Going Solo

On the morning of Saturday 2^nd August, I decided to launch “ABF” out of Richards Bay. There was a small weather window until 10am so I wanted to make a quick session looking for a Garrick. I was hoping to find crew at the club, but when I arrived at 6am, there was not a soul in sight. I went about launching the boat which is not as simple as it sounds. Eventually I had the boat floating and made my way out to sea. I stopped at the pipeline and really struggled to find bait. There were thousands of maasbanker, but very few shad, which I prefer. To make things worse, the current was ripping and I had to try and keep the boat on the spot and fish at the same time. After almost an hour I had only caught 3 shad. Time was running out so I decided to go and fish.

 

Big surf crashing on the pier

After a quick run I was at the south pier. I rigged up all 3 shad on light spinning rods and trolled along the outside of the rocks. There was a big swell running. This was a blessing in disguise as it kept the rock and surf guys away and I could work the area properly. I had trolled for about 45mins when the far surface rod, with the biggest bait, went away. I fed the fish for quite a long time before tightening up. The line came tight and the reel took off with a really nice fish heading out to sea. I awkwardly cleared the other two rods with my left hand and managed to clear the deck … within reason.

My first Garrick of the season

The fish was quite a long way away and by then so I went to the controls and followed it while gaining line over the windscreen. When the fish was about 15m away, I put the boat into neutral and argued with the stubborn fish for a good 20minutes. In this time I got a pretty good look at it and could gauge the size of it. There was a Garrick competition at the club, that I had entered for, so it would be a nice fish to set the benchmark. Also, I had it on 6kg line, so it could possibly be a record fish. Taking this into consideration, I decided to take the fish… if I could get it close enough. On two occasions I had the leader on the rod, but could just not reach it with the gaff. On the third attempt, I wound the leader right onto the reel , pulled the rod behind me with my left hand and stretched out to gaff it with my right. Luckily the fish made no sudden moved and I could get a good shot in and lifted the Garrick into the boat. I actually felt a bit bad taking it, but this fish would serve a purpose.

 

I had drifted about a kilometre during the fight so had a long run back to the pier. I put the remaining two baits out and trolled around for another half an hour before the wind started picking up. Knowing it was going to be a battle to load the boat alone, I upped lines and headed back to the club. The fish weighed in at 13,2kg and set the benchmark for the comp and is a possible record fish on the line class. In the end, it was worth the effort of launching alone, but would have been a lot easier if there was an extra set of hands. 

2014 Mapelane Junior Interclub

"Boertjie" in the surf

On Sunday 6^th July, the Richards Bay under 16 team (Lelani, Kelvin and TJ), myself and Oom Hennie de Beer launched Hennie’s “Boertjie” off Mapelane. We were competing in the 2014 Mapelane Junior Interclub. The first day was a blow out and this day’s weather was anything but good with a SW of 18-20 knots, drizzle and nasty swells.

Our first stop was on the backline where we caught a few live maasbanker. With the live well full, we put on a few small rapalas, fillets and feathers and trolled the shallows hoping for a quick snoek so that we could get some points on the board. After an hour without a pull, we headed out to Dingo’s on the 50m ledge hoping to get a tuna before drifting for cuda. The sea was really big out in the current but Hennie managed to tack over the reef and 3 rods went on with 2 small bonnies and a skipjack. The bonnies went into the bait box while the skipjack was released. There were hundreds of birds in the area and they were causing havoc with the surface lines. After hooking a few, we decided to make a few drifts to look for cuda. The 2 bonnies were rigged up as well as a wala-wala and 2 livies. As we drifted over the reef, both bonnies were eaten by slow moving fish that took a lot of line before parting off. There were obviously a lot of sharks around! Hennie took us up to the start of the drift again. We were busy letting the lines out when the livie on the surface was eaten. Kelvin took the rod on a fish that smoked off a bunch of line and splashing on the surface. At one point, it cleared the water and we could see that it was a good yellowfin. Hennie turned the boat towards it and Kelvin gained most of the line. The fish was fighting very erratically and I was surprised when I saw the double line and leader come up after only a few minutes. The fish boxed around the boat for a while but the big swell made it extremely difficult to get it within range of the gaff. There were some anxious moments when the fish went under the boat and near the motors, but eventually, the shot came and I lifted the fish into the boat. Great stuff! We were on the board.

