Cat and mouse

 On Sunday 6^th September 2020 at just before 7am, Terence, Andre and I launched Terence’s “Marakas” off Cape Vidal. It was the first launch for the boat and with the surf being a bit unsettled, Terry asked me to take the boat through the surf. After a bit of bob and weave, we were behind the backline and looking for bait. We were lucky to get some really nice mackerel and maasbanker before heading north to Leven Point.

Bluefin Kingfish

About a kilometer south of the point I slacked off the speed and Andre and Terry put out four lures, hoping for a snoek, kingie or bonnie. The big swell made it difficult to get in close, but I managed a depth of around 6m. We had just gone through a nice rip when a reel went off. Terry took the strike and had a good tussle on the light gear with a beautiful bluefin kingfish which was released.

The lures went back out and I worked the area for a bit without any more luck so I headed north along the 12m line. Terry and I were discussing the area when a good showing appeared on the sounder. Moments later all four reels went away. One pulled hooks while in the holder, but the other three stayed tight and we managed to boat 3 shoal cuda. What a bargain! I had marked the spot so without wasting any time, we put out the lines. Just as the third rod was out, the showing started. Again, 3 rods went on with one pulling hook and two being boated. It was great to see the fish eating lures as it is much easier than rigging baits so I made another turn. Just as I was approaching the spot, a pod of dolphins pulled in front of us and the showing disappeared. I made several turns but the cuda had vanished.

Shoal size cuda

Hoping to find them a bit deeper, we changed over to live bait and slow trolled the area for a few hours without any pulls. We decided to make one last turn then go back to lures. As we were turning, I saw a splash and big swirl near the surface bait. There was a lot of slack in the line due to the turn so I ran back and cranked on the reel. The line came tight and the rod loaded up, followed by a few head nods. The fish went on a bit of a run so I passed the rod to Andre and helped Terry clear the lines before going back to the steering. The fish wasn’t doing much but when Andre put the drag to strike position, the were a few big head nods and the line angled to the surface where a nice sailfish climbed out. We knew it was going to be a tough fight… not only because of the light tackle and the 12kg leader, but we also noticed that the fish’s bill was broken so that would make it interesting around the boat

Over the next half an hour, we played a game of cat and mouse with the fish only jumping a few times, conserving its strength while it headed offshore. We had the fish in the “leader” several times before Terry could safely grab the bill, narrowly missing the hooks. We took a few pics then revived it before turning it loose.

Terry and Andre with a Sailie

With there not being much action, we decided to put on the lures again. I trolled over all my usual spots, but there was no action, so I turned to head home in the backline. We had just gone through a good looking area with lots of bait when the far lure went away. Terry took the strike and had a strong fight with an unknown customer. We were not making much headway in the fight and to make things worse, the pod of dolphin that had scared the cuda away, were back in town and heading our way. A few minutes later, the fight changed and we were now pulling against one of the dolphins that decided our fish was an easy meal. We had no chance at pulling the fish free from the dolphin’s grip and after putting max drag for a while, another dolphin swam into the line and parted it off.

With that, we called it a day and headed back to the beach to clean fish and have a cold beer. Thanks to Terry and Andre for a fun day on the water.

Possible SA Record Kingfish

 On Saturday 29^th August 2020, George, Geraldine, Patat and I launched “Cyclone” off St Lucia. We were hoping to catch a few snoek and any other critters playing around the shallows.

We stopped at the bait marks and filled the live well with maasbanker. As we started running south, George spotted a few birds working so went to investigate. There was a big showing so Patat and I sent down sabikis. Both of us came up with full strings of red eyes. After spending some time on the shoal, the icebox was full of beautiful baits.

Our next stop was at Crayfish Corner where we put out 2 fillets on 4kg rigs and 2 drones on wireline. It didn’t take too long before both drones went on with small kingies which we released. While putting the lines back out, we went on with another small king on a fillet. This was followed by a saladfish and another small kingie before we moved away from the shoal. It went very quiet, despite there being some life around. There were milkfish, dolphins, flyingfish and maasbanker shoals everywhere, but no snoek. At one point, George made a slightly deeper turn to avoid some big surf. As he straightened out, one of the fillets smoked off. Hoping it was a big snoek, we told Geraldine to take the rod. With all the lines cleared, I followed the fish and after 15mins, it was near the boat. The tail beats on the rod tip indicated one of 2 things, either a tuna species or a kingfish. Hoping for the latter, Geraldine inched the stubborn fish closer to where we could see a number plate of a kingie. This made things interesting as we knew the ladies SA record was vacant and this could be a contender. Eventually the fish gave up and came within range of the gaff and George lifted it into the boat. It looked to be over 4kg so we were pretty chuffed.

