Rainbow without rain

On Saturday 20^th April 2019, the bonanza had been called off due to strong NE winds in the morning but there was a SW predicted for later in the day. We decided to take the opportunity and fish socially during the lull.

At 11am Hansie, Ruben, Terry and I launched headed to the pipeline and managed to get some nice livies. We then headed to the ledge to look for bonnies. The sea was surprisingly flat and we were a bit disappointed that we had not launched earlier. Be that as it may, we set about looking for bait and within a short time, we had some bonnies in the tubes and some spare in the bait box. The SW was already on the horizon so we didn’t have too much time and high-tailed it to Petingo.

On arrival the water looked great, there were no boats and the garfish were everywhere on the surface… things had to happen. I quickly rigged up 2 bonnies, a wala and a live maasbanker while Hansie trolled over the wreck. We were expecting a pull at any moment… but nothing. After several passes over the wreck the SW wind came through. It was about 15 knots so we continued fishing.

We had just gone over a good showing when the deep live bait went away. Ruben fought a small blacktip kingfish to the boat where it was released. The bait was quickly reset and on the next turn, it went away again. The fish gave Ruben a better pull and soon he had his first rainbow runner on the boat.

The bonnies were very quiet and just as we were ready to pack up, one was eaten by a hammerhead shark. At 4pm we upped lines and headed home.

Bonanza

On Good Friday 19^th, over the Easter weekend, Hansie, Ruben, Terry and I launched Mitsu-Fishi off Richards Bay. We were competing in the Richards Bay Ski-Boat Club Bonanza. The weather looked good for only one of the days so we needed to have a game plan. We opted to head north to look for some snoek as there had been a few nice ones the previous week.

On the bait marks, we managed to get about 10 redeyes and a bunch of maasbanker. With bait in the well, we headed north and put out a spread of snoek lures. Hansie trolled over all our favourite numbers without even a hint of a fish. By 9am, we made the call to switch over to bait so I put out fillets, redeyes and two cuda baits, just in case. While working the area, there were a few birds fluttering about. We slowly followed them around hoping they would lead us to some fish. Eventually one of the birds started working and as we came within range, Terry and Ruben fired out 2 spoons. Both were chased by snoek, but none hooked up. Shortly after, the surface redeye went away. Ruben fought the fish to the boat where we saw it to be a small cuda. Just as we were about to gaff it, the hooks pulled. No worries, we had snoek to chase.

We upped lines and closed the gap between us and the birds which were now all diving. There were fish on the surface and were feeding on small sprats. Both Terry and I cast into the shoal and both hooked up. Almost immediately, two big sharks chased after my fish and managed to eat it despite freespooling for a while. Terry managed his fish. The chase continued and luckily we were by ourselves so we could get a few fish before the rush. Eventually, we were spotted and about 10 boats surrounded us. The fish became very skittish and eventually sounded.

We headed home with 8 snoek and 2 kingfish for the scales. The rest of the comp was blown out and Ruben managed to end up with the 3^rd biggest snoek prize.

Practice makes perfect

Bait showings

On Saturday 30 March, Oom George, Hannah, Rorke, Jan and I launched “Cyclone” off St Lucia. The youngsters had come to St Lucia to pick up a few tips for the upcoming Gamefish Nationals. Our first stop was on the bait shoals just past the backline. There were huge bait shoals everywhere and it didn’t take long to fill the live well.

We headed out to the northern ledges, but the water conditions were terrible… off green, reverse current, cold and full of slime. Things did not look good. We trolled lures around for quite some time and eventually found a current line where the warm water came in. I was over pulling lures around so suggested we rig up a few livies and see if we could tempt a fish. The current line was beautiful… tons of bait, foam, upwells, you name it. The baits had been in the water a short while when the close surface one went away. Hanna was on the rod and soon had a really nice dorado in the boat. 

Not a bad start. I continued working the line while George assisted on the deck. After about an hour, the close livie went away, followed in short succession by the next surface bait and the medium line. With 3 dorado in the air, it was fun and games and unfortunately two of the lines burnt off and the last one pulled hooks! We thought it was all over when the rod in the T-top went away with a 4

I made a few turns in the area but didn’t get another pull so I moved on along the line. George took over skipper duty while I helped check the baits and reset the lines. We had just settled when I saw a splash out the back. There had to be a fish there but nothing… moments later, the rod in the T-top went away again and Jan managed his second fish for the day.

