A day to remember

On Saturday 4^th June 2011, Mike and Dale Leenstra and I launched Mike’s boat “Beluga” off Richards Bay. We were looking for the junior SA Record cuda on 8kg line, a 24kg fish. Richards Bay is blessed with large cuda and probably the best place to target a really big fish.

The SW was blowing at about 15knots when we left the harbour. We stopped off at the pipeline to look for bait but never found one livie. After trying a few other spots with the same result, we headed for Petingo. When we arrived, there were 2 other boats on the wreck. They had not had a pull since early that morning so we were not too confident in our chances. We rigged four 8kg rods, 2 with wala-wala and 2 with small bonnies. On our first approach to the wreck, while Dale and Mike putting out the third line, the first rod bent and the reel took off! Dale grabbed the rod while Mike retrieved the other line. Once the fish settled, I followed it with the boat to gain line. After about 20 minutes, Mike gaffed a nice cuda of around 20kg ... what a start!!!

The current had pushed us off the wreck so while I trolled back, Mike and Dale reset the lines. They were busy with the last line when the deep bait was eaten and the reel took off! Mike started clearing the other lines when the bait he was retrieving was eaten and the fish took off! A double ... Nice! I left the controls and cleared the last line while Mike and Dale fought their fish. Unfortunately Mike’s fish pulled hooks after a short run but Dale’s fish stayed on. We fought the fish for about 15 minutes before Mike gaffed another slightly smaller cuda. Again the lines wet out. And I continued working the wreck. About an hour later, the deep bait was eaten. Dale took the rod while Mike and I brought in the other lines. Again Mike’s rod took off in his hands and we were onto a double! I followed Dales fish while Mike kept his at a safe distance. After 20 minutes, Dale’s fish was acting differently and fighting deep and slow. Not like a cuda. I backed off the speed and let his fish take some line. Mike then managed to bring his fish closer where I gaffed it, another nice cuda. Dale in the meanwhile was constantly loosing line but the fish was now right on the surface. I road towards the fish to get an id. About 20m from the fish, a sharp white fin broke the surface. On closer inspection, we saw that it was a big manta ray. It must have swam into the line and hooked itself. Oh well, at least we got Mike’s fish!

I took us back to the wreck and the lines were reset. I worked the area for about an hour before we had another smoking reel. We cleared lines while Dale fought the fish. Unfortunately, as the lines were cleared, the hooks pulled. We also notices that one of the other baits had been chopped by a cuda ... unlucky. Because there were so many fish around, we decided to put in the 3kg line. It was in the water for about 20 minutes when it was eaten. The fish screamed off and as it settled, a garfish came up and bit the line where it enters the water resulting in a broken line!

It was now about 12:00 and the other boats were losing heart. Between them, they had caught 1 fish. We were just lucky and had the right bait in the right place ... with the wrong tackle! If we were using heavier line and more hooks, the score would have been different ... but that’s record hunting for you. I handed the controls over to Mike and took a breather. Mike made a few turns and was rewarded with a screaming reel. I cleared the lines and Mike chased after the fish. After about 25mins, it was near the boat. I gave Mike the gaff and went to the controls. Dale brought a really nice fish in and when the leader was on the rod, Mike went in for a gaff shot as fish spooked and took off. The one hook got caught up in the gaff and resulted in a lost fish. That happens I guess!

At about 2pm, we were getting ready to pack up when the deep line was taken. The fish headed straight for the buoy but luckily for us, it veered off to the side and didn’t cut us off. The fish did big circles under the boat until it came into gaff range and Mike redeemed himself by lifting a nice fish into the boat.

After that, our bait had run out and we headed back to the club. The fish weighed 16-22kg and were just short of the record. Oh well, next time ... I promiseJ

TataMaChance

On Saturday 28^th May, Mike and Dale Leenstra and myself launched Mike’s 21ft Yeldcat “Beluga” at Cape Vidal. We were there for the weekend and wanted to look for daytime broadbill. Unfortunately the 40 knot SW wind which had been blowing for 2 days prior had picked up the sea and the surf/swell was BIG! We decided to give it a go regardless, but we would not focus on broadbill until the sea had settled. After negotiating a hairy surf, we stopped at the point and looked for livebait. We found a few very small maasbankers but discarded the 5cm minnows and put out a few small feathers and rapalas to look for bonnies. We had not gone 100m and we were on with the first jube-jube. This was followed at regular intervals by a few more of the perfect bait size bonnies.