6.36kg GT on 4kg line

Trolling continued but there were no further pulls so we switched over to live bait and trolled back along the backline through the areas that we had seen action. We had just gone over the spot where the kingie had eaten when the far livie went away. George took the rod and had to hold on as the fish stripped a lot of 10kg line off the reel under decent drag, straight into the backline. We had no option but to increase the drag to 5kg to try and turn it. By some miracle, the fish turned deeper and out of the backline. There was a chance. Not knowing if there was any damage to the line for the rocks, George backed off the drag when we were in the clear. Most of the line was back on the reel and I was slowly backing up on the fish when, under no major pressure, the line parted halfway to the fish. We were gutted, but could not do anything about it and rerigged the baits.

Our Mystery fish

It was extremely quiet, so we headed north towards the launch site and put in a few fresh baits. As we were passing the end of Mapelane’s reef, George went tight on a bucktail jig and managed to release a small kingie. We carried on working north and soon had a pull on the close surface bait. Geraldine was on strike and had to hold on as the fish smoked off line. The lines were cleared as I followed the fish and we got some line back. The fight was very strange and every time it came close to the boat it took a strong run with big slow head nods. After half an hour the leader was out the water but we couldn’t geta good look. Only after the fish was truly tired, could was get it up and take a look. All of our guesses were way, way out. It was a sandshark of around 35kg. Talk about a disappointment. It was released after taking a few pics.

The rest of the afternoon produced no pulls, so we packed up and headed home. The kingfish weighed 6.36kg and has been submitted for a ladies SA and All Africa record on 4kg line.

Just me and the fish...

On Sunday 2^nd August 2020 at 6:30, I launched “ABF”. There was a bit of a weather window and I wanted to target my first Garrick of the season. All my mates were working or had prior engagements, so I went it alone. There was a good Samaritan at the club that assisted me with launching and soon I was heading to the bait spot. There were surprisingly few boats out, but I assumed it was due to the poor catches the day before.

A few light spinning rigs for garrick

I scrounged around for bait and managed some maasbanker and shad. I was not planning to fish for a long time so I thought a handful of bait would be fine and headed off to the South Pier to try my luck. I rigged three light 6kg spinning rigs and slow trolled around looking for some life. It didn’t take long to get a pull. This time it was a live shad rigged deep. Unfortunately, after hooking up and fighting the fish for a while, the hook pulled for no apparent reason. Not the best start. About half an hour later, I had another pull on the surface shad but again the hook pulled. Hopefully it was going to be 3^rd time lucky.

I trolled along the pier and into the backline, being pushed slowly by the NE wind. The swell was building with the tide change so I had to keep my eyes open. Luckily it didn’t take long to get another pull. This time I made no mistake and managed to release my first Garrick of the season. Continuing down the line, I managed to get a few more pulls and caught a couple more Garrick before the bait ran out. I was thinking of looking for more bait, but the wind had picked up and it was becoming a bit bumpy. Not wanting to have a late boat cleaning session, I headed back at 12:00.

It was great to have some light tackle fun with these fish. I will hopefully get a few more in the weeks to come.

In it for the long haul

On Thursday 30^th July 2020, At and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. Again, the target species was snoek as the previous day, there were a few nice ones caught. Unfortunately, news travels quickly and half the town was on the water even though it was a week day. We trolled up north looking for some life, but it was pretty dead. There were a few patches of bait but only saladfish were eating them. To make things worse, the swell had increased over night to close to 4m so there was a huge ground swell.

We pushed north regardless and just as we arrived at nHlobane, a friend phoned me to say that they had found a few fish to the south. He sent me a coordinate and it was 35km away! It was now or never so we made the executive decision to up lines and make the long run to try and salvage the day. As we ran South, I kept in contact and got a running commentary of their tally. Luckily, when I arrived, the fish were still feeding and the first pass with the wire lines produced a nice snoek. At turned to make another pass and we went on again. Luckily, with the wire lines, we could continue trolling while fighting the fish, and this helped us get a few more pulls in a short while.

At with a nice snoek after a long ride

When the birds stopped diving, the fish became a bit weary of the boat and the only thing that got pulls was a wireless rapala fished way back. In all, we were in the action for about an hour and we managed 9 snoek. Much better that what we would have done if we had stayed up north.

Thanks to my mates for calling me when we needed it. I will remember you guys that called me the next time I find them… and forget about those that didn’t.

