The Ladies do the Tuna Tango

At 5:45 on Wednesday 7^th May, At and Kathy van Tilburg, Tammy and I launched ”Avanti” out of Richards Bay. We were on a social fishing day hoping to catch a few fish. Our first stop was on the pipe where we quickly caught a hatch full of live bait before heading north towards groenkop. I set out 5 lines and At worked the area for a bit.

Tammy with her first Snoek

It was dead so we upped lines and ran a bit further north. There were a few patches of bait and the odd shoal of bonnies around. At headed towards a few birds working the bait shoal while I put out the lines. I was busy with the 3^rd line when the surface redeye was eaten Kathy took the rod and fought the fish. I picked up the other surface rod and slowly worked the bait closer. I felt a few bumps on the line then the rod loaded up and I was on! A double … nice! I passed the rod to Tammy and cleared the deck. It did not take long before Tammy had her first snoek next to the boat where At gaffed it. Next was Kathy’s turn with a similar size fish. By then, all the other boats were on top of us so we moved out of the area. By 9am we had not had another pull so we upped lines and headed to the ledge.

Tammy with her first YFT

When we arrived, I rigged up 5 lines and trolled south into the reverse current. There were very few showings on the echo, so I continued south hoping to find signs of life. After an hour and a half, we had not had a pull and I was giving up hope. Kathy then said that she thought she heard a reel tick over a few times. I looked back and scanned the rods but there was nothing. As I turned back to the steering, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the close surface rod bend a bit. I walked toward it to check the bait, but then the rod keeled over and the TLD15 screamed off. I took the rod out the holder and passed the rod to Tammy. Next thing, another reel smoked off. I turned around to see the other surface rod bending. Kathy took the rod as the fish went on its first run. At took over on the controls while I cleared the downrigger and other 3 lines. Both fish were giving the ladies a hard time but slowly the fish came closer. Tammy had her fish at the boat first. Both lines were very close together at that point, so after some tense moments, I managed to get the gaff into a nice yellowfin, Tammy’s first.

Kathy with half a tuna

Now the focus shifted to Kathy’s fish which had taken a second long fast run. She worked the fish back and had it 15m from the boat where I was ready to gaff it. Suddenly it made another fast run followed by a few big nods on the rod. From then there was just a heavy weight that came to the surface. It had been eaten off just behind the sickle fins by a shark. I gaffed the head section and let it bleed out before bringing it on board. It too was a nice fish, but was just not to be. After a few photos, we packed up and headed home. The snoek were around 4kg. The whole yellowfin weighed 14,4kg and the mutilated fish weighed 13,8kg.

 

 

Deja vu

On Friday 2^nd May at 6am, Andrew Mitchley and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch a few snoek and maybe a cuda if we were in luck. We stopped at the pipeline and quickly caught a few strings of livies before heading north to the snoek grounds. There were a lot of boats there so I decided to hang a bit south of the crowds and try my luck there.

I put out a few fillets and redeyes and trolled in the same depth as the previous day. On my second turn, I saw a lone bird fluttering over one spot. I trolled towards it and saw a few snoek boils. I cast the spoon and went tight on a snoek. I gaffed it myself while Andrew was driving. I had just cleaned the deck when I saw the surface fillet go away. Andrew took the strike and got his first snoek. There were obviously s few fish in the area and after trolling around for a bit longer, we managed 2 more fish on the deep baits.

Things went quiet so I moved over to another bird fluttering in the shallows. Before I got there, a few snoek smashed baitfish on the surface. Andrew cast the spoon and went tight immediately. At the same time one of the baits went away. Unfortunately we lost the fish on bait but Andrew got his. I turned over the spot and went tight on a fillet. After loading the fish, we went away on a redeye bait and caught another fish. By now the other boats had cottoned on to the fact that we were getting fish and within a few minutes, there were 40 boats there. I was not keen on this congestion and moved deeper. We had a good pull on a deep redeye, but after the first run, the hooks came out. By 10am, the action stopped so we upped lines and headed to the kasteel to try for a cuda.

Andrew's 15kg YFT

ABF's haul of snoek and a YFT

We arrived at the ledge and found that the current was ripping again. I ran up a bit further north before setting 2 deep lines and 2 surface lines. I had just set the last line when I noticed the deep rod keel over and the reel absolutely smoked off! I cleared the other deep line while Andrew fought the fish. The first run was quite long but eventually stopped and we could get some line back. After 20 minutes, the sinker came up which I removed. I could see the fish down deep, but it looked quite short. Only then did I see that it was a nice big yellowfin. It circled to the surface where I gaffed it and bled it. It was put on ice before I ran up to north to start another approach. Like deja vu, the lines were just set when the same deep rod smoked off. I cleared the same lines as before while Andrew took the strike. The fish had just settled when the hooks pulled! Unlucky. The trace came back totally mauled. I rerigged but despite trolling over the same area we had no more pulls. The NE wind was picking up, so we headed back home. The yellowfin weighed in at 15kg while all the snoek were on the small side.

