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.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE LOCAL SCENE - Tuesday 24 January 2011
I have been doing fishing reports for many years. The other day I looked back at them over the last few years and it seemed to me that the tone of these reports was becoming progressively more gloomy.
Either the wind had blown us out or the fishing was lousy or whatever. It always seemed as if the elements were against us and if we could go out, the fishing was declining. Last season was very poor, but for the late autumn tuna season and the good marlin season down at Cape Agulhas, it would have been described as one of our worst to date. BUT, along came October 2011 and with it came reasonable weather (one can never say we have great weather in the Cape) and good fish. The yellowfin season has, so far been the best we have experienced since they heydays of 2005,6and 7. The size of the fish in the early part of the season (Oct and Nov) were exceptional. Almost every trip produced fish of 90kg and more whilst the average size was around 70kg. This in itself was, at the time, cause for concern as although the fish were large, they were not that plentiful and fisheries research has shown over and over again that just before a fish stock collapses completely, the average size of the fish increases quite dramatically. November came and went with the big fish still around, and then came the best news of all. In December, massive schools of younger fish in the 30 to 50kg range moved in and the fishing was fantastic. The strong SE winds blew in moderation, the light westerlies pushed warm blue water right inshore and for a few weeks there were yellowfin everywhere. We even caught them in the shallows of Rocky Bank and SW Reefs. (Traditionally these are yellowtail areas). It was just like the big runs of fish we had seven years ago. I will go into more detail under the offshore section below.
Shore Angling
The rock and surf scene has, unfortunately not been on par with the offshore fishing. Although there have been odd periods of good fishing, the shark guys have been complaining that the usual bronze whaler haunts are not delivering as many fish as last year, and although, as mentioned, there has been the odd good day, the size of the fish being caught is also smaller. The usual sprinkling of cob and geelbek have been caught off the Strand reefs and for a while the cob fishing at Swartklip was OK, I suspect the lack of SE winds has negativley affected the surf fishing, but this is my opinion only and I am sure there are many anglers who would disagree with me and find some other reason for the lack of fish. The mountain past Gordons Bay has had some very good days and once again, I would ascribe this to the lack of SE and frequent westerlies.
Offshore
As stated above, this is where it all happened. The run of tuna has been great and whilst it is all but over now, the fish stayed later in the season than they have since 2007. I was examining my catch records and the last time we had tuna in any numbers in January, was in the 2006/07 season when we caught fish right through the summer. I caught two tons of yellowfin in January that year and almost a ton in February. The most encouraging thing to emerge from this season is the fact that there were so many younger fish around. We have not seen good recruitment for many years and this may signal an upturn in our yellowfin stocks once again. It has been said that much of the commercial tuna fleet that has been operating in the Indian Ocean for the last ten years has been chased away by the booming piracy business. I never thought I would say it, but if this is the case, then "Up the Pirates". The yellowfin stocks have been under severe pressure from overfishing in the Indian Ocean and the IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) was on the verge of placing the Indian Ocean stocks of yellowfin on the red list. Maybe, just maybe, there is a ray of hope for these fantastic gamefish. It would be a sad day indeed if the yellowfin went the same way as the bluefin and until this season, I for one did not think they had a snowballs chance in hell of making it. Hopefully the next year or two will prove me wrong. It would be one of the few times that I welcome being completely off the mark. The yellowfin fishery off Cape Point is one of the few fisheries we have that is regarded as world class and not only would the demise of the yellowfin be a travesty, but it would probably spell the end of our charter industry as well. Our charter business in the Cape is already one of the toughest due to adverse sea and weather conditions. Should the fishing go south, so would our businesses.
Now that the tuna have left to go wherever they go in the Indian Ocean again, we wait to see if our autumn season is going to be as exciting as the early summer one was. The bookings are already flowing in for April. Lets hope the fish play ball.
Cape Agulhas
As is usual at this time of the year, we are once again planning to get Tyler down to Struisbaai for February and March for the marlin season. It is also more than likely the last year where we will be able to catch red steenbras. If the powers that be have their way, the catching of these magnificent fish will be banned outright during the course of this year. It was due to have happened already, but once again the beaurocratic bungling of the supposed guardian of our seas, Marine and Coastal Management (should be called Mismanagement) has resulted in delays, debates and dissention. In this case it has worked in our favour for a change. So if you wish to catch a red steenbras, now would be the time to book.