We changed tactics at about 8:30 and rigged a few strip baits and trolled north to Oscar, hoping for a sailfish. It was very quiet on the pinnacle and at about 10:30 I suggested we go and look at what the 500m line looked like. In 250m, we had a triple strike on skipjacks and rigged 2 on the big rods. We continued deeper looking for clean water. At the 500m mark, the swell was big but very fishable. I suggested we release the livies and make a drop - TataMaChance. After rigging a squid and setting up the tackle, we dropped a bait into 500m and drifted slowly south. After an hour, the rod bumped and the reel ran a bit. I took the chair and brought in a large wreckfish of around 30kg.

It was getting late and if we did not beach at the right time, we were going to battle with the tide. We packed up and headed home.

On Sunday the 29^th May, we launched at 6:30am and headed for Leven Point canyon. We made a drop at just after 8am in 550m and after an hour and a half drift, we lifted the bait to start another drift. When the bait came out the water, we saw that it had been eaten by some or other small bottomfish and only a few tatters were left on the hooks.

The next drop was in about 500m and as we were drifting into the canyon, the rod bumped and the reel took off! This was no bottomfish. Mike told me to get into the chair. I obliged even though I was pretty sure I knew what fish it was. After about 45 minutes, the leader came up. Dale unclipped the lights and I pulled the fish closer. When the swivel came out the water, a long snake like tail broke the surface behind the boat. It was a thresher shark of about 70-80kg. A real pest when it comes to deep dropping! After Mike and Dale had a good look at the fish, we cut the trace and it swam away.

It was now about 11:00 so we opted to pull strips back home along the ledge. As we neared vegetation, we started getting a few bonnies. We then found a lost Dorado of about 5kg that ate a stripbait. After trolling over Oscar and getting more bonnies, we upped lines and beached.

Thanks to Mike and his family for a great weekend.

Umhlanga Prestige Interclub

At 6am On Saturday the 21^st May, Michael Duvenage, my Dad, Shane Denis and I launched Shane’s friend’s boat “Mocha” out of Grannies pool at Umhlanga. We were fishing in the Umhlanga Prestige Interclub, representing Richard Bay.

We were the second boat to launch out of 22 and once on backline, we waited for the other boats to make their way through the surf. In this time we rigged up bait rods to catch live bait. By 7:30am all the boats were behind backline and we all set off for the wreck to catch bait.

On arriving at the wreck, we dropped strings of sabiki rigs down to the bottom into thick showings of bait. They were immediately eaten by hungry shad, mackerel, maasbanker, razor bellies and pinkies. There was an unbelievable amount of bait and at one stage we were pulling up full strings of shad and mackerel. It was a live bait angler’s paradise! It took a whole 15 minutes to fill the bait tank and then we headed north to Umdloti.

Michael and I rigged 5 rods with livebait traces and started setting the lines. With 3 surface lines out, we rigged two baits to send deep, one maasbanker and one shad. Mike let his bait out a bit when he said something ate his bait. While he was feeding the fish, I put the shad in the water. Almost immediately, Shame and I saw a dark shape come into view and chase the shad. As the shad came to the surface to escape, the “shape” grew a bill and sail and grabbed the shad about 2 meters from the boat! I fed the fish and watched it fade away with the shad in its mouth. Michael and I both gave the fish line before Shane opened up the one motor. We both tightened up at the same time and line ran off the reels. We all stood looking back as the lines came to the surface as the sailfish cleared the water shaking its head. As the sail fall back to the water, the shad went flying and my line went slack as the hooks came out. Michael on the other hand was still attached to the fish which took off away from the boat. We cleared the lines and backed up after the fish. Michael retrieved most of the line before the fish went deep. We moved away from the fish and the line came to the surface. I chased after the fish as Michael put line back on the reel in a hurry before the fish sounded again. After sulking in the deep water for a bit, it came to the surface where we caught a glimpse of the fish as it flashed on the surface. The dirt green water made the silver flank look brown and we all for a moment thought it had converted to a shark. Luckily this thought was dispelled as the fish lifted its sail and we saw the electric blue colours. After 15 minutes the fish started tiring and neared the boat. It made several great jumps and then tailwalked towards the boat. It came so close that Shane took cover as the fish barely missed the transom. Michael was quick to take up the slack and managed to get the leader on the rod. I backed up after the fish and a few seconds later it was next to the boat where Shane (who was now out from hiding) grabbed the bill. We took a few photos and then cut the trace before releasing a healthy 25-30kg sailfish. Not bad for the first 5 minutes of the competition!

