They always take the big ones...

On Saturday 5^th May, David, Divan and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were looking for cuda which were making the odd appearance. Our first stop was at the pipeline where we caught several maasbankers. Next we headed to a reef between the ships and caught a bunch of redeye sardines. With the bait stocks replenished, it was off to the 50m ledge to have some fun with the bonnies and small yellowfin. On the first pass, 4 rods went away with kawa-kawas. Unfortunately the hooks pulled on 2 and we released the other 2. On the next pass, all 5 rods went on with small yellowfin. We kept 2 for sushi and released the rest. After a few more turns, and releasing several yellowfin and kawas, we headed for Petingo.

The water was perfect. A clean green, 23.5 degrees, slight current and a slight chop. The baits went out and I trolled around the wreck. T just after 11, the big bonnie on the surface was eaten by a fish which took very slowly. We assumed it was a shark, but it turned out to be a 12kg cuda that had been foul hooked. Oh well, you sometimes you get lucky...

Trolling resumed and about 20mins later the deeper bonnie was eaten, this time by a smaller cuda of about 8kg. Divan rerigged and I made another turn over the wreck. As we came over the northern tip, Divs and I saw the surface livebait rev followed by a bending rod and screaming reel. Dave made short work of a 7kg shoaly. Things went a bit quiet and apart from one missed strike on a livebait, nothing much was happening. At about 1pm, I trolled over a really thick showing of bait and just as I was about to say we should get a strike here, the wala on the surface was eater and the reel smoked off ... a real screamer. I immediately turned towards the fish so Dave could gain line and Divs cleared the other rods. I got right on top of the fish and next thing there was very little resistance and then the head section of the cuda popped up. It had been taxed within about 2 minutes of hooking it! Not great. The fish would easily have gone 18kg but we will never know for sure.

We fished for another 2 hours without a pull then upped lines and returned to port.

Gone with the wind

At 6am on Tuesday 1 May, Carl and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. There was a 20 knot SW wind predicted to come through at 11am so we wanted to get a shot in before the wind came up. The first stop was on the pipeline where we made 2 drops and had 2 full strings of maasbankers. Livebait was sorted in 5 mins! Next stop small highpoint...

We arrived on the pinnacle and set a spread of small bait lures. The first pass over the pinnacle almost always indicates if there is anything in the area and when we had nothing on the first turn, we knew we were going to battle. After half an hour, I found a showing near the surface and 2 rods went on. Carl released a big kawa-kawa and I caught a small frigate tuna. A while later we had a triple on frigates but only got 2 of the 3. I made 1 last turn and was rewarded with a small yellowfin which was bled and put on ice for later. We upped lines and ran to Petingo to fish for cuda before the wind came up.

On arrival, the conditions were perfect. North to south current, clean green water and no other boats in sight! What more could you ask for?! BUT, what was in sight was strange mist on the southern horizon. It looked ominous... the SW was obviously early and we were running out of time. I quickly rigged the baits and set the spread. The last line was being set and Carl was busy turning back to the wreck when the surface live bait was eaten. Due to the turn, there was a lot of slack in the line and not enough tension to set the hooks. The reel ran for a second when the hooks pulled... damn! I replaced the bait and commenced the trolling pattern. The sea was like glass but in the distance, the cigar shaped cloud was fast approaching and a fine ripple was heading our way. As the “nervous” water reached us, the SW started to blow ... within minutes, the sky went from sunny to overcast and misty. The wind strength intensified and was soon blowing 18-20 knots. We made a few more turns but when the spray from the white horses looked like spindrift, we packed up and headed home. I am positive that if the wind had come through a bit later, as predicted, there would have been a few fish. Oh well, that’s fishing for you... at least we had some sushi J

2012 Umlalazi Couta Classic

On Saturday 28^th April, Pierre Smit, Carl Oellermann and I launched “AVANTI” out of Richards Bay. We were competing in the Umlalazi Couta Classic hosted by Umlalazi Ski Boat Club in Mtunzini. At first light, we headed out to the pipeline to look for live bait. We struggled a bit, but finally found a good shoal of maasbankers and before long, we had a hatch full of bait.

Our next stop was at Petingo wreck. The conditions looked average, but there were almost 20 boats there! I was not keen to compete with so many boats for 1 fish, so we headed deeper to the 32m mark where the water was better and there were fewer boats. I rigged a few baits including wala-wala, bonnies, live bait and a redeye and set the spread while Pierre slow trolled over the scattered reef looking for signs of life. At about 9am, the deep wala-wala was eaten and the reel took off. Carl took the strike while I cleared the deck. The cuda gave a good fight and finally came within range for me to gaff it. We were happy that we had a fish in the boat and the pressure was off. Again, the lines went out and trolling resumed. The rest of the day went by without a touch and at 14:30 we upped lines and went to weight the fish which was 16,2kg.

