The Need for Speed

On Saturday 3^rd August, Pierre Smit, My Dad and I launched “AVANTI” off Richards Bay. The weather forecast looked good and we were hoping to get a few snoek. We left the harbour in the dark and ran up north to 5 mile light house. It was just getting light when I set the rods. I put out 2 fillets, 2 redeyes and a whole sardine.

 

I had just cleared the deck when I heard a reel go. It was the whole sardine had been eaten. The reel gave two or three short bursts as the fish shook its head and then it absolutely smoked off! It was definitely a nice cuda that had just figured out that it was hooked. I took the rod out the holder and eased off on the drag. I was about to pass the rod to Pierre when the reel went silent and the rod flicked back. I retrieved the line to see that the light #3 lead wire had broken... which was expected. We were not targeting cuda and it is very seldom that you get them out on the scaled down traces.

 

I was busy rerigging the trace when another reel went away. This time it was on a redeye. I passed the rod to my Dad who brought in a nice snoek. Great start. I rerigged the baits and replaced the whole sardine with a small razorbelly. Pierre trolled shallower as the sun was just clearing the horizon. In 12m of water, 2 reels went off. One on a redeye and the other on the razorbelly. Pierre and I took the rods. The fish swam everywhere and picked up a few lines in the process. After a bit of bobbing and weaving, we managed to load 2 nice snoek. Again I rigged the baits and Pierre tacked deeper. We were in 16m when a redeye went away. My Dad took the rod and after a good fight, loaded another snoek. We had found the line that the fish were on so we worked it for a while. I was throwing a spoon as we trolled and I noticed a big swirl behind the lure. I increased the retrieve speed and a snoek came flying up behind it. It bumped the lure then turned off. I made a few more casts and had fish follow every time. I was expecting a reel to go away, but nothing. We worked the area a bit more and I was busy retrieving the sardine to check it when I saw a dark shape behind it. I wound faster and a snoek raced in and gripped the bait. It took a few meters of line then pulled the hook. It definitely seemed as if the fish wanted a bit more speed as every time I increased the retrieve speed, it would induce a strike. Pierre increased the speed of the boat and pulled through the area. The rod with a redeye bent as we went on to something small. Pierre pulled in a nice big garfish that managed to get snagged, and released it.

 

We rigged up 3 fillets and put them out. I also put out 2 small rapalas. It did not take long for a strike. This time it was on a fillet. Pierre took the strike and brought in a small snoek. On the next turn, the same rod went away and the result was another small snoek. After that, the fish switched off and no one had any more action. We upped lines and went to the pipeline to look for Garrick bait. A few pinkies and maasbanker later and we were off to the backline south of the harbour. We trolled in 2.5m to 3m of water going south. I flicked the spoon as we trolled and on the third cast, I had a bump. I continued the retrieve and saw a snoek of around 4kg follow it. Unfortunately it faded off and never came back. After trolling for about an hour without a pull, we upped lines and returned home. We weighed the 2 biggest snoek and they came in at 7kg and 7,2kg.

Mid-week break in the Weather

On Tuesday 23^rd July at 5pm, Wayne, Neville, Zander and I launched “Galavant” off Richards Bay. The weather forecast was excellent and we were keen to get into some Daga Salmon action.

By the time we arrived at the pipe, there were already about 10 boats there. We sounded around until we found a good showing and threw the anchor. The NE was still blowing and this made things more interesting. The wind resistance on the cabin caused the tandem anchors to continuously slip and we could not stay on the spot that we wanted. While retrieving the rope, the anchor hooked up to an old rope that had been discarded by someone else... we were now tied to a spot, 50m away from where we wanted to be, and could not get the anchor untangled in the wind / swell. We decided to stay right there, in the desert, and give it a shot.

 

We went about catching some live bait and in no time we had 4 baits in the water. Things were exceptionally quiet and not one of the boats had had a touch yet. At 7:30, Wayne informed us that he was getting a pull but when he tightened up, the hook pulled! Unlucky. At least we were now more confident about the spot we were in.