Unfortunately, despite trying a few more things, we didn’t get another pull and at about 2pm we headed home.

Be Prepared

While visiting my folks over the past long weekend, we spent some time at the mouth of the Goukamma river. I had great grunter fishing there on previous occasions. While on a bit of a recce on Friday afternoon, we saw tailing fish everywhere. We decided to give it a go the next day and hopefully catch one or two. On Saturday 23^rd March, my Dad and I headed to the Knysna lagoon where we pumped a few cracker prawns. From previous experiences, the fish in the river pulled their noses up to any other bait, so it was definitely worth the effort.

It was a spring low tide, so while I had some time to kill, I went for a quick but successful sinker dive. The river mouth was very close to where I had been diving so my Dad and I quickly stopped there to see what we were dealing with. On arrival, we saw a few fish tailing in the channel and when we got closer, we were shocked to see how many fish were in the water. Our original plan was to only fish from 4pm, but here the fish were… at midday! This opportunity was just too good to pass up so we hightailed it to the house and collected the gear. I had rigged up two light spinning rods the night before, so we were ready in a flash.

Armed with a few live prawns, we waded into the channel and flicked them out. On my first cast, I went on with a lovely grunter that gave a great fight on the light tackle. I had just landed the fish when my Dad went on with a really good fish that gave him a run around before getting it to the bank. With two fish for the pot, we decided to release any other that we caught. The fish were still feeding well, despite the disturbance we had caused, so we waded out to the same spot and like dejavu, we both hooked up. The tussle that these fish give is really great, especially on light gear. With 2 released fish, we were pretty happy with the results. It did seem that after the fish were released, the others in the area became a bit more skittish. They were swimming all around us, but spooked quickly. About every 4^th or 5^th cast would result in a bite instead of shot for shot. We were not to perturbed by this as any more fish was a bonus.

At about 4pm, we decided to call it an afternoon and head home for a well-deserved whiskey. We had managed to catch 9 grunter (average 2-3kg) between us, missing 2 more right at the bank. What this day taught me was to always be prepared as you never know when an opportunity might present itself.

Making something out of nothing

On Saturday 9^th March, At and I launched “Avanti” off Richards Bay. The reports we had heard painted a grim picture of the conditions. Strong, cold reverse currents in shallow and unfishable N-S current on the ledge. I packed the cuda tackle and a few baits, but didn’t really have a game plan.

We decided to stick to our morning ritual of catching live bait and make a call from there. There was a raging reverse current and we battled to maintain position. We battled to find decent bait and moved to a few different spots. I suggested we try one of the spots that I had not fished at in ages. As we stopped there, there was a big showing. We both went down with jigs and got full strings of nice maasbanker. On my second drop, something grabbed a livie and broke off the jig. With the structure on the bottom, I assumed it was a rockcod. At had brought a bottom rod with, so I pinned a live bait and sent it down. It was not on the bottom for very long when it was eaten. I hooked a nice fish that gave me a bit of a pull before getting it to the surface. To my surprise, it was a salmon of about 3kg… great eating size. At put the boat back on the reef and I sent another bait down. Again, I caught a similar size salmon. My next drop I rigged 2 livies and went down. As soon as the sinker hit the bottom I when on. This time I had a bit of a run for my money and boated a salmon and a big orange spotted rockcod at the same time.

By now, all thoughts of cuda had gone out the window. We took a few minutes down time while At rigged up a second rod. I moved the boat into position and both of us sent baits down. At hooked a fish followed shortly by myself. We each boated a nice rockcod. I will be the first person to say that bottom fishing is not my favourite facet of fishing, but I was having a ball! We caught a lot of rockies, but many were just undersize so we released them. The bait showing had moved a bit so At sounded around a bit to relocate them. When we finally did, I quickly sent a bait down. Moments later I hooked a better fish that had me backwinding a few times. I took my time with it and was rewarded with a really good rockcod. By now I had 5 fish in the hatch which was more than enough for me so I took over a designated skipper. I held the boat over the showing and structure while At caught another 3 fish.

It was now only 10am so we decided to quit while we were ahead. We headed back to the club and had brunch then filleted the catch. I weighed the biggest fish that we caught and it was 5,7kg. It was a really great day all things considered.