The next morning, we stopped at the pipeline and immediately caught several shad and maasbankers. Then it was off to Petingo where we spent a few hours trolling without any joy. At 10am we left for the 32m mark and worked the area with the same result. At noon, we had had enough of the silence so we changed tactics to pull lures on the 50m ledge. The first pass over small highpoint resulted in a big kawa-kawa which was released. The next pass gave us 3 small jube jubes which went into the bait box, followed by a yellowfin. There was a showing at 20m so we put the downrigger out with a big halco. Almost immediately the reel took off with a big kawa-kawa. This carried on for several passes until the showing disappeared. We upped lines and headed back at 13:30 feeling better about ourselves after hearing a few reels. Our cuda earned us 15^th position and a few really nice prizes. The Umlalazi Couta Classic is definitely a good comp to be part of next year.

2012 Richards Bay Bonanza

On Friday 6^th April 2012, Michael Duvenage, Wessel and Marinda Visagie and I launched the boat “LIHANN” out of Richards Bay. We had entered into the Richards Bay Bonanza held over the Easter weekend.

Our first stop was at the pipeline to look for live bait. Unfortunately there were none to be found so we headed further north and deeper. We came upon a large shoal of maasbanker and redeyes which went into the live well before we headed south to highpoint. Enroot we passed small highpoint and I suggested we quickly make a turn over the pinnacle, just to see what was happening. Michael altered course while I set 5 bait lures. As we crossed the pinnacle, 4 rods went away! Amidst the chaos, one fish burnt off but we managed to get a yellowfin and 2 big kawakawa. The lines went out again and before we could cross the reef, 2 rods went off. This time with 2 small jube jubes. Again lines went in and as we passed over the pinnacle, 4 rods went away with yellowfins. This time the fish on the rod we left in the holder pulled hook, but the rest we landed and released. We had to drag ourselves away from the tuna and continued to highpoint.

As we arrived, I put out 5 baits, including the jube jubes we caught. On the first turn, the one was eaten and the reel smoked off. Wessel tussled a 16kg cuda to the boat where I gaffed it. What a way to start the day. I reset the lines and the livebait on surface went away. This time it was a big kawakawa which was foul hooked. As Wessel brought it to the surface, a blackfin shark followed it to the surface. Luckily we were fast enough to pull it away before it was taxed. A short while later, the wala wala on the surface was taken and Michael brought in a smallish cuda. Things went quiet so we moved a bit south. After about an hour, the rod with the live bait on the surface slowly bent.I picked it up and tightened up. The reel absolutely smoked off. As the other lines were cleared, the fish bit through the #7 wire! Unlucky...

The wind had picked up and most of the boats left. I returned to the main pinnacle and was rewarded with a smoking reel on the downrigged livie. While Wessel was fighting another nice cuda, Michael went on with another kawakawa. Just after I gaffed the 15kg cuda, Michael’s fish was eaten by the sharks. We were running out of time and made 1 last turn with only 1 rod. Again, the reel screamed off and Wessel caught another cuda around 10kg.

We packed up and made the 40km run against a 20knot NE. Needless to say we were a few inches shorter when we arrived in the harbour.

The next day was a blowout but day 3 was fishable. We were allowed to launch after 8am when the weather settled. Again we stopped on the pipe and managed to fill the livewell in a short period. We headed for small highpoint and put out 5 bait rods. Our first pass resulted in a full house strike of 4kg yellowfins. We kept 2 and released the rest. The next turn again resulted in a full house strike resulting in 3 skipjack and 2 yellowfins. We kept the 2 small skippies for bait and released the rest. We knew that if we stayed there, we would catch tuna all day so we headed to petingo to fish for cuda. We had beautiful baits swimming the whole day, but the 19 degree water and reverse current switched the fish off and not one fish came out for the day.

All in all, it was a great comp with great friends.

2012 Marlin Interprovincial, Richards Bay

On Saturday 18^th February, the Zululand Red Team consisting of Daniel Fourie, Dale Leenstra and Myself put to sea aboard “Beluga”, skippered by Mike Leenstra. We were competing in the Richards Bay Marlin Interprovincial. There was a moderate SW wind blowing but the sea was relatively calm.

We headed up north for about 20km and at the 100m mark, we set out the spread of lures. Mike trolled deeper while the lures were fine tuned. Once everything was running well, we settled down to wait. The horizon was dotted with heavy rain showers and we knew we were in for a wet day.