As for the marlin, if last year was anything to go by, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not coming out with us to try to catch one. Last season we had four fish in as many trips and had a gaggle of hook-ups, strikes, and general mayhem. We even had a full house (six rods) strike on striped marlin. It was a sight to behold and to say "chaos ruled" would be the understatement of the year. Five of the six fell off, but we got one to the boat and had a successful tag and release. I am acutely aware of the fact that we have a very poor strike to hook-up rate on these fish and it has been the subject of many late night debates over many beers. I say "we" meaning all the boats that fish in that area. Some years ago, when we started catching these fish, I put it down to inexperience. None of us had a clue what we were doing and I ascribed the low hook-up rate to this fact. Since then we have caught enough marlin to move up from the rank of absolute novice to somewhere between amatuer and mildly experienced. Yet the damn hook-up rate stays at about 1 in 6. We are still debating the reasons and have since read many books on the subject. One day when I know, you will all be the first to share my knowledge. In the meanwhile, although we are having plenty of fun catching these things, it is still rather frustrating when one spends a day out there, gets five or six strikes and every one of them either fails to stick or falls off after a short time. We will get to the bottom of it, watch this space.
Lastly, the Struisbaai Yellowtail Derby and the Five Species (two separate competitions) will be held again this year. The group of guys that joined us on the yellowtail derby last year have booked again for this year, but there are many days still open in the diary. Come and join us for a day or a few. Struisbaai and Cape Agulhas are cool spots.
Till next time, tight lines and good fishing.
Regards - The SSS team.
I have been doing fishing reports for many years. The other day I looked back at them over the last few years and it seemed to me that the tone of these reports was becoming progressively more gloomy.
Either the wind had blown us out or the fishing was lousy or whatever. It always seemed as if the elements were against us and if we could go out, the fishing was declining. Last season was very poor, but for the late autumn tuna season and the good marlin season down at Cape Agulhas, it would have been described as one of our worst to date. BUT, along came October 2011 and with it came reasonable weather (one can never say we have great weather in the Cape) and good fish. The yellowfin season has, so far been the best we have experienced since they heydays of 2005,6and 7. The size of the fish in the early part of the season (Oct and Nov) were exceptional. Almost every trip produced fish of 90kg and more whilst the average size was around 70kg. This in itself was, at the time, cause for concern as although the fish were large, they were not that plentiful and fisheries research has shown over and over again that just before a fish stock collapses completely, the average size of the fish increases quite dramatically. November came and went with the big fish still around, and then came the best news of all. In December, massive schools of younger fish in the 30 to 50kg range moved in and the fishing was fantastic. The strong SE winds blew in moderation, the light westerlies pushed warm blue water right inshore and for a few weeks there were yellowfin everywhere. We even caught them in the shallows of Rocky Bank and SW Reefs. (Traditionally these are yellowtail areas). It was just like the big runs of fish we had seven years ago. I will go into more detail under the offshore section below.
Shore Angling
The rock and surf scene has, unfortunately not been on par with the offshore fishing. Although there have been odd periods of good fishing, the shark guys have been complaining that the usual bronze whaler haunts are not delivering as many fish as last year, and although, as mentioned, there has been the odd good day, the size of the fish being caught is also smaller. The usual sprinkling of cob and geelbek have been caught off the Strand reefs and for a while the cob fishing at Swartklip was OK, I suspect the lack of SE winds has negativley affected the surf fishing, but this is my opinion only and I am sure there are many anglers who would disagree with me and find some other reason for the lack of fish. The mountain past Gordons Bay has had some very good days and once again, I would ascribe this to the lack of SE and frequent westerlies.
Offshore
As stated above, this is where it all happened. The run of tuna has been great and whilst it is all but over now, the fish stayed later in the season than they have since 2007. I was examining my catch records and the last time we had tuna in any numbers in January, was in the 2006/07 season when we caught fish right through the summer. I caught two tons of yellowfin in January that year and almost a ton in February. The most encouraging thing to emerge from this season is the fact that there were so many younger fish around. We have not seen good recruitment for many years and this may signal an upturn in our yellowfin stocks once again. It has been said that much of the commercial tuna fleet that has been operating in the Indian Ocean for the last ten years has been chased away by the booming piracy business. I never thought I would say it, but if this is the case, then "Up the Pirates". The yellowfin stocks have been under severe pressure from overfishing in the Indian Ocean and the IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) was on the verge of placing the Indian Ocean stocks of yellowfin on the red list. Maybe, just maybe, there is a ray of hope for these fantastic gamefish. It would be a sad day indeed if the yellowfin went the same way as the bluefin and until this season, I for one did not think they had a snowballs chance in hell of making it. Hopefully the next year or two will prove me wrong. It would be one of the few times that I welcome being completely off the mark. The yellowfin fishery off Cape Point is one of the few fisheries we have that is regarded as world class and not only would the demise of the yellowfin be a travesty, but it would probably spell the end of our charter industry as well. Our charter business in the Cape is already one of the toughest due to adverse sea and weather conditions. Should the fishing go south, so would our businesses.
Now that the tuna have left to go wherever they go in the Indian Ocean again, we wait to see if our autumn season is going to be as exciting as the early summer one was. The bookings are already flowing in for April. Lets hope the fish play ball.
