PB Prodigal

On 13th January 2019, Hansie and I launched “ABF” off Vidal. There had been reports of a few fish there so we were keen to see what our first launch of 2019 would produce. After a bit of a wet entry, we stopped on the backline and started looking for some bait. There were big shoals of slender scads on the surface but they were very skittish and very difficult to catch. After about an hour, we had a suitable amount in the bait well. The forecast was for the NE to blow later in the day and there were a lot of boats on the point so I took a gamble and headed north to the greens.

After a short run, we stopped at vegetation. I went about rigging up 4 livies, 2 on surface and 2 deep. There was a current line on 32m and another on 22m so we tacked between them looking for a fish. We had just passed through the deeper one when the far surface bait went away. I fed the fish a bit before hooking up. Way out the back, a dorado bounced around. I handed the rod to Hansie who brought the fish in relatively quickly. When it was next to the boat, we saw that there were a few small followers. I has a 1kg rig onboard with a live bait already pinned so, I pitched the bait to them. Within seconds, the smallest fish grabbed the bait. After a short feed, I hooked up. The fish ran a bit then settled but, the original fish was now causing a problem as the lines were very close together and the other 2 trolling lines were also still out. After a bit of fancy footwork, the lines were cleared and both fish were in the boat.

A Personal Best prodigal son

We had drifted quite a distance while fighting the fish so we ran back to where we found the fish. I was busy putting out the second line when a dorado grabbed it. I fed it a bit and then hooked up. Hansie took the rod and soon had a nice bull dorado in the hatch. I rerigged and managed to get all the lines out. We tacked into the shallow current line and just started turning when the mid water bait went away. It was not a fast fish so we had an idea of what it might be… The line angle surfaced and the fish made a big wake on the surface. Hansie closed the gap on it and soon I had the fish on the leader. A short while later, Hansie gaffed a nice prodigal son… my personal best of about 13kg. This is not a fish I have caught many of so it was great to get one.

Soon after the prodigal, on the same current line, the same rod went on. Hansie fought a nice dorado to the boat but it made a dive under the boat and the hooks pulled. Not the end of the world. The mid water bait seemed to be hot and just we had turned to head shallower, it went away again. This time it was a faster run and we were not too surprised when a cuda came alongside. There seemed to be a quick flurry of cuda pulls just as the NE started blowing and in a short time we had 3 pulls but only managed to get 1 more in the boat. At 12 o clock, we packed up and headed home after having a great day.

Shell Shock

On Sunday 2^nd December, At and I launched “Avanti” off Vidal. The surf was terrible and a few boats ahead of us took some punishment going through. After waiting about an hour for the tide to turn, we managed to find a gap and get through the waves.

There had been a big storm the night before and the lightning didn’t help the fish’s shell shock. It was going to be a difficult day.

On the bait marks, there were shoals of mackerel and maasbanker on the surface, but they were very skittish. It took about an hour to get a handful of livies. We decided to put out some lures and cover ground just looking for some life. Near the lighthouse, we found a few bonnies and caught a few on the spinning rod. With no further action we headed north to the greens and put out a few livies. There were a few nice current lines so we spent some time working them. In about 22m, the deep bait went away. The fish made a few short runs then came to the boat where At gaffed a 8kg cuda. I rerigged and At trolled over the deeper current line. As we finished the turn, there was a splash on the far bait. The rod keeled over and the reel smoked of. We needed to follow the fish to stop the run and eventually I managed to get the fish on the leader. It was a kawa-kawa of probably 9kg. One of the fattest ones I’d ever seen. After releasing it, I rerigged and set the spread again.

A good cuda for vidal

It was pretty quiet for a while but eventually on the same line we had the cuda, we went on with another fish. It came to the boat without taking any line but when the leader came up, the fish turned and smoked off about 200m right into the backing. At chased after it while I put line on the reel. Finally, the leader came out the water but at that moment, a massive Zambezi shark appeared right next to the fish and all hell broke loose. The fish took off under the boat between the motors I freespooled the reel and tried to get the line off the motor. Luckily the prop did not touch the line and we could free it. Again there was a lot of line out and when the fish slowed down, At followed it and I pulled as hard as I dared. The leader came up as well as a very tired cuda. At gaffed the fish and lifted it to “safety”. It was a really good fish for Vidal standards, probably about 16kg.

