Hiya A selection of some adventure's i've had wi
- Thread starter miles
- Start date
Saturday 18 February 2006
It was my wife's weekend off from work, and she hasn't been out fishing for a while now. Since the weather wasn't condusive to spearing, we went out fishing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of THOSE days, when the fish simply weren't interested in eating!!! We caught a couple of fish, but nothing over 2kg's..................
How-ever, we did have a visit from the TAX MAN!!! A young 2.5-3m Great White shark that circled the boat and then proceeded to take a smaller shark on my handline. I played with him for a short while, but unfortunately, he lost interest!!
Sunday 19 February 2006
I had to work!!! Just before leaving for work, i called my manager. He told me there was a power failure. A couple of minutes later Tommy calls me to ask if i'm available for a fishing trip!!
PERFECT TIMING!!! We went with another friend, Tony's boat. A 23' cat with 2x70hp 4stroke's. Our normal tuna trip starts usually at about 5:00am, but today its 10:00am and we're not even on the water yet!!!
We get to the slip, only to see the wind HOWLING!! Looks like one of THOSE days again. We launch. Since its the first tuna trip this year, we decide to go anyways. By 2:00pm, i had caught only ONE small 10-12kg YF. Most of the boats had no fish or one to two fish onboard, and they've been fishing since dawn. YIP!! Its one of THOSE days when the sea seems completely devoid of life. Saw some flying fish as well as some dorado's (mahi-mahi) being caught, but we were too late for that bit of action. The dorado's are rather rare on our tuna grounds, so we were diss-appointed that we missed out!! One lucky angler got a 12-14kg dorado!!
Its after 3:00pm and we decide to troll home-wards. A short while later the Tiagra screams!!! FISH ON!!!!!!! I grab the black magic harness and clip up and soon the fish is being bullied to the boat. Tommy gets a chum slick going and soon his reel screams. The next hour and a half is what tuna fishing is all about. We raise the school and have YF's smashing the chum on the surface right next to the boat!! AWESOME sight to behold!! At 5:00pm we stopped fishing as we had no more space on the boat for fish!! We left that school of YF as they were still smashing the chum on the surface. Final tally one YF of 10-12kg's and 10 YF of 40-60kg's!!! What a nice start to our season!!! Unfortunately, i couldn't take any photo's as we were all occupied in catching fish!! 10 YF's in under 90minutes, all in the 40-60kg class on stand-up tackle is EXTREME fshing at its best!!
Lets hope that things get better as we get into the tuna season!!
It was my wife's weekend off from work, and she hasn't been out fishing for a while now. Since the weather wasn't condusive to spearing, we went out fishing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of THOSE days, when the fish simply weren't interested in eating!!! We caught a couple of fish, but nothing over 2kg's..................
How-ever, we did have a visit from the TAX MAN!!! A young 2.5-3m Great White shark that circled the boat and then proceeded to take a smaller shark on my handline. I played with him for a short while, but unfortunately, he lost interest!!
Sunday 19 February 2006
I had to work!!! Just before leaving for work, i called my manager. He told me there was a power failure. A couple of minutes later Tommy calls me to ask if i'm available for a fishing trip!!
Its after 3:00pm and we decide to troll home-wards. A short while later the Tiagra screams!!! FISH ON!!!!!!! I grab the black magic harness and clip up and soon the fish is being bullied to the boat. Tommy gets a chum slick going and soon his reel screams. The next hour and a half is what tuna fishing is all about. We raise the school and have YF's smashing the chum on the surface right next to the boat!! AWESOME sight to behold!! At 5:00pm we stopped fishing as we had no more space on the boat for fish!! We left that school of YF as they were still smashing the chum on the surface. Final tally one YF of 10-12kg's and 10 YF of 40-60kg's!!! What a nice start to our season!!! Unfortunately, i couldn't take any photo's as we were all occupied in catching fish!! 10 YF's in under 90minutes, all in the 40-60kg class on stand-up tackle is EXTREME fshing at its best!!
Lets hope that things get better as we get into the tuna season!!
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Saturday 25 February 2006
GOT WET AGAIN!!