 

10 minutes too late, but worth the wait!

On Thursday 1 May at 6am, Tjokkie and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were keen to see if we could get a snoek or two. The weather forecast indicated that there would be a big SW coming through at around 1pm, so we were hoping that the fish would eat just before the turn.

On the way north to the snoek grounds, I noticed a few birds working on the 20m line so I went closer to investigate. As we moved into the area, I saw a snoek jump, followed by another. I slacked off to trolling speed and rigged up 3 redeyes, a fillet and a mackerel with 2 baits deep and 3 on top. I tacked the area and while I was turning, one of the surface redeyes were eaten. Tjoks took the rod while I cleared the deep lines. The fish sounded and then the fight change to a heavy weight that steadily took line. A few minutes later, there were a few big nods before the head of a big bonnie came to the surface. Obviously the sharks were around too. I wanted to check the other baits just to be sure everything was ok. While I was retrieving the far bait, I felt the line go heavy so I tightened up and went on. The fish came in relatively early, but then stopped and gave a few head nods before going on a good run. Unfortunately, as the fish slowed down, the hook pulled. Well at least we were in the right area.

I rerigged the baits and set the lines before working the area. Again, on the turn, the surface redeye went away. Tjoks took the rod and after a good tussle had a nice snoek next to the boat where I gaffed our first snoek of the season. Talk about a relief.

Tjoks with a 7kg snoek

Things went a bit quiet so I made a few shallower turns. On several occasions, I saw a few snoek swimming on the surface but they showed no interest in the spoon or baits. Something had to change. I increased the trolling speed and was rewarded with the surface fillet being eaten. The fish almost immediately tailwrapped and made a commotion on the surface. I pampered the fish closer, not wanting to break the light wire. Eventually I had the fish at the boat where Tjoks gaffed it. I suggested we change the baits to 3 fillets and 2 rapalas and see if the increase in speed would make a difference. We made the switch and worked the area where we had been seeing the fish, but had no pulls. The wind had dropped to nothing and the SW was close.

I turned to head to the harbour when we noticed a few birds dipping deeper out. I made a turn in the area and we were rewarded with a shoal of snoek chasing baitfish. Tjoks cast the spoon into the shoal a few times and a few chases and misses. While this was going on, one of the fillets went away with a snoek. I fought the fish while Tjoks threw spoon. When the fish was at the boat, Tjoks gaffed it.

Trolling on "ABF"

We were now just in gear and moving slowly forward while sorting out the deck and rerigging another bait when I saw the rod with the close fillet keel over and the reel screamed. Tjoks took the rod and had a good fight with what turned out to be our biggest snoek of the day. By now we could see the SW on the horizon so there was no time to waste. The lines went out again as I made another few turns over the same spot. It was no surprize when another rod went away and Tjoks brought in another nice fish.

By now the SW had arrived and despite upping lines and running for port, we were about 10minutes too late and ended up having a wet and bumpy ride back. The smallest snoek was 4,5kg and the biggest 8kg. Not too bad considering it was so early in the season.

Bycatch Cuda.

On Monday the 21^st April, my girlfriend Tammy, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few snoek around so we wanted to get Tammy her first one.

We were on the water quite early and ran up to Groenkop. I went about rigging 5 snoek baits, including 3 tiny redeyes and 2 bigger redeyes, and started working the area looking for signs of fish. It was a slow morning and by 8am, we had not had a touch. I decided to troll south to get away from the other boats and was rewarded with a pull on the surface redeye. The fish took a bit of line but when it slowed down, the hook unfortunately pulled. I rerigged and worked the same area. We had another pull on the bigger redeye, but the fish picked up the wire and came off. At lease we were in an area where there were a few fish.

