First Garrick of the 2011 season

On Saturday 20^th August 2011, my Dad and I as well as Nico Swart launched our boat “Selfish” off Richards Bay to look for Garrick. This was the first time in several weeks that the weather and sea conditions had allowed us to launch. Finally we were could get rid of the withdrawal symptoms we were experiencing.

We headed to one of the nearby marker buoys in the harbour where we found a shoal of shad. We sent down sabiki rigs with pieces of sardine and quickly had a hatch of shad for bait. Our next stop was just over the channel to the south pier, where the fish had been coming out for the past few days.

As we arrived I rigged up 4 shad, 3 on surface and 1 deeper with a running sinker. We then slowly trolled along to the end of the pier. Nico had never fished for Garrick before, so I rigged 2 baits on spinning rods and 2 on conventional reels. The spinning rods are easier to use because you can leave the bail open and when the fish takes the bait, the line automatically freespools. I explained the drill to Nico and then we sat back and waited. At about 8:30am, half an hour after we put the lines in the water, I looked back and noticed the line was running off the one spinning rod. We were in a area where there was a big swell. I thought a swell had popped the trip and we were having a ‘false strike’. I picked up the rod and held the line. I felt the line take tension and then there was the heavy weight of a fish. I continued feeding the line and after a count of about 20, I tightened up and set the hook. When I was sure the fish was on properly, I handed the rod to Nico. The fish did not take any line and came to the boat very easily where I put the gaff into it. Great, our first garrick for the season, and Nico’s first.

The lines went out again and 20minutes later, the deep bait revved and the reel ran. I fed the fish but after a few seconds, the bait was dropped. I changed the terminal config to allow the sinker to run more freely and rigged the bait for another go. Things were very quiet and so we tried on the outside of the pier along the colour line that formed during the outgoing tide. As we crossed into the clean water, one of the surface baits was taken. I fed the fish for a while, then set the hook. The fish started taking line and as I passed the rod to Nico, the hook came out. Bad luck.

I rerigged and made another turn. This time, the deep bait went. I fed the fish and then set the hook. This time I made sure I gave it enough time to eat, resulting in a solid hookup. Nico took the rod and had a good tussle with a Garrick. After a few short runs, I gaffed the fish. Nice. I made a few more turns over the colour line and about half an hour later, the deep bait was taken. I fed the fish and tightened up. The fish took off and splashed on the surface. It was another Garrick. My Dad took the rod and had a great fight before I gaffed the fish.

Things went quiet from then on and after an hour of nothing, we upped lines and went home. The fish all weighed between 8 and 9kg.

Madeira

On the 14^th July 2011, Riaan Pretorius and I left Durban Airport for a 10 day trip to Madeira, Portugal. Good friends Mike Warren and Allan Myburg invited us to spend a few days there to see if we could get a nice Blue Marlin... even though the season had been shocking so far.

Our flights took us from Durban to Joburg to Frankfurt to Porto and finally to Funchal... 25 hours later! Allan was there to meet us and after a 30 minute drive, we arrived in Calheta, our base for the next few days. Omega 1, a 48ft Buddy Davis is moored in Calheta Marina which is only 10 minutes from the house where we were staying. After settling, we went down to the mooring to meet up with the locals and hear what had been happening the past few days. The news was not good. There had been nothing in the past few days and there was a sombre mood amongst the crews based there for the season.

Being middle of summer, the weather was beautiful! 26 degrees, sunny skies and flat seas ... every day. The sun only set at 21:45pm with boats launching at 19:45 for an hour or so marlin fishing! This was difficult to get used to. Our daily movements were very laid back. Up at 6:30, a light breakfast, leave for the marina at 8:00, stopping at the bakery for freshly baked buns, a cup of coffee at the marina cafe and then onto the boat, leaving the harbour at around 9am each morning. The run to the fishing grounds was about one minute ... not even 500m! The water is purple in the marina and the deep water (over 100m) starts immediately. Our average day would end around 5pm. After returning to the marina, the boat was washed and prepared for the next day. At about 6pm all the crews met at the marina cafe for a few beers and some snacks before heading home. Riaan and I had our daily sundowners at 21:45 (after dinner!) before retiring for the night... what a life!

This is a big Blue marlin fishery with little or no bycatch so there is no place for light tackle. Each day we would set the lines with 5 BIG lures on HEAVY tackle. All the boats in the area are running similar patterns, waiting for that one big fish to show up. The average size of the fish in Madeira are 600-700Lbs with 900Lbs and bigger making the occasional appearance.