I was using 8kg line instead of 100Lbs braid. Knowing that there is a 1 fish bag limit, I was hoping to have some fun with the fish as opposed to ripping it in as fast as possible. About half an hour later, I felt my bait rev followed by a heavy bump on the rod. I fed the fish a few meters then tightened up. The rod keeled over as the fish went on a run. The other guys lifted their lines generously to avoid tangles and breaking off. The swell gave me a hard time but eventually, I turned the fish and got it to the surface. Wayne gaffed a nice daga that we estimated 17kg. With a fish on the deck, the pressure was off. I was out for the night and kept myself busy catching shad.

The wind started dropping and it turned into a beautiful evening. Zander was the next one to suddenly stand at the ready as his rod bumped. After a short feed, he hooked up and was pulled flat to the gunwale. The scarborough reel knocked him a few times before he got control. This fish was very strong and kept him busy for a good 10 minutes we got colour. It was a beautiful daga that I gaffed and hauled aboard. We all called it 30kg plus! What a nice fish.

As Wayne’s bait hit the bottom, he felt a bump but it was not his lucky night and missed the fish. The bait came back with teeth marks everywhere. Things went quiet again and at 11pm we upped lines. After struggling to get the anchor loose for about an 20 minutes, we headed back to the harbour. The fish weighed in at 18,8kg and 33kg. Really nice fish considering...

 

Putting the Fun back into Fishing...

On Sunday 21^st, Wayne, Zander and I were bored and looking for something to keep us busy so we launched “Galavant” in the Bay. There had been the odd Garrick around so we took a few small rods and headed for the south pier. We anchored and set about looking for live bait.

 

The pickings were very slim and none of the boats were finding suitable bait. At one stage, Zander caught a small seapike which he was about to release when I asked him to keep it so that we could rig it... desperate times call for desperate measures. I pinned the small pike and put it out in a balloon. I had hardly finished setting the line when the reel gave a short burst. The balloon broke away and I started feeding the fish... hoping for a Garrick. I tightened up and as the rod buckled, the tip shot back. It was a small shark that bit the hook off... This was the start of the shark plague and almost every bait we put out produced one.

Wayne had a tiny rod onboard, intended for the kids to catch blacktail and moonies at the mooring. I could not pass up the challenge and rigged up a bottom trace with a bloody chunk of sardine. I struggled to get a shark, but managed to get a few small bottomfish. I cut up some chum sardines to try and attract the shad. Eventually, Zander caught one and rigged it on a balloon. While this was going on, I persevered with my “Noddy” rod.

Finally, I felt the line tighten up and the game was on... The little rod bent to angles that I have never seen before as reel screamed off. AWESOME! I had a great fight with the fish making a few good runs before it was close enough for Zander to grab it. Classic! Its amazing how a bit of light tackle can bring the fun out in any kind of fishing.

 

Unfortunately the day ended without a Garrick, but we all had a great day on the water.

The Show Must Go On

On Saturday 29^th June, Jannie Jacobs, his wife Mia and son TJ, Francé and I launched “Ohana” off Richards Bay. Our club was hosting a Ladies and Junior Competition so Jannie asked me to be deckhand on Saturday while he skipped. The competition was supposed to be a “Ladies and Junior Interclub”, but unfortunately, after the invites had been sent out to all the clubs in South Africa, we only had 1 team from PE send a team. Disappointing to say the least. As the saying goes, the show must go on and the RBSBC changed the format to a social comp and invited all members to enter. There was an overwhelming response for such short notice and 12 teams ended up fishing! Great to see the enthusiasm and support from local members.