Nice cuda on a snoek bait

At about 10am, we had another pull on the small surface redeye. The fish took about 20 meters then came straight to the boat. I wound like mad and my dad got the boat going too, just to get tight line. When the fish finally turned away from the boat and started taking line, I gave the rod to Tammy and cleared the other lines. Tammy brought the fish to the boat quite easily but then the fight changed totally. The line went straight down followed by a few big head nods. The spool kept slipping and Tammy could not gain an inch. I was convinced that the fish was converted, but we could not be sure. There were a few more head nods and then all hell broke loose! The fish absolutely smoked off along the surface taking lot of line. Thinking the shark was chasing the fish, I leaned over and put the reel into freespool to let it get away from the shark. When the spool slowed down, the reel was engaged and my dad charged after the fish with the boat. The line was cutting through the water at speed but we managed to get most of the line back. We stopped on top of the fish and Tammy managed to lift its head. When the double and leader came out the water, we could finally see the fish. It was a nice size cuda. The fish was tired after the last run so it made the gaff shot easy and I lifted it into the boat. We were all relieved that we got the fish considering the light rig it had eaten. We regrouped and continued trolling but by 11am, we had not had another pull so we returned to port where the cuda weighed 17,6kg.

Double or Nothing.

On Sunday 20^th April, we launched “Seaduction” out of Richards Bay. We were looking for something for the pot so decided to fish for cuda. After filling up on live bait, we headed to the kasteel. There were a lot of bonnies around so we put out a few trolling lures and headed up the ledge. It did not take long to get a rev and soon we had 2 small bonnies on board. A short while later, we had another bonnie. At the northern tip of the ledge, I rigged 4 livies and proceeded to slow troll into the strong current. We were going backwards at 4km per hour and all I could do was to try and cross over the marks as we were swept south. We went over several good showings but could not get a pull. Probably an hour later, I checked the baits, but they were all swimming fine. Something had to happen… it was just a question of time. We were almost on the last southern mark when the deep bait went away. It only took about 15m of line, so we thought it was a very small fish. I left the other lines in the water while Andre fought the fish. While this was going on, there was a bit of a commotion on the surface just behind the boat. I saw a yellowfin chasing a baitfish around but it could not catch it. Only then did I notice what looked like a green cuda duster in the next to the baitfish! I grabbed the short surface rod and retrieved the slack line. This restricted the movements of the maasbanker and allowed the tuna to get hold of it. There was a big splash and the line took tension. I freespooled for a moment before tightening up… vas! The yellowfin took off on its first run so I passed the rod to James. Meanwhile, Andre had his fish next to the boat where Dewald gaffed a 12,4kg cuda…  bigger than I expected. James was having a hard time with his tuna which had now sounded and was making big circles down deep. About 20 minutes of back break, the fish was at the boat where I gaffed it. After bleeding it, it pulled weighed in at 16kg. Its strange that you can troll the whole day without a pull, but when you get one, it’s a double.

We fished till 2pm without any more action so returned to port happy with the 2 fish in the hatch.

A day out with the girls

On Saturday 19th April at 8am, we left the harbour onboard “Galavant”. Wayne and I were taking the ladies (Elsa, Candice and Tammy) out for a bit of social fishing. We stopped on the pipe and let everyone have a go at catching bait. It did not take long before the livewell was full to capacity and we were off to the ledge.

On arrival, I let out 2 surface lures and 3 halcos. The lures were not in the water long when 2 reels went away. Candice and Tammy both took a rod and quickly had their fish next to the boat. Tammy had a skipjack which was released and Candice had a small yellowfin which pulled hook when I tried to lift it into the boat. Again the lines went out and trolling commenced. We were about half way up the ledge when another reel went away. Elsa was on strike and brought in a small yellowfin which was bled for sushi. With the strong current, I wanted to get a bit further north before so we trolled a bit longer. I went over a good showing that came up to 20m from 47m. before I could say that we should get a pull, three reels went away. Everyone grabbed a rod and joined the fray. When the dust settled, all three yellowfins were safely on board.

By now we were far enough north to start cuda fishing so I rigged up 4 livies and zigzagged the ledge. Things were very quiet and until I trolled over the same showing where we got the yellowfins previously. This time it was the deep livie that went away. Tammy took the strike and fought a fish that did not take much line. It came to the boat pretty easily so when we saw it, we were all surprised to see a fish of that size. Wayne gaffed Tammy’s first cuda and hauled it aboard. Again the lines went in but despite fishing for another hour or so, we had no more pulls so headed back to harbour. The cuda weighed 14,7kg.

Bait Catching session

On Friday 18th April at 7:30am, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. The club was extremely busy due to the Easter Bonanza being hosted there, so we had a late launch to miss the rush. The plan was to stock up on some redeyes for the coming snoek season, so we stopped at the pipeline and quickly had a coolerbox full of redeyes. There were also some big maasbanker in between, so I kept about 10 in the livewell. With the weather forecast being excellent for the whole day, we decided to head north onto the ledge. It was a long way in the small boat, but we hoped it would be worth it. 

