Cuda of a lifetime!

At 6:30am on Saturday 6^th April, Jannie, Ruan and I launched “Ohana” off Richards bay. We were keen to try for a cuda as there had been a few nice ones around. The weather looked beautiful and the horrid cold/dirty water from the previous weekend had vanished and was replaced with 26 degree clean green cuda water! BEAUTIFUL!

We stopped at the pipeline and managed to find a few big maasbanker. With the live well full we headed to Petingo where we rigged a few baits and slow trolled the area. Half an hour later, the boat “Tjienkie” arrived with a boat full of spearos. They proceeded to spread out over the wreck with the boat riding circles around the group of divers. We watched as they hauled out a number of bottomfish and small gamefish. Not being able to get near the wreck, due to inconsiderate boat handling,  we upped lines and moved deeper to avoid the situation going pear shaped.

Again we set the lines and trolled the area. At 11:30, the deep bait slowly went away. Ruan took the rod and as we were clearing the lines, the surface bait went away at speed. I took the rod and fought a fast, strong fish. About 15mins later, the fish showed itself to be a good cuda of around 25kg. Slowly it circled up and just as Jannie was about to gaff it, it made a short run. I brought it back and just before it was in range, the wire kinked off and the fish faded into the depths! Meantime, Ruan fought what turned out to be a hammerhead of about 70kg.

With fresh baits in the water, we made another turn. The livie on surface went away with a smallish cuda which pulled hook near the boat. Things went quiet and at 2pm I suggested we go back to Petingo for the afternoon session. On arrival, I put out the surface livie and was busy putting the other surface bait out when the 1^st rod absolutely smoked off! I passed the rod to Jannie and turned the boat to slow the run. Luckily the fish ran away from the wreck (and the resident sharks) so we could take out time. After several long fast runs, the fish showed its number plate. It was a BIG cuda, in the class I had not seen in a few years. The fish made a few big circles and I made one gaff attempt but missed completely, misjudging the depth in the clean water. On the next pass, I stuck the fish and hauled it aboard. As it hit the deck, we knew it was an easy 30kg fish. The head looked like a dogtooth tuna! When we slid it into the hatch, it did not fit!

With shaky hands, I rerigged the baits and Jannie trolled over the wreck. About half way up, the deep livie went away and I took the rod. After a quick tussle, a 10kg cuda was gaffed and joined the crocodile in the hatch. It looked minute against the other fish.

At 3pm, we upped lines and ran home. At the club, the fish drew a crowd of onlookers as it went to the scale. All guesses were surpassed when the fish pulled the scale to 34,7kg!!! A fish of a lifetime! Just it was a weekend too late as it would have won the Easter Bonanza and R40 000.

Well done to everyone on board.

The 10 year wait is over!

On Saturday 30^th March, Jannie, Wessel, Marinda, Ruan and I launched Jannie’s 21ft Yeldcat “Ohana” off Richards Bay. We were fishing in the 2013 Richards Bay Bonanza. The plan for the day was to run out into the deep water and look for tuna or marlin. The previous day several boats had reported hooking big tuna and the odd marlin, so we were keen to give it a go as Wessel had not caught a marlin yet.

We headed straight out the harbour and set lures at around 150m. After trolling out to the 1000m contour, we found large flocks of birds feeding on bait fish. After a while, a pod of dolphin joined the fray. We worked the different bait shoals and finally found one that had what we were looking for. As we approached the birds, big yellowfin tuna breached the surface, their sickle fins almost reaching their tails! We made several turns around the shoals with the long lines pulling through them, but could not get a pull. Other boats in the area were having the same problem. After a few hours, we opted to head in shallower to see if we could find more willing fish. In about 650m, there were more shoals of bait with small bonito mixed in. We had one of these small tuna grab the right long, but could not pop the rigger. All you could see was the little body flashing behind the lure. I went to retrieve it and as I took hold of the line, Jannie shouted that he had seen a fish coming in. I thought he was referring to the bonnie, but suddenly the line ripped out my hand and the reel took off! Unfortunately, after a few seconds, the hook pulled. Obviously something had eaten the bonnie off the lure while we were trying to clear the line, but missed the hooks.