After 3 days of trolling in perfect conditions without a strike, we decided to try some other types of fishing. I had taken the daytime swordfish gear with me and Allan was very keen to give it a go to see if this could be an option for when the fishing was slow. It would also be the first time deep dropping was done in Madeira. In total, we deep dropped for 4 days. On day 1 we never had a bite after 3 drops. On day 2 we tried another area and on the first drop, we had a bite. The rod bumped and the reel took off. Riaan took the strike and tried to gain line on the fish. It took about 20 minutes to get the 500m mark back on the reel and a further hour to get the fish to the surface where it turned out to be a bigeye thresher shark of about 100kg. This was the first Thresher shark caught by a sports fishing boat in Madeira. Not too bad. The rest of the day was dead. On Day 3, we had another bite from what I am positive was a broadbill. The weight tripped and the rod slowly pulled down. The fish let go then ate again after teasing it a bit. I took the strike and about half way up, the hook came out. The bait had a slash mark on it but other than that, it looked perfect... just bad luck I guess.

The next few days were the same, without a strike so we took a day off to see the island. It is beautiful! Some of the places are out of a dream. Absolute paradise.
Our trip came to an end very quickly, and even though we did not catch a big Madeira blue, it was still amazing. Riaan and I agree that we would go back any time again. If you get the chance to go, grab it with 2 hands. Both Riaan and I are very grateful to Mike and Allan for hosting us for the few days and showing us what the island has to offer.

Junior Nationals 2011 Richards Bay

On Sunday 10^th July 2011, I launched “Lihann” in the 2011 Junior Nationals off Richards Bay. I had the Natal U/19 team on board as well as a selector, Phillip Marx.

We headed to the pipeline to look for livebait. We managed to get about 15 shad and a few pinkies before heading to Mapelane lighthouse. I had heard that there were a few nice fish caught there the previous day so I was pretty confident that something would happen. Just short of lighthouse bay, the team put out a few small lures for snoek and I trolled around hoping to find them. After about an hour, there was still nothing. By 10am, other boats were also struggling on the pinnacle so I suggested that we run further north to the ledge and focus on cuda.

The team rigged up 2 wala-wala, a live shad, a bonito and a mackerel. The third line was still being put out when the first bait (a wala) was taken and the fish smoked off. It was on Chris’ rod and he fought what seemed to be a nice fish. After about 15 minutes, the hooks suddenly pulled! The 7/0 single had opened! Bad Luck. The lines went out and I zig-zagged the ledge moving slowly south. At about 11am, the 2 deep baits went away on a double strike. One pulled hook but the other one found its way into the hatch ... a cuda of about 10kg. The spot was marked and I made a turn while the lined were set. As I passed over the mark, another deep bait was eaten. Chris managed to get a nice cuda after a good fight. By now there was a frenzy of bait rigging and setting of lines! I made a wide turn to give the team time to regroup. Finally we got a good spread out and I made another approach. Again, the deep bait went away, but the hooks missed. Our conversion stats were not too good! Almost every turn resulted in a strike so I suggested a few adjustments, the baits went down again. The next pass resulted in a solid hookset and another shoal cuda went into the hatch.

There other boats had seen very little action and moved off to other spots for the last hour of the competition. The fish seemed to go quiet after that, apart from a big shark that ate a bonito. I trolled a bit further south on the ledge and had a strange pull on the deep bait. It turned out to be a small cuda that never knew it was hooked and woke up next to the boat when I put the gaff into it.

We ended up with 4 cuda from about 10 strikes. Our biggest fish for the day was 18,8kg which helped the team into first place on the first day. Unfortunately, I could not participate in rest of the tournament due to work commitments but it was great to be part of it.

Pics from the past

2011 Mapelane Junior Interclub

On Saturday 25^th June 2011 at 7:30am, we launched “Worth While” off Mapelane. We were fishing in the annual Mapelane Junior interclub, representing the Richards Bay U/16 team. The skipper was Stuart Worthington and I was the manager. The team members were Sean and Dale Leenstra and Kelvin van Rooyen.

After an uneventful launch, we looked for some livies on the backline. There was nothing at all so we headed for Mapelane Lighthouse. About a kilometre from the spot, the water went brown and we abandoned the idea, changing our heading to the 50m ledge. The water was still an off green and not too promising. We rigged a few wala-wala, bonito and mackerel and put them out. Stuart slow trolled along the ledge working north hoping to find a cuda. After an hour and a half without a strike, we upped lines and headed for “Chisa”, a section of the 50m ledge straight off the launch.