15,2kg YFT for Richards Bay U/16

Hennie took us to the start of the drift again and just as we had set the lines, the surface livie went away. This was a very strange pull and within a few seconds the spool was near empty. Only then did we see what was going on… a whale had swam into the line and got tangled! Luckily the line parted near the double so we could get most of the line back. The rod was rerigged and set. I decided to step out of the relentless drizzle and wind to warm up but it was not to be as the wala-wala went away. Lanie took the rod but as luck would have it, the fight changed into a very heavy, slow paced run that continued for a few hundred meters and even with the drag on sunset, the fish just kept heading out to sea. Eventually the leader chafed through on another shark.

1st position Richards Bay U/16

On the next drift, the surface livie was eaten and the exact same thing happened. These sharks were seriously hungry if they were eating wala-wala and small livies. By the 1pm lines up call, we had no more fish on the boat and we headed back to the beach. There were surprisingly few fish weighed in and only 4 teams had fish, none of which were over 9kg. When we lifted our tuna out the hatch, there were a lot of surprised faces. It pulled the scale to 15,2kg. This was enough to put us into 1^st position and Kelvin as top angler.

Thanks to Mapelane SBC for hosting another great comp. Unfortunately the weather was not great, but the juniors had a good time. We hope to see you next year.

No Winter sails...

On Saturday 21^st June, Tjokkie and I launched “ABF” at Cape Vidal. We were hoping to get Tjoks his first sailfish. The bay was exceptionally sanded and this made for an interesting launch to say the least. Safely behind backline Tjoks caught a few maasbanker while I rigged up a few sailfish baits.

When we were ready to rumble, the 4 baits went out as well as a teaser. I worked the area from the point to the lighthouse tacking between 20m and 45m. A bit deeper out, the birds were working big shoals of bait and there were 15-20kg yellowfin crashing everywhere.  I had to keep reminding myself that we were not here to catch gamefish but rather sailfish and so I kept working the shallows. Another reason for staying away was that there were a lot of gannets and albatross around and they were guaranteed to divebomb our baits and waste valuable trolling time.

 

It was relatively quiet for some time, with only a half-hearted strike from a small tuna, so I headed a bit north. Just off the slides, the left short bait was eaten and after feeding it a bit, I tightened up and passed the rod to Tjoks. The line came to the surface and there was a splash out the back as a nice dorado jumped around. It has choked down one of the biggest baits and was battling to breathe. I gaffed the fish and quickly got it in the hatch where it went mental! Well at least we were not mombakkies.

 

We trolled around for a few more hours with 2 more strikes by gamefish but left us a cleanly chopped off head. It was getting late so I suggested we go and get a tuna for sashimi that night so we quickly ran to Oscar pinnacle and free lined 2 live maasbankers on flouro leaders. I was busy letting out the bait when it was eaten by a small yellowfin. The fish gave me a bit of a run around but finally Tjoks got hold of the tail. After bleeding it and putting it on ice, we made another drift. The baits were just out when one was eaten. Tjoks fought the fish and I gaffed another yellowfin which was also bled and put on ice. With enough tuna fillets, we changed back to the sailfish baits and trolled back to the point where we upped lines and beached.

Being shown up by a Girl!

Tammy fighting on 4kg

On Sunday 15^th June at 7:30am, Tammy and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were just going for a casual days fishing and to enjoy the beautiful weather. I stopped on the pipeline and both Tammy and I went about fishing for bait. With a livewell full, I suggest we head to small high pinnacle. There had been a few bonnies around, and thought it would be fun on Tam’s light 4kg spinning rod. Just before running out there, I made a quick double, joined a few meters of 40Lbs flouro leader and tied on a 1/0 ultrapoint Mustad. The bonnies did not stand a chance!
 

When we arrived at the pinnacle I was surprised to see that there were no other boats. I stopped close to the mark and pinned a small live maasbanker before casting it out a bit and passing the rod to Tam. I told her to let the line out a bit while we made our way towards the pinnacle. The sounder was already showing the reef and a big showing, so I pulled neutral to drift. Tam asked how much line she should let out and only then did I notice the line flying off the reel. I calmly said “just close the bale arm, you are already on”… As she clipped the bale over, the rod loaded up and the small spinning reel smoked off! The chase was on.