Went diving for crayfish (kreef) on the West Coast. Water was about 12-13degrees. Soooo, i put on my 5mm wetsuit, only to tear a HUGE hole in the arm section.....
Looks like its going to be a cold dive!!
Then we swim through the fairly large swell. By the time i got behind the breakers, i was already tired!!!
So we start diving. First dive, breathe-up, quick duck dive.........kick..........kick a little more.......kick a little more.......where the bloody hell is the reef??.......kick a little more....WHOAAAAAHHHHH....almost banged my head against the reef!! Less than 1m viz!! Oh well, at least the waters shallow, ranging from 5-8m deep. After a few more exploratory dives, Tommy call's me over to some great reef structure. Dive down, two hard kicks and i'm almoston the reef........whoooooaaahhhhh.....the reef is moving.........BUGGER!! Current washes me off the reef
Try again!! YAY!!!! Got my first cray, only 3 more to go..........but wait!!......this cray is a female in berry.....OK.......dive down and put her back onto the reef.......... By now Tommy has his allotted 4 crays and starts heading back in. I follow suit, diving all the way back towards the shore. Closer inshore, i dive the kelp beds in the white water. VERY shallow, less than 2m of water, but the waves breaking on top of you isn't that much fun!! I surface.......see a big wave breaking......duck under it......a peice of kelp gets tangled with my mouth peice of the snorkel.......rips my mask off my face!!!
I surface, with mask in hand, only to see a second wave looming.........quick duckdive under the wave, surface and put my mask back on!!! Exilirating stuff!!! I can't remember when last i did a shore dive in such conditions!!!
Was GREAT to get wet again!!!
Regards
miles
GOT WET AGAIN!!
Went diving for crayfish (kreef) on the West Coast. Water was about 12-13degrees. Soooo, i put on my 5mm wetsuit, only to tear a HUGE hole in the arm section.....
Then we swim through the fairly large swell. By the time i got behind the breakers, i was already tired!!!
Was GREAT to get wet again!!!
Regards
miles
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30 March 2006
Did my first charter today!!!
29 March 2006. The day before. Checked out the weather reports. Both show BEAUTIFUL weather for the next day
Then i made some calls, but couldn't get any trustworthy reports on whether the guys have caught tuna in the deep. At about 8:30pm i FINALLY got a good report. Good fish were taken only 18nm from the point. Sooooo, all systems go!!
30 March 2006. I was up at 4:00am. Hitched my 21' RIB Hysucat. Fueled the boat and bought the chum. 6:15am at the slipway. Packed the boat and kitted up. Launched at about 6:45am.
We had a easy 8nm run to the point. As soon as we radioed out, we were greeted by a fresh NW'erly wind. Strange, as this wind was predicted......... anycase, we proceed offshore, thinking that the wind will abate, and that the offshore weather report is correct. Not to be. The wind blew 10-15knts all the way out. Slightly bumpy and wet ride out.
We pass the 15nm mark........no other boats in sight........we pass the 18nm mark.......still nothing........mmmmmm......where the hell are the boats then!!! Set my GPS for my usual area and continue running. At about 25nm we find a lone tuna pole boat. Not what we're looking for, as these vessels target Albacore and not really YF. My crew were probably having doubts as to whether there were ANY other boats at sea!! After reaching my usual spot, more than 28nm from the point, we STILL see not long line boats!! Oh well, looks like i'll have to FIND my fish the hard way!! Out goes the trolling tackle. Pretty soon we have a double hook-up of albacore. I boat the one fish and start a chum trail. The guys jump in and Francois spears a Albacore. So we now have two Albacore's on board, ranging from 6-10kg's. Now lets go find some YF's!!!
We find a trawler not far away. Jump in behind it. NOTHING!! Arghhhhh!!! By now we had about 8 other boats also working behing the lone trawler. VERY few fish are being caught. I hear on the radio that the guys are seeing the fish on the echo sounders, but they're not biting. Things are looking grim, but MUST STAY CONFIDENT!!!