The day was drawing to a close, so we trolled toward the harbour. There was a pinnacle on the 50m ledge between us and the harbour, so we decided to pull over it and then pull the lines. By now, the water was very green and all hopes of getting a fish were gone. As we came onto the ledge, all of us were looking at the sounder to see if there was a showing. Wessel turned back for a moment and then shouted “There it goes!”. I heard the rigger pop and the 80lbs reel slowly ran. I was not impressed as I thought someone was playing the fool and had hooked a bucket on the line while we were not looking. Is it was, the line surfaced and we saw a big splash. By then we realised that the strike was legit, but was probably a dorado. On the next splash, I caught a glimpse of a bill. I thought it was a sailfish as we were in 47m of green water. Wessel got into the chair with the rod while we cleared the other lines. Within 10minutes, the leader was on the rod and I brought the fish closer. I was very surprised when I saw the fish as it turned out to be a small black marlin! With the fish next to the boat, we removed the hooks and turned it loose. This was Wessel’s first marlin. What a great feeling, especially considering Wessel had fished the Bonanza for 10 years!

There was a good showing on the sounder so I put out a halco on a bait rod. Jannie turned over the pinnacle and we went away with a small yellowfin tuna, which we kept for dinner. After that, we upped lines and headed back. Thanks to Jannie for a great few days on the water.

Starting off with a bang!

At 6:45am on Saturday 23^rd February, Dean Ellens and I launched “ABF” off Cape Vidal. We were there for a friend’s bachelors party and needed to stay away from land to recuperate from the previous night’s arrival aggression! This was also the first time the boat had surf launched so it was exciting.

There were close on 30 boats that launched and the beach was a bit chaotic. After waiting for a gap, we launched the boat and ducked through the surf without a problem. The first action item for the day was to catch some live bait. There were already about 12 boats looking for bait but everyone was scratching. After over an hour, we managed to catch enough bait for the day and headed up north to “Greens”. The water was a bit green in the shallows but from 27m there was a nice current line with a lot of activity. We rigged up 5 live baits and slow trolled between 25m and 35m. The current was quite strong and pushed us back at a fare pace. All the time there were small yellowfin tuna and bonito splashing along the line. After about 45minutes, the surface livie started revving and the rod slowly bent. I picked up the rod, pointed it to the water and as the line came tight, I tightened up. Almost immediately a sailfish launched itself out the water and tailwalked toward us. I handed the rod to Dean and then opened the throttle to get the line tight. The sail changed direction and headed off for the blue yonder. Dean kept the fish under control and I cleared the other 4 lines before turning the boat to chase the fish. It stayed on surface so it was easy to pull in alongside it. The fish made a few manoeuvres under and around the boat with a few jumps thrown in before I took the leader and billed the fish. After the hooks were removed, and a few quick photos were taken, the fish was revived and released! Great stuff.

We had drifted quite a way so I ran back up to where we started and reset the lines. Things were quiet for quite a while but then the surface rod buckled and the reel ran for a bit. The line went straight down and we both Dean and I said it was a tuna. I left the other lines in and jockeyed the boat to allow Dean to gain line but also keep the other lines under control. After a bit of a struggle, the small yellowfin tuna came to the surface tail first, almost dead. I bled it and put it in the hatch.

By now it was 11am and it was pretty obvious that there were no cuda in the shallows so I headed deeper to the 50m ledge. In 45m, the deep bait went away. Again Dean fought a fish that stayed down and took little line. After a quick fight, he had another 5kg yellowfin on the boat.