Over the next hour, a few boats arrived and the fish went quiet. After trying for a few hours, we headed south trolling on the current line. I had just finished checking the baits when the close livie went away and we hooked up to a dorado. It gave us a bit of a run around but eventually we loaded it. By now it was 3:30pm and we were tired so we pulled in the lines and headed back to the beach.

Running on empty

On Saturday 3^rd November, Tjaard and I went up to Cape Vidal for the day. There had been reports of a lot of dorado around, so we made sure we were there as early as we could. When we drove onto the beach, we saw that the launching conditions were terrible. Probably the worst I had ever seen at Vidal. Several crews were waiting to launch and only after an hour or so did the conditions improve to the point where we could get close to the water.

Eventually at about 7:30 we were on the backline and started looking for bait. There were large shoals everywhere, but they were proving a bit difficult to catch. After some time, we had a few baits to start fishing with. We headed south and at the beacon we came across a nice current line in 25m. I put out 3 livies and worked the area. It did not take long before I spotted a dorado swimming behind the boat. I brought the close bait in a bit and from nowhere another fish charged in and grabbed it. I hooked up and passed the rod to Tjaard before bringing another bait. This bait was also quickly eaten, and I hooked up. The first one was at the boat, so I put the rod I was holding in the holder and gaffed the fish. Tjaard then finished the fight with fish number two. Not a bad start.

I rerigged and made a shallower turn. There were a few dolphins around and soon they started eating out precious livies. After having 2 baits stolen, I suggested we move away from the area to preserve our limited bait stocks. We ran about a kilometre south and set the lines. Just as we had the last line out, the far bait went tight with another dorado. While Tjaard was fighting this one, I hooked another fish close the boat. They were not the biggest fish which meant they came in quickly and we could reset the lines. I was about to make a turn to head shallower when the far line went away. When I tightened up, the line went down deep, a sure indication that it was a tuna. This hard fighting fish gave Tjaard a good run around before I could gaff and bleed it. Seared tuna steaks … check!

There were definitely a few fish in the one small area, so I doubled back on my tracks and sure enough we hooked up to yet another dorado. This one was very small, but

Making every bait count

the hooks were in the gills and it was bleeding profusely so we kept it. After this last strike, I rigged our last livie. We were now running on empty with the bait level, so I headed shallower to hopefully find a shoal of bait.

While moving shallower, the wind changed to SE and it was like someone threw a switch. For about 2 hours, none of the boats had any action. This gave me some time to prospect the shallows. In about 15m, I saw a bit of a showing. As I dropped the jigs, the close livie went away and we hooked up to another dorado. Tjaard took the rod while I tried to get some live bait. The showing was getting better and better. On each drop, I caught a mix of mackerel and maasbanker and soon had enough bait to last a week. At the same time, Tjaard had the dorado at the boat where I gaffed it.

The tide was turning in an hour’s time. I didn’t want to beach on the high tide, so I suggested we head out to the deeper water for the last 2 hours before we head back. On the tide change, there were a few sailfish hooked and I was hoping that we would also get a chance at one. Just before the ledge, a movement caught my eye. As I turned, I saw a sailfish free jumping next to the boat. At one stage I thought it was going to end up in the boat. Unfortunately, despite making a few turns in the area, we did not get a pull. At 2pm we upped lines and headed back to the beach with 6 dorado and a yellowfin.

2018 St Lucia 12 x 12 Species Tournament

On Thursday evening, 25^th October, I arrived at the St Lucia Ski-Boat Club for the briefing of the 12x12 species tournament. I was invited to fish by Ockie Theunissen and Zander on Ockie’s boat “Hannock”. This was the first time that I would be fishing this tournament and from who I saw at the briefing, there was some strong competition. The tournament rules stated that a team was only allowed to weigh in 5 fish of a species for the duration of the event. There were 12 target species. For each specie that was caught on the day, bonus points were awarded (12 pts for the 1^st specie, 24 pts for the 2^nd specie, 36 pts for the 3^rd specie etc.).

On Friday 26^th at 5:30, we launched for the first day’s fishing. The weather was great, but the water was cold and green with minimal current. This was going to be a difficult few days. Our first stop was to get livies which would be essential for some of the possible target species. While catching livies, I managed to get a small sarda-sarda which we would use for cuda. With the tank full, we headed to Big Hill and trolled lures around hoping for a tuna, dorado, wahoo or billfish. It didn’t take long to get a small yellowfin and a short while later another two. With a 5 fish limit, we could only catch 3 fish on day 1 and leave 1 for each other days to score the bonus points. With the tuna done for the day, we headed inshore to look for a cuda. We rigged a few livies and the small sarda-sarda and trolled around. I was designated skipper while Ockie and Zander would work the deck and catch the fish.

