So near yet so far

On Wednesday 17^th September, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. I had reports of a lot of Garrick coming out so I was keen to try for the 1kg line world record again. The night before I had put on some new line and set the drags. This is quite a delicate procedure as you can imagine…

 

We launched at 6am and headed to the pipe. We battled to find shad but there were massive shoals of mackerel, maasbanker and redeyes. After scrounging around, we happened upon a small reef that had the right showing on it. I went down with the jigs and brought up a full string of shad… Perfect! There were already a few boats around the pier so we opted to head to the backline to be on our own. I rigged up 2 livies on the ultra-light line and we trolled around the rips. It did not take long to get a pull and after feeding it a bit, I engaged the reel. The line started taking tension but before the reel started turning over, the line parted… What the hell! I put it down to the fish swimming into the line of something like that. I had a spare rig ready to go so I in no time, I had 2 baits out again. About 15 minutes later, we had a pull. I fed some line then tightened up. This time the line held and the fish headed into the backline. Luckily the surf was very small so my Dad could keep the boat close. After 10 minutes or so, we had the fish close to the boat and we could get a look at it. It was a shoal size Garrick. My Dad said it looked big enough, but I was not convinced. We decided to fight the fish as if it were the right size … just in case. It swam north towards the pier staying in the surf. All we could do is follow it until it decided to come out. We were on the fish for half an hour when it made a move out of the surf and into deeper water. It sulked around the boat for a while before heading south to where we had hooked it. As it went through the rip, it surfaced near the boat but I could just not get the leader in hand. It had now spooked and ducked back into the breakers. This made our lives hell as every wave pulled 10m or so of line off the reel. At one stage we were in 1.5m of water surrounded by foam and swirling sandy water. The fish was buggered and was being rolled around in the shore dump! By some miracle the line held and the rip pushed the fish back out to deeper water. An hour and 20 minutes after hooking the fish, I had the leader on the rod. I wrapped it about 4 times and pulled it to the surface where my Dad gaffed an exhausted fish. I quickly weighed it on a hand scale but it did not look big enough. Back to the drawing board.

I rigged up another two rods and trolled livies in the same area that we had the previous pulls. It was only 10minutes before we had a pull and again, as I tightened up, the line parted under almost zero pressure! I was livid! 1kg line is so difficult to get hold of in South Africa and the line that you do get is of a shit quality. If anyone knows of a place that can get 1kg IGFA rated line (that does not over test or under test by a mile!) please let me know.

8.0 kg and 7.8kg Garrick on 1kg line

So not I had lost all faith in the Ande and Platypus line that had let me down. Fladen was obviously the best line so I had no option but to only fish with 1 rod. Trolling this 1 bait around, I had 2 pulls, both from small sharks which just bit the bait in half. By now the tide was changing and the surf was picking up. We ran to the point of the pier and drifted the bait as we moved towards the backline. The rod tip bumped as the shad revved and then the reel ran. I fed the fish and tightened up. Everything held and the line angled towards the pier where there were about 30 rock and surf anglers with their lines out. My fish swam around one of them and then headed away from the pier. I told my dad that it was going to cut me off, but we could try follow the fish and lift the line over the boat. We did this and it worked! We were in the clear. After 20 minutes, the fish surfaced near the boat. Again, it looked a bit small. I increased the drag a bit and put as much pressure on it as possible. To my surprise, the leader came out the water and onto the rod. I wrapped it a few times and pulled the fish up. It popped up on the top where my Dad put a gaff into it and lifted it into the boat! Nicely done! Unfortunately it also looked a bit small.

The sea was getting big with the strengthening wind so we headed back to the club. The fish were 7,8kg and 8,0kg, just 1kg short of being a record. I have now caught 6 garrick on 1kg line and all were between 7kg and 8kg. Im just hoping the next one is big enough for the record!

Record breaker!

On Sunday 14^th September, Tammy and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. We were looking to break the ladies 3kg line class SA record of 9,2kg (currently held by my sister). We headed out to the pipeline to catch bait but after an hour, we had not caught a single shad. There were plenty mackerel, maasbanker and pinkys but not what we wanted. By 7:30 we decided to go and pull for Garrick with the bait that we had so we headed off to the pier and started trolling.