There were already several boats there but nothing was happening. We set our lines and joined the fleet hoping for a fish. By noon, there was still not a single fish caught by the competition boats. We upped lines and moved to Dingo’s ... another spot on the 50m ledge. The water looked much better so we put out a few baits there. A few boats followed us and slow trolled around us. At about 12:30, the wind changed to a SW of about 5 knots. Within minutes of this change, two boats near us hooked fish. We had to get a fish here. Not long after, the deep wala-wala rod bent and the reel ran. Dale took the rod and we cleared the other lines. This fish was precious and we knew we could not make any mistakes. Dale brought the fish closer and I waited with the gaff. The cuda circled under the boat and when it came out, I stuck it with the gaff and brought it aboard. Finally ... some points on the board. Lines went back in and 20 minutes later, the deep bonito was eaten. Sean took the rod and this time the fish fought deep and never gave an inch. After going up on the drag, a few times, we were at stale mate. The fish headed out to sea and all we could do was follow. After an hour, we all agreed that it was a shark and pushed the drag to full. Another 10 minutes passed before the line parted. By then it was lines up and we headed for the beach. There were only 3 fish weighed. Ours happened to be the biggest at 14,6kg.

The next morning we launched at 7:30am again, this time on Herman Olivier’s “Mitsufishi”. We looked for livies and managed to get a single live shad. We headed to Dingo’s and put out similar baits as the previous day. Herman trolled over the ledge for a while without any luck. The current had pushed us back so we upped lines and went back to the start of the ledge and reset lines. There were a lot of birds following us and eating our surface baits. Unfortunately several were hooked and we brought them to the boat where they were unhooked and released. About halfway down the ledge, the rod with the surface bait bent and the reel ran slowly. We all assumed we had another bird. Next thin the reel dropped a gear and really took off ... it was a fish! Sean took the rod and we cleared the others. The fish fought deep and it finally came to the boat. It was a yellowfin tuna. As I tried to gaff the fish, it took off on another run. Sean brought it back in range and I gaffed it. It looked like a border line case as the minimum weight for tuna was 5kg. This was our last strike for the day and at 12 o clock it was lines up. We headed to the beach and weighed the fish. It was 5,4kg ... sjoe! Just made it.

The 2 fish we weighed in the competition helped us into 1^st place and Dale took top individual. This is a great competition and would recommend all juniors who like deep sea fishing to participate next year.

Saltwater Crocodiles

On 16^th June 2011, Hannes Duvenage and I took Mark Beyl and 2 of his friends cuda fishing off Richards Bay. We launched “Lihann” at 7:30 and headed for the live bait reef. After catching a few maasbankers, we headed for small highpoint to look for some bonito. We trolled a few small lures around the pinnacle without any success so we changed course for Petingo Wreck, still trolling the lures. About half way to the wreck, we caught a single small bonito and put it into the luna tube. We then upped lines and raced to Petingo.

The water was a good cuda colour and there was little current. I rigged up the live bonnie, a dead one, a live maasbanker and 2 wala-wala. Hannes trolled around the wreck looking for that elusive ‘crocodile’. After a few hours of trolling without a pull, I checked the baits. The bonnie was not looking great so I converted it to a dead bait and put it out and went to the controls. I had just passed over the end of the wreck when I saw the rod with the newly rigged bonnie bump and then keel over. The reel smoked off and Hannes picked it up while the other guys pulled in the remaining lines. Hannes handed the rod over to Mark and I turned to chase it. We gained most of the line and had the fish 5 m from the boat. It was a good cuda, well over 20kg. The fish made a short run and shook its head violently. All of a sudden, the leading wire broke and the fish was gone! I could not believe it ... you could have knocked me over with a feather. How in the Hell could that happen? On closer inspection, we saw that the wire loop through the eye of the leading hook had broken! I have never seen that before ... not on #8 wire! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

The lines went back in and we trolled some more. About half an hour later, the deep bait with a wala smoked off. I took the rod out the holder and gave it to Wayne. We cleared the other lines and chased the fish. After 15mins, we had the fish 3m from the boat with the leader on the rod. I could just not reach it with the gaff. Suddenly the fish spooked and pulled off a few meters of line. As we looked at the fish, we saw 2 blackfin sharks rip into it, tearing it to pieces. One picked up the wire and bit it off. The sharks thrashed on the surface as they devoured the trophy cuda! Unbelievable. I conservatively estimated the fish at 25kg ... and we got a good look at it at the boat!

