Dorado on the line

On Friday 9^th December, John, Chuck and I launched “Drifter” off Vidal. The live bait had been scarce off the point so I ran straight to bighill and found a good supply. There had been a few dorado on the dead baits in the morning, but by 7:30, it went dead so by the time I had livies, we missed the early bite. I decided to troll from the bait marks and see if we could find anything. The water temp had dropped 2 degrees over night and was sitting at 22. 

All the boats in the area were battling, so after two hours without a pull, I headed deeper to look for a temperature or colour break. I had just crossed over the 50m ledge when the far surface bait went away. Chuck hauled in a small skipjack that we released. In 75m, there was a current line so I trolled along it. Not long after, there was a big commotion on the surface and the long rod keeled over. I could feel that the fish was heavy, and there were some big head nods. I increased the pressure and the line angled to the surface where a big shark twisted out the water and luckily popped off the leader. About half an hour later, along the same line, we went tight with a dorado. While it was jumping, I could see a follower with it so I left one of the other lines in. sure enough, when it came into range, the second fish ate the bait and we managed a double. I let out another bait while the deck was being sorted out and just as I put the rod in the holder, it keeled over and we were on. Chuck took the rod on a deep fighting fish which turned out to be a 9kg yellowfin. 

Another dorado along the current line

The wind had picked up from the south and with the strong n-s current, I knew the sea was going to pick up quickly so we ran to the point and put out lines along a good looking current line in 25m of water. I worked the line for about half an hour and went tight with another dorado. Things seemed to be changing with the change in wind. Not long after, the close rod went away. While John was fighting that one, I saw a follower and flicked out a livie on a spinning rod. Almost immediately I went tight to a good dorado which gave me a hard time before I could boat it. The current line moved shallower and I just followed along the edge. In 18m, we managed another dorado on the live bait. Our time was a bit limited as Chuck needed to leave that afternoon, so we started pulling the lines. Just before the last line was in, there was a blue flash next to the boat as a dorado flew in and chowed the livie. Chuck had a quick fight with a shoal size fish before heading back to the beach.

I'll have another Double!

Chuck and his 1st Sailfish

On Tuesday 6^th of December, Chuck, Kyla and Tash launched “Drifter” off of Vidal. It was the first time the girls had launched through the surf and first time fishing for gamefish. There was a light NE wind and almost zero surf, so it was an uneventful launch. I didn’t even stop on the point and headed straight to where I got bait the previous day. After a bit of a run to Bighill, we managed to catch a hatch full of bait and set about slow trolling. There was a current line on 23m with some bait shoals on it, so I focussed my efforts there. We had trolled for about an hour when both far surface baits went away. Tash and Kyla took the strike and both caught their first dorado. I continued along the line and had another dorado eat a dead bait close to the boat. Chuck made quick work of it before trolling further. One of the boats next to us went tight on a sailfish so I tacked deeper to get out their way. When we were clear, I turned back to the current line and saw the far surface rod starting to load up. I fed it a bit then tightened up to a heavy fish. It bumped its head a few times and the line angled to the surface. I was pretty sure I knew what was about to happen and like a dejavu moment, a sailfish stuck its head out and tore up the surface giving us a great show. Chuck took the rod and had a good tussle with his first sailie before tagging it. Two sailies in 2 days… not bad.

Things went a bit quiet for an hour or so I moved a bit further south to get away from the other boats. This move seemed to work and we went away with a really nice bull dorado that gave Kyla a hard time before it was boated.

Chuck with his 2nd Marlin

With the lull in the action, a few boats left the area. The NE picked up a bit and the dorado went quiet. I decided to let one of the lines out further and a few minutes later, the reel went away. Chuck fought the fish which turned out to be a cuda of about 8kg. I repeated the exercise and again we hooked a cuda that Tash boated. One of the other boats also had two cuda pulls, so it seemed like they were in the area. I was busy setting another bait when the line pulled out my hand. I put up the drag, but the hooks missed the fish. I quickly rerigged and just as I got the rod in the holder, it keeled over and we were onto another cuda that Kyla caught. We fished for a bit longer without another pull so I suggested we head closer to the launch so that the increasing wind did not catch us far south. I stopped off the point and put out 4 lines. I was busy heading out to sea when the far rod keeled over and the reel took off. Looking back, I saw a marlin launch itself full length out the water and start greyhounding away from us. The lines were retrieved double time while I chased after it. Chuck had the rod and survived the first run. We managed to get on top of the fish after about 10 minutes and got a quick tip on the leader. The fish took off and made countless close range jumps, almost ending up in the boat a few times. After about 40 minutes, the fish made a last jump and lay quiet on the surface close to the boat. I swung the stern next to the fish and managed to grab the bill of a 70ish kg black and pop a tag into it. Chuck posed for a quick pic before reviving the fish and releasing it. What an awesome end to the day. Two doubles in as many days! That’s great fishing in anyone’s book.

