others tried to grab the lure hanging out its mouth. With the commotion, one of the other fish swam into the light braid and cut it off! The other fish then all gave chase after the hooked one and disappeared.

Again, we ran a few hundred meters and set the baits. Unfortunately, the Easterly wind came up, slowing things down. We decided to just drift back to the point then go back in. Just as we were ready to pack up, I spotted a dorado swimming down the swell towards the lines. It was no surprise when the reel went away and Mike hooked up. The fish also had a follower, but it did not want to eat. With the dorado in the boat, we packed up and headed home after a great day’s fishing.

First Dorado of the season

On Saturday 21st October, Wayne, Lorenzo and I launched “Galavant” off Cape Vidal. The conditions were uncomfortable with a fine drizzle and moderate SE wind. The sea was a bit bumpy with very little pattern. Our game plan was to troll a few lures around to get an idea of where the fish were holding and then put some baits out.

Lorenzo's PB Dorado

I rigged up 3 lures and trolled south towards the lighthouse. There was not much action, so I headed a bit deeper and found a few birds dipping. As I turned through them, one reel went away. Wayne fought the fish and soon had a cuda next to the boat which I went to gaff. I unfortunately messed the entire process up when the end of the gaff got stuck in a fold in my jacket and I could not lift the fish into the boat. It shook the hooks and managed to get off the gaff… epic fail. The lures went out again and I trolled back toward the point to catch some bait. I trolled over a bit of a showing and the far lure went away. This time I made no mistake and safely lifted Wayne’s cuda into the boat.

We were almost on the bait spot, so we cleared the lines and ran to the marks. There were massive shoals of mackerel and it took all of 5 minutes to get a hatch full of bait. I rigged up 5 lines and we tacked between 18 and 28m, heading south. It was very quiet for a quite some time before I saw the far surface rod bend. I ran to the reel and would it tight. A nice dorado jumped around on top for a bit while we got Lorenzo kitted up with a bucket. The fish had a lot of line in the water so I followed after it and after about 20 minutes, we had a lovely fish in the hatch… Lorenzo’s biggest.

There were a few birds dipping ahead of us on some bonnies so I quickly threw a spoon into them. On the first cast, I went tight and the fish took a long fast run. After a strong fight, I managed to get a yellowfin tuna into the boat which was bled. I made another cast and got a beautiful jube-jube but it was hooked in the gills and died. The next cast produced another jube-jube and I immediately rigged it live. We were 100% sure it would not take long to get a pull but after working the area for an hour without any action I moved shallower and north towards the point. I had just made a deep turn when the far surface mackerel went away. The line went down immediately and we all knew it was another yellowfin which I winched in. Despite pulling the live bonnie for a few hours, it was not eaten and when we got back to the point, we released it and headed back in. All the other boats battled for fish and it seemed like we had the most fish for the day so we could not complain.

Salmon Surprise

On Sunday 1^st October, I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. My crew was a no show so I decided to go it alone. There was a small weather window so before the NE was going to pick up so a quick Garrick session was in order. I headed out the harbour at 5:30 and a short distance out of the mouth I noticed some baitfish on the surface. I stopped and sounded around. There were big bait showings so I went down with the jigs and managed a few maasbanker. I thought that I didn’t need many as I was alone and was only going to try for a few hours.

I put out 2 surface baits and one deep and trolled around the bait showings. The outgoing tide pushed me out to sea so I turned shallower and worked the colour line. An hour or so in and there was very little action. I saw one kingfish from a boat anchored nearby but not one Garrick. The water was pretty dirty but there were some good showings. At one point, I stopped the boat and dropped the bait jigs. Immediately I went on to some bait but then there was a heavy pull as something ate it. I instinctively released the drag assuming it was a Garrick that had eaten it and I didn’t want to break it off. While I was tussling the fish, the deep line had sunk and the reel went away. I leaned over and freespooled thinking it was a second Garrick. Unfortunately with too few hands onboard and too many fish on, I lost both fish. When I retrieved the bait, they had heavy bite marks… definitely not a Garrick.