Francois shouts!!! YES!!! YF tuna in the water!!! He shoots.......i see the boogie board being pulled across the water surface!! FISH ON!!! He fights the fish for about 20minutes, and has it just beneath the boogie board. Just before he goes down to put in a second shot, the fish tears off!!!!!
ARGHHHH!!!!
By now we've drifted away from the fish.............So i go looking for another school.....and we find fish again...........
By now, David Hotz, an Australian spearo (called NOFOOTPRINTS on Adrenaline Forum) is pumped up to get a fish. He was complaining earlier about his foot that was buggered as well as his knackered shoulder, due to a car accident earlier
Anycase, i see his boogie board sliding across the surface!!! All thoughts of pain GONE!!!
Big YF have that magical healing ability!! FISH ON!!! 5 minutes go by......10minutes.....15minutes......20minutes.... ..still fighting!! I pass him the second gun and he puts in a second shot. I jump in to assist and 5minutes later she's IDB!! (In Da Boat!!) A BEAUTIFUL fish!!! David is over the moon!! He had just bought a 1400cm Rabitech the day before!! First fish on his new RABITECH!! Fish weighed in at just over 84kg's!!!
Bart had taken PLENTY of underwater video footage, so i'll hopefully get see that soon!!!
By now, the tawler had already pulled its nets and they were cleaning their catch. The YF that were around will be stuffed with fish, so things went very quite. All the boats were sitting still. The guys decided to call it a day and we started the ride home.
Now the fun begins!! My GPS's powercable comes lose and the units internal battery is running low. By now, the wind had picked up to 25knts NW and a fog bank was covering land. I run by compass and end up being blown way off course!!! I replace the baterries on the GPS and we get hammered all the way home!!! First time i encountered a very strong wind INSIDE a fog bank. Its normally very calm inside a fog bank.
After a epic journey back home, we're greeted by blazing hot sunshine in the harbour....and no wind!!!
The Cape Of Storms really lived up to its reputation!!
All in all, a GREAT day with a GREAT bunch of guys!! To David, Bart and Francois, THANX a million guys!!!
Regards
miles
Did my first charter today!!!
29 March 2006. The day before. Checked out the weather reports. Both show BEAUTIFUL weather for the next day
30 March 2006. I was up at 4:00am. Hitched my 21' RIB Hysucat. Fueled the boat and bought the chum. 6:15am at the slipway. Packed the boat and kitted up. Launched at about 6:45am.
We had a easy 8nm run to the point. As soon as we radioed out, we were greeted by a fresh NW'erly wind. Strange, as this wind was predicted......... anycase, we proceed offshore, thinking that the wind will abate, and that the offshore weather report is correct. Not to be. The wind blew 10-15knts all the way out. Slightly bumpy and wet ride out.
We pass the 15nm mark........no other boats in sight........we pass the 18nm mark.......still nothing........mmmmmm......where the hell are the boats then!!! Set my GPS for my usual area and continue running. At about 25nm we find a lone tuna pole boat. Not what we're looking for, as these vessels target Albacore and not really YF. My crew were probably having doubts as to whether there were ANY other boats at sea!! After reaching my usual spot, more than 28nm from the point, we STILL see not long line boats!! Oh well, looks like i'll have to FIND my fish the hard way!! Out goes the trolling tackle. Pretty soon we have a double hook-up of albacore. I boat the one fish and start a chum trail. The guys jump in and Francois spears a Albacore. So we now have two Albacore's on board, ranging from 6-10kg's. Now lets go find some YF's!!!
We find a trawler not far away. Jump in behind it. NOTHING!! Arghhhhh!!! By now we had about 8 other boats also working behing the lone trawler. VERY few fish are being caught. I hear on the radio that the guys are seeing the fish on the echo sounders, but they're not biting. Things are looking grim, but MUST STAY CONFIDENT!!!
Francois shouts!!! YES!!! YF tuna in the water!!! He shoots.......i see the boogie board being pulled across the water surface!! FISH ON!!! He fights the fish for about 20minutes, and has it just beneath the boogie board. Just before he goes down to put in a second shot, the fish tears off!!!!!
By now we've drifted away from the fish.............So i go looking for another school.....and we find fish again...........