The format of the comp was 1 point per kg and the minimum weight of 1kg. No IGFA rules and no line class. It was as relaxed as a comp could be. The weather favourable on day one and all the boats launched by first light. We headed for the pipeline and collected some live bait before heading to the ledge. The sea was a bit bumpy, but was predicted to settle. I put out 4 small halcos and an Ilander saillure, just incase there was a sailfish lurking. Jannie trolled over the ledge and as the reef started, one of the reels went off. I passed the rod to Francé who brought in a small yellowfin tuna... first points on the board. Without wasting time, the lines went out again. There were a lot of albatross around and we snagged one on the surface lure. Jannie trolled over a midwater showing and it was no surprise when 4 reels went away. Mia, TJ and Francé all fought fish while I cleared the dead line. Unfortunately the one fish pulled the hook but Mia and Francé each landed the shoalie yellowfins. TJ’s fish was converted to a shark which bit through the nylon leader after a while. We continued trolling and went away with a good fish on the surface lure. It took a lot of line and we had to turn after it to slow the run. While I was clearing the deck, the hook pulled... unlucky. A short while later, Francé caught another small yellowfin.

By now we were pretty confident that we had a good position on the leader board and decided to fish for a cuda. I rigged up 2 dead baits and 3 livies. Jannie slow-trolled across the ledge and it was not long before a reel went off. Due to a bout of seasickness, most of our crew were out of action so Francé took the strike. She fought it well but when it was near the boat, it made a fast run followed by a slow, constant pull heading to sea... another conversion. The baits went out again and two more sharks and an albatross later, we were near the end of the ledge. As we were deciding to try another spot, the downrigger rod went away. Again Francé took the strike and brought an 8kg cuda to the boat. That was our last strike for the day and we were back in the harbour by 3pm.

On Sunday, I fished on “ABF” with Martinus Mathee. We tried to get a Garrick, but they were not having any of it. Apart from a small snoek, our day was quiet.

All the competition boats launched in perfect conditions. After a long day, there were a lot of small yellowfin and the odd snoek and cuda weighed. Francé took the top individual, TJ ended 7^th and Mia 9^th due to a few more yellowfins on the ledge.

Congrats to the committee for hosting a really great social event that included the whole family. I hope that this can be an annual event, with more interest from other clubs.

First Snoek of the Season

On Sunday 23^rd June, Mike and Dale Leenstra and I launched “Beluga” off Richards Bay. We were just going for a relaxed social outing and had no plans of really fishing too hard. Mike also wanted to test his new GPS / echo sounder.

The sea was calm and a nice clean green colour. We stopped at the pipeline, but after almost an hour, we had not caught a single live bait. This often happens after a SW buster comes through. We decided not to flog a dead horse, so we headed for 5 Mile. There had been a few Snoek (Queen Mackerel) caught there the previous day, so it seemed like the logical place to start. Dale and I put out a few baits and Mike trolled along the colourline looking to find a fish. It was not long before the surface bait went away with a small fish. After much deliberation, I took the rod and winched in a small snoek ... my first for the season. The baits went in again and the search continued. After about an hour, we were quite far north and turned back to work the shallow ledge. Dale and I were playing around with the GPS when a nice midwater showing came through. We were still joking about it being a shoal of snoek when one of the reels went off. Mike took the strike and landed a nice 4kg fish. While Dale and Mike rigged and set the lines, I turned back towards the waypoint. The showing had gone, so I tacked north for a few hundred meters. By luck, we drove over the showing again and the deep bait went on. Mike was next to the rod, so he  brought in a really nice fish, the biggest of the day so far... around 6kg. I was busy turning when the other deep bait had a pull. Unfortunately it missed the hooks. The baits were rerigged and I trolled the area without another pull. I started trolling north as it seemed like thats the way the shoal had been moving. About 20minutes  later, the deep bait went away with a small fish which Dale brought in. We were keen to release it, but unfortunately it was in the gills so we kept it.

 

Things went a bit quiet for a while and we were contemplating returning to port. At one stage, Edmund Johnstone came past us and went on with a fish. He had been trolling lures and had had a few strikes already. That was enough to convince us to change rigs. Dale and Mike set the lines and I tacked back over the area we had found a few fish earlier. It was not long before we had a pull. Dale took the strike and when I slacked the speed, another rod went away. Dale got a small snoek to the boat where we released it. Mine was in the gills and bleeding badly so it went into the hatch. I made another turn and this time the japan rod went away. Mike took it and got another nice size fish to the boat.