Some great eating fish for the family

I made a turn and passed over the same spot and it was no surprise when the deep reel went away. I ran back and tightened up immediately. The rod keeled over and there were some big headshakes, but not much of a run. While I was tussling, the surface rod went away. After a short feed, I hooked up. The fish went on a short run and after some head shakes, the hook pulled. At least I could now focus on the first fish. The fish tired and came to the boat. It was a decent size kob of around 100cm. fun on a light Garrick rig. Knowing there were a few fish there, I only rigged 2 rods and made a turn. Again, as I went over the spot, I got the pull. The fish were all about the same size and gave me a great fight. The fish were really eating but being alone on the boat, I missed quite a few. So much so that I ran out of bait. Luckily the bait spot was not too far and when I stopped on the mark and sent the jigs down, I managed a string of maasbanker. I made a b-line for the spot and this time only sent 1 bait down. As I trolled over the spot, I hooked up and had another great tussle. By now the other boats had cottoned on to what I was doing and soon there were 4 boats around me. Luckily, I only needed one more to get quota and it did not take long to get the pull.

I had my tag kit onboard and thought it would be a good chance to tag some fish so I rerigged and headed back into the fray. It was difficult to get into position with all the boats jockeying for pole position. The strengthening wind also made driving/fishing difficult. When I did finally get onto the mark, the showing had vanished. I sounded around, but found nothing. I can only assume it was the sudden increase in boat traffic everyone with their echo sounders on. Be that as it may, I had had a great morning with the surprise salmon catch so even though it was still early, I upped lines and headed home.

The Long Night

On Thursday 14^th September at 8pm, Andre, Terrence and I launched “Good Time” off of Richards Bay. There had been quite a few good size daggas around so we were hoping to catch a few... and while we were at it, stay out till morning and fish for garrick at first light. The sea was relatively calm with a slight onshore wind. There were quite a few boats fishing but none had caught any fish yet. we took our time sounding around until we found some good structure and some bait showings. After throwing the anchor, we could see how we would lie with the wind and current. Unfortunately, the anchor did not hold so we put a second anchor in tandem and threw again. This time it held and we positioned ourselves right on the spot.

Andre got to work catching shad while Terrence and I rigged up our bottom rods. With a good supply of bait, we rigged up 3 shad and sent them down. Things were very quiet for about an hour before Terrence caught a nice rockcod on his live shad. This was a good indicator that we were on some structure so we didn’t need to check the sounder to see if we had moved or not.

Andre had put his rod in a holder and continued catching shad. I kept an eye on the rod and as it would happen, the rod tip bumped a few times then keeled over. Andre dropped the shad rod and grabbed the bottom rod. There were a few good head nods with short strong runs, typical of a dagga. After a good fight, Andre had his first dagga on the boat… a fish of about 17kg. About half an hour later, Terence had a pull with another salmon. This fish was quite small in comparison and was under the 1.1m mark so he could still fish a bit. Things went very quiet for about an hour or two but then at about 2am, Terrence went on with a really strong fish. The head nods were big and it made some good runs. Terrence was convinced that it was a shark but we were not convinced. The fish had Terrence at his breaking point and just when he was about to hand over the rod, the leader came through the top guide. I looked over and saw a beautiful dagga. This was by far his personal best and ended up being 34kg.

The rest of morning passed with only one other missed fish so at 4:45 we pulled anchor and headed back to harbour to weigh the fish. Terrence headed home as he had to work but Andre and I decided to take the few live shad we had left to the south pier and try for a Garrick. There was a competition on the pier so there were a lot of lines in the water. We had to give them a wide berth to avoid any unnecessary conflict. As we made our first pass, a Garrick chased the close bait but never grabbed it. I made a turn over the same area and the far line went away. Andre fed the fish but the line never picked up. The bait came back looking worse for wear so I put on a fresh one. Two passed later and the far line went away. This time the fish fed well and Andre hooked up to his first Garrick. The fish was quite strong and when it got to the boat, there was a lot of blood coming from the gills so we loaded the 7kg fish. 