By now, David Hotz, an Australian spearo (called NOFOOTPRINTS on Adrenaline Forum) is pumped up to get a fish. He was complaining earlier about his foot that was buggered as well as his knackered shoulder, due to a car accident earlier
Bart had taken PLENTY of underwater video footage, so i'll hopefully get see that soon!!!
By now, the tawler had already pulled its nets and they were cleaning their catch. The YF that were around will be stuffed with fish, so things went very quite. All the boats were sitting still. The guys decided to call it a day and we started the ride home.
Now the fun begins!! My GPS's powercable comes lose and the units internal battery is running low. By now, the wind had picked up to 25knts NW and a fog bank was covering land. I run by compass and end up being blown way off course!!! I replace the baterries on the GPS and we get hammered all the way home!!! First time i encountered a very strong wind INSIDE a fog bank. Its normally very calm inside a fog bank.
After a epic journey back home, we're greeted by blazing hot sunshine in the harbour....and no wind!!!
The Cape Of Storms really lived up to its reputation!!
All in all, a GREAT day with a GREAT bunch of guys!! To David, Bart and Francois, THANX a million guys!!!
Regards
miles
Attachments
Saturday 01 April 2006
Only two of us on board. We were planning on running to thr tuna grounds, but at about 6miles past the POINT, i see the current line and the water shoots up from 14degrees to 19degrees. A bit further, birds are working. As we move towards the deep, i see what looks like two fish swimming in the swell. I stop and put out two lures. BANG!!!! Almost immediately. Both rods hooked up. We each boat the fish rather quickly and with-in the next three hours, we have our allotted quota of 20 fish on board. We had 14 yellowfins ranging from 14-25kg's and 6 Longfin/Albacore and skipjacks. So with are legal amount of fish on board, we can't proceed to the deep
Oh well, at least we were very close to home and had HUGE fun with those, perfect eating size YF's!! YUMMY!!!!!
Regards
miles
Only two of us on board. We were planning on running to thr tuna grounds, but at about 6miles past the POINT, i see the current line and the water shoots up from 14degrees to 19degrees. A bit further, birds are working. As we move towards the deep, i see what looks like two fish swimming in the swell. I stop and put out two lures. BANG!!!! Almost immediately. Both rods hooked up. We each boat the fish rather quickly and with-in the next three hours, we have our allotted quota of 20 fish on board. We had 14 yellowfins ranging from 14-25kg's and 6 Longfin/Albacore and skipjacks. So with are legal amount of fish on board, we can't proceed to the deep
Oh well, at least we were very close to home and had HUGE fun with those, perfect eating size YF's!! YUMMY!!!!!
Regards
miles
Attachments
Sunday 16 April 2006
Forum member, Johan from Denmark arrived here in Cape Town on Friday evening. Check the weather on Saturday and it looked good in the deep. How-ever, there was a bit of wind inshore, BUT the offshore conditions looked ok. So plans were made to go out on Sunday.
I picked Johan up and we spent about 10minutes at the waters edge, waiting to see if the inshore wind would subside. With a slight decrease, we went to Tommy’s place. Hooked up his boat and off we went.
At the launch site, the wind was blowing quite strongly. After some coffee, we decided to launch, with the wind report showing dropping wind at the POINT. After a bumpy, but dry ride, we reach the point. Outside the point, the swell is bigger, but since its open ocean swells, it makes riding easier and less bumpy. Fortunately the fish have been very close, sort of 17-18nm from the point. That’s about 10nm closer than our normal hunting grounds.
With it being Easter weekend, no longline vessels or trawlers are out, so we knew that we’d have to find our own fish. Tommy sees some fish on the surface and out goes the trolling lures……………NOTHING………. Water temperature in 19degrees and there is some bird life. Looks good, but no fish action yet. Sooooo, we have breakfast. MISTAKE!!! Reel screams half-way through my sand which!!! FISH ON!!! Boat stops and I start a chum trail. I grab the rod and start pulling……..mmmmm…..feels like a Albacore(longfin)…….no……feels like a small YF……….mmmmm….no…….feels like a Albacore…………….
