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.

First timer success

On Friday 24^th January 2020, my Dad, brother-in-law Dan and I launched “ABF” off Vidal. It was the first time Dan had been to see so I was hoping to get anything for him to catch.

We started off by filling the live well with mackerel and maasbanker before heading north to Oscar where, after making 2 drifts, only missed one fish that pulled the hook. There was not much else around so we headed further north to Leven point. Speaking to the other skippers, it seemed like it was pretty slow so I headed deeper to the dropoff to try for an amberjack. Unfortunately, most of the fish we hooked were taxed by the sharks, but at least Dan was getting used to the feel of fighting a fish.

I headed in shallower, put out a few livies and trolled along the 10 to 12m line. It didn’t take long to get a pull and Dan had the chance to fight his first cuda. Near the boat, it swam around the deep line which I had to cut to prevent a burn off. While hauling in the bait, the line went heavy as a fish grabbed the bait. It was quite a struggle holding on to 10kg handline with a feisty fish. I managed to get the fish right to the boat but it went on a run and a big potato bass grabbed it, resulting in a few deep line cuts. I held on, but the line eventually popped. Dan in the meanwhile had his fish next to the boat where my Dad gaffed it. Finally the ice was broken. We made another pass over the mark and sure enough went on with another small cuda.

We were all happy with the 2 cuda and could take it easy for a bit. In the next hour we missed 2 more cuda and released 2 kaakap. Not wanting to have a long day, we put on a few lures and headed home, managing to get a 2kg bonnies to end off the day. All in all it was a great day, great weather and a few fish.

Nominate the depth

On Sunday 29^th December 2019, At, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” at Cape Vidal. This was going to be my last fishing trip for the year and we had decided to target marlin with live bait. We were through the surf at 5am and quickly stopped on the point to catch some livies … just in case. From there we headed to Oscar to try for tuna species for out marlin bait.

We put out 4 rapalas/halcos and a small skirt and trolled around the marks. After 20 mins, the japan went away with what turned out to be an 8kg yellowfin. It went into the tube (just) and we continued looking. Half an hour later and we managed to find 3 beautiful bonito of around 2kg each. The Yellowfin was removed from the tube and bled to make space for the smaller baits. At headed out to 80m where I rigged up one of the bonnies and a big maasbanker. As we headed out, the water colour went greener so we opted to fish shallow in the clean water. At about 9:45, a big hammerhead came up and grabbed the bait. Luckily it bit off the hook and we were left with only 2 baits going into the prime. As At turned to go shallower, the live maasbanker went away with a 10kg dorrie which was a nice bonus for supper.

The prime time started at 10:35 and anticipations were high. Conditions looked good and we were sure something would happen. At had nominated the depth of 124m where we were going to hookup but as we headed deeper and over the 124m mark, it was still quiet. We turned at 175m and started out inward tack. As the sounder read 124m, the bait revved hard. I grabbed the line out the rigger and felt that sudden heavy weight that pulled the line out my hand. I fed the fish for a few meters then slowly tightened up, hoping that the circle hook would do the rest. The rod loaded up as we came tight and the line slowly angled to the surface. Behind a big swell, we could just make out the bill of a marlin breaking the surface. Pierre jumped into the chair and connected up the harness. The marlin didn’t take much line and it stayed just under the surface. I was sure that it was going to give me a hiding next to the boat as it was not using up any energy. We eased off the drag hoping that it would go on a run but only when it was on the double line did it sound and take some line. With its head turned, the fish picked up speed and made a few jumps before settling. 

This was the first good look we had of it. What was strange was that the circle hook was not in the corner, but in the bottom jaw. There was also quite a bit of blood coming out the gills. Pierre kept some pressure on and the marlin quietly came in next to the boat. I took the leader but there was no real resistance. The fish was lying on its side with little kick left. We decided to load it and give it to the local community instead of feeding a bunch of unwanted sharks. To make our job easier, I put on a bill rope and both Pierre and I pulled it into the boat. 

It was now 11:30 and we had an hour of prime left. Our last bonnie had died so it was back to Oscar pinnacle to look for bait. Luckily it only took 5 mins of trolling to get a 3kg yellowfin. Perfect bait! I rigged it up and put it out. It swam beautifully but despite our best efforts we could not tempt anything else to bite. At 13:30 we cut the bait loose and headed back to camp. The fish weighed 123.2kg.

Some fun at Vidal

At 5:30 on Saturday 7^th December 2019, At, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” off Cape Vidal. The NE wind was blowing but a SW was predicted for mid morning. There was a bit of surf, but the launch was uneventful. The first stop was to catch live bait off the point which proved to be challenging compared to most days, but after 45 minutes, we had a decent supply and headed south towards the lighthouse.