Unfortunately that was the only action that we had for the rest of the competition other that a small bonito and another one that was eaten by the sharks. We also had a dolphin eat one of our live baits which was very uncommon!

Petingo Cuda

On Sunday 15^th May, Edmund Johnstone, Riaan Pretorius, my Dad and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay to fish for cuda. There had been a few fish around and we were hopeful that we would get a fish or two. We left the harbour at about 6:30am and headed to the pipeline to look for bait. The water was not a nice colour and we failed at catching a single livie. After more than half an hour, we headed for petingo.

We arrived at about 7:45am, I rigged 3 bonito and 2 wala-wala and staggered them in depth and distance from the boat. The water was a nice "cuda green" with a slight current. There were alot of jellyfish around even though the water was 23 degrees. My Dad began slow trolling around the wreck. Everywhere there were bonito crashing bait on the surface and good showings on the echo sounder. Things looked good.

At just after 9am, the deep bonito was eaten and the reel took off as the fish took about 50m of line. Edmund and I retrieved the other lines as my Dad chased the fish. Riaan was on the rod and had quite a tussle with the fish before I managed to get the gaff into it. It was a really nice cuda, well over 20kg. After cheers and congratulations, we reset the spread and continued trolling.

It was just before 10am when the surface bonito was eaten. The reel smoked off as the fish headed about 100m in the opposite direction. Riaan and I cleared the lines as my Dad chased the fish. Edmund gained line quickly and had it at the boat in a relatively short time. As the leader came out the water, the fish took off again. It started fighting differently ... very erratic. Only then did we see that a shark was after it. The cuda tried every trick in the book and finally managed to get away from the shark. As it swam past the boat, I put the gaff into another good fish.

The lines went out again and we continued trolling. The wind turned to an easterly direction and all the activity vanished. The rest of the day was dead and at 2pm we upped lines and headed home. The two cuda weighed in at 25,2kg and 18kg respectively.

Pipped at the scale

On Saturday the 7^th May, At van Tilburg, Marius de Wet and I launched At’s 21’ Yeld “AVANTI” at the Richards Bay Ski Boat Club. We were competing in the Umlalazi Couta Classic as we do each year. The previous year, we managed to win the competition and were defending our title this year.

The weather was terrible with strong SW winds and frequent rain squalls. The sea was very uncomfortable and we were unsure as to how we should approach the day. After heading out the harbour mouth, we ran to the pipeline to look for livebait. After an hour of battling, we decided to move to small highpoint where we would target the unspecified prize.

After a bumpy 45minute ride, we finally arrived at small high. The water was an off green and not too promising. We put out a few rapalas and surface lures to look for bonito. At trolled around the pinnacle a few times before 2 reels went off. Marius and I pulled in 2 bonito of about 4kg each. We continued trolling while I started sorting out the cuda traces and baits. I had just about finished the prep for slow trolling when 1,2, 3 reels took off. We all grabbed a rod and started pulling in the fish. The boat was still in gear to keep our direction when a 4^th rod went off. We each pulled in a bonito then Marius took the last rod. The fish came in relatively easily, but did not fight like a bonito. I was expecting to see a short fat shine under the boat when suddenly a nice cuda popped its head out from under the hull. It was the fastest I have ever looked for a gaff in my life! After a frenzied search for a gaff, I leaned over and gaffed a 12kg cuda. Now if that was not luck, then I don’t know!