The early bird gets the worm

On Saturday 2^nd March, At and I launched “ABF” off Cape Vidal. There was an Amatikulu competition on the go that we were not aware of, so the beach was very busy at launch time. We only managed to get onto the water at 7:30 and by that time, the bait had scattered making it really difficult. After almost 2 hours, we only had a handful of baits proving that the early bird gets the worm... We decided to go and fish with the bait we had.

We stopped at the greens and I put out 3 livies. At tacked between 18m and 30m and soon we had our first pull. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a big bonito which we released. I quickly replaced the bait and no sooner had we trolled through the current line, it went away what sounded like a cuda due to the speed of the run. Unfortunately, as it slowed down, the hooks pulled and it was back to the drawing board.

There seemed to be action on the 20m depth so we focussed out efforts there. Our next pull was also a big bonito, but it was hooked in the tail so it gave us a hard time around the boat. Eventually we managed to release it and while I was clearing the deck, I heard line running off a reel, but there was no ratchet on. I looked back and saw a rod buckling. We were on with another fish. It didn’t take long to get it to the boat and you guessed it… another big bonito. These fish were now a problem as they had eaten all our big baits and we were left with only scraps of small baits. I modified the traces a bit and put out 3 baits. Things were quiet for a while and after an hour, I saw the deep rod flick. I ran to the rod and freespooled the reel until the sinker hit the ground, then wound the line tight and hooked a fish. There was not much of a fight and when it was next to the boat, we were both surprised to see a cuda which At gaffed. The hook was in its throat after being fed for a while. We were glad to have our first fish on the boat. I reset the line and in the same area, the far surface bait went away. At fought the fish which was just a heavy weight after a relatively fast first run. I assumed it was another bonito, especially when I saw it coming to the boat tail first. Only when I was about to grab the tail did I see that it was in fact another cuda. The one treble hook had snagged it in the tail fin and it was DOA.

The next hour passed without a pull so we decided to up lines and head back before the main rush.

Cuda No-show

On Sunday 24^th February at 5:30am, Terrence and I launched “Boy Oh Buoy” off Richards Bay. We were hoping to catch our first ‘cuda for the year. Shortly after leaving the harbour, we stopped at the wave-rider buoy and caught a few maasbanker for live bait. With the hatch full, we headed south towards high-point.

After an hour run, we finally arrived. The water was green with a lot of plankton… not exactly great conditions… There were 3 other boats there but none had caught any fish yet. We put out a few small lures to catch bonito for live bait, but there were no takers. The showing on the sounder was really good so I suggested we stop trolling and put a live bait in the water. Terry had just put the bait out when he went tight. There were a few small head nods before the fish came to the surface. It was a green jobfish… great eating!

The second bait was in the water for a few minutes when something big grabbed it but cut us off in the rocks. After a quick re-rigging session, another livie went over the side. This time Terry caught a rosy jobfish. So far things were looking good but just like that, it went quiet and we went back to trolling some lures for bonito. After some time without success, we switched over to bait and put out 2 live maasbanker and a wala-wala. The problem was that the plankton was building up on the lines and made them very visible to the fish. After cleaning the lines a few times, the cuda were still a no-show so we gave it up as a bad job. On the bright side, the showing on the reef had returned so I suggested we abandon the cuda fishing idea and focus on a few bottomfish. We rigged up the heavy jigging rod and sent a bait down. As it hit the bottom, Terry hooked a really strong fish that had him pinned to the gunwale a few times before it came off the bottom. After some heavy pressure, the fish came to the surface. It was a beautiful GT of around 25kg (110cm) which we tagged and released. What a great fish.

We regrouped and headed back to the mark where I sent a bait down. It took a whole minute to get a pull and I too was pinned to the gunwale. Luckily the fight did not last too long and I soon had a 12kg kingfish (85cm) tagged and released. Our day was made, so anything else was a bonus.

The showing got thicker and thicker and soon the sounder could not read through it. I dropped a jig down on a small spinning rig and immediately went on with a bonito which went into the tube. Hoping to have some fun, I rigged it up and send it down. It didn’t take long for it to attract attention and was eaten. After a short feed, I locked up and tried to hold on. There were big nods and short runs before I started lifting it off the bottom. I had it halfway up before my arms started cramping so I passed the rod to Terry. He had just as much of a fight but finally had the fish next to the boat. It was a big potato bass of about 40kg. On closer inspection, we saw that there was a second hook and leader in its mouth… it was our leader that had been cut off in the rocks earlier that morning! It took some effort, but we finally managed to get the fish swimming and back down.