Make Mine a Double

On Monday 5^th December, I launched “Drifter” off Cape Vidal. With me were John, Amanda and Chuck. The SW was pushing about 20 knots, but the surf was non-existent. I spent some time looking for bait off the point, but similarly to the previous weekend, there was nothing to be found so I headed south to the shallows at Bighill. We managed to find a patch of bait and filled the livewell with mackerel and maasbanker before setting 4 lines.

I had just started heading deeper when the far surface rod went away with an absolute smoker! By the time the rod was out the holder, a considerable amount of line was off the reel so I turned to chase the fish. Unfortunately, the rod shot straight and the fish was gone. It had bitten through the wire. Not a good start. I rerigged and continued deeper. At 30m, another reel went away and Amanda fought the fish to the boat. Before we could see what it was, it went on another run but got converted shortly after. The drag went up to sunset and changed hands a few times until it chafed through the leader. The lines went out yet again and on almost the same spot in the shallows, the far bait went off again with another smoker. I left the other lines in and immediately spun the boat around to slow the run and when the last line was cleared and the fish started to slow down, the fish bit through the wire again!

Chuck with his 1st Marlin

After losing 3 rigs, I regrouped a bit, making some new rigs and setting a new spread of livies. I tacked a bit deeper then back shallower and managed another pull. This time is was a dorado that found its way into the hatch. Finally! I turned deeper after setting new baits and as the boat straightened, 2 rods went away. John and Chuck boated 2 yellowfin of about 6kg each… not my favourite fish to catch. Things seemed to be looking up and in 30m, the surface bait went away. Chuck took the rod on a pretty heavy fish that took several fast continuous runs. After 20minutes, the fish was close to the boat. The line angled to the surface and I saw a big sickle tail surfing down a swell. I first thought it to be a sailfish, but then it lifted the short dorsal fin and I could see it to be a marlin. After some fancy boat driving, I managed to get close enough to grab the bill and get a tag into an estimated 60kg black marlin for Chuck. I was surprised that the fish came in so easily, but maybe it was a blessing considering the light tackle used.

Amanda with her 1st Sailfish

After releasing the fish, the lines went out again. I had been trolling a deep line, but had not had a touch on it so I took off the sinker and left it on surface. I was bust letting out the 3^rd line when the now surface bait went away. There was a commotion on the surface as a sailfish tailwalked out the back. Amanda took the strike and had a tough fight with a fish that was fowl hooked. After a while, I managed to get hold of the bill and lift it into the boat. The weather and sea were still unsettled, so we decided to call it a day. I was pretty chuffed with our double on billfish for the day.

Lucky Dip

On Sunday 27^th November, Terence and I launched AVANTI off Vidal. We fished for bait for an hour and only managed 6 livies. We decided to head south with some lures and see what was going on. It did not take too long to find a good current line and tent tight with a small skipjack which we released. There seemed to be some life on the line so I rigged up 2 livies, one deep and one on top. 

Terence with his pb cuda

About 10 minutes later, the deep bait smoked off and Terence fought a good cuda to the boat. I managed to get the gaff in and hauled a 14kg cuda aboard. Now the pressure was off so we could relax. 

A nice Kaakap

I reset the deep bait and minutes later went on with a small bonnie which went into the luna tube. I rigged up a heavy trace on a strong rod with 80lbs braid and pinned the bonnie. The rod was in the holder for about 2 minutes when the rod revved and then keeled over. The reel smoked off as on the surface as a marlin made a run for it. I cleared the other line and chased the fish which was heading for deeper water. Terence put some pressure on the fish and it made a u-turn and ran flat out shallower right on the surface, almost stripping the reel. I followed it with great haste and finally caught up with it. We thought it had settle, but it took off on a long run again. Eventually it was near the boat but when it took off on another run, the leader wrapped around the tail and parted off. Unlucky!

