Non-jumpers

Early on Sunday 18th December, Hannes, Manie and I left Richards Bay and headed to Cape Vidal. We were going to fish for the day and then leave the boat there for a few days. We finally arrived on the beach at 6:30 where we met up with the rest of the crew, Wayne and Mark. After an uneventful launch, we quickly looked for some maasbanker on the point, but found only a few seapike. We then headed to Oscar pinnacle to look for live bait for marlin.

The sea was beautiful. The surface was like oil and the clarity was like gin... conditions that you you REALLY battle for bait. We put out several halcos and feathers and worked the area for a few hour. At about 10am, we finally managed to get a small kawa-kawa. We rigged it and put it out in 60m of water. The wind was slowly picking up but still very fishable.

In 120m, the rigger popped and I fed the fish. We hooked up and the fish stripped quite a lot of line before slowing down, allowing us to gain control. About 25 minutes later, a big hammerhead shark came into view. I traces it and just before I could cut the leader, the shark bit us off.

There were now a few white horses on the surface and things looked lively. We put bait rods out again to look for bait. It took about 20 minutes before we had a double strike on kawas. We managed to get one, but it was hooked in the gills and died after pulling it for a while. Back to the bait rods... this time, it took all of 3 minutes to get bait. Again, this one was in the gills so we did not even waste time rigging it.

We managed to get another kawa-kawa a few minutes later but it was also badly hooked. We decided to rig it and see how it swam. After pulling it for a few minutes it began flashing on the surface. We slowed down and that seemed to help the situation. Not long after, the rigger popped. We hooked up and settled into a strong fight. The line stayed deep for most of the fight, but finally angled up to the surface. We could just make out the shape of a big shark cruising on top. Wayne fought the fish to the boat where I leadered a +-250kg tiger shark. After a quick photo, we cut the trace and it swam off. After that we headed for the beach.

More dorado...

On Friday 16^th December 2011, Michael, Hannes and I launched “Lihann” off Richards Bay. The sea was very unsettled but we managed to get out to 500m. We put out a basic spread of lures and worked an area that looked promising. About an hour later, we managed to hook a dorado of about 9kg which found its way into the hatch.

A few hours without a strike, we made a shallow turn and were rewarded with a nice wahoo of about 12kg. We persevered until 2pm without another touch before upping lines and heading home.

The next day, we launched again. The conditions were picture perfect. Flat seas, no wind, good current. Everything looked promising. We trolled between the many boats but failed to raise a fish. At about 11am, we caught a dorado followed shortly after by another. The day was rounded off with one more dorado before we upped lines.

With wings...

On Sunday 11^th December 2011 at about 6:30am, my Dad, At and I launched “AVANTI” at Vidal. After earning our wings in the surf, we stopped on the backline to catch a few maasbanker, just in case. After getting a few, we put out the marlin lures and headed north.

There was no action and by noon, we decided to head back to the point. In 350m, At saw a single white bird dipping on the surface. He turned towards it and moments later a nice dorado came charging in and ate the left long lure. After a quick fight, with some good jumps next to the boat, I brought in a 14kg bull dorado which At gaffed. We trolled to the backline without any other action, but still a great day.

A bit big for bait...

On Saturday 10^th December 2011, my Dad, At, Hubert, Mike and I launched “AVANTI” at Cape Vidal. We were going to try marlin fishing and hopefully get Mike his first fish... ever! After negotiating the surf, we stopped on the backline to look for some small livies, just in case we found a few dorado. 20 mins later we had about 15 livies and headed for Oscar where we trolled halcos around looking for a small tuna. About 30 minutes later, we caught a 2kg bonito and put it in the Luna tube. We continued trolling and had 3 missed strikes. On our last turn, the long rod went off and Hubert took the strike. The fish took a lot of line and then went deep. Hubert battled the fish for close on 20 minutes before I put the gaff in. It was a beautiful yellowfin tuna of 24,9kg! Not bad on a bait stick.

After that we put out 5 konas and worked the 200 – 500m contours. Apart from a dorado that chased the lure but did not eat, it was quiet. At about 2pm, in front of the point, I saw a good size marlin come up and grab the short corner lure. It took a bit of line then pulled hooks. A few seconds later, it exploded on the Japan. It took some line then stuck its head out the water shaking violently. It was on for a few seconds then unfortunately pulled off. At made a turn and the long rigger came down. It was a dorado but it too pulled hook after a few jumps. At made another turn and again the long rigger came down. It was another dorado. Mike took the rod and after some coaching, brought a nice 11kg dorado to the boat ... not bad for his first ever fish.

That was the last of the action we had for the day so we headed for the beach and a cold drink.

Big Blue on Baby Blue

On Sunday 27th November 2011, Phillip Marx and I launched his 21ft Yeld “Stephe” off Sodwana. Phillip had a few friends from Russia visiting him for a few days and so decided to take them for a day’s marlin fishing. The weather could not be more perfect. There was not a swell in the bay and I am sure we could have reversed through! Just passed the backline, Phil and I put out 5 lines with a variety of lures. The flat sea gave them an amazing action and we were sure something was going to happen.