There were a few fish around as the fishing skis and other boats also got fish so I stuck around the area. Unfortunately the dredger came around the pier and we were forced to move. I headed south into the backline to a nice looking colour line so I put the baits out. One of the rods I was using was the bait rod we used to catch shad the night before. As Murphy would have it, that bait was eaten. I fed the fish and tightened up. The little reel sang as the Garrick went on a run, but it took strain when I put some pressure on it. The gears sounded like they had blown and it took a long time to finally get the fish to the boat. It was a similar size fish to Andre’s. With one Garrick each (and the lack of sleep) we decided to head home after what I would call a successful trip. Anyone interested in booking a bottomfish charter off Richards Bay, contact Andre from Good Time Charters.

2017 Richards Bay Garrick Derby

On Saturday 9^th September, At and I launched Avanti off Richards Bay. Our Club Garrick Derby was on so we had decided to enter.

Our first stop was at the pipe where we quickly caught a hatch full of livies before heading north towards Hlobane. On arrival, I put out 2 surface baits and 2 deeper baits. At slow trolled north towards a good-looking rip. It wasn’t long before we had our first pull. I fed the fish and hooked up. After a typical Garrick fight, we had points on the board. It was not a monster, but at least we had one. While I was rerigging, the deep line went away very slowly. I leant over and put the drag up. There were a few head nods and a slow run. At pulled the fish which ended up being a big rockcod.

Lines went out again and as we passed through the rip, At went on with a Garrick. It was also a small fish, so we released it. Trolling continued and as we went, I cast a stickbait into the backline. At one stage, a Garrick lazily followed the lure and faded off near the boat. I carried on casting and moments later there was a commotion on the surface as a Garrick chased the close bait. I freespooled as the bait was eaten and hooked up to another fish. When it was close to the boat, we noticed a lot of blood coming out the gills so decided to take it.

For the next half an hour we never had a pull so At turned us around and headed back to where we started fishing. This time when I saw a big splash on the surface, it was a big shark chasing the shad. Before I could get the bait away, it was eaten. I tried to strike it off, but unfortunately the hook set properly and the shark took off in the opposite direction. I was on max drag and thumbing the spool trying to part off, but only after a few burnt fingers, I managed to part off.

The next hour or two produced quite a few strikes, but the fish didn’t commit to the bait properly. They would grab it and run a few meters then spit the bait. Some would be on for a few seconds and as they started taking line, they would throw the bait. Frustrating to say the least.

As we moved north, there were less pulls so again we headed back to the start of our GPS track. It wasn’t long before we had a smoker on the deep line. This was obviously not a Garrick so I tightened up almost immediately. The fish took a lot of line on a fast and strong run but suddenly the tension was gone. On closer inspection, you could see that the leader cut off in the rocks. Obviously one of the kingfish that had been around the last while.

The next 2 pulls were both Garrick and both hooked up properly. These fish were however also shoal size so we released them both. It was getting late and we had another day’s fishing the next day so we packed up and headed home.

On Sunday 10^th September, we launched again and quickly caught some livies before making a B-Line for the south pier. There was a nice current line with plenty bait around. I put out 3 lines while At trolled along the break. It wasn’t long before the far bait went away. I fed and hooked up to a Garrick. It gave me a good fight until we could boat it. It was a bit bigger than the previous day’s fish. I wasted no time in rerigging and soon we had another pull. At had a great fight on a spinning reel with a strong Garrick making it 2 fish in 30 minutes.

There were a few chases around the boat so it was no surprise when we had another pull. When I hooked up, the fish took off on a strong run. The line angled towards the surface and the surface erupted as a big queenfish angrily launched itself. This was a big surprize as we normally don’t get them off the boats at this time of year. The fish made a few great jumps before going deep, making me work for every inch of line. It was a great fight on a spinning rod. Eventually the fish was at the surface where we could get hold of it and take some pics.

It was now only 8am and things were looking good… but looks could be deceiving… Despite working the area for several more hours, we never had another pull so at 1pm we headed home.