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.

 

 

Deja vu

On Friday 2^nd May at 6am, Andrew Mitchley and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch a few snoek and maybe a cuda if we were in luck. We stopped at the pipeline and quickly caught a few strings of livies before heading north to the snoek grounds. There were a lot of boats there so I decided to hang a bit south of the crowds and try my luck there.

I put out a few fillets and redeyes and trolled in the same depth as the previous day. On my second turn, I saw a lone bird fluttering over one spot. I trolled towards it and saw a few snoek boils. I cast the spoon and went tight on a snoek. I gaffed it myself while Andrew was driving. I had just cleaned the deck when I saw the surface fillet go away. Andrew took the strike and got his first snoek. There were obviously s few fish in the area and after trolling around for a bit longer, we managed 2 more fish on the deep baits.

Things went quiet so I moved over to another bird fluttering in the shallows. Before I got there, a few snoek smashed baitfish on the surface. Andrew cast the spoon and went tight immediately. At the same time one of the baits went away. Unfortunately we lost the fish on bait but Andrew got his. I turned over the spot and went tight on a fillet. After loading the fish, we went away on a redeye bait and caught another fish. By now the other boats had cottoned on to the fact that we were getting fish and within a few minutes, there were 40 boats there. I was not keen on this congestion and moved deeper. We had a good pull on a deep redeye, but after the first run, the hooks came out. By 10am, the action stopped so we upped lines and headed to the kasteel to try for a cuda.

Andrew's 15kg YFT

ABF's haul of snoek and a YFT

We arrived at the ledge and found that the current was ripping again. I ran up a bit further north before setting 2 deep lines and 2 surface lines. I had just set the last line when I noticed the deep rod keel over and the reel absolutely smoked off! I cleared the other deep line while Andrew fought the fish. The first run was quite long but eventually stopped and we could get some line back. After 20 minutes, the sinker came up which I removed. I could see the fish down deep, but it looked quite short. Only then did I see that it was a nice big yellowfin. It circled to the surface where I gaffed it and bled it. It was put on ice before I ran up to north to start another approach. Like deja vu, the lines were just set when the same deep rod smoked off. I cleared the same lines as before while Andrew took the strike. The fish had just settled when the hooks pulled! Unlucky. The trace came back totally mauled. I rerigged but despite trolling over the same area we had no more pulls. The NE wind was picking up, so we headed back home. The yellowfin weighed in at 15kg while all the snoek were on the small side.

 

10 minutes too late, but worth the wait!

On Thursday 1 May at 6am, Tjokkie and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were keen to see if we could get a snoek or two. The weather forecast indicated that there would be a big SW coming through at around 1pm, so we were hoping that the fish would eat just before the turn.

On the way north to the snoek grounds, I noticed a few birds working on the 20m line so I went closer to investigate. As we moved into the area, I saw a snoek jump, followed by another. I slacked off to trolling speed and rigged up 3 redeyes, a fillet and a mackerel with 2 baits deep and 3 on top. I tacked the area and while I was turning, one of the surface redeyes were eaten. Tjoks took the rod while I cleared the deep lines. The fish sounded and then the fight change to a heavy weight that steadily took line. A few minutes later, there were a few big nods before the head of a big bonnie came to the surface. Obviously the sharks were around too. I wanted to check the other baits just to be sure everything was ok. While I was retrieving the far bait, I felt the line go heavy so I tightened up and went on. The fish came in relatively early, but then stopped and gave a few head nods before going on a good run. Unfortunately, as the fish slowed down, the hook pulled. Well at least we were in the right area.

I rerigged the baits and set the lines before working the area. Again, on the turn, the surface redeye went away. Tjoks took the rod and after a good tussle had a nice snoek next to the boat where I gaffed our first snoek of the season. Talk about a relief.

Tjoks with a 7kg snoek

Things went a bit quiet so I made a few shallower turns. On several occasions, I saw a few snoek swimming on the surface but they showed no interest in the spoon or baits. Something had to change. I increased the trolling speed and was rewarded with the surface fillet being eaten. The fish almost immediately tailwrapped and made a commotion on the surface. I pampered the fish closer, not wanting to break the light wire. Eventually I had the fish at the boat where Tjoks gaffed it. I suggested we change the baits to 3 fillets and 2 rapalas and see if the increase in speed would make a difference. We made the switch and worked the area where we had been seeing the fish, but had no pulls. The wind had dropped to nothing and the SW was close.