My Deckhand at work

The fish was all over the place taking heaps of line as it went all we could do was follow until it slowed down. Slowly Tam put line back on the reel and but after 20 minutes, the fish was still making good runs. Every time it would sound and then make a fast run, we assumed a shark was on its tail. After 45 minutes, I could see the fish down below making big circles. It was a nice yellowfin. The double came up but the fish stayed just out of reach before taking some more line. A short while later the leader was on the tip but out of the corner of my eye, I saw a big brown shape materialise and the yellowfin made another short dash under the boat. Luckily, the shark disappeared as fast as it appeared and Tam could get the fish back on the leader where I gaffed it! MAGIC!

With a long, hard fight behind us, we decided not to put out another bait for tuna and rather focus on some eating fish so I rigged up 2 live mackerel and 2 maasies. Two up top and two down deep. On the first pass over the southern marks, the deep mackerel went away. I took the rod and fought a nice 15kg cuda to the boat where I finally got a gaff into it.
 

Tammy's 24,6kg Wahoo

I reset the lines and worked the area. It was a bit quiet, but eventually I saw the surface bait rev a bit before the rod bent a bit then flicked straight. Looking back, I saw a big swirl on the surface. The bait had been chopped cleanly, missing both single hooks but kinking the wires properly. I checked the other baits and saw that the other surface bait was missing… The baits were quickly rerigged and just as they were set, the one rod slowly bent over. I wound into the fish and it gave a few really big head shakes. Tammy increased the speed a bit (just incase) before taking over the rod. I had just cleared the other lines when the fish absolutely rocketed off! It left a big trail of spray and foam as its tail cavitated on the surface. I swung the boat around and gave chase. At one point, we were on the plane and the fish still taking line! After about a kilometre (with the strong current), the fish settled and fought deep. Tam gave it everything she had and started to lift the fish. I looked into the depths and saw a long silver fish circling upwards. When it broke surface, I put the gaff in and lifted a beautiful wahoo into the boat. What a great fish! It was way too big to fit into the hatch so we wrapped it in a wet towel on the deck.

13,6kg YFT on 4kg line

There was still a little time left to fish so I run back to the marks and started setting the lines. While letting out the second line, the first one went away. Looking back, we saw a 15kg yellowfin clear the water before going on a deep run. I took the rod and pushed the drag right up. The fish never had a chance to turn and within 5 minutes, it was gaffed and bled before going into the ice. We knew that with all the fish, there was a lot of cleaning work to be done so we upped lines and headed home. Tammy’s yellowfin weighed 13,6kg (a possible Ladies All Africa Record) and the Wahoo weighed 24,6kg. It was an awesome day out! 
 
 

Sailing away...

On Friday 6^th June, Wayne, David and I arrived at Cape Vidal. We had booked a weekend to try and get David his first sailfish. True to form, as David landed in Richards Bay, the wind started howling. With a SW wind pumping consistently at 35 knots, we thought the whole trip would be a write-off.

 

On Saturday morning, the wind was still blowing 20 knots but dropping. After a lazy morning around the chalet, we headed to the beach at noon with “Da Boys” in tow. The surf launch was a non-event but the sea was very uncomfortable! On the backline, we caught a few live baits before setting out the sailfish spread. The water was surprisingly clean with a lot of bird life. We decided to stay close to the launch and just work the point to the lighthouse. The current was ripping N-S against the wind (perfect tailing conditions), but we were being swept south quite quickly. Trolling in the trough, Wayne headed deeper on out first tack. I was looking back when I saw a big swirl behind one of the baits. I though it a bit strange and moved to the rod. The next thing, 2 reels behind me took off! One was on a double hook halfbeak so it was tight. The other was on a single circle hook so I had to feed the fish a bit before tightening up. Both rods were tight so Wayne and I cleared the other rods. Unfortunately, the one fish pulled hook pretty quickly but we still had one on. Dave fought the fish which took a lot of line down deep. From the head nods, we assumed it was a tuna of sorts. Unfortunately, a short while into the fight, the circle hook pulled and we were back to square one, rerigging baits.