By the time I had the lines reset, we were on the ledge. I tacked over it into the current and found a few good showings off the bottom. I pulled the motor into neutral for a few seconds to let the bait sink and as I put the motor into gear, the medium depth rod keeled over and absolutely smoked off! I took the strike and Dean cleared the other lines. I turned the boat towards the fish to slow the run but it still stripped close on 150m. As Dean cleared the lines, we notice that the surface bait had been mouthed by a fish and the deep bait had been chopped. There were obviously a few fish around. I fought the fish for a while before we saw it down below. It was a really nice cuda. After a few turns, Dean gaffed it and brought it onboard, it was a good 16kg fish... not bad for Vidal.

We rerigged for one last drift. As I trolled over the showing, the deep bait went on with a fish that fought very slowly but shook its head quite a bit. About half way up, the rod bumped and the line went slack. On closer inspection, we found the 60lbs leader had parted. That ended our day and we headed back to the beach for a well deserved drink.

2013 Heavy Tackle Billfish Inter Provincial

On Saturday 9^th February at 5am, Mike and Dale Leenstra and I launched “Beluga” out of Richards Bay. We were competing in the 2013 Heavy Tackle Billfish Inter Provincials. We headed North and put lines in at 100m. At 200m, we were greeted by large shoals of bait with birds working them. On our first pass, the rigger popped but the reel stood silent. The tip did have a slight bend in it. Dale pulled the lure in to check it and found it to be a baby yellowfin tuna of about 2kg... The live bait tube failed and so we released it in favour of pulling lures for blues and stripeys. At 8:30, in 250m the left long popped and the reel took off. As we were clearing the lines, there was a splash out the back but then nothing! The hooks had pulled... On closer inspection we found the telltale signs of a billfish on the leader. It was 10:1 a stripey that managed to get the hook over its bill, but not in its mouth. Lines went back in and we worked the area. The day passed by quickly and by 2pm, there had been no more action so we upped lines for the day. The tally of releases was a dismal 1 blue marlin between the 8 boats.

On Sunday 10^th, the wind was blowing 15kts at 5am. The weather committee made a call to allow the boats to sea and by 6:30 everyone was fishing. The sea was bumpy, but fishable. We worked the same area as the previous day and managed to get a nice wahoo within the first hour of fishing. We were hopeful that there would be some good fish on the cards for the day. After trolling for several hours, it became apparent that there were very few fish around and but the end of the day, there was again only a single release of a black marlin. Not exactly fireworks.

On Monday the 11^th, the last day of fishing, all boats put to sea but the water conditions had deteriorated and the cold green water was out past 400m. We worked the colour line and the deep, but saw nothing. As the day wore on, anticipation changed to hope and hope changed to desperation... and finally despair.  Finally, at 11am we had a pull on the left long but it turned out to be a yellowfin tuna of about 10kg. By 13:00, the wind had picked up to over 20kts and the call was made to call off the final day. There were unfortunately no fish caught by any of the boats.

Thanks to Mike and Dale for a good few days on the water. Hopefully next time there will be a few more fish around.

Black is Whack

On Sunday 6^th January 2013 at 4:30am, Mike and Dale Leenstra and I launched “Beluga” off Richards Bay. There was already a moderate north wind blowing and it was forecast to increase to 25knots.

We headed up far north to Dawsons and in 100m we put the marlin lures out. By 8am we had found some activity in the form of birds and flying fish. There was a good colour line that formed up north and ran from shallow to deep. We worked along this line and in 600m were rewarded with a nice dorado that came in on the left long but faded off to the shotgun and ate the smaller lure. It was no match for the heavy gear and quickly found its way into the hatch. Dale and I were resetting the spread and had one last rod to go when Mike and I saw a marlin come up on the left short and crash the “Ruckus”. With the fish taking line, we made short work of clearing the deck. Mike told me to take the strike and after some deliberation, I was in the chair and clipped in. The fish was relatively calm up until that point, but that quickly changed as it took off greyhounding, dumping a good 350m of line and making the reel hot to touch! I was well into the backing when it finally slowed down and Mike followed it to allow me to gain line. I fought the fish for about 25minutes before Dale took the leader and brought a nice 120kg Black Marlin to boat side. We removed the hooks and revived the fish a bit before turning it loose. Great stuff!