Back to trolling. I had just re rigged the baits when the same rod took off! This time the hooks pulled after a few seconds. That happens ... I suppose! By now we were a bit irritated and needed some good fortune. With 3 bad luck fish behind us, we looked forward to another shot. At 4:45, the surface bonnie was eaten and the reel smoked off. I took the rod and made sure the fish was under control before handing the rod to Paul. We chased the fish while the other lines were cleared. The fish made a few strong fast runs indicating it was a good fish. The fish settled under the boat with a good bend in the rod. Suddenly the tip shot up indicating something had gone wrong. I took the rod and looked at the reel. Paul had knocked the reel into freespool and there was an over wind!!! I quickly undid the mess and wound up the slack. Amazingly the fish was still there! Paul was finishe and said he could not handle the fight any more so we gave the rod to Mark. About 10 minutes later, the fish was within gaff range. I stuck the fish and lifted it over the gunwale. I was expecting a 20kg cuda, but when I lifted the fish over the side, I saw a head that looked like a dogtooth tuna! It was a proper Petingo ‘dile! I called it 30kg before it was on the deck ... the eternal optimist! We were over the moon and finally we had shrugged off the bad luck. We trolled until dark without another rev.

Back at the club, the fish pulled the scale to 32,0kg!!! A fish of a lifetime.

Not bad for a Sunday afternoon

On Sunday 12^th June at 11:30am, Sakkie and Ettienne de Villiers and I launched “Deep Burn”, a 21ft Yeld off Richards Bay. There was a 15knot SW blowing for most of the morning and the sea was quite choppy. We headed for Petingo straight into the wind, resulting in a bumpy and wet ride. After an hour, we arrived at petingo. As expected, we were the only boat there.

The water was 19,8 degrees with a reverse current but clean water. Etts and I rigged 4 baits, 2 bonnies and 2 wala-wala, while Sakkie slowly headed for the wreck. As we neared the buoy, I picked up the spinning rod and cast a spoon at it. In the fourth turn, I went on with a small torpedo scad which was quickly released. On the next pass, I put the spoon right next to the buoy and before I could start retrieving it, I went on with a stronger fish which gave me a good tussle before I released a bigeye kingfish. It was a bit quite with the cuda, so I gave the spinning rod to Sakkie and took over as skipper to hopefully find a lost cuda. Sakkie changed the spoon for a popper and went straight on with a torpedo scad. I made a turn and lined up the marks. As we reached the end of the wreck, the bonito on surface was eaten and the reel screamed off. Etts took the rod while Sakkie and I cleared the other lines. The fish fought deep and made big circles under the boat. After 20 minutes, we saw the fish for the first time. It was a nice cude but it was foul hooked in the flank. For the next 10 minutes, we had it within 5m but could not get a gaff into it. In this time, the heavens opened and rain poured down on Sakkie and Etts. Finally the fish came within range and Sakkie lifted it into the boat. We all estimated it at 18kg ... not bad.

The lines went back in and I trolled back up the wreck. As we neared the buoy, Etts put the popper in and was rewarded with an awesome surface chase and solid take. He brought in another bigeye which he released. As the baits passed the buoy, the wala-wala was eaten and the reel smoked off. I picked up the rod to pass it to Etts or Sakkie, but they said I should take it. Oh alright! The fish made a few runs and within 10 minutes came to the boat where Etts gaffed it. We guessed it at 22kg or so. Again the lines went out and we trolled past the buoy. Every cast with the popper resulted in a chase/strike. It was awesome fun. The sea picked up a bit and we got a good wave over the nose, drenching us all. With the wind blowing on out wet clothes, we decided to call it a day and upped lines. We happened to be next to the buoy so I put in a cast and has about 10 kingies chase the popper to the boat before one took it. Magic! We caught a few more kings before heading home. We were back in the harbour at 4:30pm.

When we off loaded the fish, we noticed that the fish were exceptionally fat. Etts took out the hand scale and weighed the smaller fish. It was 22kg! We then weighed the bigger one which bottomed out the 25kg scale ... we were intrigued and wanted an accurate weight. After weighing them on the club scale, they were 22,1kg and 26,5kg!!! Two really good fish.

A day to remember

On Saturday 4^th June 2011, Mike and Dale Leenstra and I launched Mike’s boat “Beluga” off Richards Bay. We were looking for the junior SA Record cuda on 8kg line, a 24kg fish. Richards Bay is blessed with large cuda and probably the best place to target a really big fish.