Some nice Dorado for team Hannock"

After trolling for what seemed forever, we managed to get a pull on the sarda. It turned out to be a bigger sarda that narrowly made the 3kg minimum weight for “Other tuna species”. That was great, 2 species down. I suggested we run a bit further south on the ledge and troll livies hoping for a dorado or billfish. Again, we trolled for a few hours with no success. Just before we started to lose hope, the far line went away with a dorado. We were super excited, but this changed quickly as the hooks pulled. We rerigged and set the lines hoping that we had come into a good area. To our delight, the close livie was eaten and Ockie fought a dorrie. It had a follower so I flicked a bait out and went on. Moments later, Ockie’s fish threw the hook so I passed him my rod and pinned another livie. As it hit the water, I went on. Zander gaffed Ockie’s fish then the next one too. Just when we thought it was over, we had another fish go tight but unbelievably, it also threw the hook.

That was the last action we had for the day and ended up with 3 species. At the end of day 1, we were in 2^nd position just ahead of “Fintastic” and closely behind “Wave Dancer” who had 4 species.

Ockie with a GT prior to release

On day 2, we were on the beach early and had an easy launch. We knew where the live bait was from the first day it only a few minutes to get a good supply. There were a few fish straight off the launch the previous day, so we made a quick drift with livies on Chisa but never had a pull. A few boats had found yellowfin on the deeper ledge, so we headed out trolling lures. As I passed over the ledge, two rods went on with yellowfin. We could only weigh one so released the smaller one. Trolling commenced, and we soon had 2 small bonnies in the livebait tubes that we would use a bit later. We made a deeper turn hoping for a wahoo or billfish but were rewarded with two skipjack. Unfortunately, one pulled hooks but the other made it to the scoreboard as a second specie. Knowing that we had found some dorado on the ledge, I ran back to the same area and put out the same spread as the day before with an addition of a fresh bonnie that we sent deep. We worked the ledge for about half an hour when the bonito was eaten. Ockie took the strike and put some big pressure on the fish. There were some good nods then it started coming up. I could mark it on the echo sounder, so I was pretty sure it was not a shark. Soon we could make out a big silver shape of a good kingfish. The rules dictated all kingfish needed to be measured, photographed and released so we sent it on its way.

We knew that was our joker species for the day and needed to capitalize on it so we persevered with the dorado search. We did have 4 big sharks eat the other 4 bonito that we rigged for kingfish, so Zander was a bit buggered going into the last hour of the day. We were pretty desperate and eventually I saw a flying fish jump out the water near the far bait. Moments later the rod bent and a dorado showed itself. There was a bit of panic around the boat, but we managed to gaff the fish! We only had a half hour left so we quickly reset. As luck would have it, the far bait went on almost immediately. It looked like a nice fish and it had a follower. Ockie pitched a bait and went on and at the same time, Zander’s fish pulled hooks! To our surprize, that same fish stayed on the surface and followed the hooked one, so I pitched it a bait and was dumbstruck when the fish turned and ate the bait. It just hung there hardly moving. We managed to gaff both fish just in time to hit the beach.

The coveted 12x12 trophy

At the weigh-in, we ended the day on top with 4 species followed closely by “Wave Dancer” and “Bizy Liz”. The last day was going to be hectic.

On Sunday 28^th, the tension in the air was palpable as the boats launched. We had a game plan and were going to stick to it. We needed to catch our banker species so after catching some livies, we ran to the ledge and put out some lures on the second turn we got a yellowfin, but it was under the minimum weight of 5kg so we tried a while longer without any luck. The water had turned green so we moved to stage 2 of the plan and made a few deep turns and found a shoal of skippies. The very first one we got was a weigher, but the next few were too small but at least we had 1 species. We ran back to the ledge trying for the tuna but aside from a pulled hook, we had no action. With the dirty water pushing out, there was a strong colour line in 100m. We had been working the edge with lures looking for a dorado or wahoo but didn’t have a touch. At one stage I saw a big flying fish launch itself out of the green water. This was the first sign of life that we had seen and was an indicator that there was a gamefish in the area. We immediately stopped and put out live baits. This time luck was on our side and within 20 minutes the close live bait went away with a dorado. There was a second fish with it, so Zander fed it a bait and hooked up. While I was clearing the other lines, the far livie went away. I hooked the fish then put the rod in the holder to gaff the other fish. After Ockie’s fish was gaffed, he took the third rod and loaded a beautiful 16kg dorado. We had 3 dorries in the boat of which we could only weigh one, but at least we had our second specie. 