 

It was 11am, so we decided to troll back home. We had gone about a kilometre when we spotted a shoal of halfbeaks leaping out of the water toward us. We all agreed that there must be something chasing them and when our lines came into the area, a reel went off. Dale passed me the rod. It was hardly fighting, so we assumed it was small and would release it. When it came to the boat, it turned out to be one of the biggest fish of the day, so it ended up in the hatch.

 

We trolled right into the harbour without another pull. It was a really enjoyable day and the fact that we had a few fish was a bonus. Mike and my fish weighed in at 6.3kg and 6.4kg respectively.

Tuna Tango

On Monday 17^th June, Carl, Julie, my Dad and I launched “SELFISH” off Richards Bay. It was a laid back day and we only put to sea at 7:30. A big cold front had moved through over the previous 2 days and there was still a bit of a swell and reverse current around.

We stopped at the pipeline to look for bait, but failed. I then headed to a deeper mark between the ships, but could not even find a showing. As we headed south, I tried all my bait marks, but only managed to find small bottomfish. We had no option but to fish with the deadbait that we had.
We arrived at the 32m reef of Petingo and I went about rigging a few baits. With my sister onboard, I was mindful of the ladies 6kg cuda SA record of 21kg, so I had a 6kg outfit that would hopefully produce a nice fish. Opting for a surface mackerel bait on this rod, I let the bait out about 50m. When I put up the drag to place the rod, the resistance of the bait increased, followed by the rod bending. I wound down and tightened up. To my surprise, the reel smoked off. Everyone onboard was oblivious to the fact that I was on so I put on the ratchet to make the situation known. I could not pass the rod to my sister as I had handled it, so I took the strike. My Dad spun the boat around to follow the fish and slow the run. The line came to the surface which made my job of regaining line very easy as we sped toward the fish. Just before we could identify it, it sounded, taking about 20m of line. From that point, the fight changed to a straight up and down tug o war. I thought the fish had tailwrapped as I could feel the steady tail beats on the rod. Slowly, inch by inch, I lifted the fish on the light 2kg drag. As the fish neared, it began to make the characteristic big circles of a tuna. I looked down and could see the short silver shape of some sort of tuna, but it almost looked like a big kawa-kawa. Finally after another 10 minutes of circling, the fish came within range and Carl gaffed the fish. It was a nice yellowfin tuna. Not bad for the first bait of the day.
I rerigged and set all the lines while we trolled the reef looking for some form of life. About half an hour later, while adjusting the deep lines, I heard a reel go. I looked up to see the 6kg rod bending. I called to my sister to take the rod while Carl and I cleared the other lines. The fish did not put up too much of  struggle and came to the boat pretty quick. It too was a yellowfin, but only a small one. Still, a nice fight on 6kg line.
We trolled around until noon before moving to Petingo, but by 2pm we had not had a pull, so we upped lines and headed back. My yellowfin ended up weighing 14.2kg and Julies was 4,2kg.

Tangling with Daga

On Friday afternoon 14^th June, Jannie Jacobs, Jannie's brother, Robert and I launched “OHANA” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find a few dagga salmon that had been around. After arriving at the pipeline, we sounded around for a while to look for signs of life. It was not long before we found large bait showings indicating the spot to focus our efforts. We checked the drift before setting the sand anchor. We positioned ourselves perfectly on the top of the showing and I set about catching a few maasbanker before the sun went down.

As the sun set, the bait went off the bite so we set about rigging up the bottom rods. While Jannie rigged 2 rods to catch shad, I hooked up a live maasie and sent it down. It only took about 15 minutes before I felt the heavy bumps on the rod. I fed the fish for a few turns before I tightened up. The rod buckled over as the fish ran, but this was short lived as the hook pulled out after a few meters. After losing the first fish, everyone scrambled for a rod and sent down a livie. With a few lines down, our chances improved and Robert was the next to get a bump. This turned out to be a really nice rockcod. By now, the shad were around the boat so it was operation live bait and within half an hour, there was a healthy supply of bigger livebait for the evening.