Tommy puts the harness on and after 5 minutes we have an YF next to the boat. Unfortunately, the YF was tail wrapped, which effectively drowned it. I gaff and we have the fish on board. Not a bad fish weighing in at 78kg’s. Meanwhile I had continued the chum trail, but couldn’t see any fish in the water. We suggested Johan get in just to see if the YF were feeding just out of view from the boat. He jumps in and soon his shouts of glee herald the arrival of the YF’s!!
Johan kits up properly and jumps back in. After hearing from Tommy and me how fast these fish are, he manages to almost STONE his first YF with a 130cm Rabitech Carbon Apex!!! BRILLIANT shot!!!! Almost 10 minutes after he got into the water we load his 54kg YF!! Unfortunately, by now the other YF sounded and we have Albacore in the chum trail. Johan whacks a couple of albacores in the 8-14kg class.
We move and find another school of fish. Unfortunately there are very few YF around and only LOADS of Albacore.
We then caught some Albacore and at one stage we had a school right against the boat smashing chum on the surface. I and Johan jumped in with cameras and got some great footage of Albacores eating chum next to the boat.
Final tally, one YF of 78kg caught on Rod and Reel, one YF of 54kg’s shot and 23 Albacores from 8-14kgs, caught on rod and reel and shot.
Forum member, Johan from Denmark arrived here in Cape Town on Friday evening. Check the weather on Saturday and it looked good in the deep. How-ever, there was a bit of wind inshore, BUT the offshore conditions looked ok. So plans were made to go out on Sunday.
I picked Johan up and we spent about 10minutes at the waters edge, waiting to see if the inshore wind would subside. With a slight decrease, we went to Tommy’s place. Hooked up his boat and off we went.
At the launch site, the wind was blowing quite strongly. After some coffee, we decided to launch, with the wind report showing dropping wind at the POINT. After a bumpy, but dry ride, we reach the point. Outside the point, the swell is bigger, but since its open ocean swells, it makes riding easier and less bumpy. Fortunately the fish have been very close, sort of 17-18nm from the point. That’s about 10nm closer than our normal hunting grounds.
With it being Easter weekend, no longline vessels or trawlers are out, so we knew that we’d have to find our own fish. Tommy sees some fish on the surface and out goes the trolling lures……………NOTHING………. Water temperature in 19degrees and there is some bird life. Looks good, but no fish action yet. Sooooo, we have breakfast. MISTAKE!!! Reel screams half-way through my sand which!!! FISH ON!!! Boat stops and I start a chum trail. I grab the rod and start pulling……..mmmmm…..feels like a Albacore(longfin)…….no……feels like a small YF……….mmmmm….no…….feels like a Albacore…………….
Tommy puts the harness on and after 5 minutes we have an YF next to the boat. Unfortunately, the YF was tail wrapped, which effectively drowned it. I gaff and we have the fish on board. Not a bad fish weighing in at 78kg’s. Meanwhile I had continued the chum trail, but couldn’t see any fish in the water. We suggested Johan get in just to see if the YF were feeding just out of view from the boat. He jumps in and soon his shouts of glee herald the arrival of the YF’s!!
Johan kits up properly and jumps back in. After hearing from Tommy and me how fast these fish are, he manages to almost STONE his first YF with a 130cm Rabitech Carbon Apex!!! BRILLIANT shot!!!! Almost 10 minutes after he got into the water we load his 54kg YF!! Unfortunately, by now the other YF sounded and we have Albacore in the chum trail. Johan whacks a couple of albacores in the 8-14kg class.
We move and find another school of fish. Unfortunately there are very few YF around and only LOADS of Albacore.
We then caught some Albacore and at one stage we had a school right against the boat smashing chum on the surface. I and Johan jumped in with cameras and got some great footage of Albacores eating chum next to the boat.
Final tally, one YF of 78kg caught on Rod and Reel, one YF of 54kg’s shot and 23 Albacores from 8-14kgs, caught on rod and reel and shot.
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Mangrove Jack
New member
Yea, I second that! Amazing thread and really classy posts and great pics. A story in itself.....pity it ended, really enjoyed reading this this AM.
RGDS,
MJ
RGDS,
MJ