2018 12x12 Winners - Team "Hannock"

Now we had to get a third to make sure we were safe. Going into the last hour of the comp, our nerves were shot. The wind was blowing a gale and the water was a terrible colour. Despite trying all the tricks, I could not find a yellowfin and at 1pm we called it a day, hoping that we had done enough.

At the prize giving that evening, the results were revealed. 3^rd was “Bizy Liz”, 2^nd was “Wave Dancer” and we had managed to clinch the win! Aside from that, we also took prizes for the top individual, biggest Kingfish, biggest dorado and biggest fish on day 2. Thanks go to Ockie and Zander for a great weekend with some good laughs and memories. Well done to St Lucia Ski-Boat Club for a top event!

Vidal turns on

On Sunday 14^th October at 6:30, At and I launched “ABF” at Cape Vidal. There had been a few dorado around and we were keen to get in on some of the action. There was a 10 knot SW blowing and just enough current to keep us standing still… perfect.

We first set about catching some live bait. We took about an hour to get a good supply. I suggested we troll a few strip baits around to cover area and find where the fish were holding. We tacked between 20m and 40m heading south with the current. It didn’t take long to get a pull but unfortunately, it missed the hooks. We found a current line in 30m and worked it a bit. The far bait was the first to go away with a good size female dorado which we were stoked to get into the boat as it meant that we had some fresh fish for supper. The next turn produced another nice fish. It seemed things were hotting up. At was busy trolling shallower when he spotted a dorado jumping in front of us. It was no surprize when the reel smoked off. This was a very good fish but after a few big jumps, it spat the hooks. We made a turn and went on with a smaller fish which At caught. While he was fighting the fish, there were 2 followers, but they just did not want to eat. We trolled along the current line but had no more luck. Due to unforeseen circumstances, some of our livies had died so we quickly stopped at the point and caught a few more. While we were drifting, I pinned a livie and put it out. It didn’t take long for a pull and soon had another dorado in the hatch. This was turning out to be a great day.

A great day on the water!

With the live well full again, I put out a few baits and slow trolled around. It took about an hour to find the fish and the close bait we went away. It took only a few minutes to land the fish and we made a turn in the area. Moments later, the far rod went off. At took the strike while I cleared some lines. We noticed another fish jumping around so I threw a lure at it with no luck. The fish kept jumping as if it was hooked. Only then did I notice that it was already on one of the lines I had brought closer. With 2 fish on, we had some fun and games. At’s fish was soon at the boat but it had a follower… and a big one. I flicked out a livie and watched the fish eat it. I hooked up and put the rod in the holder before gaffing At’s one. We still had 2 fish on so we both took a rod. At had his fish at the boat so again I put the rod down and gaffed it before continuing the fight. This last fish gave me a hard fight and only after about 20 minutes could we gaff it. A great 15kg fish.

With more than enough fish to eat, we packed up and headed back after a fantastic day’s dorado fishing.

Double up on dorries!

On Saturday 6^th October at 5:30, Hansie, Tjaart, Buffel, Iwan and I launched "Mitsu-fishi" off Richards Bay. There had been a few dorado and marlin around, so we decided to give it a try.

Iwan's Sailfish

We headed up North and set the lures in a depth of around 80m. The water was only 23 degrees and had a green tint to it. We slowly worked north along the drop-off. There were a few birds around and the odd flying fish, so we were hopeful that we would find something. At about 8am, I saw a movement behind the right short, but was not 100% sure that I was seeing what I was seeing so I didn’t raise the alarm. Moments later, the rigger popped and the reel started running. There was a bit of weight to the fish and from what I thought I had seen, I was 100% sure it was a billfish. The line angled towards the surface and a big sailfish stuck its head out the water and thrashed about. We cleared the lines and put 9 year old Iwan in the chair. This was the first time he had ever been in a fighting chair but he did an exceptional job right from the beginning. After a few jumps and a few runs, Iwan had the fish on the leader and just like that, Iwan had caught his first billfish!

