2017 Richards Bay Garrick Derby

On Saturday 9^th September, At and I launched Avanti off Richards Bay. Our Club Garrick Derby was on so we had decided to enter.

Our first stop was at the pipe where we quickly caught a hatch full of livies before heading north towards Hlobane. On arrival, I put out 2 surface baits and 2 deeper baits. At slow trolled north towards a good-looking rip. It wasn’t long before we had our first pull. I fed the fish and hooked up. After a typical Garrick fight, we had points on the board. It was not a monster, but at least we had one. While I was rerigging, the deep line went away very slowly. I leant over and put the drag up. There were a few head nods and a slow run. At pulled the fish which ended up being a big rockcod.

Lines went out again and as we passed through the rip, At went on with a Garrick. It was also a small fish, so we released it. Trolling continued and as we went, I cast a stickbait into the backline. At one stage, a Garrick lazily followed the lure and faded off near the boat. I carried on casting and moments later there was a commotion on the surface as a Garrick chased the close bait. I freespooled as the bait was eaten and hooked up to another fish. When it was close to the boat, we noticed a lot of blood coming out the gills so decided to take it.

For the next half an hour we never had a pull so At turned us around and headed back to where we started fishing. This time when I saw a big splash on the surface, it was a big shark chasing the shad. Before I could get the bait away, it was eaten. I tried to strike it off, but unfortunately the hook set properly and the shark took off in the opposite direction. I was on max drag and thumbing the spool trying to part off, but only after a few burnt fingers, I managed to part off.

The next hour or two produced quite a few strikes, but the fish didn’t commit to the bait properly. They would grab it and run a few meters then spit the bait. Some would be on for a few seconds and as they started taking line, they would throw the bait. Frustrating to say the least.

As we moved north, there were less pulls so again we headed back to the start of our GPS track. It wasn’t long before we had a smoker on the deep line. This was obviously not a Garrick so I tightened up almost immediately. The fish took a lot of line on a fast and strong run but suddenly the tension was gone. On closer inspection, you could see that the leader cut off in the rocks. Obviously one of the kingfish that had been around the last while.

The next 2 pulls were both Garrick and both hooked up properly. These fish were however also shoal size so we released them both. It was getting late and we had another day’s fishing the next day so we packed up and headed home.

On Sunday 10^th September, we launched again and quickly caught some livies before making a B-Line for the south pier. There was a nice current line with plenty bait around. I put out 3 lines while At trolled along the break. It wasn’t long before the far bait went away. I fed and hooked up to a Garrick. It gave me a good fight until we could boat it. It was a bit bigger than the previous day’s fish. I wasted no time in rerigging and soon we had another pull. At had a great fight on a spinning reel with a strong Garrick making it 2 fish in 30 minutes.

There were a few chases around the boat so it was no surprise when we had another pull. When I hooked up, the fish took off on a strong run. The line angled towards the surface and the surface erupted as a big queenfish angrily launched itself. This was a big surprize as we normally don’t get them off the boats at this time of year. The fish made a few great jumps before going deep, making me work for every inch of line. It was a great fight on a spinning rod. Eventually the fish was at the surface where we could get hold of it and take some pics.

It was now only 8am and things were looking good… but looks could be deceiving… Despite working the area for several more hours, we never had another pull so at 1pm we headed home.