Cape Agulhas
As is usual at this time of the year, we are once again planning to get Tyler down to Struisbaai for February and March for the marlin season. It is also more than likely the last year where we will be able to catch red steenbras. If the powers that be have their way, the catching of these magnificent fish will be banned outright during the course of this year. It was due to have happened already, but once again the beaurocratic bungling of the supposed guardian of our seas, Marine and Coastal Management (should be called Mismanagement) has resulted in delays, debates and dissention. In this case it has worked in our favour for a change. So if you wish to catch a red steenbras, now would be the time to book.
As for the marlin, if last year was anything to go by, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not coming out with us to try to catch one. Last season we had four fish in as many trips and had a gaggle of hook-ups, strikes, and general mayhem. We even had a full house (six rods) strike on striped marlin. It was a sight to behold and to say "chaos ruled" would be the understatement of the year. Five of the six fell off, but we got one to the boat and had a successful tag and release. I am acutely aware of the fact that we have a very poor strike to hook-up rate on these fish and it has been the subject of many late night debates over many beers. I say "we" meaning all the boats that fish in that area. Some years ago, when we started catching these fish, I put it down to inexperience. None of us had a clue what we were doing and I ascribed the low hook-up rate to this fact. Since then we have caught enough marlin to move up from the rank of absolute novice to somewhere between amatuer and mildly experienced. Yet the damn hook-up rate stays at about 1 in 6. We are still debating the reasons and have since read many books on the subject. One day when I know, you will all be the first to share my knowledge. In the meanwhile, although we are having plenty of fun catching these things, it is still rather frustrating when one spends a day out there, gets five or six strikes and every one of them either fails to stick or falls off after a short time. We will get to the bottom of it, watch this space.
Lastly, the Struisbaai Yellowtail Derby and the Five Species (two separate competitions) will be held again this year. The group of guys that joined us on the yellowtail derby last year have booked again for this year, but there are many days still open in the diary. Come and join us for a day or a few. Struisbaai and Cape Agulhas are cool spots.
Till next time, tight lines and good fishing.
Regards - The SSS team.
Monday, March 14, 2011
South Sea Safaris - Update
WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE LOCAL SCENE - Monday 14 March 2011
Further news is that the SA Shore Angling Nationals delivered tons of fish, well shark actually. Literally. I am not a shark angler and hope never to become one, but respect to those who do battle with them and pull the cartiliginous critters from the sea. At least they are all put back to fight again another day. I am not sure exactly how many were caught, but last I heard they had caught around eight tons of various flat fish and sharks. Mostly bronzies I should imagine. Natal managed to wrestle the most sharks from the sea, followed by Boland and then our very own Western Province boys. Well done to all the guys who took part. I should imagine there were a few stiff arms and sore backs around by the end of the week. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that they also probably had the best weather week we have had in months. As far as edible fish go, I am once again under correction, but I am told there were five Kob caught for the whole competition.
The SA Shore Angling B Nationals were also held recently in Struisbaai and according to those reports, the guys did equally well down there. Plenty of big ragged tooths, big flat fish (rays) and all sorts of other odds and ends. Whilst down there and on one of the breezy days that I could not go to sea, I went to "Die Walle" area and tagged 7 kob in a couple of hours. Sizes ranged from just undersize to about three kg's. As I mentioned before, I am not a shark angler so, for me to catch some nice kob was paradise.
Offshore
On the tuna side the news is that the fish seem to be getting better. We have done two trips in the last week and have caught a few longfin on both of them. Some of the boats did quite well, but we seemed to zig when the others zagged. Last Tuesday one of the Hout Bay charter boats landed two bigeye tuna of 102 and 105kg respectively. I saw them boat the fish and they were enormous. They had a three up strike on their trolled lures and whilst one fish bent open the hooks, the other two stuck and they boated both. Yesterday saw a few yellowfin in the 50kg class being boated just NW of the canyon area and a number of longfin were also caught. Some of the longies were up to 20kg and this is always a good sign. It is the first time in a long while that I have seen the water really blue and looking like "tuna water".
At one point, whilst trolling in the area where a few yellowfin ahd been taken earlier, I noticed a sharp, sickle shaped fin slicing the water dead ahead of the boat. A second later it dawned on me that I was looking at the upper tail section of a big marlin cruising down the swell just ahead of us. I had a kona out back, but try as I might, I could not get the fish to get behind us amongst the lures. It insisted on somehow staying ahead of the boat and a while later it simply disappeared and we never saw it again. I have been fishing the tuna grounds for a very long time and it is my first confirmed sighting of a marlin out there. Everyone else seems to have seen them, but not me. Now I too have seen one. Pity we could not get it to bite. Maybe next time!
So, the news is that the right water is out there and we have a few yellowfin about. Since Nov it has been practically stone dead out there and moving into the autumn season, it is around now that the yellowfin can start showing up. In fact, they traditionally start showing up anytime in March and if the signs are anything to go by, maybe, just maybe, we will have some sort of normality with our yellowfin season in the next few months. The next few weeks will deliver the answers.
