Short on Luck

At 7:30 on Saturday 4^th January 2014, we left Richards Bay harbour onboard “Galavant”. The weather forecast had indicated that it was going to be a beautiful day so Elsa and Candice joined us for their first fishing trip. There had been a few fish up north, so we headed in that direction.

Soon the water changed to a deep blue colour and the temperature shot up to over 26 degrees. Wayne slacked the speed and we set the spread of lures. The sea was exceptionally flat and you could see the wake for a long way back. On the radio we heard reports of a few early strikes and hook-ups. As we trolled over the drop-off, we came upon a good rip with some white water. It ran quite a way north between 250m and 350m, so we hugged the edge of it hoping for a stripey.

 

I was up on the flybridge checking out the scene when I saw a swirl and splash behind the centre rigger lure. As I shouted, the rigger popped but the reel remained silent. I scurried down the steps hoping to tease the fish a bit, but before I could get there, the reel started running. The lines were cleared in no time and Elsa took the chair. The fish did not jump, but took a good amount of line on the surface, so we had an idea as to what it might be. After explaining how to use the chair and harness, Elsa brought the fish closer. The leader came up and we could confirm it to be a shortbill spearfish. This was the first billfish that Elsa had caught and for it to be one of the rarest billfish, made it even more special. After a few photos, we released the fish and set the lures again.

 

The water temperature kept increasing and more and more boats raised fish in the spread, but would not commit on the strike. At about noon, we decided to head shallower to look for a black. From what we have seen, the blacks tend to prefer lures on the long and centre riggers as opposed to the shorts, so I changed out the lure on the right long for a larger lure. Wayne had tacked over the ledge a few times when I saw a small black come in on the right long. It knocked the lure out of the water but never popped the clip. It followed the lure for a few seconds before fading off. Despite working the area for a while, we never saw any more action for the day and headed back to port.