Some of the boats had left so we went back to the marks. I put the jig down and quickly had another bonito, followed by another. Both went into the tubes for later. While I was playing around with the bonito, Terrence put a bait down and caught another nice green jobfish. I suggested he rig up one of the bonito but was met with resistance following the stretched and cramping arms from the previous time so, I rigged it and sent it down. It took about 10 minutes before it was picked up, but just after hooking up, the nylon leader was bitten off by what I am sure was a shark.

By now it was 1pm and we had some filleting and boat washing to do so we upped lines and headed back to the harbour after a great day on the water.

Wall to wall dorado

On Saturday 2^nd Feb, Hansie and I launched “ABF” off vidal. There had been a lot of fish caught the previous day so we were pretty sure we would find some too. After an uneventful launch, we headed south towards the lighthouse to look for live bait. It didn’t take long to find big showings and every down was a full string so we could be very selective. 

With the live well full, we needed to decide where we would start fishing. Hansie suggested we deeper to look for some jube-jubes to target the bigger cuda. I had no better ideas so we headed for the first shoal of bonnies that we saw. I put out a daisy chain while Hansie threw a spoon. It didn’t take long to get a bonnie and it went into the tube. On the next cast, Hansie had a dorado chase the spoon so I reeled in the chain, pinned a livie on the back hook and flicked it out. Almost immediately I went on. When the dorado was next to the boat, it had a follower so we tried to hook it. Unfortunately, it disappeared before we could throw it a bait, so we brought the hooked fish closer. It made one last jump next to the boat and threw the hook!

Hans putting pressure on.

Knowing there was another fish around, I pinned another livie on the chain and left it out the back while we kept pace with the bonito shoal. It did not take long to get a pull but unfortunately the fish ate one of the feathers instead of the livie so we missed it. Eventually, I managed to hook another dorado and when it was next to the boat, Hansie hooked a livie onto the spoon he was throwing and fed it to the follower. He went on immediately and the fight was on... After some fun and games, we managed to get both fish into the hatch. There were obviously a few dorado around, so we rigged up a few livies and slow trolled them between the bonnies. We managed to get a few pulls and soon had 5 dorado on the boat before things went quiet.

My turn with a dorrie

Other boats that were fishing a bit shallower on the current line were still getting a few fish so I headed shallower. As we passed through the line, we went on with another dorado which we boated. A friend fishing nearby called me up and asked if I could give him a few livies as they had none left. They just stopped next to us when we went on to another fish. Only once we had landed it, could we pass the livies over. We had done our good deed for the day and were soon rewarded with another dorado pull.

The wind changed to the SE and the bite slowed. I suggested we up lines and run a bit north, back to the bonnies as I was sure there would be more gamefish around them. We had just put the lines out when two reels smoked off. Hansie had a dorado on while I have what I thought was a tuna as it sounded immediately after hooking up. Unfortunately, my fish came off but Hansie managed to get his into the boat.

More and more boats were moving to the area we were working, and when it started getting a bit cramped, we upped lines and headed north to where the other boats had come from. There was a nice current line at 30m so we put out the baits. 

Great day of wall to wall dorado action.

We were looking back when the rod with the deep bait bent then straightened after a fish missed the hooks. I retrieved the line and a dorado followed the skirt to the surface. It turned and ate the close bait and went tight. It was a better fish and gave Hansie a good fight. I started clearing the lines but then noticed a follower so I pinned a bait and flicked it out. The fish ate the bait but missed the hooks. I quickly pinned a second bait but the exact same thing happened again! The third bait proved to be lucky and I hooked the second fish. A short while later, we had both fish in the hatch.

It was now 1pm. We knew we had a lot of cleaning work to do so we upped lines and headed home after an awesome day’s fishing.

PB Prodigal

On 13th January 2019, Hansie and I launched “ABF” off Vidal. There had been reports of a few fish there so we were keen to see what our first launch of 2019 would produce. After a bit of a wet entry, we stopped on the backline and started looking for some bait. There were big shoals of slender scads on the surface but they were very skittish and very difficult to catch. After about an hour, we had a suitable amount in the bait well. The forecast was for the NE to blow later in the day and there were a lot of boats on the point so I took a gamble and headed north to the greens.