The sea was getting rougher and the wind was doing an easy 20 knots by this stage. Mike tacked back in the trough slowly working south. We worked the 200 to 300m depth and after about an hour, a small stripey came in and whacked the right long out the clip. It then faded off to the shotgun, but came in and totally missed the lure before fading off. Another boat in the area had seen 2 stripeys but did not hookup so we focussed our efforts in this depth. At about 11:30 there was a bump on the left long and when we looked back, there was a big splash and swirl. The fish missed the lure and faded off to the shotgun where it made a half hearted attempt at it and disappeared.

By now the wind was doing 25knots and the sea was big. The lures were being blown around and so we decided to slowly head back. Again at 250m I saw a fin behind the right short. This was a big “Tube” lure on the 130Lbs tackle. I ran back to the rod and teased the fish a bit. We were rewarded with a good size blue coming up and grabbing the lure. While we cleared the lines, the reel ran for a good 40m but then stopped as the hooks pulled and the fish disappeared.

 

That was all the action we had for the day and we were back in the harbour at 13:30. In all it had been a great day. Thanks to Mike and Dale for giving me the strike, I really appreciate it.

Thats a Wrap!

On 27^th December 2012 at 5:30am, Wayne, Hugo, David and I launched “Galavant” off Richards Bay. We were looking for marlin which seemed to be quite abundant. Wayne headed out to the 100m mark where I set 3 lures and 2 halfbeaks. There were a lot of boats fishing for marlin as the weather conditions were perfect. With all these boats looking for marlin, a trend could be seen and 400m seemed to be the place to be. Wayne worked the 300-500m depth concentrating on the plankton line that formed in the area.

By 11am, several boats had reported released fish and others were fighting. Our turn had to be close. At 11:30, as we moved out the plankton, a really nice blue marlin of around 200kg launched itself out the water and piled on the left long. The rigger popped and 80 Tiagra smoked off. As lines were being cleared, the fish went ballistic on surface taking a lot of line. Hugo strapped into the Black Magic harness and Wayne backed up to recover line. About 100m out the back, the marlin made a few more jumps but something was wrong... it looked tailwrapped. The line angle went down and down as we backed up, trying to put as much line on the reel before the fish went down. By the time the line angle was straight up and down, the drag was already on 14kg. The tempo of the fight slowed and line left the reel at a slow but constant pace. We upped the drag to just under full and but it was too late. The fish had died and sank to the bottom in 350m and only swell pulling line off. With the drag at sunset we turned with what little current there was to try gain momentum and lift the fish. The wind had picked up since we hooked up and was now pushing the boat forward quickly causing us to lose line. Knowing the wind was going to get worse and with it our chances of lifting the fish, I donned a pair of gloves and assisted the line out the water as Hugo wound onto the reel. Wayne did a great job to kept the boat steady in the swell and wind and after 20 minutes, we managed to lift the fish about 70m. It seemed as if the fish was slowly coming up when all of a sudden, under little pressure, the line parted near the fish and Hugo was left to retrieve about 200m of slack line. After working hard for this fish, our efforts went unrewarded... but hey, that’s marlin fishing for you... It was not the first marlin we had lost and it is definitely not the last one we are going to lose. Let’s hope the next fight goes according to plan.

Christmas Garrick

On Christmas afternoon, Carl and I decided to make a final launch out of Buffalo Bay on “ABF”. Over the past few days, we had tried a few spots to get our heads around the area. On these scouting trips, we found a few spots where the maasbankers were shoaling. We also saw a trend with water colour and wind direction which helped us with our daily gameplan.