We were fishing two 3kg spinning outfits that had produced a fish the previous day. After an hour, apart from one Garrick chase next to the boat, it was quiet. The conditions were perfect though so we persevered. I received a call from friends that found a big shoal of shad close to where we were so we immediately upped lines and ran to them. On the first down with the jigs, I brought up 5 nice shad. In 3 downs, there was enough bait in the hatch to last the entire day… Just shows you how important it is to have good friends on the sea!

By not, there were 6 boats around the pier so I moved away from the area. After a few hours without a pull, I heard a report that there were two Garrick caught off the pier. We upped lines and headed back to the area but did not want to contend with all the boats. I noticed that the water in the backline was beautiful with nice rips and colour lines so I ran a bit south to work them. The second line was just out when we had a pull. Tammy fed the fish but when she tightened up, she got the head back. It was a shark. Two fresh baits went out and I trolled on the edge of the rip, just in the clean water. I had just trolled through good looking water when I saw 2 garrick chasing razorbellies on the surface. I made a sharp turn and moved through the area where they had been. Nothing happened… I made another pass but still nothing.

Beautiful Garrick on 3kg line

I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong as I knew the fish were there but we were not getting the pull. I was about to move on when something told me to make another turn. The lines had just straightened out when the close bait started revving. Tammy picked up the rod as the bait was eaten and started feeding it. I cleared the other bait by speed, making sure nothing was going to eat it on the way in. I put both motors in gear and Tam started winding. It was a textbook hookup with the tackle loading up and the line racing into the backline. I headed out to sea to get out the surf zone while the Garrick tore up the surface between the sets of foamies.

Possible World Record Garrick

 After 10 minutes, it moved out the backline and I could get close to it. The leader came onto the rod and just when I thought I would get a quick gaff shot, it took off on a strong run. This happened about 5 times and only then did we see why the fish was acting so strangely… There was a second Garrick with it. Every time they would get close to the boat, the freeswimming fish would get a fright and take off. The hooked fish would see the freeswimmer spook and would do the same (adding to the stress levels)! This caused some tension between skipper and angler. Considering the trying conditions, Tammy did an excellent job on the rod and after an hour, the fish finally surfaced near the boat. Tammy presented it well and I managed to get a gaff into it. We were ecstatic! The fish was the biggest one we had caught for the season!

We headed back to the club to get the official weight. It came in at 13,6kg!!! If everything is approved, this fish will beat the existing Woman’s SA, All African and World Record! Well done Tammy! 

Joint effort

On Saturday 13^th September, Tammy, Tjokkie  and I launched “ABF” off Richards Bay. There was a small weather window in the morning before the NE was supposed to pick up so we were keen to try for Tammy’s first garrick… and we were using 3kg line to do it.

At 6am we left the harbour and stopped at the pipe. Tammy and Tjokkie went down with jigs and a small bottom rig hoping for some shad. The first few downs produced a mix of pinkys, maasbanker and mackerel. Finally we managed 2 shad on one string but as they came to the surface, the rest of the shoal followed them up. Tjokkie went down and got a full string. This went on for 2 drifts before we had more than enough bait for the day.

We headed for the south pier, but the water was brown so I ran further south into the backline where the water was a bit cleaner. We rigged up 2 shad on light 3kg spinning rigs and trolled north into the wind. After an hour, the water at the point of the pier started to improve with the outgoing tide so we opted to troll through the dirty water to get there. I happened to be looking back at the lines when there was a big boil as a Garrick chased one of the baits, in the brown water. Tammy fed the fish for a while but when we tightened up, it spat the bait. Talk about unlucky. I made a turn in the same area but had no pulls so continued to the point.

Tammy and I both fighting the same Garrick on 3kg line

The water was much better, but by 10am, we had still had no more action. Plan B was not working, so plan C came into play and we ran north, into the wind, to 5 mile. The water there was like mud and so plan D took action. We entered the bay and slow trolled along the channel dropoff working into the harbour. The wind was not pumping and we had little time left. I turned around and trolled into the wind and white horses not expecting anything to happen.

Tammy releasing a 10,5kg garrick

As we trolled over a nice bait showing, the deep rod went away. Tammy fed the fish while I cleared the far surface line. As my shad neared the boat, a Garrick came flying in from behind and chased the bait. I tried to keep it away from it, but my fisherman instinct kicked in and I opened the bail of the reel to let the Garrick eat… I mean, how bad could a double hookup really be? Both Tammy and I tightened up and went on. There was a big commotion as the Garrick shook its head on the surface. The 2 lines crossed over and we tried to untangle them before burning off, but no matter what we tied they stayed twisted. Only then did it dawn on me what was happening... we were hooked up to the same fish! From then on we had to work together to pull the fish. After 20 minutes, Tjokkie took both leaders, grabbed the fish by the tail and lifted it into the boat. The hooks were removed and a tag was inserted. I took a quick weight on a hand scale before releasing a healthy 10,5kg fish.

