To The one That got away...ahh well .

[Def-e-nition]

Hmmm.
I'm so out of practise that i'd almost forgotten what a keyboard Looks like .

In between birthday bashes , Releasing 50 kg cob , having our town surrounded in October because some man in the grey suit lost a tooth at skurwes and such , it's actually been frikkin quiet lately along My coast .

Sure - robberg has been firing , and last year another spot had the boys from the farm pulling their nads off stopping a few bronzies of notable size - but in general , My tital of Captain hook"" , has been pretty safe .

The leagues have been busy , with almost 4 tonnes of fish coming out off Plett the beginning of the year . i resiliently stood on the wrong spot- and promptly proceeded to watch tv , and Miss the entire show ( read : HAD the 4x4 to get to the spot ,but erroneously decided to stick it out - in the desert ) Missed a Meannn flatfish there - and that's pretty muc that .

December was a disaster with a capital F ,as the Water was so hot that i drove to the beach with merely a bar of soap and a towel .

Jan came and went , and the bags simply decided not to take the turnoff from Gamtoos , to Mossel bay . in the entire 2 Months That i watched the weather , i can recall only 1 sizer coming out , that being shawn Mey's bus bag of 190 kg : other than that : nada .
hammer's We've had plenty , throw for throw off most rocky points , but as for the nunu's - well - nothing .

Shawn's barge .

 

[Def-e-nition]

we've also had a Few close Calls , with one of my smaller catches coming up too slowly due to a foul-hooking , only to have some dude in a grey suit come along and flex his muscles at me . Taxing the poor guy on the surface ...



Mauled to bits . poor guy didn't know What hit him .

 

[Def-e-nition]

In between all This illegal chaos , there've also been some decent , albeit not target , hammers , and when Neptune throw's em , she grabs em like a handful of M&M's , and chucks you with the Lot .


shall We call them tickler's ? lol

As one progresses on Sealine , your personal bests as well as list of fish that set the bar , grow , And until you land one of value to yourself -you just don't post .
simple Really .

Psy and i are Probably getting too old to walk The poiint (sic!) and I have just been so Frikkin demotivated by december's poor showing of sizer's that a trip to anywhere has just not been on the cards .

Shell V powers Recent stint at skurwebankies also didn't do too much to get me to slide much , and Me not being the biggest fan of skurwebankies anyway , has seen me experiment with other Parts of the coastline .

But There's always one stretch that i Seem to enjoy the most : and ironicaly enough , it's in my own backyard , and has been host to 2 of My most prized catches to Date .

But lets show you the teazers'.

 

[Def-e-nition]

It's also , Recently , been the donor of one Of these : and Trust Me when i tell you this , TRUST Me - You do not want to cockily skop a barber on the ebach , and have this happen to you ..........

a slip o concentration for a fraction of a second had the barber pen Kebabing my Big and Middle toe , to the inside of the gumboot .
time stands still as The sudden dullness sets in and you realize that you've just made the biggest Mistake of your Evening .

slowly i crouched down , analyzed the gumboot , and Grabbed the barbel by it's pen , but right at the apex of where it joins to the body - And Gave it a wiggle .

Yip - That's through alright .
In one end , out the other , and into the Middle toe , stopping 2/3 rd's of the way Through .

Tides pushing , it's Dark , cold - and you're crouched in ankle Deep water with a frikkin Barbel pinned to the outside of your gumboot .

Fun .

i eventually realized there was just no Way of nursing this bleach blonde act , and would have to simply pull ........

Thankfully i was spared an agonizing experience in hospital having probes shoved into any orifices by the white boots themselves - The spine had gone through the boot and Therefore had all the mucous poop Removed , leaving me with nothing more than a Neatly serrated Extension to pull out .

mense , it's the first time i almost caused a wettie inside my wetsuit .almost ....

 

[Def-e-nition]

to top it all off the weather has been nothign short Of anal lately . anal . Wind blowing , Rain , high seas , lightning - i mean -wtf ? -all at ONCE ????

So , yea , getting a line in anywhere along the coast , has not been so rewarding . I also haven't slid anything in quite some time , prefferring to hone My skills using throw-baits , for League events .

got back from cape Town on Saturday , Missed quite a Few appointments, and With 5 hours of night driving behind me , just didn't have the time to Peruse Sat's weather , and Get organized .