As Mike trolled onto the 500m contour, the heavens opened. The visibility deteriorated to about 50m and the entire deck was under water. At one stage the rain was horizontal forcing Mike to tack into the wind/rain to keep us relatively dry. A few minutes later the downpour subsided enough for us to continue on our course. As the lures straightened out, I saw a marlin appear behind the right long lure. As I shouted, the rigger popped and the reel took off. All four of us raced out from under the safety of the canopy and retrieved the other lures. At this stage, the marlin was jumping all over the place. It was a blue of around 100kg... perfect for the first fish of the comp... Alas, as we cleared the last line, the fish threw the hooks and we were left standing on the deck looking similar to drowned rats... oh well, back to the drawing board...

The lures went back out and trolling continued. At 9am, we saw a very small billfish come up on the right long but after 4 or 5 attempts at the lure, it faded off. At least we knew there were a few fish in

the area. At 10am, another marlin came up on the right long. It chased the lure several times but missed. I increased the speed on one motor and the marlin came flying in and smashed the lure. The rigger popped and the reel ran for about 20m before the hooks came out... not what we needed. About 20 minutes later we had another fish come up and chase the lure without connecting. Surely we had to be close to getting a fish! Finally, at 1pm the centre rigger popped. We all looked back but nothing happened. I slowly brought the lure closer to see if the fish would come back and sure enough, a big bill came out from behind the lure and crashed it. I free spooled for a few seconds then locked up ... VAS! The reel took off and we cleared the other lines. I took the strike and was treated to a spectacular aerial display from a good sized blue marlin. The fish settles and I managed to regain most of the line with Mike backing up on the fish. It went down for about 15 minutes then back to the surface where Daniel took the leader. When it was in range, Dale tagged the fish and Mike took the required photos. We estimated the fish at around 400Lbs... my personal best. After reviving the fish for a few minutes, we set it free.

There was just enough time to return to port and make the close of weighin. At the end of the first day we were in 2^nd position on time. With 2 days left, the comp was still wide open.

On the second day, fishing was called off due to bad weather. In the few hours we lost a small marlin after a brief run. Day three was called off at 8:30 due to bad weather. We managed to maintain our second position and took home the silver medals.

Thanks to my team and Mike for making this competition so much fun.



Champion Swimmer

On Saturday 4th February 2012, Carl and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. There had been very few fish around, but we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and put to sea.

We headed for the pipeline and scratched for livies. Finally after about an hour, we found a few nice maasies. With bait in the livewell, we headed north to the kasteel. When we arrived, the current was screaming. Carl took the steering while I put out 5 bait rods, looking for marlin bait.

In 15 minutes, we had hardly made headway against the current so we pulled up the lines and headed about a kilometre north and reset the lines. I slowly crossed over the pinnacles on the ledge without any luck. I looked around and caught sight of two or three turns dipping along a current line about 200m shallower. I headed over to them and saw a few skipjack tuna smashing some bait. As we came close, they sounded but came up again in the same place after we had passed over them. I then set the centre line further back ... about 100m ... and made a turn. This time the skippies stayed on the surface as I passed them. Seconds later the closest line was taken and Carl took the strike. I cleared most of the lines and put on the livebait tube. Carl had the 3kg skippie next to the boat where I grabbed it by the tail, unhooked it and transferred it to the tube. Carl retrieved the remaining lines while I headed deeper at speed. In 70m I rigged the skippie on a 12/0 Mustad Sea Demon on 400lbs trace and let it out about 20m. I trolled to 550m and then shallower to 100m. The bait was exceptionally strong and swam like a champion.

I zigzagged deeper and shallower while the current pushed us back at 6km per hour! By 13:30 we were already south of the harbour and the wind had started picking up so we decided to call it a day. We retrieved the skippie and cut it loose to swim another day.

Starry Starry Night

On the afternoon of Saturday 21st January 2012, Hansie, Divan, Chris and I launched “Mitsufishi” off Richards Bay to try broadbill fishing for the night. We left the harbour at 16:30 and headed north. There was a relatively big swell and a 10 know NE wind. The forecast was that the wind would drop and the sea would settle.

When we reached the 200m contour, Hansie slacked off the speed to assess the conditions. There was still a bit of daylight left so we put out 5 marlin lures and trolled north. While we trolled, I set about rigging the baits for the night. At 18:20 I was half way done with the first bait when Hansie shouted “Marlyn!”. This was followed by the crack of an elastic band and a short burst from the reel. The fish had missed the lure. Divan put another elastic on and as he was attaching it to the clip, the line was ripped from his hands. The reel ran for a bit but then stopped. By then we had all seen the fish and it looked to be a small striped marlin. We scanned the spread to see if the fish was still around. As luck would have it, the fish came up on the left long but picked up the leader on strike. After a few seconds, the lure slid off the bill and that was the end of it.