Wired for snoek

At 5:30 on 21^st July 2020, Gary Heath, At and I launched At’s Kosi Cat “Vamous” off Richards Bay. There were reports of Snoek up north so we were keen to try for a few. We all had a few snoek tricks in our tackle boxes as they are notoriously unpredictable. I was also keen to learn a few new tricks from Gary as he is a good snoek angler.

Wire line for the win

While we were running north, we noticed a boat fighting a fish in the shallows. A short distance later, there were a few splashes that warranted closer investigation. Gary suggested we put out a few small lures and make a few turns before moving on. While At and Gary were getting their rods ready, I had two wire line rods rigged up and ready to go so I put them out. I had barely put the ratchet of the second reel on when the first rod went away. In no time, the first snoek was onboard. There was a scramble to get lines out again and no sooner was the second drone out that both wire lines went on. At kept the speed up while Gary and I unceremoniously lifted another two snoek into the open hatch. It was a unanimous decision to make another turn. As luck would have it, as we went through the area where we had the action, we went on again, and again and again. Every time, it was the wire line that went away, despite having small rapalas and feathers out as well. When the bite finally slowed, we had 12 fish in the hatch.

We made a few calls and heard that there were still a few fish further North so we upped lines and headed in that direction. There was congregation of boats in the distance and it was obvious that that was the place to be. We stopped short and put out the trolling gear before creeping our way through the boats. Apart from 2 on offs, it was quiet, so we changed over to bait. It was slim pickings and we got one or two fish an hour before it went dead. With a hatch full of great eating fish, we headed back for a well deserved refreshment.

Currently active

On Saturday 26^th at 10am Andre, Terence and I launched Good Time off Richards Bay. There had been a few cuda at Highpoint so we decided to try our luck. We managed to get a few big maasbanker and headed south for 40 odd kilometers into a 15knot SW wind. On arrival, the water was a bit green with no current, but there was a big showing.

Terence and I rigged a few baits and Andre trolled over a few of his numbers. Things were exceptionally quiet apart from a small yellowfin tuna I caught on a bucktail jig. While we were working the area, we could see the current moving in, bringing with it cleaner water and some bonnies. We were sure things would pick up soon. No sooner had the current pushed over the reef when the deep livie went away. Andre fought the fish but halfway to the boat, it was converted and the line was bitten off. On the next turn, the wala-wala was bit and we were on to a 12kg cuda. Unfortunately the hooks pulled right next to the boat and we were still left without a fish in the hatch. Things had to change.

We put out a few small lures and soon went on with 2 bonnies that we rigged up live and a small yft that we bled for sushi. It wasn’t 5 minutes and we had a big shark eat the deep bait, followed smartly by the surface bait. The sharks had obviously also come in with the current. As quick as we could catch the bonnies, the sharks ate them so we changed back to live maasbanker and held our position over the showing. Terence worked a vertical jig while I worked a bucktail. We both had action on the jigs, with Terence getting a tropical yellowtail and me getting a much sought after cuda of about 7kg.

It was getting late and as the sun dropped over the horizon, the deep livie smoked off. Andre battled to get the rod out the holder under heavy drag but eventually settled down into a strong fight. The fish came to the surface and made a few fast runs, typical of a big cuda, and finally came close enough to where I could reach out to remove the sinker. I was about to grab it when the fish smoked off, making the 16oz sinker look like a ruckus as it smoked along the surface. The line angled down again and that’s when our fears came true. There were a few big bumps on the rod followed by a heavy weight that was unmovable. After a while, we had no option but to part off. !#@$!#@

Back on the showing, Terence hooked up on a jig and was pinned to the gunwale with a heavy drag. 10 mins later Andre gaffed a 15kg yellowfin in almost complete darkness.

This was the end of our gamefish session so we packed up and headed shallower to the salmon marks. On the first down, we all hooked keeper size salmon. Andre then showed us how its done with a 12kg daga, just to end off the session. Thanks again to Andre for a great trip. For those of you wanting to book a trip, contact Andre at Good Time Charters here off Richards Bay (+27 (0)72 639 9366). He really goes out of his way to find fish for his clients and I can highly recommend his services. 

https://www.facebook.com/GoodTimeFishing/

One more for the bucket.

On Sunday 20^th June, Terence and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. I had never caught a black musselcracker so it seemed like the perfect time to target one. After catching a few livies, we headed down south to a few numbers that I got from a friend.