The SW was blowing at about 15knots when we left the harbour. We stopped off at the pipeline to look for bait but never found one livie. After trying a few other spots with the same result, we headed for Petingo. When we arrived, there were 2 other boats on the wreck. They had not had a pull since early that morning so we were not too confident in our chances. We rigged four 8kg rods, 2 with wala-wala and 2 with small bonnies. On our first approach to the wreck, while Dale and Mike putting out the third line, the first rod bent and the reel took off! Dale grabbed the rod while Mike retrieved the other line. Once the fish settled, I followed it with the boat to gain line. After about 20 minutes, Mike gaffed a nice cuda of around 20kg ... what a start!!!

The current had pushed us off the wreck so while I trolled back, Mike and Dale reset the lines. They were busy with the last line when the deep bait was eaten and the reel took off! Mike started clearing the other lines when the bait he was retrieving was eaten and the fish took off! A double ... Nice! I left the controls and cleared the last line while Mike and Dale fought their fish. Unfortunately Mike’s fish pulled hooks after a short run but Dale’s fish stayed on. We fought the fish for about 15 minutes before Mike gaffed another slightly smaller cuda. Again the lines wet out. And I continued working the wreck. About an hour later, the deep bait was eaten. Dale took the rod while Mike and I brought in the other lines. Again Mike’s rod took off in his hands and we were onto a double! I followed Dales fish while Mike kept his at a safe distance. After 20 minutes, Dale’s fish was acting differently and fighting deep and slow. Not like a cuda. I backed off the speed and let his fish take some line. Mike then managed to bring his fish closer where I gaffed it, another nice cuda. Dale in the meanwhile was constantly loosing line but the fish was now right on the surface. I road towards the fish to get an id. About 20m from the fish, a sharp white fin broke the surface. On closer inspection, we saw that it was a big manta ray. It must have swam into the line and hooked itself. Oh well, at least we got Mike’s fish!

I took us back to the wreck and the lines were reset. I worked the area for about an hour before we had another smoking reel. We cleared lines while Dale fought the fish. Unfortunately, as the lines were cleared, the hooks pulled. We also notices that one of the other baits had been chopped by a cuda ... unlucky. Because there were so many fish around, we decided to put in the 3kg line. It was in the water for about 20 minutes when it was eaten. The fish screamed off and as it settled, a garfish came up and bit the line where it enters the water resulting in a broken line!

It was now about 12:00 and the other boats were losing heart. Between them, they had caught 1 fish. We were just lucky and had the right bait in the right place ... with the wrong tackle! If we were using heavier line and more hooks, the score would have been different ... but that’s record hunting for you. I handed the controls over to Mike and took a breather. Mike made a few turns and was rewarded with a screaming reel. I cleared the lines and Mike chased after the fish. After about 25mins, it was near the boat. I gave Mike the gaff and went to the controls. Dale brought a really nice fish in and when the leader was on the rod, Mike went in for a gaff shot as fish spooked and took off. The one hook got caught up in the gaff and resulted in a lost fish. That happens I guess!

At about 2pm, we were getting ready to pack up when the deep line was taken. The fish headed straight for the buoy but luckily for us, it veered off to the side and didn’t cut us off. The fish did big circles under the boat until it came into gaff range and Mike redeemed himself by lifting a nice fish into the boat.

After that, our bait had run out and we headed back to the club. The fish weighed 16-22kg and were just short of the record. Oh well, next time ... I promiseJ

TataMaChance

On Saturday 28^th May, Mike and Dale Leenstra and myself launched Mike’s 21ft Yeldcat “Beluga” at Cape Vidal. We were there for the weekend and wanted to look for daytime broadbill. Unfortunately the 40 knot SW wind which had been blowing for 2 days prior had picked up the sea and the surf/swell was BIG! We decided to give it a go regardless, but we would not focus on broadbill until the sea had settled. After negotiating a hairy surf, we stopped at the point and looked for livebait. We found a few very small maasbankers but discarded the 5cm minnows and put out a few small feathers and rapalas to look for bonnies. We had not gone 100m and we were on with the first jube-jube. This was followed at regular intervals by a few more of the perfect bait size bonnies.