Fresh fish for supper!

I headed back to where we hooked the fish and rerigged. This time it took 20 mins before we got a pull. Terence battled a stubborn fish to the surface. It was a 7kg kaakap. Unfortunately they are now classified as a bottom fish so it was put away.

Things went quiet and we decided to head back early as there was almost no bait left. While I was retrieving the last line, the rod was pulled flat by a feisty dorado that snatched the bait! Awesome! It looked like every strike was a lucky dip as we never knew what they would be. After boating the fish, we headed back to shore and enjoyed the rest of the day on the beach.

First Sailfish of the season

On Saturday 26^th November, Tammy, Suzzie and Terence launched AVANTI off Cape Vidal. We were there for a quick social weekend and were hoping to get a few gamefish. There was a 10knot SW blowing but with the strong N-S current, the sea was a bit bumpy.

We stopped off the point and looked for live bait which seemed to be almost non-existent. After two hours, we had about 10 baits so we decided to rig them and try our luck. Working between 20 and 35m, the current pushed us south and off the slides, the two surface baits started revving. Something had to be scaring them. After a few seconds, the rod that I was holding bumped and I freespooled the fish before tightening up. The fish felt heavy and there were a few big head nods… I was convinced that it was a billfish. As I turned around to pass the rod off, a sailfish stuck its head out and took to the air. It went on a good run which gave

us time to clear the other lines and get Tammy settled on the rod.

The fish gave a great show and with that managed to get the leader around its caudal fin. This made it difficult to turn the fish’s head where we wanted it. We had the fish on the leader about 4 times before I could grab hold of the bill and put the tag in. After a quick photo, Tammy released her first sailfish. Well done!!

Tammy with her first Sailfish

The lines went out again, but without any success. We put on a few trolling lures and made out way to Oscar. Once there we pulled livies over the pinnacles but again no action. Out of desperation, I trolled shallower onto the 30m current line and persevered there for the last hour or so. Just when we thought it was over, the close surface rod went away. Suzzie took the strike and fought hard on a deep fighting fish. After a while, it was a bit much for her and Terence took over. He managed to get a nice yellowfin into the boat. After that, we packed up and headed back.

Garrick all around

On Saturday 24^th September, Henk, Tammy and I launched “Selfish” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch a few of the Garrick that were around. After trying for bait in the harbour for a bit, without any success, we headed out to the pipeline. It didn’t take long to catch a livewell full of shad and soon we were heading back to the pier.

Henk's garrick about to be tagged and released

One of the boats had already caught two fish, so I was pretty confident that we would get some fish. I rigged up 3 livies on spinning tackle and trolled around the point. The close shad was swimming pretty deep and started revving but nothing happened. The line angle came to the surface so we all thought the bait had come off the hook. Henk started retrieving to see what was going on when the bait went mad and there was a strong pull on the rod. Henk opened the baling are on the reel and fed the fish for a while before tightening up. The fish took some line before settling into the typical Garrick fight at the boat. The fish gave a great fight on the 6kg line and eventually I could grab it by the tail and bring it aboard where it was tagged and released. Not a bad start.

Good fight on 6kg line

The lines went out again and I made another turn. As I was approaching the pier, the far bait started revving and then got eaten. Tammy fed the fish and tightened up on another Garrick. The fish gave a good fight and after about 10 minutes, Tammy had her first Garrick of the season on the boat.

Trolling commenced but soon after, the dredger made an appearance and we were forced to move away from the pier towards the backline. The wind dropped totally and the fish went a bit quiet. After about an hour or so, while trolling through a small rip, the far bait revved and was taken. Tammy was busy feeding the fish when a big backline swell rocked the boat and caused the baling arm to clip over. Before it could be opened, the line took tension and the fish spat the bait. That happens... At lease there were still a few fish around.

I rigged up a fresh shad and about 10 minutes later it was eaten. Again tammy fed the fish but when we tightened up, the fish took a bit of line then spat the bait. On closer inspection, the hook had turned back into the bait and would never have hooked the fish. I guess that comes with the R&D of testing a new bait rigging style.