It was the first time that I had anchored the little boat but it was all smooth sailing and everything

worked a treat. With the anchor set, a cuda trapstick out the back and Scarborough in hand, I sent down a live maasbanker. It didn’t take long and I had a pull, but it wasn’t the target species. It was nice to get a decent soldier in the hatch though. The next bait I sent down was a live shad. It was only down for a few minutes when the rod bumped with a good bite. A short feed and I hooked up. There was some weight and big head nods. I was pretty sure it was the right one. The fight was short but memorable and when I saw that big number plate down deep, I felt like a child opening a present on Christmas morning. Terence helped gaffed it and loaded it into the boat. It was by no means a monster but I think its better that way as smaller fish normally taste better than monsters.

It is such a great feeling when you target a species and achieve success. I can remember my hands shaking for probably half an hour after catching it, battling to pin another bait. Eventually we had lines back in the water and the waiting continued. There seemed to be quite a few fish around from radio reports so we were confident that we could get a second fish. A while later, Terence put down a fresh slinger fillet and hardly had time to settle when he went tight on a fish. It was also one of those out the nursery and even though it was size, we decided to tag it and let it go.

Things had gone very quiet and despite moving to a few other spots, it was dead. At the end of the day we stopped back at the spot where we started the morning and after a short while, Terence hooked a sizable fish. Unfortunately, after a few big head nods and a short run, the hook straightened and all he got back was a crushed flapper.

That was the end of the day for us. I was super stoked to have ticked off a bucket list fish.

I'm free!!! First launch after lockdown.

Sunday 12^th June Terence, Oom Andre and I launched “Marakas” out of Meerensee Boat Club. This was the maiden voyage for Terence’s new boat, a 17ft Yeld Cat, as well as out first launch after lockdown. The idea was to just take the boat for a spin and get some salt water on our skin. Just a general soul soother after being locked up.

We had heard that the live bait had been scarce so we caught a few razorbellies in the harbour before heading out to sea. We scratched around at the usual bait marks, but the water was terrible and there was zero showing. Terence took us North to look for better water but it was nowhere to be found so we headed deeper to the 50m ledge. There were a few birds and a bit warmer water, so we put out a few lures and tacked along the reef, adding new marks to the gps as we went.

After about 20 minutes, we caught a small frigate which went into the bait box without too much pomp and ceremony. Terence had just set the lines again when we went on again. This time it was a bit better fish and Oom Andre took up the fight. We were all surprised to see a dorado pop out the water. Not a common fish during the winter, but very welcome indeed. It gave us a bit of a runaround on the deck when it jumped off the gaff, but it was good to get some blood on the deck.

Apart from a few Albatross that grabbed the surface lure, we had no further action so we headed back to the harbour. There was a huge swell running, but the water around the pier looked good so we rigged up 2 livies and drifted around the point of the pier. It didn’t take long to get a pull but unfortunately the bait was ripped off the hook before I could tighten up.

No further inquiries for the day, so it was “Home James”.

Congrats on your boat Terry. I wish you calm seas and screaming reels.

2020 Cape Vidal Billfish Comp ... more like gamefish

On Tuesday evening, 4^th February 2020, Herman Olivier and I arrived at Cape Vidal. The Marlin Comp was on and I was going to fish the last 3 days onboard Wayne Ritchie’s “Galavant”. The weather forecast didn’t look great and on Wednesday morning, the weather committee called a blowout.

We were not about to stay in camp the whole day so we launched at 7am to fish for some gamefish. There was a lot of bait around and after filling the tank, we headed north to Oscar. Herman and I put out a few small halcos and rapalas while Wayne trolled over the pinnacles. It didn’t take long to get a pull and Herman ripped in a small yellowfin tuna. Unfortunately, we didn’t have and big rods on the boat, otherwise we would have swam it for a marlin. The sea was very fishable for marlin if were pulling live bait.

We continued trolling and soon went on with a better sized fish. Wayne took the rod and had a tough fight with a strong yellowfin which we eventually boated. It was around 15kg, a contender for the bycatch Calcutta if only the comp was called on.

Live baiting

After an hour or two of trolling, we didn’t have any more pulls so we headed into the shallows and rigged 4 livies and drifted towards the point. On the bait spots, we had a pull and Herman caught his first cuda for the year. He was lucky to get it in because there was a big Zambezi shark chasing it when we gaffed it. Our drift continued for a while and south of the lighthouse, as we were packing up, I managed to hook and land a nice natal snoek of about 5kg. I was just as lucky as Herman as another big Zambie was after it at the boat.