On arrival, we were met with warm, clean water full of life. There were bonnies and skippies as far as the eye could see. The only problem was that the current was ripping at almost 4 knots. To factor this into the trolling plan, I headed further north than usual so that we would be ready with all the baits before we were swept over the marks. I rigged up four livies, two deep and two on surface. By the time the lines were out, we were already close to the marks. I turned shallower to intercept the reef and as the lines straightened out, the left deep livie was eaten by a fish that absolutely smoked off! I passed the rod to my Dad while I cleared the lines. There was a lot of line in the water so I chased after the fish allowing us to put line back on the reel. The fish made a few good long runs but the current took its toll on the fish and soon the fish was near the boat. I looked over the side and saw a beautiful cuda circling under us. Slowly but surely, the fish circled closer and I got an easy gaff shot in the head. Only when I pulled the fish into the boat did I see the size of it. It was one of those that did not come close to fitting in the hatch. With a good fish in the boat, we headed back to the harbour before the afternoon rush. At the club, the fish weighed in at 27,4kg! Not bad for a quick bait catching session.

Wind over current

On Sunday 30^th March at 6:30, the Smit family and I launched “Seaduction” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to look for some gamefish, but the weather forecast predicted a strong SW to come through at around 11am. We stopped on the pipeline and caught some livebait. We could see the front lying to the south but decided to take a chance and run north to the ledge.

The water was not a great colour and the current was flying. We put out a few trolling lures and zigzagged the ledge to see where the showings were. The SW started to pick up so I rigged up 5 cuda baits and slow trolled along the ledge. We were just coming to the southern point when there was a big swirl between the lines. I first thought it was a dolphin that was surfing down the swells, but then the reel with the close surface livie gave a few short bursts. I saw the line going deep and towards the front of the boat. I ran back and moved the rod to the starboard side to prevent the line tangling with another. As I put some pressure on the fish, the line cut through the water to the surface and a nice black marlin of around 120kg stuck its head out! It looked very lethargic of the first few jumps so we did not panic too much while the lines were cleared. The fish had taken some line, so I passed the rod to Dewalt and went to the controls where I chased after the fish. In a few minutes, we had it within 15m of the boat but then it made a series of frantic jumps away from us and managed to get the leader around its tail and part the wire off. The fish jumped a few more times after it broke off just to tease us. At lease the guys on the boat had a bit of a show for the day.

Sushi?!

The current had pushed us far south, so I headed north to where we started previously. The long surface bait was still fine so I let it out before rerigging fresh baits on the other rods. Before I could get the second bait rigged, the surface bait was eaten. The fish took a bit of line before going deep. The rod tip had those characteristic tail beats of a tuna and so it was no surprise when Dewalt gaffed a small shoal yellowfin which was bled and put on ice. Again the current had pushed us south so while we had no other lines in the water, I ran up again and reset the lines. The SW had picked up to about 20kts and the sea was getting uncomfortable. I suggested that we make this our last pass along the ledge which was met by approval from everyone on board. We passed over a good showing that was 10m thick. It was hardly surprising when the deep livie went away. This fish hardly fought and came to the boat easily. When the sinker came up, I could see a short silver shape of a bonito. It was surprising that it fought so little considering it was as big as the yellowfin we had caught earlier. By now the sea was pretty bad due to the strong wind over a strong current, so we upped lines and had long ride back to the harbour.

Consolation prize

On Saturday 22^nd March, we launched Jannie’s “Ohana” off Richards Bay. The NE was already blowing 15 knots and the sea was unsettled. Our first stop was at the pipe where we caught some maasbanker. During this time we tried to decide where we were going to fish for cuda but the options were few and far between. The water at the normal spots was dirty and the hotspots were just too far to run with the 20kt winds. We decided to fish the ledge south of the harbour.

The run there was with the wind so it was pretty comfortable, but as we travelled further from shore, the sea and wind picked up. Jannie held the boat into the wind while I struggled to get the 4 lines out. After about 20minutes we had lines out and were fishing. I took over the controls and tried my best to zigzag over the reef and showing. It was impossible to leave the steering to have a drink, something to eat or put sunscreen on. The second that you left the wheel, the wind and swell would turn the nose and push the boat over the lines. It was terrible! To make it worse, some of the crew was sick and I ended up getting helping of someone’s breakfast on my foot… not very pleasant.