Henk and his garrick

We worked the area for about half an hour without another pull. I noticed that the dredger was packing up so we pulled lines and headed back to the pier. On arrival, the water looked awesome. There was a good rip and colour line formed by the outgoing tide. I quickly rigged up 3 baits and trolled along the colour change towards the pier. A few minutes later, I looked back and saw the close bait revving like mad. I ran to the rod and as I was about to grab it, the trip clip released and the rod flicked back as the reel freespooled. This flick caused the baling arm to bump against the rod holder and clip closed. The rod started loading up as I tried to open it under tension. By some miracle I got it open and the fish was still there. I fed it a bit then tightened up. The fish took quite a bit of the 6kg string against the light drag so Henk turned the boat towards the fish. I gained most of the line and finally had it around the boat. On closer inspection we saw the fish had 2 followers. This meant that the fish I was fighting put up even more of a struggle. The fish looked to be a nice one so I decided to take it for the Garrick Derby that was currently on at the club.

Tammy with a garrick

We each had a fish for the day so anything else was a bonus but knowing that there were a few fish in the water made us confident that we would get another one. Fresh baits went in and I trolled back up the rip. It was no surprise when we had another pull. Henk fed the fish but the line never picked up. He brought in the slack only to have the line suddenly take tension next to the boat. The fish had taken the bait and swam towards the boat causing the slack. Henk went tight and had a nice fight with another shoal size Garrick. He also wanted to take some fish home we boated his fish aswell.

It was about 1:30pm so we decided to fish until 2pm then head back. I rigged up the 2 biggest shad that we had and trolled through the rip again. The close bait revved for a while before being eaten. Henk fed the fish for a while, hoping that the fish would be able to get the big bait down. Unfortunately, it was a small Garrick and when we tightened up, missed the fish. With that, our day was over and we headed back. My fish weighed in at 12,5kg and the others were about 7kg.

Wish you were here

On Sunday 4^th September, we launched “My Wish too” out of Richards Bay. There had been a lot of Garrick around and Rey and Marnus were keen to get into the action. We headed out the harbour at 6am and headed to the pipeline. Every drop resulted in a full string of big mackerel. There were so many mackerel that the shad did not have a chance to get to the bait. Finally, after putting big chunks of bait on, we managed to get a few shad and headed north to groenkop.

The tide was going out and there were some beautiful rips forming. With the small swell, we could get pretty close to the backline and work the rips properly. The baits had been out for about 20mins when there was a big swirl just behind the boat. I ran to the back and picked up the close rod anticipating the strike. Moments later, the line started running off the reel. I fed it for a bit and then tightened up. The fish made a run to the backline taking a bit of line. Marnus took the rod and had a good tussle with his first Garrick of the year. With the first fish under our belt, the pressure was off.

I continued working north, but things were very quiet. After an hour and a half without a pull, we upped lined and ran back to where we had the first fish. The lines went out and about 20mins later, the shad on the spinning rod went away. Rey fed the fish and tightened up to his first ever Garrick. The fish took a bit of line then followed the characteristic Garrick fight at the boat. Eventually the fish tired and I could get a gaff into it. We ran up to the start of the drift and followed the same line. Not long after, the far bait went away but while I was still feeding it, the hook came out the bait and missed the fish. Unlucky. Again we ran up a bit and drifted down the same line. A bit further on, the mackerel on the spinning rod was eaten and again we were on to a fish for Rey. This fish was hooked in the gills and so we put it in the boat. The wind was picking up and the dirty water was being churned up so we decided to up lines. As we were clearing the lines, the far bait went away. Unfortunately, one of the other lines tangled with the line that the fish had taken and so we missed the hookup. Oh well, that happens. In all, it was a great day.

Picking Up Crew

On Saturday 13^th August, At, Hendry and I launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. We had had some success with the previous weekend with a few Garrick and we were hoping to get a few more. We battled a bit for bait but eventually had enough to go and fish. We tried a bit on the point, but nothing happened. The dredger was also operating in the area, and we didn’t want to get into trouble, so we headed south into the backline. It was much calmer there and we could work the area a bit. After about an hour or so, the deep line went away. The fish took off and I kept feeding it. When I tightened up, the line shot straight into the backline and flew off the reel. Everything looked good when suddenly the fish was off. I reeled in the bait and it was in perfect condition… it must have wrapped in the leader. Unlucky!

We turned to work the spot a bit more, but after spending some time there, we didn’t have another pull. We were expecting a friend to arrive at about 11am, and we said we would fetch him at the club and then go fish some more. We trolled towards the harbour and I happened to be watching the rod tip on the close livie when it started revving. There was a swirl out the back but I could not make out what it was. It looked to be a hammer head from how it was tracking the bait. Hendry and I pulled in the baits and the fish followed them to the stern. Only then did we see that it was indeed a Garrick. It chased the baits a few times on the surface, but only half-heartedly took the one and spat it out before eating it. 