Saturday evening i check the tides , and it seems all systems are Go for agood day's fishing . i End up staying up all night . There goes getting up early . Ah well .


sunday morning i wake up to perfect Weather . sun's out , wind's not blowing too hard - and i have bonnies and kawa-kawa's in the freezer . not the best bait for a bag, but what the heck . i slip out the house undetected ( getting good at That ) quietly pack my bait box , put in a few small throw baits for som casting practise - and a bonnie head with roughly 35% of it's body still intact, attached . might as Well go down in flames, if the Water allows it , yes ?


Klein brak is lessthen 8 from the house , so I'm there in no time .
all the While all week , i've got sheldon pounding me for tips , tricks , advice , queries , so i Decide to wake the biugger up with an Early morning bb. Bugger's sleeping , and his bbm flatlines .

I hit kleinbrak parking - not another soul in sight .

thank you .

 

[Def-e-nition]

The Water's Low , and kleinbrak has now produced a Large Parallell gully to the Shore - any elf Lover's dream come True .

In the center , but more to the right , is a Long Lip That extends About 45 M further out than the Rest of the coastline .
i Decide to befriend This piece of abnormality , rig up the big gun , and wade out to put in a long shot .

if i can give anybody advice on sliding so Far as technique is concerned , then my tip would be these :

Make sure the sinker bails are closed properly after your practise cast , or whatever , as nto doing this will only result in a Large bait dislodging your Perfect cast;
and focus your attention solidly on One Thing : getting the bait out to your sinker .
Far too Many times , due to minimal financial Restrictions , i have simply accepted my takes for what they were worth , not Minding a burn-off here or there - an entirely stupid attitude to follow in the first place , considering the effort involved in getting to The beach etc .

i Grab My biggest Circlehook , rig up The bonnito after Scratching in my box , and pain-stakingly zip-tie it's Mouth to the hook .

The bait is clipped on , and i focus purely on Getting the bait Past and over this Newly-made longdrop into the ocean . so Far so good .


a better picture early Morning setting, for Me, is hard to find ..

 

[Def-e-nition]

The time is now : 7.40 , or thereabouts . I'm a little concerned as the strong sidewash is pulling me off slightly to the Left , but having shaken that bait until my arms fall off , i decide I am Lying more then deep enough to have cleared a few Troughs .

The gun is Loaded .



with the new poofter poseidon heavy i rig up a throw bait and walk Well clear to my right , off to what looks to be an even better Drop\-off point. The waves in front of Me are coming in in a 10 - 5 direction , indicating I'm standing to the right of the furtherest point out . nice . For once my throw bait line is going to Steer clear of the damn slide . nothing , nothing More annoying than casting out a throwbait only to find ithooking the slide , and completely dismantling all your hard work . sliding from the beach into a pushing Tide is tough enough as it is , so i Was determined as ever to not foul the 2 .

The baits out ten minutes when the first nudge occurs . i reel in my newest experiment , with 10/0 Daiichi (man i Love those hooks - so sharp you could hook your own shadow with it ) and a 3/0 big gun BELOW it - in short - nothing should escape This rig . Which is precisely how i ended up with a barbel pen through my boot . ..

clean as a Whistle . the Water's beginning to push into the 4 m swell mark now - not good .
Ah Well - beats the hell out of lying in bed on a sunday worrying about work on Monday .

Rod's Loading nicely now and I'm Getting some good distance . one by One the baits are picked off and falling like flies - i didn't bring much bait to begin with , so I'm enjoying the fact there's at least something in the water .

At around 10 am I'm beginning to get restless . The Water , Meanwhile , is starting to Look very good . The usual practice would be to reel in after an hour or two to check the baits . I'm more concerned about the sinker sticking - ag what the heck - it's quiet , we'll Leave it in a Little longer .

2 1/2 hours of fishing , and not a soul in sight .

 

[Def-e-nition]

My throwbait rig Needs to be re-baited , and i foolishly turn my back on the Gun , to face into the wind .

As I'm tying up the throwbait - i hear The Ratchet on the Saltiga take off .

I turn around to find the Gun being pulled almost parallel to the Deck in the holder ..............

a 25 Meter Dash to the holder and i Look down .

Topshots gone and The big guy's pulling off into the braid already . ............

ohhhh HELL yea !! We've got a live one folks . i almost castrate Myself pulling the now-loaded rod out of the quick Release rod-holder , and The big Guy makes a right turn to head for open water .
off comes the spyder braid and we're into the crystal .
Why 2 braid types ? oh i though it'd be a good idea Long ago to top up the crystal with some fresh stuff , as we hardly ever venture Past the first 300 M of braid ..