 

With all the splashing from the teaser and exciters, we had attracted some birds. We had petrels, albatross and gannets dive bombing our surface and deep baits. After half an hour of fighting off birds, I pulled in all the lines and headed north. Luckily the birds stayed behind. While we were running north with the swell, I saw a sickle fin in the waves. Wayne moved to intercept while Dave and I put out 2 baits and the teaser. On closer inspection, we saw that the fish was a small black marlin. It swam into the spread and had a quick look around before fading off. We put out the full spread and worked the area without a pull. In the shallows, there was a patch of bait on the surface, so we worked the shoal a bit. Wayne and I noticed a flick on the one rod tip. The bait was still there and swimming, so we thought it a false alarm. About 30seconds later, the rod bent and the reel ran. I freespooled the fish for a bit and then slowly tightened up. The line took tension and there were a few head nods. The line angled to the surface and a nice sailfish took to the sky! It went mental on the surface while Wayne and I cleared the other lines. Dave kept the line tight until we could turn to follow. This fish jumped itself tired in 20 minutes and when I took the leader, it was quite tired. We tagged it and took a few pics before releasing a +-30kg fish. Mission accomplished! With some serious celebrating to do, we packed up and hit the beach…

On Sunday at 7:30 we launched again. This time the NE wind was pumping close to 20knots. We did not think we would be out for long, so I quickly set the sailfish spread and Wayne worked a similar area to the previous day. About an hour later, the reel on the close bait near the teaser gave a short burst then nothing. Moments later, the long bait gave a burst. I pulled the bait forward a bit and felt a heavy weight so I fed it a bit. The fish dropped the bait so I teased it again. Feeling the pull, I fed again. This time the reel ran properly and after a count of around ten, I slowly tightened up. The line took tension and the reel ran with a few big head nods. The line surfaced and a really good sized sail exploded out the water. It was quite a bit bigger than the previous days fish. Unfortunately, after a few jumps straight at the boat, the circle hook pulled and we were back to square one. The baits went out again and Wayne worked the area. Every time we turned in the shallow water, we would be terrorized by gamefish which would just flick the rod tip and leave a cleanly chopped off head. We did manage to get a big kawa-kawa to stick and Wayne had quite a fight before releasing a 8-9kg fish. By twelve o clock the wind was doing 25knots or more, we had 1 sailfish and 8 gamefish pulls and had run out of baits so we upped lines and headed for the beach.

All in all, it was a great weekend and despite the shocking weather, we managed to accomplish the goal we set out to. 

Zinkwazi Interclub

On Saturday 31^st May at 6:15am, Ettienne, Johan and I launched at Zinkwazi. We were fishing on “Heidilein” skippered by Stuart. We were fishing in the Zinkwazi Interclub against 20 other teams. After waiting for the first batch of 10 boats to launch, we headed off to the mid hi-point.

Stuart stopped just short of the reef and we went down with bait jigs.  It took all of 20 minutes to have the live well full of big maasbanker. Stuart took us about 500m deeper and we were on the reef where 5 baits went out, 2 surface baits on flouro for the tuna species (and maybe a billfish), 2 on the downriggers and one midway. On our second approach, the surface bait was eaten and the reel gave a short burst but then went quiet. I was hoping it was a tuna but when I retrieved the line, the hook had been bitten off! Next thing Ett shouted that he was on and the reel on the mid water bait smoked off. Johan and I cleared the deep lines while Etts fought a cuda to the boat. When it was near the boat, the other surface rod gave a short burst then went quiet. Another cuda had bitten us off… that’s the gamble. Soon after, I gaffed a 14kg cuda for Etts. At least we were on the board.

Lines were rerigged and trolling commenced. In the next hour, 9 other boats arrived. We trolled away from the crowd and just after checking the baits, the downrigger line went away. I took the strike and fought another 14kg cuda to the gaff. We were looking good. Things went very quiet so at 1pm we ran up to the northern hi point to look for some bottomfish to hopefully multiply our score. We put out the anchor and set a few trap sticks while Johan and Etts put some nice bottom baits down. There were a few small red fish, but nothing over the 2kg minimum weight. I was getting a bit bored so I rigged up a bottom trace with a light snoot and 4/0 hook on a gamefish rod. I caught a few small soldiers and eventually got one of exactly 2kg. Johan caught a rockcod, but it was just under 2kg.