Cape Agulhas
This is where all the action has been in the last few weeks and we managed to get our fair share of it. Last week, we released another Striped marlin (caught by Patrick Christodoulou) and lost a big black marlin that spat the hooks after five minutes. We managed two days on the Alphards and although I was not fortunate enough to be out on the boat on those occasions, according to the crew there was more than enough excitement to keep everyone happy. On the first outing, they raised nine marlin and had two hook-ups, both of which fell off after short runs. On the second outing, they raised four fish and managed to release a striped marlin of 80kg or so. A big black marlin also attached himself to the kona for a while, but fell of after five minutes or so.
On Saturday Gareth took his dad out marlin fishing. (We could not manage to rustle up a charter after a few guys showed interest, but no-one came through.) The weather was great and rather than waste a day on land, Gareth took Doc out to try for the marlin that had, to date, eluded him. A while after arriving at the Twelve Mile bank, they caught a small yellowfin and rigged it on a circle hook as a live-bait. Half an hour passed with no action, then the ourigger clicked, a shadow appeared in the water behind the livey and a second later a fish was moving off at increasing speed with the yellowfin clamped tightly in it's jaws. Gareth tightened up the drag, the rod dipped heavily and Doc was on with his first marlin. Simple as that. An hour or so later they had the fish alongside. It turned out to be a black marlin of about 150kg. Well hooked in the corner of the mouth. The fish was tagged, a photo or two taken, the hook removed and set free to fight again another day. Doc had his marlin. He has fished all over the world to catch one and he finally did it right here, on our own doorstep. Chalk another one up to the marlin fishing of Struisbaai. One strike, one fish............and our first on a livebait!
I am acutely aware of the fact that we have a very poor strike to hook-up rate on these fish when using kona's. It has been the subject of many late night debates over many beers. I say "we" meaning all the boats that fish in that area. Some years ago, when we started catching these fish, I put it down to inexperience. None of us had a clue what we were doing and I ascribed the low hook-up rate to this fact. Since then we have caught enough marlin to move up from the rank of absolute novice to somewhere between amatuer and mildly experienced. Yet the damn hook-up rate stays at about 1 in 6. We are still debating the reasons and have since read many books on the subject. One day when I know, you will all be the first to share my knowledge. In the meanwhile, although we are having plenty of fun catching these things, it is still rather frustrating when one spends a day out there, gets five or six strikes and every one of them either fails to stick or falls off after a short time. We will get to the bottom of it, watch this space. To those of you who have already contributed to our "knowledge base" by sending articles and advice, thank you. Everything helps. Some confuses the hell out of us, but it all helps!
Lastly, the Struisbaai Yellowtail Derby and the Five Species (two separate competitions) were held on Saturday. We took a group of clients that had not fished with us for some years and managed to get the biggest Kob of the competition. Once again, I was not there, but judging by the reports, the guys had a ball. The yellowtail were really scarce, as they have been for the whole season and apparently there were only a few caught on the Twelve Mile Bank. The latest news on the yellowtail is that yesterday they went bananas at the 12 Mile Bank. Some of the commercial boats had over two tons of fish for the morning. It is about time that they put in an appearance there. Hopefully they will be around for a while. Thats my lot for now. For further details on our fishing trips and what is biting where, go to South Sea Safaris
Till next time
Tight lines, good fishing
The last two months in Struisbaai have delivered some really good fishing for us and our clients. We have raised somewhere in the region of 30 marlin, had numerous hook-ups, released two very nice striped marlin and most recently, a black marlin of around 150kg . A few more big black marlin have also managed to "fall off" after fighting them for various periods of time. In addition to this we have had some classy red steenbras, up to 27kg, but the really big ones have still eluded us. Now, we are wrapping things up down there. We will be bringing Tyler back this week and it will then be back to tuna and whatever else we can find in this neck of the woods. The news from the tuna grounds is that things are starting to happen. Hopefully we will experience a better second half of the season than the dismal start we had in October and November. But, more of that later.
Shore Angling
In our last report and on the blog, we reported that Brian McFarlane, our good friend and sometimes client, caught a magnificent Kob of 38kg. This time he fished in the Five Species Tournament in Struisbaai and caught a whole bagful of various fish including belman and kob. For his efforts he came second and won a tuna fishing charter with South Sea Safaris. Sorry Brian, hope you get a better prize next time, but for this time you will just have to come and pull a few of those big yellowfins with us. Hopefully.
The SA Shore Angling B Nationals were also held recently in Struisbaai and according to those reports, the guys did equally well down there. Plenty of big ragged tooths, big flat fish (rays) and all sorts of other odds and ends. Whilst down there and on one of the breezy days that I could not go to sea, I went to "Die Walle" area and tagged 7 kob in a couple of hours. Sizes ranged from just undersize to about three kg's. As I mentioned before, I am not a shark angler so, for me to catch some nice kob was paradise.