We headed back to the pinnacle after drifting off and put out some cuda baits. I had a bonito and mackerel on surface and a wala-wala and silkie (wolf herring) down deep. One on a sinker and the other on the down rigger. Slowly we approached the pinnacle and as the sounder started picking up, the downrigger rod flicked and the reel ran a bit. I wound in the down rigger then took the rod. Marius and At pulled in the other lines as I slowly gained line o the fish. It felt very strange, as if it were fowl hooked. There were no headshakes or runs. I assumed it was a small cuda that had eaten the silkie and the row of trebles had caught it in the side resulting in the fish being pulled sideways. About 15mins later, the double line and leader came out the water. I looked down to see what it was when I saw a huge silver shine! The water was quite dirty so I could not get a good look. At then shouted that it was a big kingfish and grabbed a gaff. The fish circled twice before the gaff went in and it was hauled onboard. It was a beast! Nothing near what I was expecting. This was surely the best unspecified fish for the comp! We took a few photos and continued trolling.

The wind dropped throughout the day and the sea got better and better. At about 1pm, we had had no further action and pulled in the lines. I put on a few feathers and rapalas and At trolled around the pinnacle. The sounder constantly indicated big showings. As we trolled over the showing, every rod went away with small bonito ... perfect cuda baits. We continued trolling and stocked up on the baits before heading back to the weighin at Zini SBC.

Our cuda weighed 12,6kg and the kingfish pulled the scale to 31,9kg!!! Unfortunately this was not big enough to take top unspecified as there was a sailfish of 38kg weighed just before we arrived.

It was a great comp and congrats go to all those who organised it. The biggest cuda was 26kg followed by a 24kg fish. Well done to the winners!

uMhlathuze Fishing Festival 2011

Over the Easter weekend, the RBSBC held its annual Fishing Festival. It was fished over 3 days (Friday to Sunday) and had about 125 boats participating. I had entered my Dad’s boat into the competition with my Dad, myself and two good friends from Middleburg as competitors. I was the convenor of the competition and was very nervous to fish as there were so many things to sort out during the day.

On Friday the 22^nd, I was at the club at just before 4am. The weather had turned and a strong SW was whipping up the sea. The weather committee called the comp off for the day and the festivities began!

On Saturday morning, the wind had died and the sea had flattened. All boats put to sea before we launched our boat. The idea was to look for marlin with live bait so we headed to small high point and pulled some small lures around. The water was very cold and the colour was relatively green with a strong reverse current. The first pass over the pinnacle however resulted in 2 running reels. Wessel and Marinda both took up the rods and pulled in a 4kg kwaw-kawa and a 4kg yellowfin respectively. The yellowfin went into the tube and we continued trolling. Soon we had a few small bonnies in the icebox and headed out deeper. I rigged the yellowfin on a 50Lbs outfit and let it out 20m behind the boat before clipping the line into the rigger clip.

We trolled out to 600m but the conditions just got worse. The water colour changed to pea soup and the temperature dropped. At 11am we turned shallower to return to the slightly better water and in 400m, the bait revved but the rigger did not pop. I pulled the bait closer and saw the brown shape of a hammerhead shark behind it. I pulled the bait in but it was too late. The shark had bitten off the tail. We were now in the desert in terrible water without bait. The wind was now also blowing at about 15 knots NE and churning up the sea. We opted to abandon the day and head home before the rush. That marked the end of our day. There were 3 marlin released and a few nice tuna weighed. Other than that, results were poor.

On Sunday morning, the NE was still blowing at 10-15knots and only a few boats went to sea. Many returned before long complaining that the chop was quite bad. We had decided to give it a skip as well and spent the day enjoying the activities at the Club.

Overall the competition was a success and a good time was had by all. We will try again next year.

Third time Unlucky?!

At 7:30am on 9 April 2011, Trevor Hansen and I launched Dawie van der Westhuizen’s 1250 Rodman “Reel Magic”. The plan was to head north to fish for billfish. Trevor was keen to try for a blue marlin on 10kg line which had eluded him for months.