Pierre and I rigged up a few baits and settled in to wait. It was pretty quiet for about an hour before we got our first dorado in the boat. There seemed to be a few fish in the shallows, so we headed to that area. On the way, we had a pull on the deep line, but pulled the hooks on what was probably a cuda. At turned at about 15m and sure enough as the lines straightened out, the close reel went away with our second dorado. The NE started settling as the SW approached, but the fish also went quiet. Apart from another small dorado and a big shark, things were quiet. We were positive that when the wind turned that we would get a few more pulls.

At 11am, the SW came through at 15knots, picking up the sea a bit. By then we were far south so we had a big area to work back. There was not much current so with the boat’s nose facing north with the wind, we drifted towards home at a perfect speed. It took about half an hour for the fish to start biting and within an hour we had quite a few strikes. The majority of the pulls were dorado but I did manage to get a yellowfin tuna of around 8kg. It gave me a good rev on a long cuda rod.

At 2pm, we were off the lighthouse and the hatch was pretty full. We knew that there was a lot of filleting work to do, so we pulled in the livies and put on 3 small konas to troll home. The lines were out for a short while when the close lure had a bump but the fish missed the hooks. Moments later the far line had a bump. This time we could see that it was a sailfish having a go at the lure. Unfortunately, it missed the hook despite grabbing it 3 times. With that, we upped lines and headed home.

On Sunday 8^th December, At and I launched “Avanti”. The SW was still blowing so we headed south into the wind pulling small lures and strip baits as we went. It didn’t take long to get a pull and soon had a nice dorrie in the boat. Soon after, we missed on that threw the hooks. It was about 8am when we rigged the first livies and the lines were just set when the two close lines went away with dorries. At and I fought fish to the boat and landed both of them. At turned to troll over the same spot when we had another pull but it threw the hooks after a few seconds. Not to worry as moments later another dorrie ate the close bait and we had 4 fish in the hatch. We thought it was going to be a bumper morning, but just like that, things went stone dead. For a few hours, we had no action but finally as we passed the lighthouse, two rods went away. One was a really nice fish that took a lot of line. While this was going on, I saw a free swimmer, pitched it a bait and went straight on. The 3 fish were jumping everywhere but the show had to go on so I put out another livie close to the boat. It was barely 10m out when a dorado came flying in and grabbed. Now we had our hands full but luckily we stayed attached and boated all four fish.

We had drifted a long way from where we had hooked them so At trolled back on that line. It wasn’t long before we were on again. This time it was a bigeye kingfish that we released. It seemed like the shoal had moved on as we didn’t get another pull in that area so we headed north towards the point. Just before we upped lines, I managed to get one last dorado for the weekend. At noon, we headed back to the beach.

2019 12 x 12 Species comp

On Friday 25^th October, Okkie Theunissen and I launched “Hannock” off St Lucia. We were going to check out the conditions before the 12x12 species comp. Our first stop was to get livies which didn’t take too long. We then headed north in the backline checking out some likely spots as we went. We found a good rip and pulled a few livies around without a strike. I started casting lures and had a few strikes but didn’t manage to convert. At 8:30, we headed to the ledge to look for a tuna. Within a few minutes, we went on with 3 tuna, two of which were released. As we trolled down the ledge, we had a number of strikes and caught several tuna. By 10am, we were ready to beach and spend some time working on some tackle for the next 2 days.

That night, a cold front came through, bringing with it rain, lightening and wind. This caused a big change in the water and we knew things were going to be a bit tough. 

The next morning, Okkie, Frank, Zander and I launched at 5:15 and quickly caught some livebait. Again, we headed up north and fished the backline area. We managed to quickly release 2 kingfish and missed a snoek. At 9am we headed out to the ledge and managed to get 2 skipjack tuna. Things were looking good as we tried for our 3^rd species. 

This took longer than usual but eventually we managed to get a yellowfin tuna. There were a few reports of sailfish in the shallows so we headed in that direction, puling all the standard sailfish paraphernalia. Unfortunately, we could not raise one and made a switch to live bait, hoping to get a dorado, cuda or sailfish. The lines had just gone out when the far livie went away. The fish was at the boat fairly quickly and I managed to gaff a small wahoo. Things went quiet after that and we ended with just the 4 species. At the weighin we found out that the skippies were just under the minimum weight so we had to settle for a 6^th position.

Day 2 was another early morning and we were on the backline by 5:30. There had been a number of snoek the precious day so that was our first target species. It was almost too easy as within 15 minutes, we had a nice snoek in the hatch. After another few turns, we managed to get a small kingfish on a lure, but it was below the minimum weight. The next stop was to get some bait and within 10 minutes, the livewell was full of beautiful mackerel. The ledge was our next stop and soon after putting out lines, we caught 2 bonnies. These were also too small so we continued the search. The wind had now dropped and the sea was very flat. All the boats were battling for fish, including us. Apart from 2 sharks, we never had another pull and ended up with just one species for the day.

Unfortunately, this year’s comp was not ours to do very well in. We did manage to get the biggest wahoo of the comp, so it was not a total washout. Thanks to Okkie and the team for a great weekend.