The wind had now picked up to over 20 knots and the sea was uncomfortable. All the boats headed to the beach by 15:30. There were a few smaller fish caught, but not fireworks.

 

On Sunday 1^st June, we lined up on the beach waiting to launch "Pisscat" skippered by Russel. Finally, at 6:50am, we were pushed in and could head off to Hi point. By the time we got there, the bait had scattered and the gamefish had gone off the bite. While looking for bait, I put down a redeye flapper and caught a 2kg rockcod. A short while later, Johan got a 2,5kg soldier. With the 2 multipliers, we now needed a gamefish for the weight. We trolled over the reef many times but did not have a pull. After a while, we found some good showings and went down with the bait jigs. Etts and I came up with full strings of mackerel! No wonder we were not getting any pulls. There was just too much bait around.

With a good supply of bait, we headed shallower to hope for a queenfish, snoek or cuda. Apart from 2 half-hearted queenfish strikes, we had nothing further and beached at 13:30. Our team managed to place 8^th. Not too bad I suppose.

Enough is enough!

On Sunday 25^th May at 9am, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We stopped at the pipe line and after a while had a few livies. From there we headed South for the 32m ledge. On arrival, I rigged 2 livies, 2 bonnie and  a wala. The conditions were perfect. Clean green water, calm seas and a slight current. I was very confident that we would get a good fish.

We had not trolled for long when we went over a nice showing on the bottom. My Dad pulled neutral for a bit to let the baits sink a bit and then continued forward. As the boat started moving, the deep livie went away. It was not a big fish and I at one stage thought it was a bottomfish of sorts. I pulled it quite hard and only when the sinker came up did the fish pull a bit of line. I got a glimpse of it and it looked like a blackspot kingfish. As it came closer, it looked more like a rainbow runner. Only when it was on the leader could I identify it as a rare Cape Yellowtail. I knew nobody would believe me, so I loaded it. It was a small one, but it tasted great.

A rare catch off Richards Bay

I rerigged and continued trolling. Despite going over a few more nice showings, we had no more pulls. There was a bit of a current line forming a bit deeper, so I moved in that direction and trolled parallel to it. As I turned, the medium livie was eaten by a hammerhead. After last weekend, I was over the shark population and took out my frustrations… enough said.

It was dead quiet so at 2:30 I suggested we quickly stop at Petingo fish for an hour before going home. After the quick run, I put out 3 wala and a bonnie. The wind had dropped away totally and the surface looked like an oil slick. I was hoping that the far surface bait would get eaten cause it would be a spectacular strike. I trolled around the wreck and on the 4^th pass, there was an almighty splash out the back and a big cuda launched itself a few meters into the air. On re-entry, the reel with the far bait smoked off! Awesome! We cleared the other lines and followed after the fish which now had quite a lot of line in the water. I put most of the line back on the reel and just when the fish was near the boat, it made a sudden mad dash. The rod bumped a bit and I said that it felt like one of the hooks had just pulled so I eased off on the drag a bit. There were some more bumps and the fight changed to that which had played out 17 times the previous weekend… Of all the fish to get eaten, why ours?! I put the reel to sunset and clamped down on the spool. Being 50lbs line, nothing was going to break! This however had little effect so I slacked the drag and tightened the preset and then went to sunset again. The shark did not like that, but I did not give a @#%&. I took a glove and a cloth and squeezed the spool tightly. At this point the boat was being dragged backward by the piece of $#!%. My Dad put the one motor in gear to increase the drag. This did not do too much so the second motor also went into gear. There were a few big nods and I secretly hoped that the hooks were ripping the gills apart! After about 20 minutes, the leader wore through. That shark does not know how lucky it was…

After that, we made 2 more passes over the wreck before heading home. Something needs to be done about the shark problem… enough is enough... suggestions welcome.

Fighting a losing battle

At 5:30 am on Saturday 17^th May, Craig Farren, Ettiene, Divan and I launched “Gaffer” out of Durban. We were fishing in the Umhlanga Ski-Boat Club’s Andy de Wet Prestige Interclub. The wind was blowing South at a good 15knots and the forecast was for it to pick up even more.