I continued rigging the baits and just before the light was gone, we cleared the lures and set the broadbill spread. I had a big squid on the downrigger about 100ft down and then another squid on the surface off the right rigger. On the left rigger was a small superchugger with a stripbait. Everything looked good as the darkness surrounded us. The wind settled to nothing and the sea flattened so much that every star reflected off the surface. Beautiful.

We slow trolled between 200m and 550m for the whole night without a single touch. The only thing that kept us busy were the flashing squid, phosphorescence and the odd shooting star.

Father and sons

On 28^th December 2011, Frans and his two sons, Hein and Ettienne, joined Phillip and I on “Stephe”. Hein had never caught a marlin and we were hoping that today would be his lucky day. We put to sea at about 6am and headed south. In 50m we started putting out the spread when “Proximo” called us to say they just had a marlin strike in 100m, just ahead of us. Phillip headed in that direction while Frans and I set the lines. We had 3 lines out when Frans shouted that there was a fish in the spread. Seconds later the left long popped and the reel ran. The fish was on for a few seconds then pulled hook... We quickly reset the spread and made a turn. As we straightened out, the right long came down and we were hooked up! Hein took to the chair and we cleared lines in a hurry. I transferred the rod and clipped him into the harness. In the meantime, the fish was jumping a fair distance away. Once everything was settled, Hein worked the fish to the boat like a pro. I took the leader and then tagged a nice striped marlin. Way to go! Well done! After a few quick photos, it was turned loose... not bad for 6:45am!

Frans and I set the spread and Phillip worked the area. Not long after, we had another fish come up and swat the left long but did not connect. Slowly we worked south to Diepgat and at 8:45am, on our second turn, the left short popped and the reel took off. We cleared the lines and Ettienne took the strike. The fish had only jumped once so we did not get a good look at it. 15mins later I took hold of the leader on a +-80kg Blue Marlin. After a few photos, we tagged and released the healthy fish.

The lures were back in the water in a flash and as the last drag was set, I saw a fish on the right short. It missed the lure the first time then connected on the second attempt. It ripped off a lot of line and made a commotion on the surface in the distance. While we cleared the deck, Frans took to the chair. The fish went deep and gave Frans a good workout before I took the leader. The fish angled to the surface and when it came into view, we were surprised by the sight of a +- 100kg mako shark... Not what we were expecting. After a few tense moments on the leader, we managed to get the hooks out of the spinning fish and set it free without damage to fish or crew.

Again the lines went out and Phillip worked the area. At 11am, we were busy watching a boat in front of hookup to a marlin when our right long rigger popped and the reel smoked off! While clearing the lines, the fish greyhounded out the back in spectacular fashion. Once settled, Frans took the rod and slowly but surely brought the fish closer. I took the leader and brought the fish closer. It was a good Blue Marlin of around 130 to 150kg. The hooks were only just wrapped around the bill and came off very easily resulting in the fish swimming away strongly... unreal! Father and both sons had each released a marlin before midday!

Needless to say, the lined went back in quickly but the weather turned for the worse and so we headed back to the beach by 1:30pm. Thanks to Phillip, Frans and the boys for a great few days at Sodwana. It will be one to remember.

Black Magic

On 26^th December 2011, Phillip, Corrie and Llewellyn (from Sea Queen fame) and I boarded Lappies Labuschagne’s “Black Magic” and put to sea off Sodwana. The water was an off blue and there was little current. The wind was a light NE.

We put out a spread of lures and Lappies trolled south towards Diep Gat. The morning was uneventful in fishing terms, but with Oom Llewellyn’s quirky sense of humour and classic jokes, we enjoyed every minute of the day. After several hours we only had a few half hearted chases from dorado. Several boats had reported hook-ups in the 600-700m depth and so we focussed our attention on this depth.

At about 1pm, the left long rigger came down and a very small fish thrashed on the surface. We could not decide what the fish was but treated it as s billfish. Corrie took the strike and very quickly had the fish near the boat. The identification varied from spearfish to stripey to baby blue marlin. Only when Phillip took the trace, did we positively id the fish as a very small blue marlin. Because it was still full of energy, it gave us a good run around at the boat and after several spectacular jumps, the fish was tagged and released ... all captured on my GoPro camera.

That was the last of the action we had for the day and headed back to the beach. Thanks to Lappies and crew for a great day.

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.