Just when I was losing hope, I saw Jannie run to the back, only then did I see that the surface rod was bending. I increased the speed to get the line tight and let the drag run. There was a splash out the back as a dorado took to the air. Jannie fought the fish to the boat where we saw a second fish with it. I could not assist at all and hung onto the controls, trying not to ride over the fish. Jannie passed the rod to his brother and grabbed another rod with a daisy chain on it. He hooked a live maasie through the nose and flicked it out. Within seconds, the follower ate the bait and was hooked. Jannie’s son TJ took the rod and tried his best not to fall overboard. By this time, the first fish was next to the boat where Jannie gaffed it and put it directly into the hatch. TJ brought his fish in and it joined the first one in the hatch. Feeling much better about the day, we fished for another hour until the sea was covered with white caps. When the second wave broke over the nose, I suggested we call it a day… everyone agreed so we upped lines and headed home.

We ended up taking the 3^rd biggest unspecified gamefish prize in the Umlalazi Cuda Classic… a bit of a consolation prize I guess.

The Early Bird Catches the Worm

On Friday 21^st March at 3:30am, Jannie Jacobs and I launched “Ohana” out of Richards Bay. It was a miserable morning with a SW wind blowing and a light drizzle. The forecast was that the wind would drop and become NE in the afternoon, so there would be a good lull. At one stage, we thought that we were absolutely mad to be on the water at this hour, but we had a plan… Our first stop was at the pipeline to look for some shad. Unfortunately the water was dirty, so we ended up with not a single livebait. At 4:30am, we headed for Zini Hi Point, hoping that we would be the first boat there and have the place to ourselves for a while.

We arrived at the pinnacle at just before 6am and I put out 3 daisy chains hoping for some jube jubes. On the first pass, we caught a big kawakawa that we released and on the second, we had 2 small skippies which were rigged up. Jannie just turned to the reef when the surface bait was eaten. The reel ran a bit then stopped.I felt that the bait was still there so freespooled a bit. Something ate it so I tightened up. It ended up being a hammerhead of about 40kg. I went about rigging some dead baits and while this was going on, the other skippie was eaten. It was another hammerhead of a similar size… frustrating to say the least.

We abandoned the live bait option and put out a few wala, mackerel and bonnies. I was just rigging the 4^th bait when I saw the deep rod bend. The reel smoked off as the fish went on its run. I looked back to the other lines and saw the medium depth rod keel over and smoke off… we were doubled. Jannie took that rod while I had the first. When my fish was close to the boat, I turned around to get the gaff. That’s when I saw the surface rod bend over and go on. We had a triple… nice! By now my fish was at the boat where I gaffed it and hauled a good cuda aboard before taking the next rod. Jannie’s fish was close too and just when we were ready to gaff, the hooks came out! Unlucky. I picked up the last rod and brought an 8kg shoal cuda to the gaff.

I rerigged and set the full spread of 5 lines. I could see the other boats on the horizon so we did not have much time. Jannie trolled over the northern tip of the reef and was rewarded with the surface bait being eaten. I was the closest, so took the rod and brought in another shoal cuda. In the next hour, 11 boats arrived and the cuda went quiet. We decided to move a few hundred meters south away from the traffic and see if the fish would eat there. We trolled over a good mid-water bait showing and the deep wala went away. Jannie took the strike and had a hard time with a fish that was fighting strangely. After 15minutes, a shoal size cuda came up tail first.

Early morning cuda

Again the lines went in and we trolled past the showing. Jannie had just said that we should get a pull when I saw the downrigger rod pull down followed by a smoking reel. I took the strike while Jannie cleared the other deep line. The fish took a lot of line to the front of the boat and I had quite a job moving around the T-top to follow the fish. At one stage, I was fighting directly over the steering wheel to the front of the boat… gotta love it. Finally I had the fish next to the boat where Jannie gaffed another nice cuda. The fish were obviously not keen on the traffic but luckily we had found a few ready to feed. After setting the lines again, Jannie trolled over the same area but the showing had gone. We tacked the area and finally found it again. It was no surprise when the deep line went away. Jannie took the rod and had an unusually easy fight with another good fish which I gaffed and brought aboard. In the next half hour, the sea changed. A strong reverse current came through bringing with it a lot of slime. The lines were covered in the stuff and made the tackle very visible to the fish. We trolled the area for another 2 hour, but apart from another 40kg hammerhead, we had no action so headed back to port where the 3 biggest fish weighed 20kg, 19,6kg and 17,5kg. Sometimes the early bird does catch the worm.