Offshore
On the tuna side the news is that the fish seem to be getting better. We have done two trips in the last week and have caught a few longfin on both of them. Some of the boats did quite well, but we seemed to zig when the others zagged. Last Tuesday one of the Hout Bay charter boats landed two bigeye tuna of 102 and 105kg respectively. I saw them boat the fish and they were enormous. They had a three up strike on their trolled lures and whilst one fish bent open the hooks, the other two stuck and they boated both. Yesterday saw a few yellowfin in the 50kg class being boated just NW of the canyon area and a number of longfin were also caught. Some of the longies were up to 20kg and this is always a good sign. It is the first time in a long while that I have seen the water really blue and looking like "tuna water".
At one point, whilst trolling in the area where a few yellowfin ahd been taken earlier, I noticed a sharp, sickle shaped fin slicing the water dead ahead of the boat. A second later it dawned on me that I was looking at the upper tail section of a big marlin cruising down the swell just ahead of us. I had a kona out back, but try as I might, I could not get the fish to get behind us amongst the lures. It insisted on somehow staying ahead of the boat and a while later it simply disappeared and we never saw it again. I have been fishing the tuna grounds for a very long time and it is my first confirmed sighting of a marlin out there. Everyone else seems to have seen them, but not me. Now I too have seen one. Pity we could not get it to bite. Maybe next time!
So, the news is that the right water is out there and we have a few yellowfin about. Since Nov it has been practically stone dead out there and moving into the autumn season, it is around now that the yellowfin can start showing up. In fact, they traditionally start showing up anytime in March and if the signs are anything to go by, maybe, just maybe, we will have some sort of normality with our yellowfin season in the next few months. The next few weeks will deliver the answers.
Cape Agulhas
This is where all the action has been in the last few weeks and we managed to get our fair share of it. Last week, we released another Striped marlin (caught by Patrick Christodoulou) and lost a big black marlin that spat the hooks after five minutes. We managed two days on the Alphards and although I was not fortunate enough to be out on the boat on those occasions, according to the crew there was more than enough excitement to keep everyone happy. On the first outing, they raised nine marlin and had two hook-ups, both of which fell off after short runs. On the second outing, they raised four fish and managed to release a striped marlin of 80kg or so. A big black marlin also attached himself to the kona for a while, but fell of after five minutes or so. On Saturday Gareth took his dad out marlin fishing. (We could not manage to rustle up a charter after a few guys showed interest, but no-one came through.) The weather was great and rather than waste a day on land, Gareth took Doc out to try for the marlin that had, to date, eluded him. A while after arriving at the Twelve Mile bank, they caught a small yellowfin and rigged it on a circle hook as a live-bait. Half an hour passed with no action, then the ourigger clicked, a shadow appeared in the water behind the livey and a second later a fish was moving off at increasing speed with the yellowfin clamped tightly in it's jaws. Gareth tightened up the drag, the rod dipped heavily and Doc was on with his first marlin. Simple as that. An hour or so later they had the fish alongside. It turned out to be a black marlin of about 150kg. Well hooked in the corner of the mouth. The fish was tagged, a photo or two taken, the hook removed and set free to fight again another day. Doc had his marlin. He has fished all over the world to catch one and he finally did it right here, on our own doorstep. Chalk another one up to the marlin fishing of Struisbaai. One strike, one fish............and our first on a livebait!
I am acutely aware of the fact that we have a very poor strike to hook-up rate on these fish when using kona's. It has been the subject of many late night debates over many beers. I say "we" meaning all the boats that fish in that area. Some years ago, when we started catching these fish, I put it down to inexperience. None of us had a clue what we were doing and I ascribed the low hook-up rate to this fact. Since then we have caught enough marlin to move up from the rank of absolute novice to somewhere between amatuer and mildly experienced. Yet the damn hook-up rate stays at about 1 in 6. We are still debating the reasons and have since read many books on the subject. One day when I know, you will all be the first to share my knowledge. In the meanwhile, although we are having plenty of fun catching these things, it is still rather frustrating when one spends a day out there, gets five or six strikes and every one of them either fails to stick or falls off after a short time. We will get to the bottom of it, watch this space. To those of you who have already contributed to our "knowledge base" by sending articles and advice, thank you. Everything helps. Some confuses the hell out of us, but it all helps!
Till next time
Tight lines, good fishing
Thursday, February 17, 2011
South Sea Safaris - Agulhas Update
On Monday I did an update and gave some feedback on the Marlin Tournament held in Struisbaai last week and the two days of "marlin mayhem' on the Alphard Banks. Our plans were to get out there this week and for once mother nature smiled upon us and gave us two good weather days when we needed them. The forecast showed Tuesday and Wednesday as being very nice and we lined up a couple of charter clients that have been waiting to get out there.