Double up on dorries

The lines went out and trolling commenced. We followed the drop-off and in about 250m, the right long rigger popped. The fish pulled line off at a constant pace and so we cleared the lines. The lure I was retrieving was halfway back to the boat when it was also eaten. Immediately a nice dorado cleared the surface. I left the rod in the gunwale and let Iwan wind it in while his dad was in the chair with the other fish which we had not seen yet. I gaffed Iwan’s 13kg dorado and put it in the hatch while Buffel brought his fish in. It was also a good 17kg dorado which was also boated.

That was all the action that we had for the morning. Later that day while heading home, two dorado chased the lures down but never connected.

2018 Garrick

On Friday 14^th September, Wayne and I launched “Galavant” off Richards Bay. The fishing had been sporadic the past few weeks, and the weather was also unstable, so we were not sure what to do. We headed to the pipeline to catch some bait but battled to catch shad. After an hour, we only had 2 but the hatch was full of big maasbanker.

There were already 5 boats around the pier, so we opted to head up north. There was hardly any swell and the wind was less than 5 knots. I rigged up 3 livies and Wayne slowly trolled north. It did not take long to get a pull. The close bait went away and after feeding it a bit, I tightened up to my first Garrick of the season. It gave me a great fight on the light line and when it was tired, Wayne grabbed the tail and removed the hook before taking a few pics.

1st Garrick for 2018

Wayne's Garrick

The baits went out again and apart from a missed strike it was quiet. Wayne turned back and headed towards where we started. We had a pull on the mid distance bait but unfortunately it was a shark. Not long after that, the close bait went away. Wayne fed it and tightened up. The fish just started taking line when the main line broke. On closer inspection, it looked like something had nicked the line. Just bad luck I guess. There seemed to be some life in the area, so we turned around and worked the area. I rigged up a shad and just after putting the rod down, the reel went away. I fed it for a bit, but there was nothing, so I started retrieving the line. About half way back, the line took tension and I tightened up on a fish. I passed the rod to Wayne who had a great fight with his first Garrick for the season. There was a second fish swimming with the hooked one, so we made quick work of unhooking, photographing and releasing the fish. With a fish each, we decided to head deeper to the ledge to look for a tuna.

On arrival, I saw some bonnies and threw a spoon into them. On the second cast, I hooked a bait size bonnie and rigged it up. Unfortunately, after 45minutes, a shark ate it and Wayne was the lucky one to fight it to the boat where we broke it off.

At the end of the ledge, we upped lines and headed home after a great day on the water.

Club Record Salmon

On Monday 20 August at about 6pm, Andre, Hansie, Terence and I launched “Good Time” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few salmon coming out, so we were hoping to get a few.

We stopped at the pipeline and there were about 10 other boats there already. Sounding around, we found a spot and put out the anchor. We went about catching some live bait and soon had some baits on the bottom. I was secretly hoping to get a big fish as I was using 8kg line, hoping for another record like the week before. At around 7pm, Hansie had a bite. He tightened up to a good strong fish that gave him a great fight on the light gear he was using. After about 15minutes, he had his first daga for the season. A good 24kg fish.

A few beautiful salmon

The rest of us continued fishing while Hansie played around with the maasbanker that were attracted to the boat lights. At around 7:30, Andre hooked up and managed to catch his personal best salmon of 26kg. I don’t think I have seen anyone prouder of a fish before. In the meantime, Terence and I were holding pole, watching everyone else catching fish. Hansie then caught a really big shad and Terence rigged it up. At about 8:30, Terence had a big bite and went tight on a fish that fought in another league. The spinning reel that he was using stood up well to the strong 25minute fight and after a few trips around the boat, the fish popped up next to the boat spent. We could see that this was a record size fish so we kept it.

New Club Record

I was now the only one still trying for a fish, but luckily this meant that there were no other lines in the water to cut me off. In the next 2 hours, I had three fish that mouthed the bait without me even feeling the bump. Eventually, after rigging up a really lively shad, I had a solid take. I tightened up pretty quickly and went on with another strong fish. The light tackle took strain with the strong runs of the fish and my heart sat in my throat with every head nod. After a long dogged fight, the fish was visible in the lights. The size looked close to the size that I needed for the record, so Andre gaffed it and brought it onboard. It had been a long night and having all caught a fish, we could not have asked for more.

We stopped at the club and weighted my fish first. It pulled the needle to 26.8kg, narrow missing the record. I’ll just have to try again… and I will. When we put Terence’s fish on the scale, even though it was late in the evening, a small crowd gathered to see this weight. We were all astounded to see the weight of 49.1kg! A fish of a lifetime. I congratulate Terence on a fantastic fish. You are the envy of many an angler.