On Thursday morning, the comp was called on, but only just. The forecast did show that the wind would settle so all the boats launched. After catching a few livies we headed back to Oscar and pulled lures around. It didn’t take long to get two 3kg bonnies. With the bait in the tubes, we headed north to the marlin hole off Vegetation. The current was ripping and the temp was 28 degrees. Not exactly ideal live bait conditions, but we rigged to baits and trolled them through the hole. The prime time came and went without any action and soon the baits both succumbed to the hot water. Despite looking for more bait, we didn’t get any bites. The wind turned easterly and at 1pm we beached to beat the rush.

After a long night, we were on the beach at 6:30am. There was a queue of boats waiting to launch but eventually the comp was called off … I’m not sure what the reason was. Most of the boats launched regardless and went game fishing. We joined them on the water and after getting a few livies we went back to Oscar and started pulling lures. It didn’t take long and we had a smoker on the far line. Unfortunately it bit us off and we were left to continue the search. As I trolled over a good showing, we went on again. I was hoping it was a small tuna but to our surprise, it was a 5kg cuda. I made another turn over the same spot and went on again. Unfortunately the hooks pulled on the fish, but it was enough to suggest that we change over to bait and work the area. 

Herman fighting a tuna

17.8kg YFT

The baits had been out for a few minutes when the far line went away. Herman took the strike and was in for a tough battle. The fish fought deep for a while and the light cuda rod had little impact. After putting some pressure on (thinking it was a shark) the line angled up and cut through the water. I chased after it as Herman put line on the reel. The line then went slack. We were wondering what was happening but as the last bit of slack line was wound in, the line went under the boat. In the water next to us was a big oceanic white tip shark. It had chased the fish we were fighting under the boat. Now it was hiding under the tunnel and we couldn’t get to it, even though it was on the leader. Eventually it came out and took off away from the shark. After freelining it for a while, it settled and we were after is at speed. Again the fish came flying up under the tunnel but after some fancy footwork, we managed to gaff an 18kg yellowfin. Another contender for the Calcutta but alas…

Lines went out again and soon we had 2 big kaakap on the lines. Wayne and Herman both fought them to the boat where they were released. There was quite a bit of action and on the next drift, Wayne managed to get another shoal cuda.

PB Kaakap

I kept the boat on the marks, stemming the current. I happened to see a strange showing on the sounder about 3m down. When I looked back, I could see a big Zambezi shark just cruising behind us. There was going to be a problem if we hooked anything. It wasn’t 5 minutes when the surface rod went away again. Wayne took the rod and had a very similar fight to what Herman did. This time the fish didn’t hide under the boat, it took off on surface with the shark behind it. Wayne freelined it for probably a few hundred meters before we started after it. Again, near the boat, the tuna made an erratic run so Wayne freelined it again. Unfortunately this time the shark caught up with the tuna and bit through the leader.

We made one last drift and hooked a small bonnie on a livie. We rigged it up and swam it for marlin, but the 28.2 degree water took its toll and it perished after a short while.

That was the end of our fishing for the trip. It was very eventful and we all had a good time. The Vidal Committee organized a great event and hopefully we can make it next year.

First timer success

On Friday 24^th January 2020, my Dad, brother-in-law Dan and I launched “ABF” off Vidal. It was the first time Dan had been to see so I was hoping to get anything for him to catch.

We started off by filling the live well with mackerel and maasbanker before heading north to Oscar where, after making 2 drifts, only missed one fish that pulled the hook. There was not much else around so we headed further north to Leven point. Speaking to the other skippers, it seemed like it was pretty slow so I headed deeper to the dropoff to try for an amberjack. Unfortunately, most of the fish we hooked were taxed by the sharks, but at least Dan was getting used to the feel of fighting a fish.

I headed in shallower, put out a few livies and trolled along the 10 to 12m line. It didn’t take long to get a pull and Dan had the chance to fight his first cuda. Near the boat, it swam around the deep line which I had to cut to prevent a burn off. While hauling in the bait, the line went heavy as a fish grabbed the bait. It was quite a struggle holding on to 10kg handline with a feisty fish. I managed to get the fish right to the boat but it went on a run and a big potato bass grabbed it, resulting in a few deep line cuts. I held on, but the line eventually popped. Dan in the meanwhile had his fish next to the boat where my Dad gaffed it. Finally the ice was broken. We made another pass over the mark and sure enough went on with another small cuda.

We were all happy with the 2 cuda and could take it easy for a bit. In the next hour we missed 2 more cuda and released 2 kaakap. Not wanting to have a long day, we put on a few lures and headed home, managing to get a 2kg bonnies to end off the day. All in all it was a great day, great weather and a few fish.