We trolled around for a while and came across a patch of flying fish and skipjack tuna. We worked the area for a bit but only had a big dorado charge the left short before fading away. After the bait went down, we headed deeper and at 600m, the left long lure was eaten. I just saw a splash and silver flank as the fish turned. The fish slowly took line and after the other lines were clear, Phil slowed down. Both of us assumed it was a dorado or wahoo but as it came closer, we saw it was a shortbill spearfish! Classic! I lifted it out of the water for a few quick photos then tagged and released the beautiful fish.

Trolling continued and at about 11am, the centre rigger with the Baby Blue lure popped. Immediately Phillip and I started clearing lines and as we looked back, a huge blue marlin stuck its head and shoulders out the water. The reel ran for a few seconds then stopped as the hooks pulled! Unlucky! It was the biggest marlin that Phillip or I had ever seen. One of those that will haunt you for a long long time. We worked the area for an hour or so but only produced a dorado of 10kg or so. The Russians were feeling a bit queasy and so we trolled to the point. In 50m, the centre rigger popped and the reel smoked off. A +-90kg marlin jumped out the back as we frantically cleared the lines. The angler was settled in the chair with the fish still slowly pulling line when for no reason, the hooks fell out! Guess it was just not our lucky day.

Thanks to Phillip for a great day. I will remember it for years to come.

Dorado Lockjaw

On Saturday 26th November 2011, Brent and Richardo (7 years old) Goncalves and I launched Brents “Majazane” off Sodwana. We had been there for the week for the Billfish Nationals, but bad weather had blown us off the water for all but 1 day. We decided to stay for the weekend and make the most of it. This was the first day we had seen the sun in a week!

We headed north, pulling a few high speed lures. Apart from one wahoo that chased the lure, clearing the water a few times but missing the lure, there was no action. Bret suggested we move to Diepgat where they had previously fished successfully. After a quick run, the drift baits went out. About 10 minutes later, the redeye on the surface went away with a nice dorado. It gave Brent a good go on 6kg line before I gaffed the fish. Nice! A few minutes later, 2 other dorado cruised into range around the boat, but despite all out efforts, they would not eat. I assume it was the cold water (21 degrees). The baits went out again several minutes later the other surface bait was taken by another dorado. Again, Brent had fun on 6kg and tussled for about 20mins before I could gaff. We were at the end of the drift and upped lines. Richardo was not feeling well, so we decided to troll high speed lures to the point and drop him off. About half way back, the close lure was eaten and a nice dorado took to the air. While Brent fought the fish, I tried to get the 2 followers to eat. Brent put the rod with the hooked dorado in the holder and joined in to get a second. These other fish also had lockjaw and lost interest after a few minutes. Brent brought the hooked fish to the boat and before I could gaff it, it ducked under the boat and broke off... that’s what happens when you are greedy I guess.

After dropping Richardo off, we headed to a shallow reef off the point where we caught a small kaakap (green jobfish). That was the last action that we had for the day. Thanks to Brent and Richardo for a great day on the water.

Trio of Dorado

On Saturday 12th November at 6am, my brother-in-law Carl and I launched “Selfish” out of Richards Bay. There was a moderate NE wind blowing but it was predicted to swing SW by 11am. The plan was to look for a bonito of tuna and pull it for marlin. The current would push us south and by then, the wind would be SW and we could come back with it ... sounded good.

We headed to the pipe line where we stopped to look for some livies. After battling for 20mins or so, I found a shoal of maasies and Carl caught a few strings for bait before we headed out to small high point. While we were running there, the water temp dropped to 22,4 degrees and the colour was green. We were about 1km from the pinnacle when the temp shot up to 23 and the water colour improved dramatically. It was still not blue, but it was a lot better that shallower.
There was already another boat there and they had not had a pull yet... not good news. We set 5 bait rods with small lures, one of which was an iland Saillure. I trolled around the pinnacle without a pull so decided to work south zigzagging the ledge as I went. I found a nice bump on the ledge so made a turn and as I straightened out, Carl saw a splash on the Ilander. The rod buckled and the reel took off. Carl took the rod, hoping it was a bait. A few seconds later, the water erupted and a nice dorado cleared the surface. I cleared the deck and Carl brought the fish within gaff range where I helped it into the hatch ... nice ... fresh fish for supper!

We reset the line and pulled for about an hour without a pull. I suggested we change to bigger lures and go deeper to find clean water. After a quick change, 5 lures were smoking behind us. At about 450m, the temperature was 24,2 degrees but still a clean green. I tacked shallower and in 90m found a nice current line and half a degree temperature change. I trolled along this line heading back north. About half an hour later, the port rigger popped and the 80lbs reel ran a bit. It was a nice bull dorado. Carl brought it closer where we saw that it had a follower with it. I quickly grabbed a spinning rod rigged with a treble and nylon trace. A live maasie was hooked through the nose and flicked overboard.... Coconut! The second dorado swallowed the bait and turned to join the first when I set the hook. It took off jumping. I put the rod in the holder and gaffed Carls fish before continuing the fight. Not long after, Carl gaffed a nice dorado for me.