Jannie put the bait rod down and rigged a shad on his bottom rod. The bait was only down for a few minutes before he had a pull. Unfortunately, his result was the same as mine... pulled hook. Things went a bit quiet and by 7:30 we still had no dagga on the boat. There were about 14 boats on the pipe and by the sounds of things, there was very little action. I switched on the echo sounder to see what was going on below. I saw that we were a few meters off the pipe, probably due to the wind and current pulling on the anchor. We pulled in a bit of rope until we were on top of the pipe and the showing... things had to happen. I put out a trapstick with a live maasie and floated it out the back. There had been a few kingfish in the evenings and I was hoping for one to climb on. Probably 10 minutes later, Robert had a bump and hooked up to a nice fish. Moments later, Jannie also hooked up so there was a bit of weaving to keep the lines apart. Jannie mentioned that he could feel another line on his line and next thing, his line parted! Robert managed to get his fish to the boat where we gaffed a 16kg dagga. When we lifted his fish into the boat, I saw that my trapstick line had been tangled up and while loosening the knot, I felt something pulling back on the other end... there was a fish on my line. Quickly we undid the tangle and I went about fighting the fish. As it came close, my trace cleared the water, with my bait still intact. There was however another line tangled around it... it was Jannies fish that had burnt off earlier! After handlining the fish, Jannie gaffed a 14kg dagga. Talk about lucky!

We had caught 2 fish in 15 minutes so there was obviously a shoal under the boat. I set my trapstick again and then put out a bottom rod looking to hookup the conventional way. I had just hit the bottom when the trapstick reel went away. I handed off my bottom rod and took up the other rod. Thinking this was a kingfish, I fought it really hard and within a few minutes, the fish was next to the boat. It turned out to be another salmon of 18kg... what a luck. I rerigged another bait on the same rod and had just turned to drop another bait when the reel went again. This time It took off at quite a speed with some good head nods. At one stage, I felt a rope on my line so I freespooled for a bit. Luckily the line came free and I muscled the fish to the surface. It turned out to be yet another salmon. This was the biggest so far and ended up being 21,3kg... not bad for a cuda stick.

It was now 8:30 and we had out quota of salmon. We opted to continue fishing and release any further fish we caught. Despite fishing for another hour, we had no further action and headed back to port. Thanks to Jannie and crew for a great night.

A Royal Flush ... complete with a Joker

On Saturday 8^th June at 6am, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. The weather forecast indicated that this would be the only fishable day before a big front came though. There were already a lot of boats on the water, most of which were headed north to look for snoek. The snoek catches had been very sporadic and I was not keen to hassle with 30 boats for maybe 1 fish. With the water being so clean, we opted to fish close to the harbour at the spots that we very seldom try.
Our first stop was at the pipeline where we caught some livies. They were a bit on the small side so we headed to a deeper bait mark. The showings on the echo indicated a big dense shoal of bait on the bottom so I went down with the jigs. As I hit bottom, I was on. After a few winds, the rod bumped and pulled down as something bigger latched on. It took a bit of line but unfortunately broke the jigs off. I rerigged and went down again. I was busy retrieving the next string of bait when I saw a big silver number plate a few meters below them. There were obviously a few bigger fish feeding on these baitfish so I rigged up a cuda rod with a make shift trace and bottom sinker and sent it down... just to see what they were. I had just put the rod in the holder, so that I could continue with the bait jigs, when the ratchet went. I tightened up on the drag and went tight on a fish that took a few meters of line then sat sulking. Every now and again, it would bump and take some line. It fought just like a flat fish. About 15 minutes later, I managed to muscle the fish to the surface. When I looked overboard, I got the shock of my life when I saw a big silver shape. I slacked the drag and pampered the fish to the boat where my Dad gaffed a beautiful 8kg queenfish! It was hooked in the dorsal fin which explained the hard fight. We very seldom catch queenies so it was a treat to get one. I went down again with a second bait and again, just after putting the rod in the holder, the reel went and I was on again. This time the fish took quite a bit of line and shook its head violently. I suspected it was another queenie so took my time and managed to get another 6kg fish to the boat. What a treat.