Ion Williams and his group (regular clients and good friends) joined us on Tuesday morning. We left harbour at 4.30am and arrived at the Alphards (42 miles SE of Struisbaai) at 6.30am. The sea was flat calm and our first plan was to catch some yellowtail on the pinnacles. The 'tail did not let us down, and although they were small fish (2-3kg) we caught about twenty or so before they started going off the bite. By then a there were about five boats on the banks and a few were already trolling kona's for marlin. It was soon clear that Tuesday was not going to be a repeat performance of the events on Saturday and Sunday when the marlin went absolutely bananas. (See my previous blog/report on that story) 
By around 10am we had not seen any action and although one or two other boats had seen a marlin or two and had reported a strike here and there, none had been successfully caught. We decided to try for a few bottomfish. At about 11.30 we had caught our fill of bottoms and went back on the troll. Not long after, one of the clients spotted a striped marlin greyhounding across the sea a few hundred meters from us. We headed in his direction and within minutes had a very lit up stripey stalking our kona's, but before we could get really excited, he turned away and that was the last we saw of him.
Just then "Blade", another boat not far from us, reported a strike and "fish on". It was a big (around 250kg) black marlin and after having the fish on for about 5 minutes, the wind-on leader failed. I could hear in his voice on the radio that Patrick Christodoulou, the angler, was as mad as a snake. And I did not blame him one bit. I am sure the manufacturer of the leader has, and rightfully so, by now had an earful. Marlin fishing is difficult at the best of times and tackle failure is unforgivable. That was the end of the action for the day and although no marlin were caught, is was still a very nice day on the banks. The wind had been pushing gently from the west all day and after the previous day of easterly, I was hoping that the westerly would bring the fish on a bit better on Wednesday.
The next morning we were at it again. Tony de la Fontaine had given his lovely wife, Marjo, a marlin for Valentines day. And we had been given the task of delivering it......No pressure here!! Wednesday arrived with a light SSW wind and by 7am we were back on the banks. The water was a bit bluer, a bit warmer and had a bit more of a kick in it than the previous day. What is more, we were the only boat there. Clearly the lack of activity on Tuesday had discouraged the rest of the mob. I know hindsight is an exact science and it is easy to make statements after the fact, but I really did remark to the rest of the crew that things just felt different, the conditions were right.
Our plan was, firstly to get a few 'tail and then go in search of the marlin. The first fish hooked on the spoon was a decent one and after a good go, Marjo had an 8kg yellowtail on the boat. A hour or so later we had caught enough 'tail and whilst we were debating whether to start trolling, a marlin jumped clear of the water about 300 meters from the boat and our minds were made. By 8.15 we we trolling and at 8.45 one of the outriggers bucked as a fish gave the far left kona a clout. A split second later the ratchet screamed and not too many split seconds later Gareth had the rod in his hands and pushed the drag to full strike. Fish on!
I left the wheel to lend a hand and for a second I was very puzzled to see Gareth standing holding a seriously bent rod with line heading to the horizon and yet I could see the dorsal fin of a marlin quite close to the boat. Even before the penny dropped that this was a second fish, the outrigger jumped as the stripey hit the short left kona and a second later the next reel was howling. Whilst holding the first rod, Gareth leaned over and pushed the second one to full strike. Then the pawpaw really hit the fan. I was on my way to grab the second rod when the third rigger clip snapped, then the fourth. To try to describe the situation in detail is impossible. I have heard of marlin "pack attacks", and in the last few days a couple of boats have experienced them. Until this moment I had never. Four fish on in a matter of seconds. The sound of multiple Tiagra reels belting out a cacophony of ratchets is indescribable. You gotta be there! Then the second rod to go tight went silent. A second later the rod that Gareth was holding went slack. The fourth fish had already come unstuck before we even had a chance to touch the rod and I was left with the third and last fish peeling line from the Tiagra 30 at an alarming rate.
A minute or two into the excitement and the reel was about three-quarter down to the spool. Gareth grabbed the wheel to turn and chase the fish whilst I strapped Marjo into the black magic harness and then that line stopped running as well................The sudden silence and the "what the hell just happened" look on everyones faces would have made interesting video footage. In fact the whole episode would have been interesting. We started recovering the lines that had been run out from the boat in all directions, hundreds of meters of it. The last line to lose it's fish was also the last kona we retrieved. As I reeled it closer to the boat the electric blue of a lit up marlin materialized behind the lure. Gareth and I saw it simultaneously and whilst reeling like hell, the hungry stripey engulfed the kona, I let him get his head down and then hit him hard to set the hook. Once again the line peeled from the reel and after a few hundred meters he slowed down. I really feared that this fish would, as the others had done, run a few hundred meters and simply spit the hook, but this time he stayed stuck and we strapped Marjo into her first marlin. We then settled into the fight and half an hour later we had a very lively stripey of about 75kg alongside the boat. Yours truly had to hold him by the bill whilst everyone else tried to sort out a very fancy Nikon camera that had decided this was the right moment to get temperamental. The result was I nearly got my eyeballs shaken out of my head and we did not really get any good photo's of the fish. The one we did get shows my sunglasses being shaken clean off my face! Aahh, such is life, but we did tag and release him, or her, to live and fight again another day.
AND, Marjo got her Valentines day present. Damn, I love it when a plan comes together.
