I received, what started out as a regular email enquiry via my website (www.sportfishing.co.za) which was soon followed up by a telephone call and a simple request, the clients wanted to catch
fish, which is right up my alley as that’s what Offshore Sportfishing Charters does best.
The clients wanted a fun day at sea with some good fishing as two of the party of four had never been fishing before. The other two in the party had done a bit of fishing overseas but as a group, they had decided they just wanted to go and have a lot of fun.
On the morning of the charter, I readied the boat and packed it in preparation for going to sea and judging by the weather we’d had over the previous few days, and knowing which way the warm currents were moving, I included some of the heavier Tuna tackle, just in case we had the opportunity to catch some of the bigger Yellowfin Tuna that occasionally venture in closer with the currents. So, along with the lighter Yellowtail rods, I put six of the 50 to 80 pound rods and reels into the mix.
I met my charter clients down at Miller’s Point at six in the morning and they were visibly excited for the trip; that perfect feeling you get in the morning when you know it’s going to be a good day. There was very little wind, the seas were calm, and it was a perfect morning with a wonderful sunrise. I quickly put Jabulani in the water and we headed for Cape Point where we started trolling for Yellowtail.
We caught one or two fish there but with all the boats jostling for position and chasing down the feeding shoals, it wasn’t worth hanging around, so I decided to push on further out to about five miles off Cape Point to see if the Tuna had come closer. At this time of the year they usually weigh in at about 25-40kg which is good fun on the lighter tackle. It quickly became clear with the appearance of sea birds in the current line and a water temperature up from 14 to 19 degrees, along with a nice blue colour, that we should expect some good fishing.
After a short while of having the lighter tackle in the water, I decided to switch to the heavier tackle as I’ve been down the road before when you hook a decent sized yellowfin on the light tackle and five hours later you eventually get him onto the boat.
So, in went the big rods while I told my charter guys the story about catching two yellowfin tuna over 90kg in the previous two weeks in the exact area we were fishing in, which was very unusual for the time and the place. One of the rods had on the lure I had been progressively modifying before going into production, the lure which had already, a few days prior, caught a formidable
94kg Tuna.