I never got to Make one single turn of the handle , and The big guy simply never looked back .....

 

[Def-e-nition]

A holiday couple < seeing the sprint to the loaded Gun have now joined me , and thanks to them , this is all i have as Witness to my fish .

I tighten up on the drag, Which only causes The big guy to shift up a gear , and i Watch helplessly as he Eats through my crystal as if i was free-spooling . I'm in my element , the guy wants to Know what he can do to help , to which i reply "just enjoy it !!"

I Lean back and give The big guy a bit of resistence to pull on . the smile on my face Though Says it all , and I am loving every minute of it . It's been more than a year , since I've had such a good Run on a slide from a decent fish , so i Lean back , and enjoy the show .

Heaven.

 

[Def-e-nition]

The reel just never stops turning .

In the top pic you can see me now using the fingers on the spool to slow The big guy down .


Like trying to stop your dad's stationwagon from rolling down the hill by putting your foot behind the back wheel ..

he clears the 400 M Mark and show's absolutely no sign of jumping, or stopping .

Jirrrrrrr.

 

[Def-e-nition]

All the while I'm Trying to figure out what Might be on the other end of the line , thoughts race to my tackle , knots used , Leader thickness - everything comes Racing at you at once .

He's through almost all of The crystal now , and in more than 2 Years, i've only been pulled down to where we are now , one Other time , when i took on Red October . I'm not Panicky , but man - take a Good look At those pics . My handle didn't move an inch !

Between straight-sticking and Leaning into it , my back was more than beginning to Feel it now , and although i didn't want it to stop ,i wanted it to stop .

crunch time .

i got down on My knee , turned up the drag another half inch , and Leaned back hard . Whatever it Was was Making Minced Meat of my attempts to control it's progress , and with enough backing to Stop it , eventually , i was sure This one was in the bag .

If Only i hadn't used this Same rig off swembaadjie perhaps a Month ago , I would've been posing with a decent Goen (or silently walk away from a Ryan johnson ).

He'd obviously had a Decent breakfast , because for 8 minutes solid i Watched him strip line off my reel like nobody's business .

 

[Def-e-nition]

Somewhere off swembaadjie , í Mustvé Knicked the line on the bricks , and The constant pressure on the Line eventually sent a nice solid "Diff " down the rod - The Line had parted .

%@&&%#&#$& !!!!!!!!!


Nevertheless - i got up off my knee feeling a little bad , but what a fish . it didn't matter if i hooked anything further today - and i didn't , I was just glad to have been on and into such a Good fish , right here in my backyard .The Same backyard that was morelike a graveyard the entire December , As Most of you will vouch for .

Yoh . What a fight . what a pull .....

Rig up again , or go Home ?


With the water now Pushing into the 4M + , I put out one last kawa-kawa , knowing the swell would Now block off anything else's attempts to come Look for Trouble , and with shell power helping me with the Rod holders , i finally pulled the plug on the Day .

I told the boss i'd be finished "quickly ". The time was now aroung 13h45 . Overshot My Mark by a comfortable Margin . Good Thing i carry spare Vests in the Car hey .



so , yip - captain hook strikes it again , and lands Nothing .

but after ThAT tussle with some Muscle , and this time off a beach -

WAtch This space .......................

 

[Enigma]

So glad you decided not to retire from report writing

Long time I had a good read like this, thanks and may it be sooner than later that the man with a Big Grey jacket poses with you for a pic and may it be a Bronze Jacket rather than a White Jacket

Aaanhouer wen b

 

[JVW]

Good report Stu.

 

[PatrickC]

Great post Def! Hope you get him next time! Its experiences like that, that keep us going back

 

[Trophy]

Welcome Back Def!!

Man that was another GREAT read...boy have I missed your posts.

Dont worry Def my season has been just as bad and it looks like it will not get any better in the last days of summer.

Keep them coming...

 

[FLUKE]

Great report Def. My back yard has also been like a desert but I know a point near a river and I'm planning on getting there soon.

 

[aquadementia]

lekker Def! great report...
better luck next time

 

[mark norval]

Now that was a good read. Nice post there Stu!!! Next time! The famous line this year. Always good to get that pull and when you loose it you dont feel that bad because you have not felt it in forever!

 

[optic]

Brilliant post as usual Stu, still the best reports.
Thanx