By now we had seen that the fish were right on top of the bait showing and if we were 20m off, we got no pulls so my Dad held the boat in position while I fished. Because queenfish are not a target specie here off Richards Bay, I was keen try and figure out how to catch these fish, while I had the chance. I rigged up a second rod with a double hook trace and 8oz sinker on an elastic. On the other rod I kept the original make shift trace. As my Dad trolled over the mark, the double rig went away but the hooks missed. Moments later the other rod went and we duffed that one too. I rerigged a lighter rod with a trace and sent it down. Almost on contact with the bottom, I went on and hooked a strong fast fish. About 5 minutes into the fight, the line parted and I retrieved a section of very frayed line. I had been cut off on something... After a bit of head scratching, I decided it was no more Mr Nice Guy and the heavy cuda stick came out. I beefed up the rig, including line, hook, leader etc and made another pass. As the showing started, I felt the bait rev followed by a strong take. I hooked up and passed the rod to my Dad. He put good pressure on the fish and 15 mins later had a nice 13kg kingfish next to the boat. On the next pass, I hooked up again. This time the line went slack followed by a big splash on the surface as another queenie cleared the surface. On the second jump, it spat the hook. What a great sight to see. The wind died down, the bait showing thinned out and the action slowed down. In the next hour, I had 2 other takes which were less aggressive and as a result, I missed the fish. My Dad suggested one more drift before moved on. As the bait showing came through, I had a pull followed by a hookup. After a strong fight, I had another 8kg queenie on the boat.

As per our plan, we left the spot to look for a cuda. I rigged up 3 livies and 2 dead baits. We trolled along the ledge looking for some activity. The sea was like a mirror and after nearly an hour of silence, my Dad shouted “There it goes!”. I spun round to see the deep rod bending to the water. The reel ran in short bursts and the line angled to the surface. It did not take a rocket scientist to know what was going to happen next. About 20m behind the boat, a nice sailfish tore up the surface. We cleared lines in a flash and my Dad took the rod. I chased the fish for a while before the sinker came up. I removed it and pulled in alongside the fish. We had no gloves on the boat so an old rag was the substitute. I billed the sailie, tagged it and removed the hooks before taking a few quick pics. It swam away strongly and ended the day off perfectly. We were back in the harbour by 1pm. Not bad for a quick morning.

Avoid the Crowds

On Saturday 25 May, Bryant Beukes and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. By 05:45, there was already a queue for the slipway as the boats lined up to get in the water. The weather prediction was very good and all the guys wanted to see if they could get a snoek or two. Knowing that the snoek grounds were going to look like a highway, I opted to fish South hoping for a last cuda before the season came to an end.

We stopped at the pipeline at 6am. The water was beautiful and in 3 drops Bryant had a hatch full of livebait. With such good conditions, I was keen to see if there were any mackerel on the deeper marks so stopped there on the way, but to no avail. While we were running south, I saw a swirl in front of the boat, then the blue streak of a fleeing dorado. I hit the brakes, quickly rigged a livie and flicked it out hoping the fish was still around. After drifting for a few minutes without any luck, I was about to pull up when I saw a nice showing on the sounder. Bryant went down and went on with a few mackerel. I worked the area and got some more bait before moving on.
 