The wind was blowing 25 knots by then, so we headed back to the club. It took a long time and perseverance to get that fish, but it was worth it. 

Upcountry Success

On Saturday 6^th September at 7am, At, Danie, Les and I launched “Avanti” out of Richards Bay. Danie and Les were visiting from upcountry for the day and they were keen to fish a bit. The wind was a good 15 knot Northerly and the sea already had a few white horses. There had been a few Garrick in the area, so we decided try and tick this species off Danie and Les’ list.

Les' first garrick

After a bumpy ride to the pipeline, three of us went about looking to catch livebait while At held us on the spot. There were massive showings almost to the surface and it was no surprise when all three of us went on before hitting the bottom. Danie had a few maasbanker, which we released, while Les and I had full strings of mackerel. This seemed like a great time to stock up on bait for the coming summer months. Over the next hour or so, it was operation mackerel and the cool box quickly filled up. These prime baits would later be vacuum packed and stored for when the gamefish showed up. 

By 9:30, the mackerel had dispersed and we headed to the pier to look for a Garrick. The water was quite dirty so we slowly trolled south along the backline towards the New Mouth area. There was a nice colourline that had formed and At slowly worked alone it. On the first pass, we never had a pull so At turned into the wind and headed north, back up the line. This slower speed seemed to do the trick as the far surface bait went away. I fed the fish before tightening up and going on. The line angled into the backline, a tell tail sign of a Garrick. I passed the rod to Les and he fought his first Garrick to the boat. It did not put up much of a fight and only when it was in the boat did we see that it was hooked in the gills.

Danies first garrick

While the lines were in, At ran back to where we had turned. I quickly put out the 3 lines and just as I set the last line, the far surface bait was eaten. Again I fed the fish and tightened up on another Garrick that also headed straight for the surf. This time Danie took the rod and had a good tussle around the boat. After about 10mins, I managed to get a gaff into Danies first Garrick.

 

Upcountry boys with garrick

The wind was slowly picking up and the backline started building. At suggested we make one more pass before heading back. After setting the 3 lines, we sat back and had a bit of boat pack. I was looking back when I noticed a swirl a short distance behind the boat. When I shouted, everyone turned to look as the Garrick surfaced and chased the close surface mackerel. Despite the mackerel’s best escape attempts, the Garrick got hold of it and before the reel ran, I was ready to freespool. The line picked up and ran off the reel at a good speed. I tightened up and went on to a really solid fish. It went on a good strong run and I passed the rod to Les. The fish gave him a strong fight for nearly 20 minutes before I got the gaff in. It was the biggest fish of the day by far. With the lines already up, we decided to call it a day and headed back to harbour to watch the rugby.

Back at the club, the fish weighed in at 7kg, 8,2kg and 12,2kg respectively.

Cotton Brigade

Dirty water along the pier

On Saturday 23^rd August, my Dad and I launched “ABF” out of Richards Bay. The mission for the day was to try and get a world Record Garrick on 1kg line. The conditions were not great as there had been a strong SW wind the previous day which had built the swell to over 2.5m. The brown water had pushed in along the backline and piers from the resultant reverse current. Things were not looking good.



We stopped at the pipe and took some time to get good live bait before heading off to the pier. There was a good colourline forming from the outgoing tide and one boat had just boated a 9kg Garrick. There was hope. I rigged up 2 live baits and we trolled the area looking for a fish. An hour, we had not had a touch so we moved south towards the backline, working along the colourline. I had checked the close bait and was busy letting it out when there was a strong pull on the line. I fed some line out but nothing happened. I decided to check the bait again and while retrieving, the line came tight and the reel started running… I was on! The other line was cleared before chasing after the fish, which had ran into the dirty water. After 10 minutes, the fish surfaced near the boat and I could get the leader onto the rod. I grabbed the 50Lbs line and tried to pull the fish into gaffing range, but it was way too green and took off running. We did however get a good look at it and estimated it at around 9-10kg… the fish we were looking for! The cat and mouse game went on for about half an hour before we had the double on the rod again. Due to the big swell, it was difficult to keep the fish close and whenever the leader came up, the swell would take it 2m further away without the fish making any movement. 