Just in the nick of time

On Tuesday evening at 17:45, Andre, Hansie, Tjaart, Terence and I launched “Good Time” out of Richards Bay. There had been the odd daga salmon around and the weather had given a gap to try for them.

We headed out to the pipeline, sounded around until we found a bit of structure and put out the anchor. We went about catching a few shad and maasbanker for live bait. It didn’t take long for us all to have a live bait in the water and the waiting began. The sand anchor was slipping a bit but we decided to leave it so that we could cover a bit of ground. There were about 15 boats in the area, and none had any luck, so we thought this might work in our favour. After a few hours, Hansie had a bump, but the fish only nipped his livie, killing and discarding it. At about 9pm, we decided to up lines and position ourselves again. When Andre and Tjaart retrieved their lines, their livies were also dead with the small pin hole teeth marks on them.

36.7kg Daga Salmon

We rigged up a sand anchor and rock anchor and set it over a likely looking spot. It was absolutely dead and at around 11pm I suggested that we start packing up. Slowly we upped lines and I noticed that Andre, Tjaart and Terence were tangled. While they were sorting things out, I pinned a fresh livie and sent it down. With the tangle sorted, we were about to pull anchor when I felt a solid bump on my rod. I dropped the tip and let the line come tight before setting the hook. The rod keeled over with the weight of a good fish. It went on a short but strong run with big head nods. I could not do much with the 10kg tackle, so I let the drag on the spinning reel do its thing and slowly tire the fish out. After about 15 minutes the fish was on surface in the lights where Andre could get the gaff in the mouth. He struggled to pull it aboard and only when it was lying on the deck could we see the size of the fish. It was a really good size fish, well over 30kg. With a fish on the deck, we were happy to call it a night and headed home. We weighed the fish at the club and it registered 36.7kg. A possible record on 10kg line.

Thanks to Andre and my mates for a magic evening. If you are looking to book a fishing charter, give Andre a call (072 639 9366).

Party poopers.

On Friday 6^th July at 5:30am, At, Gert, Pierre and I launched “Avanti” out of Richards Bay. There had been a number of snoek caught the previous day and the conditions looked identical, so we were hoping to get into some action.

We arrived as it started getting light, so I wasted no time in putting out a few small lures. When the sun was well above the horizon, we had our first pull. It was a snoek of about 6kg that Pierre caught… not a bad start. The lines were just out again when Gert had a strike and caught a similar sized fish. At turned back on the line where we had the pulls and unsurprisingly, we got another fish. This one was about 8kg. There seemed to be some bait balls on the sounder, so we worked the area and picked up single and double strikes. By 8am we had 6 fish, but it was as if someone had flipped a switch and they went off the bite. None of the boats were getting pulls so we assumed that was a wrap for the day. I tacked around a bit looking for the bait and birds, but there was nothing so I worked a shallow ledge that I knew and fluked another smaller snoek. After a few turns without any more action, I headed out a bit deeper to where I thought I had seen a splash. There were 2 terns fluttering about but when I got near them, they vanished. I made a lazy turn in the area and two rods went away. One fish was a nice one while the other was only about 4kg.

A good morning haul of snoek

I had just put the lines out again when we spotted the two birds again. They were dipping over a dark patch in the water. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the fish had pushed a baitball to the surface. We stopped near by and threw lures into the shoal. We all had chases, but nothing committed. The trolling lines were in the way, so we brought them in allowing us to manoeuvre more efficiently. At positioned us upwind of the shoal and we threw lures at it. The fish were quite aggressive and chased the lures on almost every cast. At one stage we were all three on with nice fish. This went on for a while before the first boat spotted us. As always happens, they started spoiling the fun by casting over our lines and just getting in the way. The sight of 2 boats right next to each other caught the attention of other boats who arrived on the scene. What really got to me was when one idiot, who loves the sound of his own voice, tried to tell us that we should move because the baitball kept swimming under our boat! This coming from anglers who can’t find their own fish and must rely on us to find them before they even had a chance at hooking anything! I had a few choice words for him…

With so much boat traffic on a baitball that was only about a meter wide, the fish became skittish, so we decided to pack up and head home. We had caught our fish for the day and knew there was a lot of work to be done cleaning fish. We were back in the harbour at 11am with a tally of 24 fish. There were 11 fish between 7 and 9kg with the rest being shoal fish of around 5kg.