We changed tactics at about 8:30 and rigged a few strip baits and trolled north to Oscar, hoping for a sailfish. It was very quiet on the pinnacle and at about 10:30 I suggested we go and look at what the 500m line looked like. In 250m, we had a triple strike on skipjacks and rigged 2 on the big rods. We continued deeper looking for clean water. At the 500m mark, the swell was big but very fishable. I suggested we release the livies and make a drop - TataMaChance. After rigging a squid and setting up the tackle, we dropped a bait into 500m and drifted slowly south. After an hour, the rod bumped and the reel ran a bit. I took the chair and brought in a large wreckfish of around 30kg.

It was getting late and if we did not beach at the right time, we were going to battle with the tide. We packed up and headed home.

On Sunday the 29^th May, we launched at 6:30am and headed for Leven Point canyon. We made a drop at just after 8am in 550m and after an hour and a half drift, we lifted the bait to start another drift. When the bait came out the water, we saw that it had been eaten by some or other small bottomfish and only a few tatters were left on the hooks.

The next drop was in about 500m and as we were drifting into the canyon, the rod bumped and the reel took off! This was no bottomfish. Mike told me to get into the chair. I obliged even though I was pretty sure I knew what fish it was. After about 45 minutes, the leader came up. Dale unclipped the lights and I pulled the fish closer. When the swivel came out the water, a long snake like tail broke the surface behind the boat. It was a thresher shark of about 70-80kg. A real pest when it comes to deep dropping! After Mike and Dale had a good look at the fish, we cut the trace and it swam away.

It was now about 11:00 so we opted to pull strips back home along the ledge. As we neared vegetation, we started getting a few bonnies. We then found a lost Dorado of about 5kg that ate a stripbait. After trolling over Oscar and getting more bonnies, we upped lines and beached.

Thanks to Mike and his family for a great weekend.

Umhlanga Prestige Interclub

At 6am On Saturday the 21^st May, Michael Duvenage, my Dad, Shane Denis and I launched Shane’s friend’s boat “Mocha” out of Grannies pool at Umhlanga. We were fishing in the Umhlanga Prestige Interclub, representing Richard Bay.

We were the second boat to launch out of 22 and once on backline, we waited for the other boats to make their way through the surf. In this time we rigged up bait rods to catch live bait. By 7:30am all the boats were behind backline and we all set off for the wreck to catch bait.

On arriving at the wreck, we dropped strings of sabiki rigs down to the bottom into thick showings of bait. They were immediately eaten by hungry shad, mackerel, maasbanker, razor bellies and pinkies. There was an unbelievable amount of bait and at one stage we were pulling up full strings of shad and mackerel. It was a live bait angler’s paradise! It took a whole 15 minutes to fill the bait tank and then we headed north to Umdloti.

Michael and I rigged 5 rods with livebait traces and started setting the lines. With 3 surface lines out, we rigged two baits to send deep, one maasbanker and one shad. Mike let his bait out a bit when he said something ate his bait. While he was feeding the fish, I put the shad in the water. Almost immediately, Shame and I saw a dark shape come into view and chase the shad. As the shad came to the surface to escape, the “shape” grew a bill and sail and grabbed the shad about 2 meters from the boat! I fed the fish and watched it fade away with the shad in its mouth. Michael and I both gave the fish line before Shane opened up the one motor. We both tightened up at the same time and line ran off the reels. We all stood looking back as the lines came to the surface as the sailfish cleared the water shaking its head. As the sail fall back to the water, the shad went flying and my line went slack as the hooks came out. Michael on the other hand was still attached to the fish which took off away from the boat. We cleared the lines and backed up after the fish. Michael retrieved most of the line before the fish went deep. We moved away from the fish and the line came to the surface. I chased after the fish as Michael put line back on the reel in a hurry before the fish sounded again. After sulking in the deep water for a bit, it came to the surface where we caught a glimpse of the fish as it flashed on the surface. The dirt green water made the silver flank look brown and we all for a moment thought it had converted to a shark. Luckily this thought was dispelled as the fish lifted its sail and we saw the electric blue colours. After 15 minutes the fish started tiring and neared the boat. It made several great jumps and then tailwalked towards the boat. It came so close that Shane took cover as the fish barely missed the transom. Michael was quick to take up the slack and managed to get the leader on the rod. I backed up after the fish and a few seconds later it was next to the boat where Shane (who was now out from hiding) grabbed the bill. We took a few photos and then cut the trace before releasing a healthy 25-30kg sailfish. Not bad for the first 5 minutes of the competition!

Unfortunately that was the only action that we had for the rest of the competition other that a small bonito and another one that was eaten by the sharks. We also had a dolphin eat one of our live baits which was very uncommon!