After a short run, we stopped at vegetation. I went about rigging up 4 livies, 2 on surface and 2 deep. There was a current line on 32m and another on 22m so we tacked between them looking for a fish. We had just passed through the deeper one when the far surface bait went away. I fed the fish a bit before hooking up. Way out the back, a dorado bounced around. I handed the rod to Hansie who brought the fish in relatively quickly. When it was next to the boat, we saw that there were a few small followers. I has a 1kg rig onboard with a live bait already pinned so, I pitched the bait to them. Within seconds, the smallest fish grabbed the bait. After a short feed, I hooked up. The fish ran a bit then settled but, the original fish was now causing a problem as the lines were very close together and the other 2 trolling lines were also still out. After a bit of fancy footwork, the lines were cleared and both fish were in the boat.

A Personal Best prodigal son

We had drifted quite a distance while fighting the fish so we ran back to where we found the fish. I was busy putting out the second line when a dorado grabbed it. I fed it a bit and then hooked up. Hansie took the rod and soon had a nice bull dorado in the hatch. I rerigged and managed to get all the lines out. We tacked into the shallow current line and just started turning when the mid water bait went away. It was not a fast fish so we had an idea of what it might be… The line angle surfaced and the fish made a big wake on the surface. Hansie closed the gap on it and soon I had the fish on the leader. A short while later, Hansie gaffed a nice prodigal son… my personal best of about 13kg. This is not a fish I have caught many of so it was great to get one.

Soon after the prodigal, on the same current line, the same rod went on. Hansie fought a nice dorado to the boat but it made a dive under the boat and the hooks pulled. Not the end of the world. The mid water bait seemed to be hot and just we had turned to head shallower, it went away again. This time it was a faster run and we were not too surprised when a cuda came alongside. There seemed to be a quick flurry of cuda pulls just as the NE started blowing and in a short time we had 3 pulls but only managed to get 1 more in the boat. At 12 o clock, we packed up and headed home after having a great day.

Shell Shock

On Sunday 2^nd December, At and I launched “Avanti” off Vidal. The surf was terrible and a few boats ahead of us took some punishment going through. After waiting about an hour for the tide to turn, we managed to find a gap and get through the waves.

There had been a big storm the night before and the lightning didn’t help the fish’s shell shock. It was going to be a difficult day.

On the bait marks, there were shoals of mackerel and maasbanker on the surface, but they were very skittish. It took about an hour to get a handful of livies. We decided to put out some lures and cover ground just looking for some life. Near the lighthouse, we found a few bonnies and caught a few on the spinning rod. With no further action we headed north to the greens and put out a few livies. There were a few nice current lines so we spent some time working them. In about 22m, the deep bait went away. The fish made a few short runs then came to the boat where At gaffed a 8kg cuda. I rerigged and At trolled over the deeper current line. As we finished the turn, there was a splash on the far bait. The rod keeled over and the reel smoked of. We needed to follow the fish to stop the run and eventually I managed to get the fish on the leader. It was a kawa-kawa of probably 9kg. One of the fattest ones I’d ever seen. After releasing it, I rerigged and set the spread again.

A good cuda for vidal

It was pretty quiet for a while but eventually on the same line we had the cuda, we went on with another fish. It came to the boat without taking any line but when the leader came up, the fish turned and smoked off about 200m right into the backing. At chased after it while I put line on the reel. Finally, the leader came out the water but at that moment, a massive Zambezi shark appeared right next to the fish and all hell broke loose. The fish took off under the boat between the motors I freespooled the reel and tried to get the line off the motor. Luckily the prop did not touch the line and we could free it. Again there was a lot of line out and when the fish slowed down, At followed it and I pulled as hard as I dared. The leader came up as well as a very tired cuda. At gaffed the fish and lifted it to “safety”. It was a really good fish for Vidal standards, probably about 16kg.

Over the next hour, a few boats arrived and the fish went quiet. After trying for a few hours, we headed south trolling on the current line. I had just finished checking the baits when the close livie went away and we hooked up to a dorado. It gave us a bit of a run around but eventually we loaded it. By now it was 3:30pm and we were tired so we pulled in the lines and headed back to the beach.