We arrived at the 400m mark and set two 10kg rigs on the long riggers. We also set 2 80Lbs rigs with larger lures on the short riggers. These would act as teasers and if a fish happened to eat one, I would be on the stick. The conditions were perfect and the lures were tracking beautifully with the help of a very calm sea. Trevor worked the 400m to 600m area and soon we started seeing signs of life. There were flying fish, birds, the odd dolphin and some good showings on the echo. Something had to happen.

At about 11am, Trevor saw a shortbill spearfish behind the short rigger lure. The fish hit the lure but the rigger clip would not open. The line slipped through the clip as the fish took line at a slow pace. Finally the clip released and the fish could run line directly off the reel. We cleared the other lines and as I was about to take the rod, the hook pulled. I assume the extra tension from the clip caused the hooks to rip out. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk. The lines went back in and trolling commenced. About half an hour later, the other short rigger popped and the 80Lbs rig took off at speed! Trevor and I cleared the lines then I moved to the chair and strapped in. By then, the surface erupted and a feisty blue marlin came flying out of the water. It greyhounded in all directions for about 30 seconds before going deep and settling down. I managed to get the backing onto the reel relatively quickly and once the topshot was on the reel, I upped the drag to strike position. The marlin had tired itself out with all the jumping and was at boat side within 20mins from hookup. It was about 60kg and after removing the hooks, it swam away strongly. GREAT! It was still early and the bite was on so we wasted no time putting the lures back into the water.

At about 13:30, I was looking at the lure on the short rigger when a big bill and dorsal fin appeared behind the lure. As I shouted, the lure disappeared in a big splash and all that remained was a hole in the water where the lure had been. The rigger popped and the reel took off. Line melted off the reel as Trevor and I frantically cleared the other lines. The big blue erupted behind the boat and tailwalked for about 100m before changing direction and going the other way. It jumped twice as long as the previous one and while this was going on, I took up the rod and climbed into the chair. Trevor and I both estimated the fish at 450 plus Lbs and we knew this would be a longer fight. Trevor backed up hard as I did my best to put backing onto the reel. The fish was still running and I had to work for every meter I put on the reel. After 25 minutes the topshot came out the water and onto the reel. The fish was now about 200m away. About 10 minutes later, I had most of the line back. By now we were pulling the fish with the current and things looked good. Everything was going as it should when suddenly the hook pulled! No ways! Unreal. Oh well, I guess that is marlin fishing for you.

We continued trolling until 16:30 without another strike then packed up and headed for home. Thanks to Trevor for a great day and hopefully we can get that fish on 10kg soon.

Shoaly Shutdown

On 20 March 2011 at 6:45am, we launched my Dad’s boat “Selfish” off Richards Bay. My sister, Julie, and brother in law, Carl, had come down for the long weekend, from Jo’burg, to do some fishing. There had been a few shoal cuda at “Petingo” so we decided to fish for them.

Our first stop was on the pipeline to look for some live bait. We sounded around the area and dropped sabiki rigs into each showing we found, but had no success. After about an hour, we decided to try another spot between the ships. We had the same result as the pipe and were now getting desperate for bait. Our last option was to stop at a reef in 42m of water a few kilometres north of “Petingo”. When we got there, we found a nice showing and sent the jigs down. Carl went tight with a string of bait that gave him the run around before he lifted 4 tiny bonnies into the boat! We scrambled to put the luna tube on, but as luck would have it, the pump did not work! We later found it was a loose connection. We had no option but to put them in the coolerbox to use as dead bait. We scratched around for more bait, but failed. At 9:30 we upped lines and headed for the wreck.