At 6:30, all the boats set off for the bait marks before heading to the different fishing spots. We ran North to the Cason where we very quickly got some nice bait. While this was going on, Ettiene and I rigged up 2 livies hoping for an early morning tuna. The lines were out for about 5 minutes when both baits were eaten. Mine was a shark while Ett’s fish was a medium yellowfin. As the yellowfin came near the boat, it took off like a rocket past the boat with a shark on its tail! Etts freespooled the fish but it was too late and the shark grabbed it before breaking off the leader. Craig took us back to the mark and again Etts went tight. He pulled the sh!t out of it and Divan managed to get a gaff into a big bonnie. As he lifted it out the water, we could see 2 sharks circling below.

In the next 5 drifts, we had 5 strikes. One was a cuda that bit through the leader, one was a small tuna that only mouthed the bait and another pulled the hook. 2 fish were eaten by sharks. This was getting ridiculous! By 9m, the fish went off the bite. The other boats had left and we were the only boat left on the marks. With the wind now pumping at 20-25 knots, we put the anchor out and set a few baits on balloons and 2 on sinkers. About an hour later, the need bait went away, but the leader was bitten through almost immediately… obviously a cuda. The next strike was on a balloon, but unfortunately the hook pulled. A few minutes later, Etts was busy letting the bait out when it was eaten. He tightened up and immediately freespooled the fish while Divs and I cleared the lines and Craig buoyed off. The fish moved about 500m off the marks before we tightened up and pulled the fish really hard. Eventually the leader came up and a nice yellowfin circled under the boat. As I went to gaff it, three sharks came flying in! I managed to get the gaff in and lift the fish into the boat. Talk about a close call!

One of the culprits

In the next hour, we had 4 more strikes and all were eaten by sharks. One fish estimated at over 20kg was on the double line when the sharks ate it! We were fighting a losing battle. Just before the lines up, we hooked a shark on one of the live baits. Divan fought it close to the boat until his back was buggered and then I took over the rod. I managed to get the Zambezi in range and Etts stuck it with the gaff. It rolled  around and the gaff pulled loose so I brought it closer again. This time it was gaffed in the gills and when it rolled, the gaff straightened. I was not keen to waits any more time on these … pests, so I parted off.

We beached at 3pm batted and broken. Our bonnie weighed in at 8,3kg and the yellowfin was 13,6kg. This was enough to get us into 8^th place. For the day, we had 12 strikes, 2 bite offs from cuda, 2 hooks pulled, 6 fish eaten by sharks and only managed to get 2 fish out.

On Sunday 18^th May, at 6:30, the race for the bait marks was on. The wind was a light SW and the sea was a lot better. On our second drift, we hooked a yellowfin of over 25kg which I fought for half an hour on maximum drag. The double knot was on the rod when out of nowhere a shark ate the fish. @#%$@!!! The next drift, Etts hooked up and the fish ran shallower off the marks. As the fish came to the surface, the shark chased it but Divan managed to get a wild gaff shot in and lifted a nice yellowfin into the safety of the boat. The next 5 drifts all resulted in strikes and fish eaten by sharks. We had a few cuda eat the leader off, but every tuna was eaten. Including another fish close to 20kg. By 11am, we moved to the barge and made a few drifts, hoping the sharks would be less prolific. Boy were we wrong! On the first drift, Divan hooked a shark on a mackerel. While he was busy with it, Etts hooked a big bonnie which immediately launched itself out the water like a polaris missile. On re-entry, it landed in the mouth of the waiting wolves. Game over. Divs broke the shark off and we made another drift. I hooked up a good yellwofin and after 25minutes, a big Zambezi ate it on the surface. The next drift saw Divan hook up and within seconds, it was eaten. Near the end of the day, I managed to finally get a big bonito out, but only just as the sharks were already circling under the boat when Divs gaffed it.

In total, we had 17 strikes, 2 cuda bite offs, 2 hook pulls, 11 taken by sharks and 2 fish in the boat. We ended up in 5^th position overall which is not bad considering there were 25 teams. The worst part is that we technically outfished the other teams in that we had probably four times as many fish on as the nearest team, but with so many sharks, it was impossible to get the fish out. No fish were lost to tackle failure. Only a few pulled hooks and chop offs. But to lose 17 fish to the sharks, that’s just unnatural. There is definitely an imbalance in the environment somewhere.

Big fish on small hooks

On Sunday 11^th May at 5:30, Hannes Duvenage and I launched “Lihann” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to find a cuda or two. We stopped at the pipe and caught some bait before running to the ledge to catch some bonnies.