Bryant with a fat 24kg cuda

We arrived at the 32m area at around 7:30. I rigged up a few bonnies, wala and a surface livie and then started tacking deeper and shallower to look for some activity. It was not long before I picked up a the odd showing on the drop off. Slowly I worked the area and was rewarded with a smoking reel! The surface bait had been eaten by a good fish which was taking a lot of line in a hurry. We cleared the lines before following the fish. When the reel was nearly full, the fish smoked off again, the line pulling a line bubble trail through the water. Both Bryant and I said that there must be something scaring it and moments later, when the fish was on the leader, a big Zambezi shark materialised from the deep. Luckily the fish was tired after the long runs and it was gaffed just before the shark could get hold of it. Talk about good timing. We battled to get the fish into the hatch but with a bit of force, it went in ... just.

 

The lines went in again and the search continued. About an hour later, I we went over a bit of reef and a bottomfish came up and took a few chunks out of the deep bonnie, so we replaced it with a livebait. I made a turn over the same showing and this deep livie went away with speed. As I picked up the rod, the fish broke off. On closer inspection, the mail line between the sinker and the bait had parted. Not great at all. I rerigged the rod and put out another livie. On the next turn, we went over a showing about 5m off the bottom and it was no surprise when the livie went away again. Bryant took the rod and after a good tussle had a shoal cuda in the hatch. Again the lines went back in and trolling resumed. Things went a bit quiet for a while but finally we went over a good showing and the deep wala-wala was eaten. It was quiet  slow pull, ant there were some big head nods. Before I could clear the lines, the fish was off. When Bryant retrieved the line, the 60lbs leader had been broken. The whole leader, double line and about 5m of main line were badly frayed.

 

By 12 o clock, we had not had another pull, so we upped lines and moved to Petingo for the afternoon session. Unfortunately, even with ideal conditions, we did not have a pull and returned home. The cuda was weighed in at 24,0kg. A nice fish to say the least.

2013 Umhlanga Prestige Interclub

At 6am on Saturday 18^th May, Craig, my Dad, Dale and I launched out of Granny’s Pool. We were competing in the 2013 Umhlanga Prestige Interclub. This was the 5^th year in a row that we attended the competition and in my opinion is the best interclub in the country. As defending champions we had high hopes that the fish would play the game again.

 

We were the first boat to launch and had about a 30 minute wait on the backline before the first batch of 10 boats were ready to go. All the boats sped off to the various bait spots. Craig suggested we stop at the Cason as there had been more bait there in the last few days. All the boats battled to get a good amount of live bait but eventually, by the time the second batch of 9 boats were let loose, had a decent supply in the live well.

 

The plan was to look for a queenfish, yellowfin or bonito on the bait marks as they scored more points than a cuda or other gamefish. We made 2 drifts, but had no pulls. I decreased the size of the leader on the surface bait and on the next drift, that rod had a strike. I took the rod and fought a big bonito to the boat. Our first points on the board. The problem was that we were only allowed 1 bonito per angler per day, minimum weight of 6kg. If there were more bonnies, then Dale or my Dad would have to get them... but what if the next pull was not a bonnie?! The next drift produced another strike on the surface and my Dad brought in a bonnie which was too small weigh. The next drift produced a double strike. One on the deep line and the other on the surface. Unfortunately Dale got an overwind on the strike and missed his fish. My Dad went tight and the fish ripped line off the reel... obviously a yellowfin. With the massively high number of sharks in the area, we had to pull every fish as hard as humanly possible. After 20mins of huge pressure on the yellowfin and some fancy boat manoeuvring, the fish was just under the boat, but then there was a short burst of speed and the 50lbs flouro parted. Whether it was chafed off or if a shark got it, who knows, but the same result... no points. Apart from 1 more small bonnie, we had no action and decided to move out to bulldozers.

 

On the first drift, I hooked a 4kg bonnie but pulled hook on the leader. Seconds later, 2 rods went away and both Dale and my Dad went on to big bonnies which joined mine in the hatch... now I could take a rod again! Our stock of maasbanker was now low so Craig held us on the marks and we managed to get 8 or so fresh baits.