When we arrived, there were 3 other boats. They each had a fish or two so we felt positive. The water was crystal clean, 27 degrees and the current was screaming! The NW wind was blowing at about 8-10 knots. I am not a fan of these conditions when fishing for big cuda, but they are good for the shoal size fish. I rigged 2 wala-wala and 2 of the tiny bonnies and set them at different depths and distances from the boat. We resumed slow trolling into the current and about half way up the wreck we found a good showing halfway off the bottom. Almost immediately the bonnie on the 6oz sinker was eaten. Carl took the rod and pulled a 5kg cuda to the boat where it was gaffed. Fresh fish tonight! I had just rerigged the bait and was about to put it out when the reel with the deep wala-wala went away. Julie took the rod and fought a frisky fish to the boat. While this was going on, the surface wala-wala was eaten and the fish took a few meters of line before slowing down. Carl had by then gaffed Julie’s cuda so I passed the rod to her so that she could catch another fish. The small cuda came to the boat quickly and just as it was about to come into gaffing range, it threw the hook. Unlucky! Oh well, that’s fishing. We regrouped and set the lines with new baits. By now we were on the northern side of the wreck and started turning, the deep bonnie was eaten. I was standing next to the rod, so I took the strike. This was another small fish which came to the boat easily before Carl gaffed it.

3 from 4 on the first pass over the wreck ... not bad! What would the next pass bring? The wind had changed from NW to NE and picked up to about 12 knots. We made another approach from the south and tacked over the wreck, following our previous track. The sounder showed a lot of activity, but nothing happened. It was quite all the way up to the northern point. The other boats had also noticed that the fish had switched off. I can only guess that it was the wind direction change. We trolled the wreck for the next 3 hours without a strike before upping lines and returning to port. It was nice to be back home and washing the boat while the sun was still up!

Columbia SADSAA Billfish Classic

On 3^rd March at 5am, Wayne Ritchie, Riaan Pretorius, Rian Charmers and myself launched Wayne’s 900 Cobra Cat “Big W” in the 2011 Columbia SADSAA Billfish Classic. This was the second day of the competition and we were in need of a billfish.

We headed north to the 50m ledge and put out a spread of 6 lures. On the right flat line was a pulsator “Boaster”, the left short, behind the teaser, I had a Moldcraft Bobby Brown, right short was a Black Bart, left long was a Moldcraft Wide Range, right long was a halfbeak and the japan was a small super chugger. The sea was perfect and the lures operated beautifully on the front of the waves. Something had to happen. From 7am, the radio was busy with boats hooking up and released fish and lost fish being reported. On “Big W” it ws quieter than ever. The sound of the motors droning in the background and the slight rocking of the boat put the once alert crew into a trance and other than the skipper, there was very little activity on the deck.

At around 2pm, Riaan and I decided to relieve Wayne of his duty so that he could take a break. At that stage, we were just south of the harbour and heading shallower. There were 3 boats in the vicinity and all were hoping for that one special fish. Riaan and I were looking back and discussing the teaser when suddenly a big blue marlin exploded out of the water next to the Bobby Brown and engulfed it. Riaan and I both flew down the steps and cleared lines as the fish took. We knew the size of the fish and realised it was important to move fast before the fish woke up and took off. As the last line came out the water, the fish took to the sky and greyhounded for about 100m. The line was melting off the reel as we clipped Riaan into the black magic harness. Wayne was now backing down hard and line started coming back onto the reel. The fish was still jumping and all the other boats saw the magnificent display.

This was the first time Rian had ever fought standup but he got into the groove quickly and once the fish was within 100m, we upped the drag to 12kg and put the wood to it! After 45 minutes, the leader came out the water and I grabbed the swivel. Wayne kept the boat in line with the fish while I pulled it closer.

Other Riaan snapped off a few photos for the competition and we then revived the fish for several minutes before turning a healthy fish loose. GREAT!! What a feeling! This was Rian Charmers biggest marlin (About 200kg) and his first on standup. And best of all, it is still swimming free.

That was the first and last fish we saw in the tournament. Congrats to the team of “Tycoon” for releasing 5 marlin in the 4 days.

Wind in the Sails

Hendrik McCarthy had arranged a fishing trip for Saturday the 12^th February with his good friend Zach on Zach’s Yacht “Vagabund”. Zach was super keen to fish for marlin and he had bought a few nice lures and good tackle for the job. The yacht was not rigged for fishing so on the Friday, we made a few make shift plans and discussed the drill for the next day. I has never fished for marlin on a yacht before so I knew we were in for some interesting times if we hooked up.

At 4:30am on Saturday morning, Ettiene de Villiers and I arrived at the mooring of the Zululand Yacht Club. We met up with Hendrik and his wife Cornelia and Zach and his wife Magda. After a quick safety brief, we cast off and slowly headed out the harbour. The plan was to head north in the shallows and then head offshore into the current and work our way back.

