Friday, January 11, 2013

South Sea Safaris - Fishing Update

WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE LOCAL SCENE - Tuesday 8 January 2013




The early part of the tuna season has come and gone and whilst we did not catch huge numbers of fish, we did get yellowfin on almost every trip. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for in size. We had fish of 80kg plus on every trip that we did catch yellowfin. Our best tally was 13 in one day. The usually fickle Cape weather kept us off the sea for most of the time, but we did get the odd gaps between blows. October and November were OK, but December turned into a pretty bad time as far as wind is concerned. We only managed three sea days in the latter half of December. This when our book was overflowing with anglers wanting to get out there.



We are now fast approaching February and will shortly be heading for Struisbaai and the marlin season. Hopefully we can beat our record of last year



Shore Angling



On the shore angling side things have been pretty quiet and I have not heard of any really good fishing anywhere. There have been some flurries of cob and so on from the Swartklip/Strandfontein area, but the big bronzies have to a large extent been absent. The Strand reefs have delivered the odd good fish, but once again, generally quiet. A few weeks ago there was some very good activity down at Struisbaaiplaat and the guys that were there caught some very nice cob. The beaches around Hangklip have produced cob fairly regulary, but the cape salmon never really arrived in any numbers.



Offshore

As mentioned above, the yellowfin have not been too prolific. Apart from one week in November when the guys had really good catches. We were unfortuately, due to a bit of brainfade on our side, not at sea that week. As for the rest of the season, it was OK with some really enormous fish being caught. The Hout Bay Tuna Derby was won by a fish of 109kg and second place went to a 102kg fish! I think the top ten fish were all over 90kg. We had good fun during the last week when plenty of young longfin tuna went on a feeding frenzy just off Cape Point. On light tackle the guys really had some good fishing. The yellowtail and snoek have been plentiful at the Cape Point and on some days it has been a formality to get 10 yellowtail per person. True to their form though, there have been other days when the yellowtail have been as tight lipped child refusing brussel sprouts. Nothing and no-one could entice them to open their mouths to eat something. The fishing at Cape Point continues to be good however, and most days produce good fish. We now wait patiently for the return of the tuna in April.



Cape Agulhas

Contrary to last year when nothing happened, the fishing down there has been very very good. There have been enough cape salmon and yellowtail to keep everyone happy and although I have been stuck in Gordons Bay, the reports coming through are that the fish are still plentiful. Both divers and anglers have been doing well. We will be heading down there at the end of Jan and hopefully the fish will hang around long enough so that we can also have a go at them. I have not heard of any marlin sightings yet, but we will be focusing on them during Feb and early March. As mentioned before, we became the first boat to catch and release 10 marlin in one month in Struisbaai last year. Our book for Struis is pretty full and if you are interested in going, I would suggest you contact us soon. Even so, we may only be able to accomodate you in the event we have a cancellation. The marlin comp had 38 boats entered at last count. This competition, although the organisers said they wanted to keep it small, has grown into one of the biggest in the Cape.