The best cuda bait!

On arrival, I put out 4 daisy chains and a small halco. Hannes made a turn over the pinnacle and all the rods went on. It was a bit hectic, but when it was over, there were 12 small jube jubes in the hatch on ice. With the bait so thick, I suggested we spend some time stocking up on bonnies cause you never have when you really need them. We made several turns with the same result. The problem was that the daisy chains were so tangled after every full house that it took quite a while to fix them up before we could get going again. Also, with only 2 people to man the 5 rods, it was interesting to say the least.

Kingfish on a 2/0 hook

At one point, with 5 rods on, 3 rods were left in the holders. One of the lines went deep and the reel started running at a constant pace. I told Hannes that something had eaten the bonnies, probably a potato bass or a shark. I reached over and put the TLD 25 onto sunset which slowed the run somewhat. After we cleared the other rods, I took up the rod with the conversion on it. Luckily it was on 50Lbs line, so I could put some serious pressure on it… whatever it was. Hannes was sorting out the tangled daisy chains while I was huffing and puffing with the long rod doubled over. Finally the fish started coming up and 5 minutes later, I was surprised to see a nice kingfish on the surface. It had one of the daisy chains 2/0 hooks on the corner of its mouth, 3 of the other hooks in the gills and the last in its stomach. Unfortunately it could not be released.

By the time we were done, there were enough baits to keep us going for a long time. With all the activity on the surface, we were sure that there would be quite a few kings around but we were not interested in catching them and would rather look for cuda so we ran to Petingo where we fished for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we never got out cuda, but at least we had enough bait.

The king weighed in at 18,6kg.

The Ladies do the Tuna Tango

At 5:45 on Wednesday 7^th May, At and Kathy van Tilburg, Tammy and I launched ”Avanti” out of Richards Bay. We were on a social fishing day hoping to catch a few fish. Our first stop was on the pipe where we quickly caught a hatch full of live bait before heading north towards groenkop. I set out 5 lines and At worked the area for a bit.

Tammy with her first Snoek

It was dead so we upped lines and ran a bit further north. There were a few patches of bait and the odd shoal of bonnies around. At headed towards a few birds working the bait shoal while I put out the lines. I was busy with the 3^rd line when the surface redeye was eaten Kathy took the rod and fought the fish. I picked up the other surface rod and slowly worked the bait closer. I felt a few bumps on the line then the rod loaded up and I was on! A double … nice! I passed the rod to Tammy and cleared the deck. It did not take long before Tammy had her first snoek next to the boat where At gaffed it. Next was Kathy’s turn with a similar size fish. By then, all the other boats were on top of us so we moved out of the area. By 9am we had not had another pull so we upped lines and headed to the ledge.

Tammy with her first YFT

When we arrived, I rigged up 5 lines and trolled south into the reverse current. There were very few showings on the echo, so I continued south hoping to find signs of life. After an hour and a half, we had not had a pull and I was giving up hope. Kathy then said that she thought she heard a reel tick over a few times. I looked back and scanned the rods but there was nothing. As I turned back to the steering, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the close surface rod bend a bit. I walked toward it to check the bait, but then the rod keeled over and the TLD15 screamed off. I took the rod out the holder and passed the rod to Tammy. Next thing, another reel smoked off. I turned around to see the other surface rod bending. Kathy took the rod as the fish went on its first run. At took over on the controls while I cleared the downrigger and other 3 lines. Both fish were giving the ladies a hard time but slowly the fish came closer. Tammy had her fish at the boat first. Both lines were very close together at that point, so after some tense moments, I managed to get the gaff into a nice yellowfin, Tammy’s first.

Kathy with half a tuna

Now the focus shifted to Kathy’s fish which had taken a second long fast run. She worked the fish back and had it 15m from the boat where I was ready to gaff it. Suddenly it made another fast run followed by a few big nods on the rod. From then there was just a heavy weight that came to the surface. It had been eaten off just behind the sickle fins by a shark. I gaffed the head section and let it bleed out before bringing it on board. It too was a nice fish, but was just not to be. After a few photos, we packed up and headed home. The snoek were around 4kg. The whole yellowfin weighed 14,4kg and the mutilated fish weighed 13,8kg.