The trip north was like no other I have had before. The yacht had two 30HP motors in it so our top speed was only about 6 to 7 knots. I am used to running up north at speed and setting lines within half an hour of leaving the harbour. Not on this trip! We had no option but to relax and enjoy the trip. This did however have its perks. The warm oats breakfast and cup of coffee en route to the fishing grounds was a nice bonus while we watched several ski-boats shoot past us with the crew holding on for dear life and ducking for the spray coming over the nose.

At 8:30am, we were in 60m of water near Dawsons. The water was a strange colour with a tint of green. We set the four lines, two 50Lbs rigs with small lures and two 80Lbs rigs with larger lures. I also put out a string of teasers. There were no outriggers so the lines were run directly from the rod tips. With the sail down, I trolled deeper trying to find the blue water. Our speed was around 5 knots so we put up the small sail to increase the speed to about 6.5knots. The lures were tracking beautifully. There was hardly any white water behind the yacht and the teaser looked stunning. I tacked shallower at 600m then deeper again after crossing the 250m contour. We decided to test the sounder to see what depth we could read and were pleasantly surprised when it lost bottom at 1200m!!! The water was still a strange colour so I suggested we head shallower to where we had seen a few birds and flying fish. By now it was almost 1pm, we were in 800m and we were getting despondent. We were all dosing off when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a flash behind the teaser. I looked again and saw a shortbill spearfish behind the big lure next to the teaser. I shouted to Ettiene as the fish took the lure. The reel ran for a second or so before it stopped. I ran to the 50Lbs rod with the small lure on it and pulled it into the area where the fish was. Almost immediately the lure was smashed... hookup! The other lines were cleared in no time and we strapped Magda into the harness.

We knew it was a small fish so I just put the motors into neutral. The sail kept us going at a perfect pace. Magda brought the fish to the boat relatively quickly and Ettienne took the trace. The fish was hooked in the eye and bled alot. It was still very feisty and Etts had to let go of the trace to prevent the hook from pulling. We decided to load the fish due to it’s injuries and when Etts took the trace again, he lifted the spearfish into the boat. Only then did we see that it was a really big shortbill ... and Magda’s first billfish! Awesome.

Etts and I set the lines again and sat back to relax. It was going to take a while to get home so we decided to head in the harbour’s direction. We were in 160m when Etts shouted “Daar gaan hy!” I looked back to see a big splash on the same lure that the shortbill ate. The 50Lbs reel took off smoking! We pulled the motors to neutral and cleared the deck. Moments later, the fish erupted out the water tearing up the surface. After about 10 jumps it ran shallower at speed. Hendrik was on the rod and kept the fish under control while I floored it at 6 knots, helping him gain line. I found it extremely difficult to manoeuvre the large yacht with the small motors, but luckily the fish settled down and stayed away from the rudders.

With most of the line back on the reel, I could back up on the fish to stop it from taking too much line. Hendrik used the swell and we gained line slowly but constantly. After 45mins, we had the windon splice out of the water. Before we could grab it, the fish sounded again. After another 15 minutes, the leader came up again. This time Ettienne managed to get hold of the leader and lifted the fish to the surface where he grabbed the bill.

It was Hendrik’s first marlin and he asked to load it. Etts and I obliged and put on the bill rope to pull it on board. We managed to get the head out the water before we ran out of steam. Zach took the end of the rope and attached it to one of the sail winches. One flick of a switch and the fish sailed onto the deck ... no mess no fuss! With the fish lying on the huge deck, it looked about 130kg, but it was in excellent condition.

We had drifted a few kilometres and were straight off the harbour mouth. It took us 2 hours to get back to harbour before we could weigh the fish. We eventually had it on the gantry at 7:30pm. The shortbill weighed 21kg and the blue pulled the scale to 170,6kg! Not bad on 24kg line ... 7:1.

All in all it was a great day and I thank all who made it possible. We had to change our style of fishing from the normal rushed pace to a laid back, ‘come what may‘ attitude ... I must say, I could get used to it!