 

In this day, the Westerly wind had blown a bit and at 3pm, we put to sea. After catching a livewell full of bait, we headed to the blinders between Brenton and the  Western Head. Carl and I were keen to try catch a Garrick, but we were not sure if we were in the correct season, place or using the preferred bait for the area. It seems the locals guard these secrets and leave the newcomers to figure it out themselves. Not to be put off by a challenge, I rigged up our standard Garrick setup, 2 surface baits and 1 deep. Carl slowly trolled between the blinders in the white water while I put out the lines. I was busy with the last line when the far surface bait was eaten. I fed the fish for a while and then tightened up... hookup! There were a few good head nods as it took some line on the surface. I told Carl that it was probably a hammerhead as we had caught several in the previous trips. I slowly brought the fish closer, expecting to be bitten off any moment. It was then that the line angled to the surface and the fish shook its head on the top. Carl and I looked at each other with the same expression. We both knew what specie fought like that... it was a Garrick! Taking it easy, I pampered the fish to the boat where Carl grabbed it by the tail and lifted it into the boat. I don’t think I have ever been so glad to catch a Garrick. The fish measured 82cm fork length and was about 6kg. Not a bad Christmas present.

ABF - Absolute Bloody Final ... First Launch

On Saturday 8^th December, Ray and I launched “ABF” for the first time. My Dad had booked the boat in for the 20hrs service and the motors only had 8 hours on them, so our job was to fill in the extra 12 hours. That meant an early morning and lots of trolling.

By 6am we were on the pipeline catching bait. This was for just in case there were a few dorado around. After getting a few maasies, we headed off to the ledge. The water was not great, so we headed deeper and found a beautiful colour line at 100m. I put out 4 rapalas and a small surface lure and headed north along the line. The water temp was over 25 degrees and the current was ripping! Several boats were already on the line ahead of us, and they had seen a few dorado so we were feeling positive that we would catch the first food fish on the boat. After about an hour, one of the deep diving rapalas went away. Ray took the strike and brought a nice bull dorado to the boat where I gaffed our first fish, hopefully of many. With the pressure off, we continued trolling north. The further we went, the closer the colour line moved in and as luck would have it, the water was clean on the northern point of the ledge. As I crossed over the reef, the deep diver went off again, but unfortunately, the hooks did not stick. On closer inspection, you could see the deep teeth marks of what I suspect was a wahoo. Oh well, that happens. I made a few turns without another pull so continued north. A short while later, another rod went away with a dorado. Again Ray pulled the fish in where it ended up in the hatch with the first.
The clean water moved right in over the next few hours, but apart from another on-off strike, it was quiet so we returned to port at around 3pm.

2012 Hemingways Captain Morgan Challenge

On Friday 23rd November 2012, a group of 50 South Africans arrived at Hemingways Resort for the 2012 Captain Morgan Challenge. After the briefing that evening, everyone had an early night as the travelling had taken it out of all of us.

After breakfast, the 7 boats put to sea and headed to Malindi. Right off the bat, "White Bear" released a sailie followed by "Ol Jogi", "Black Widow" and "Sea Storm". I was fishing onboard "Instedda" with the Captain Morgan team of Erwin Bursik, Greg Rae and Jaco Visser and Richard. By 8:30, the only action we had was from 3 wahoo chops. With all the boats fishing a stone’s throw apart, we could see all the action and were treated to a great display as "Simba" hooked and released a 70kg Black Marlin on a rapala right next to us.

In the next 2 hours, we raised 3 sails but could not get a hook into any. "B's Nest" managed to connect and released a sail. We were the only boat not on the board, but something had to happen... and it finally did. A sail came on the left teaser and switched to the flatline where it was promptly hooked up. Jaco was on strike and released a feisty 20 odd kg sail. While the fish was being released, the skipper had let out the bridge rod and as the rest of the baits went out, I saw a really nice fish come in on the far bait. As I shouted, the skipper fed and hooked up. Greg was on strike and after a 20minute fight, had a 37kg sail on the leader where it was tagged. We were glad that every boat was on the board and by lines up, 14 sails and 1 marlin were tagged.