Half an hour later or so we had another single strike but the fish did not stick around. With the pressure off, we went back to the pinnacle to be greeted by schools of yellowtail milling around on the surface. We got some underwater video footage of the yellowtail and after playing with the camera for a while, Gareth took his gun and on two drifts shot a 7kg geelbek and two yellowtail, one of which was a real bruiser but it pulled off the spear. I saw it fighting just below him and it was a very BIG fish. The language that came out of the snorkel was blue. We caught a few more and could probably have filled the boat if we wanted to. It was incredible to see so many fish on the pinnacles in the middle of the day. Usually they disappear into the depths during the day and I can only ascribe the reason they didn't to the fact that they weren't getting harrassed by multiple boats and divers. It will go down in my books as one of the best days I have had at the sea. I do not know if it will ever happen again, but I will remember it as the first day someone got a marlin for Valentines day and I saw a "marlin pack attack".
As a matter of interest, it is also the first day since I arrived a month ago that I have seen blue water on the "Vlakbank". I stopped there briefly on the way home yesterday and it had gone from green on Tuesday to a deep irridescent blue. I really thought things were coming right with the water and the weather. Today the SE wind is back with a vengeance and it is forecast to blow for a week. It will very likely make the water green and cold again. I am holding thumbs that I am wrong, but I cannot see how it will fail to do so. Next week is the SA National Spearfishing Championship and it will be held right here in Struisbaai. Hopefully the guys will get some dive time and decent water, but at this stage it seems like a long shot. I will be tagging fish at De Hoop with Marine and Coastal Management. Someone's gotta do it!
Will the marlin and warm water be here next Friday? Who knows, I will do an update next week when I return. Till then, tight lines.
Cheers
Alan
Monday, February 14, 2011
Cape Agulhas and Two Oceans Marlin Tournament Report
Hi All
The Two Oceans Marlin Tournament has come and gone, and as usual, it did not disappoint. In the week preceding the tournament the SE winds were really puffing away and this resulted in some green and very un-marlin like water in the usual marlin areas. Nonetheless, two days before competition a gentle westerly wind turned the water a better colour and on the Tuesday before the comp a 112kg Striped Marlin was caught by the boat Aqua Tess. The opening function brought all the anglers together and with Wednesday being the first fishing day, expectations were high. Unfortunately the SE wind made a strong comeback and fishing was called off on the first two days. Friday saw the wind turn into the west the although conditions were bumpy, the organisers called the comp on. The water was mostly green and cold, but one the boats got out as far as the 100meter contour, (about 15 to 20 miles out0 the water got better. Not great, but better. The result for the day was one marlin released and a couple of others lost. But the westerly wind promised to produce better water for Saturday and the weather forecast was for calm conditions. Most of the boats headed for the 12 Mile bank, us included and a few went to an area called halfway house. This is and area so called because it is halfway to the Alphard banks. A few found their way further still and actually went as far as the Alphards.
What transpired at the Alphards during Saturday, (and Sunday after the tournament) is the stuff that very few anglers have been privileged to see or experience. From around 9am reports started coming in of fish being hooked, lost, released and, unfortunately, a couple died as well. As fate would have it, I was not there to experience it myself, but at the end of the day, when chatting to some of the anglers, it was clear that there were more marlin in the water that day than one could shake a stick at. Eventually the statistics were 13 marlin and one sailfish released, and three marlin died. A few of the marlin were caught at places other than the Alphards, but by far most of the action was there. There were a number of multiple hook-ups and strikes and one boat had three fish on simultaneously for a few minutes. Yet another was heard to say that he had just experienced the best day of his life. The anglers lucky enough to be there stated unanimously that it was the best marlin fishing they had ever experienced. There were also a couple of heartbreak stories, but when things get as busy as this, it is only to be expected.
We are still looking for the 45kg boy, but this is one step closer. Maybe next time we go will be the trip. We do know that time is running out as the red steenbras is going to become a protected species and shortly we will not be able to target them at all.
What transpired at the Alphards during Saturday, (and Sunday after the tournament) is the stuff that very few anglers have been privileged to see or experience. From around 9am reports started coming in of fish being hooked, lost, released and, unfortunately, a couple died as well. As fate would have it, I was not there to experience it myself, but at the end of the day, when chatting to some of the anglers, it was clear that there were more marlin in the water that day than one could shake a stick at. Eventually the statistics were 13 marlin and one sailfish released, and three marlin died. A few of the marlin were caught at places other than the Alphards, but by far most of the action was there. There were a number of multiple hook-ups and strikes and one boat had three fish on simultaneously for a few minutes. Yet another was heard to say that he had just experienced the best day of his life. The anglers lucky enough to be there stated unanimously that it was the best marlin fishing they had ever experienced. There were also a couple of heartbreak stories, but when things get as busy as this, it is only to be expected.