That was all the action we had for the day and headed back as the SW started picking up. At the club, the fish weighed 9, 12 and 12,4kg. In all, it was a great day.

Bitter Sweet

On 5th November at 6:30am, Ray, Andrew and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find one of the elusive marlin that had been seen over the last few weeks. We stopped at the pipeline to look for bait but could only find one lost shad so I headed north to the ledge where we managed to find some mackerel and maasbankers. We then headed to the castle where we put out 3 bait rods and 2 big marlin lures. The water was a clean green and 23 degrees.
After trolling for about half an hour, we had a double strike on the bait lures. I cleared the other rods while Ray and Andrew fought the fish. Andrew had his fish next to the boat first. It was a 4kg yellowfin. Unfortunately it was hooked deep so we bled it for sushi. Ray brought his fish in and I grabbed it by the tail, lifting it into the boat.
I rigged the yellowfin on a 20/0 circle hook and 400Lbs trace before letting it out behind the boat. We headed deeper and the water colour and temp improved. There were a number of flying fish around and things looked good. In 200m, the water was blue and the temp over 24 degrees when Andrew shouted “There is something!”. I looked back to see the rigger clip pulling far back. There was a huge splash out the back of the boat as something tried to eat the yellowfin. Next thing there was just slack line, before the rigger could even open. I could not understand what was going on. There was another big splash out the back and from the foam, the yellowfin came torpedoing out the water, probably 3m in the air. As it landed, there was another ball of white water. This carried on for probably a minute with the yellowfin clearing the water about 10 times to get away from whatever was trying to eat it. The line would pull tight then go slack as the pursuit went on for what seemed like forever. We were not sure who to back in the chase, the petrified yellowfin fleeing for its life ... or the as yet unknown predator trying its damndest to catch something to eat. I was standing on the back hatch to try and get a glimpse of what it was when I saw an electric blue shape pass through the foam and spray, followed by a dorsal and tailfin of a big Make shark. We decided to let the mako catch the bait so that we could try catch it. Unfortunately, seconds later, in a final chase, the mako picked up the leader, biting us off before the line could take tension. A bitter sweet of note!
We looked for another bait for close on 2 hours without success so opted to fish for gamefish with the live mackerel. These were drifted in 150m on the colour change, hoping for a dorado. Unfortunately, this was not to be and the day ended without any more action.

The long wait is over...

On 29^th October 2011, Riaan Charmers, Wayne Ritchie, Jacques, Divan and I launched Riaan’s 27ft Butt Cat “Predator” off Richards Bay. We had not been on the water in weeks and we were all looking forward to an eventful day. The weather looked promising with a light SW swinging to NE in the afternoon.

We headed up north to Groenkop where the guys had caught some snoek the previous few days. We trolled small lures for about half an hour before upping lines and running for the deep. We had the big guns with us and put out a spread of marlin lures looking for our first billfish of the season. The water was a cold 22.7 degrees, but at least the water was blue. We headed out to sea hoping to find warm water and something that would indicate where to concentrate our efforts. The temperature stayed about the same all the way to 1100m with it reaching a max of 22.9degrees... Not exactly ideal.

There was nothing that tweaked our interest so we headed shallower. In 450m, we found a slight current line with the odd bird nearby. I zigzagged the line a few times and started seeing flotsam. In this same area, we found a few flying fish. This was the most activity we found so far. About an hour later, we had a pair of dorado come into the spread and managed to hook one of them up. Riaan fought the fish to the boat where Divan gaffed our first Dorado of the season. A fish of around 11kg ... Finally some action. We worked the area for a while without any more action. At 2pm We turned for the harbour. In 100m, Jacques saw movement on the japan lure on the centre rigger. As I looked up, I saw a small billfish chasing it down. Moments later, there was a big splash and the rigger popped. The reel gave a short burst but then went silent. I tried teasing the fish, but to no avail. I assume the cold water resulted in the fish not being aggressive and so it just swatted at the lure before moving on. Oh well, at least we saw our first billfish for the season.

We headed back to the harbour where we had some electrical issues. After manhandling the boat onto the trailer, we found the problem to be a faulty battery. It was a really great day on the water and a good sign of things to come...

All quiet on the fishing front

The past few weekends have been terrible in terms of weather and no fishing has taken place.

There have been a few daga salmon caught in the week by anglers fishing at night. The garrick have slowed and only the odd one is coming out.

So far, there have been 3 blue marlin and 1 shortbill spearfish caught by the guys fishing for billfish, the biggest being a 175kg blue caught on Friday. Several billfish have been lost. The conditions are very unpredicatble with blue water close in one day and cold green water as far as you can go the next. The only constant factor is the bait. There are alot of bonito around and have been for the past month or so.

Hopefully the conditions will improve and remain stable enough to get out there and fish.

I will keep you updated.