After a rest day, we headed out to sea on “Black Widow”. It was an exceptionally quiet day without raising a single sail. Out of desperation, we headed out into the deep where we managed a 13kg wahoo (which was the biggest bycatch up until that stage). A total of 3 sails were released for the day.

Our next fishing day was on Wednesday. We put to sea on “White Bear” and ran north to Malindi. There were large shoals of bonnies and frigates with birds working the surface. All the boats caught a few bonnies but failed to raise a sail. After the bait went down, our crew rigged up with fresh strips and circled the area. Not long after, a sail came up on the right long and took the strip. The fish was hooked up and jumped about 5 times before throwing the bait. Half an hour later, a movement behind the right long caught my eye. Moments later a fin appeared behind the bait. I told Jackson, our skipper, that there was a sail on the bait and as he turned to look, the fish came up and knocked the bait out the clip. After following the bait for a bit, it came up again and the crew managed to get a hook into it. The sail made a few great jumps and after backing up to it for 15mins, it was tagged. After a quick photo session, we released Richards first Sailfish. Great!

 

Things went quiet after that and so we worked to the boiling pot where we found 4 dorado before the day ended. Our sail was the only fish released by the fleet.

 

On Thursday, we were treated to a bottom fishing trip out on “Bamara”. This is the owner of Hemingways, Dicky Evens’, boat. Gary Cullen skippered us for the day and we had some great fun catching Ruby Snapper and some really nice Soldiers. The boat was nicknamed “Bamara’s house of pain” after having to fish in 700ft of water, 3 knot current and 35 degree heat! On the way home, we found a few dorado as an added bonus.

 

In all, this trip to Kenya was great fun. There were unfortunately very few fish around but the good times we had and the friends we made, made up for that. Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Opening an Account

On Sunday 18^th November at 5:30am, Wayne, Riaan, Dudley, Willis and I launched “GALAVANT” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few striped marlin around the previous day so we were keen to open our account on them.

There was a south wind blowing at about 12knots but the forecast predicted it to get better through the day. As we travelled deeper, the current increased. As a result of the N-S current and the S-N wind, the sea picked up and made trolling really uncomfortable. After several tangles, lure and position changes, we managed to get the lines out as we went about looking for a fish. There were a few birds at around 350 – 400m so we concentrated our efforts in that area.

Due to the rough sea conditions, two of the crew lost their breakfast and took up a comfortable space on the cabin floor. This left us 2 men down but the show had to go on...

I was watching the short rigger lure with a halfbeak behind it. Every time the lure skipped, the long body of the bait would flick into the air and look just like a bill. It caught me off guard a few times, but eventually I got used to it. At around 9:30, I happened to see this bill again, but this time it came in from the left and was followed by a long dorsal fin! I ran to the rod to feed the fish and I must have shouted something because all of a sudden, we had a full complement of crew members on deck. I reached the reel just as the elastic popped so I fed the fish for a count of 10 before tightening up. The rod buckled and the reel ran as a nice striped marlin stuck his head out the water in the middle of the spread. I backed off the drag a bit and let it take some line to get away from the other lines. Meanwhile, the once seasick crew cleared lines as fast as possible. Once everything had settles, Dudley was strapped into the Black Magic harness and fought his first marlin.

After about 20minutes, the leader came up and I took hold of it. The big swell caused havoc but Wayne did a great job to keep the fish in the best position. After letting go a few times, I wrapped the leader and pulled the fish onto the surface. We snapped off a few pics before turning it loose. It was a great feeling to get that fish. Not only was it Dudley’s first, it was the first fish on Wayne’s new boat!

 

The sea started picking up and after trolling for another hour or so, we headed back to the harbour to celebrate this first fish. Thanks to Wayne for the trip and I hope there will be many more fish to come.