 

There was no action on the next 2 drifts so Craig took us to Fontao where we set up for a drift. At the end of the drift, both Dale and I went tight on good fish. They ran in a similar direction, but when mine gave a few big bumps, I knew there were problems. Moments later, a shark grabbed the fish, followed shortly by Dales fish! The next drift, Dale went on and managed a small bonnie. We had time for 1 last drift before lines up. Again, 2 rods went away and after hard fights, both were taken by #%$#& sharks...

 

Back at the weigh-in, we found ourselves in 5^th position on day 1 after weighing in 3 bonnies of between 6,7kg and 7,5kg.

 

On Sunday 19^th, we launched at 7am. As we had launched first on day 1, we were in the second batch on day 2. By the time we arrived at the bait marks, there was a lot of traffic. Everyone was battling for bait and only after an hour, did we have enough. We made 2 drifts over the wreck without a pull. Craig said we needed to change tactics and head to a deeper spot of Umdloti. After a quick test drift to get the correct line, we went back up and set the lines. After about 30minutes, the long rod with mid water bait keeled over and the reel smoked off! I took the strike and fought what turned out to be a big yellowfin. The long rod had my back aching and after about 20 minutes, the fish was close to the boat but then it bumped its head and took off. Seconds later, the leader was bitten through but another #@$%& shark.

We started the drift again and I changed the long rod to the surface position. Again, near the end of the drift, the mid water bait took off. The lines were cleared and Craig took chase. I was a lot more comfortable on the short heavy rod and lifted the fish a bit quicker. About 10m from the boat, the dreaded head nod began so I freespooled the fish which took about 100m of line before it settled down. The drag went up and I wound till my arm wanted to fall off. The line surfaced and Craig put me on top of the fish where after 3 big circles, my Dad gaffed a nice yellowfin! Finally we got one out.

Back to the start of the drift and it was not long before the surface bait (on the long rod) went away. It took a lot of line in a hurry so we were up and after it in no time. I lifted it to within about 15m from the surface when believe it or not, the head bumps began. I freespooled and again gave the fish over 100m until it slowed down. The drag went up and the long wind began. Luckily, the fish came to the surface and made it easy for me to gain line. Craig sped towards it and the leader came out the water. After 1 circle, the gaff went into a good yellowfin. We were cooking with gas.

By now the wind was blowing about 15knots and the sea getting uncomfortable. 5 other boats had joined us and it seemed to be putting the tune down. Right at the end of our next drift, the surface rod pulled away slowly in short bursts. I fed the fish and as I tightened up, a dorado jumped out the water. I was over the moon as this was going to be an easy fight on the long rod... or so I thought. The lines were cleared and Craig took chase. Within minutes, the fish was in gaffing range and my Dad brought it onboard. It touched the deck and went ballistic, jumping off the gaff. As the fish jumped to the back of the boat I freespooled the reel just incase. Dale and Craig jumped on the fish and in the process got tangled in the bait jigs. The fish made another flip and escaped overboard, back into the water where it took off! Luckily I could let it go and the line ran free. After some choice words, we were chasing after the fish for a second time. In the end, it was gaffed and put straight into the open hatch. That was a close call.

Craig positioned us for another drift. It went very quiet and at the end, while Dale was retrieving the last deep line, had quietly announced that he was on. The fish took line very slowly leading us to believe it was a shark. The drag went to 3,5kg and in low range he pulled the fish to the surface. I removed the sinker and then Craig shouted it was a cuda! We could not believe it. Both my Dad and I took gaffs and on the first turn my Dad missed the fish as it was a bit deep. On the next turn, I missed it and managed to get the hook around the tail which shook off. On my next attempt, the gaff went in and I hauled a nice cuda on board... Great stuff.

There was no more time, so we headed back to the beach. At the weigh-in, the dorado was 8kg, the cuda 12,5kg and the 2 tuna were 13.2kg and 18.65kg respectively. At the prize giving that night, we managed a second place by only 60 points. Thanks to Craig for putting up with us for 2 days. Well done to the winning Zinkwazi 2 team. Thanks to the Umhlanga Committee for putting together a Fantastic event. We hope to be there next year.