I turned to head to the harbour when we noticed a few birds dipping deeper out. I made a turn in the area and we were rewarded with a shoal of snoek chasing baitfish. Tjoks cast the spoon into the shoal a few times and a few chases and misses. While this was going on, one of the fillets went away with a snoek. I fought the fish while Tjoks threw spoon. When the fish was at the boat, Tjoks gaffed it.

Trolling on "ABF"

We were now just in gear and moving slowly forward while sorting out the deck and rerigging another bait when I saw the rod with the close fillet keel over and the reel screamed. Tjoks took the rod and had a good fight with what turned out to be our biggest snoek of the day. By now we could see the SW on the horizon so there was no time to waste. The lines went out again as I made another few turns over the same spot. It was no surprize when another rod went away and Tjoks brought in another nice fish.

By now the SW had arrived and despite upping lines and running for port, we were about 10minutes too late and ended up having a wet and bumpy ride back. The smallest snoek was 4,5kg and the biggest 8kg. Not too bad considering it was so early in the season.

Bycatch Cuda.

On Monday the 21^st April, my girlfriend Tammy, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. There had been a few snoek around so we wanted to get Tammy her first one.

We were on the water quite early and ran up to Groenkop. I went about rigging 5 snoek baits, including 3 tiny redeyes and 2 bigger redeyes, and started working the area looking for signs of fish. It was a slow morning and by 8am, we had not had a touch. I decided to troll south to get away from the other boats and was rewarded with a pull on the surface redeye. The fish took a bit of line but when it slowed down, the hook unfortunately pulled. I rerigged and worked the same area. We had another pull on the bigger redeye, but the fish picked up the wire and came off. At lease we were in an area where there were a few fish.

Nice cuda on a snoek bait

At about 10am, we had another pull on the small surface redeye. The fish took about 20 meters then came straight to the boat. I wound like mad and my dad got the boat going too, just to get tight line. When the fish finally turned away from the boat and started taking line, I gave the rod to Tammy and cleared the other lines. Tammy brought the fish to the boat quite easily but then the fight changed totally. The line went straight down followed by a few big head nods. The spool kept slipping and Tammy could not gain an inch. I was convinced that the fish was converted, but we could not be sure. There were a few more head nods and then all hell broke loose! The fish absolutely smoked off along the surface taking lot of line. Thinking the shark was chasing the fish, I leaned over and put the reel into freespool to let it get away from the shark. When the spool slowed down, the reel was engaged and my dad charged after the fish with the boat. The line was cutting through the water at speed but we managed to get most of the line back. We stopped on top of the fish and Tammy managed to lift its head. When the double and leader came out the water, we could finally see the fish. It was a nice size cuda. The fish was tired after the last run so it made the gaff shot easy and I lifted it into the boat. We were all relieved that we got the fish considering the light rig it had eaten. We regrouped and continued trolling but by 11am, we had not had another pull so we returned to port where the cuda weighed 17,6kg.

Double or Nothing.

On Sunday 20^th April, we launched “Seaduction” out of Richards Bay. We were looking for something for the pot so decided to fish for cuda. After filling up on live bait, we headed to the kasteel. There were a lot of bonnies around so we put out a few trolling lures and headed up the ledge. It did not take long to get a rev and soon we had 2 small bonnies on board. A short while later, we had another bonnie. At the northern tip of the ledge, I rigged 4 livies and proceeded to slow troll into the strong current. We were going backwards at 4km per hour and all I could do was to try and cross over the marks as we were swept south. We went over several good showings but could not get a pull. Probably an hour later, I checked the baits, but they were all swimming fine. Something had to happen… it was just a question of time. We were almost on the last southern mark when the deep bait went away. It only took about 15m of line, so we thought it was a very small fish. I left the other lines in the water while Andre fought the fish. While this was going on, there was a bit of a commotion on the surface just behind the boat. I saw a yellowfin chasing a baitfish around but it could not catch it. Only then did I notice what looked like a green cuda duster in the next to the baitfish! I grabbed the short surface rod and retrieved the slack line. This restricted the movements of the maasbanker and allowed the tuna to get hold of it. There was a big splash and the line took tension. I freespooled for a moment before tightening up… vas! The yellowfin took off on its first run so I passed the rod to James. Meanwhile, Andre had his fish next to the boat where Dewald gaffed a 12,4kg cuda…  bigger than I expected. James was having a hard time with his tuna which had now sounded and was making big circles down deep. About 20 minutes of back break, the fish was at the boat where I gaffed it. After bleeding it, it pulled weighed in at 16kg. Its strange that you can troll the whole day without a pull, but when you get one, it’s a double.

We fished till 2pm without any more action so returned to port happy with the 2 fish in the hatch.