Juri fighting his first garrick

We upped lines and went to fetch Juri. He is a laugh a minute and was super keen to catch his first Garrick. At headed back to the same spot where we had dropped the first Garrick and on our first turn, the close bait was eaten.  The bait was on a really light bass rod so we were in for a good fight. Hendry fed and hooked up the fish before passing the rod to Juri. The fish took a lot of line and put up a good fight for half an hour. It was Juri’s first Garrick so we gaffed the fish for him. He was over the moon.

The wind had picked up a lot so we headed back to the harbour and saw a good colour line near the pier. We put out 3 baits and made a turn. Not long after, we had a pull on a Maasbanker, but got the head back. Moments later, the far line went away. I hooked up and passed the rod to Juri. This fish took a lot of line and kept him busy for a while before I could tail a really good fish. It was tagged and released in good condition and measured out at 12.5kg. That was the last pull we had so we headed back.

Dropping off crew

On Sunday 7^th August, we launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. We had a few of At’s friends on the boat looking for a Garrick. Knowing there was not much bait on the pipe, we opted to look on the shallow reefs near the nets and within 20 minutes, we had a hatch full of shad. The guys needed to leave for Pretoria at 11am, so it was going to be a short session. 

We headed to 5 mile and ducked into the backline. I rigged up 3 lines and At trolled through the rips. It took about half an hour for our first pull. I fed and hooked up the fish which ran straight into the backline. I handed off the rod and was busy clearing the other lines when the 40 lbs leader parted. Bad luck. We were back at square one. About an hour later, on the deep side of a nice rip, the short surface bait went away. Again I hooked up and passed the rod over. The fish didn’t do to much and was quickly next to the boat. I grabbed the tail and lifted it into the bot where it was tagged and released.

At made another turn while I let the new baits out. On almost the same spot, we went away again. This time the fish put on a better fight and took some time for me to get hold of the tail. This fish was also tagged after a few quick pics, then released. We had high hopes for another fish, but by 10:30, the had been no more action and we had to head back to drop the guys off.

It was still early, the weather was great and we had some bait left, so we decided to fish into the afternoon. We made the short run to the south pier and I had just set the last line when the first one went away. I passed the rod to Hendry who hooked up onto a shoal size Garrick. It gave him a good rev on the spinning rod and finally I managed to tail the fish and get a tag into it. Trolling continued, but it had gone quiet. 

The wind had picked up a lot and we were battling to maintain position so we headed to the north pier to give it a few minutes. Just before 4pm, the deep bait went away. Hendry fed and hooked up a good sized fish that gave him a nice fight before I could leader it. After tagging it, it was released and we called it a day.

First Garrick of the Season

On Saturday 6^th August, Wayne, Lorenzo and I launched “Da Boys” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to get into some snoek and Garrick action. Our first stop was to get livies which proved very challenging and could not find a single one. I headed shallower to the shark nets and found a few showings. Wayne and I started getting a mix of pinkies and shad and soon we were heading up north.

Lorenzo with his first garrick

I put out a few snoek baits and slowly trolled north. As we were going, we saw a few birds dipping. I fired a small spoon at them and on the third turn of the handle, I went on to a snoek. It didn’t take long to boat the fish and we could follow the birds to get another one. Despite putting the lure right in front of the snoek, we could not get another pull. The action subsided and we continued north. We heard of some action a bit further north, so we changed to a few rapalas and feathers to get there a bit faster. A few minutes later Wayne went on with a snoek which also found it's way into the hatch.

The snoek had sounded and things were very quiet. We decided to head into the backline and look for a Garrick. There was a beautiful colourline in 4m of water so we spent some time working alone it. After about an hour, we had a pull and went tight with a small Garrick. We gave the rod to Lorenzo and he had his hands full with his first Garrick. After about 20 minutes, I put the gaff into the fish and hauled it onboard. We made another turn over the same spot and had a Garrick come charging in to eat a shad, but it turned off at the last second. It bumped one of the further baits o the way back, but never ate it. Sometimes they can be difficult like that. We spent some more time along the colour line but had no more pulls so we headed back to port.