A big swell making things difficult

It also seemed like the fish would stay further away from the boat in the clean water but when we went into the dirty water, it would come within 3m of the boat… just out of range. Almost an hour later, in the dirty water, the leader came up infront of the boat. My Dad kicked the boat forward, then neutral and I got the leader on the reel where I wrapped it and tried to lift the fish into range. Just as the gaff was going to go in, I felt the fish pulling away from my and the leader started cutting into my hands. As I let go, the double line ran through my hand. Almost immediately, the doubled 1kg line parted and it was game over. We tried to figure out what happened and came up with two issues. Firstly, I let go of the leader too late and secondly, the boat was not left in neutral, but in reverse (by mistake) causing the boat to pull away from the fish. We knew we were 1 crew member short, relying on the skipper to also gaff the fish, and we had now paid the price. Well, that’s how it goes…

I rerigged two baits and continued trolling. About an hour later, the far bait went away. I fed the fish while the other line was cleared. I tightened up and went on with another Garrick. This fish also ran into the dirty water and when it surfaced, we were right on top of it. The fish was not very big and would only go about 6-7kg. While it went off on another run, my Dad and I agreed that it would be better to break the fish off and save an hour fighting a small fish and rather use that time to look for a bigger one. When the fish surfaced again, the boat was on top of it and the leader came onto the reel. I wrapped it again and when it took off, the leader pulled through my hand and the double line broke in my hand as planned.

The lines went out once again and we continued trolling. The wind was picking up and the colourline dissipated into a gradual gingerbeer mix. It was time to head back. With the peak of the season coming up, I am pretty confident that there will be a few more long battles as the “Cotton Brigade” takes to sea…

Moenie jou 'bek hou nie!

On Thursday night at 6pm, we launched “Ohana” off Richards Bay. There had been a number of geelbek being caught and we were keen to get into some of the action.

Danie's PB 7,7kg Rocksalmon

The sea was like glass so it was an easy ride to the pipe where we caught a few shad before running north. The fish had been coming out off Dawsons, which was a long run. Reports were that there were already 20 boats there and the fish were not exactly thick. We decided to take a different approach and run deep and then north along the ledge, looking for a shoal on the sounder. We had gone for about 40 minutes when a showing came through. Jannie slacked off and sounded the area. The marks looked good so both Danie and I went down with live shad. As we hit the bottom, we went on. I pulled hook and Danie got a nice 6kg bek. The current was ripping at 4 knots so it was difficult to stay on them. Jannie ran up again and we sent 2 more baits into the shoal. Same result… one pulled hook and one fish in the hatch. I was beginning to get a complex as the next 2 drifts produced the same result. Danie would hook up on the spinning outfit and pass the rod to the boys who each managed a bek. I changed my trace a bit and on the next drift, I joined the ranks with a bek in the hatch. Danie and I had doubled up and he brought up a lovely rock salmon of almost 8kg!

 

Over the next few drifts, we took turns catching fish. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. It did not take long for the word to get out and within half an hour, there were 7 boats around us. One of the skippers had zero fishing etiquette or consideration for others and on several occasions made dangerous maneuvers, narrowly missing the other boats. I suppose it should be expected from this skipper who was more concerned about putting another fish in the hatch than the safety of others! This same person took well over his boats quota and had done so for the last 4 nights! It’s an embarrassment to the sport!

Ohana with a few geelbek

Knowing that the bag limit for these fish is 2 per person, I took my tagging kit along. When we had our legal limit of fish, we changed to circle hooks and fought the fish as slow as possible. In 4 drifts we managed to tag and release 4 geelbek.

It was getting late so we stopped fishing and headed home. There was a lot of work to do and it was after 1am when the last fish was filleted. It’s not something I often say, but with the boats abusing the resources like they are, I hope the weather turns bad for the next few weeks and keeps them off the water until the shoals move off. 

Going Solo

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

 

Big surf crashing on the pier

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

My first Garrick of the season

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

 

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

2014 Mapelane Junior Interclub

"Boertjie" in the surf

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

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

15,2kg YFT for Richards Bay U/16

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

1st position Richards Bay U/16

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

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

No Winter sails...

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

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

 

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

 

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

Being shown up by a Girl!

Tammy fighting on 4kg

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

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

My Deckhand at work

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

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

Tammy's 24,6kg Wahoo

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

13,6kg YFT on 4kg line

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