Then came Sunday. A few boats went out there again and it happened AGAIN. One boat, who will remain nameless for fear of reprisals against the author, reported about seventeen marlin strikes before 11am. I am not sure of the exact number, but if I fill in the gaps, it was absolute carnage. Of the seventeen hook-ups, they released one striped marlin! One marlin caught is great, but with a strike to landing ratio of 17 to 1, things must have been rather tense on board. I do know the line parted on three fish and what happened to the others is uncertain. Seventeen marlin strikes in three hours is an unbelievable statistic. Other boats had an equally hectic time of it, but their statistics were not as good, or bad, depending on how one looks at 17:1. We are heading out there tomorrow to see if we can get just one marlin to stick. I will update this page asap if we get one.
On the charter scene, things have been a bit quiet, but I can say with absolute certainty, if ever a client wanted to catch a marlin at Cape Agulhas, now is the time that his or her chances are the absolute best. Last week we did a trip to the 45's and the result is the picture of Gareth holding up a 27kg red steenbras.
We are still looking for the 45kg boy, but this is one step closer. Maybe next time we go will be the trip. We do know that time is running out as the red steenbras is going to become a protected species and shortly we will not be able to target them at all. As a matter of interest the picture of Tyler shows two of our friends, both charter operators from Hout Bay fishing with us in Struisbaai at the 45's. See, even the opposition likes fishing with us. Heheh. Thanks guys, we need this kind of marketing exposure.
Last but not least, the most amazing news of all is that of a spearo that shot a 35kg red steenbras in two meters of water in front of the cave at Arniston. I know it is true because I know the diver and saw the pictures. Anyone who knows anything about fishing or diving will know that achieving this would be the equivalent of finding a wild African elephant roaming around in the middle of Cape Town. On that note, till next time, tight lines.
Cheers
Alan
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Cape Point and Cape Agulhas Fishing Report
Hey Everybody
In my last report of 14 January I mentioned that we would be heading down to Struisbaai for Feb and maybe March. Well, we are at the southernmost tip and things are looking a damn side better than they were in the Cape Point area. News from Cape Point is that the snoek are still eating their way through everything and things are very quiet in the tuna areas. Apparently even the commercial tuna boats are lying in their respective ports. I have been here for a week and even though the persistent SE winds are still pushing through, and the rest of the country is washing away, we have managed to get a couple of sea days.
Shore Angling
The biggest news I have is that of a 38kg Kob caught by our good friend and sometimes client, Brian McFarlane. He was fishing in a Boland shore angling league tournament on Saturday and decided, as did many other anglers, that Die Mond was the place to go. During the course of the afternoon, his fresh maasbanker (horse mackerel) got picked up by a really good fish that turned out to be a monster kob. The fish measured 1.68 meters long, and although they tried for over an hour to resuscitate it, the fish died and was kept. Before you all cry foul, I understand the
sensitivities of keeping/killing big fish, but I know Brian and can guarantee that if he says they tried to revive it, then they really did try. I addition to this, I saw the fish later and it was really wasted away. It was extremely thin and covered with old "battle" scars. I have no doubt the fish was very old and certainly past it's prime. I mentioned to Brian that trying to revive a fish that old would have been akin to reviving an eighty year old man (sorry to all the old boys that read this) after running a marathon. It is still sad that it died, but it is better to kill a fish that can probably no longer breed than to kill some young 30kg fish that is still in its prime. No doubt about it, it is a fish of a lifetime and very few anglers have ever had the honour of catching such a specimen. To those of you who don't know, Brian is also a grand veteran! Well done old man!!
Those who head out after the galjoen, get your gear sorted, it is only another month before the season opens. There are some fish about and I tagged three on a short outing the other day. The fish were very poor condition, but that is normal for this time of the year.
Offshore
Last Wednesday was my first sea day and I was on the water at first light. After catching my quota of squid I headed off to the engine block of the Oriental Pioneer. This spot sometimes holds some really big yellowtail and some of you will remember that two years ago, Ion Williams, one of our regular charter clients, caught a yellowtail of 23kg at this spot. I had no sooner arrived than I noticed a school of yellowtail on the surface, swimming directly at me. It was a bit overcast and even with polarized lenses it was difficult to see them clearly. I sent a spinner over them and had hardly started winding when I was "vas" into a good sized 'tail. A few minutes later, the yellowtail was alongside the boat. I already had the gaff in my hand when the "yellowtail' turned out to be a leervis (garrick) of about 10kg. A quick jiggle of the spoon and the leerie was free to swim and fight another day. I looked up, and the fish were still around so I threw the spoon again and caught another one. This time it was an even better size fish of about 12kg. I released this one as well and looked around for some yellowtail but without success. By 10am I was well happy at home.
In my last report of 14 January I mentioned that we would be heading down to Struisbaai for Feb and maybe March. Well, we are at the southernmost tip and things are looking a damn side better than they were in the Cape Point area. News from Cape Point is that the snoek are still eating their way through everything and things are very quiet in the tuna areas. Apparently even the commercial tuna boats are lying in their respective ports. I have been here for a week and even though the persistent SE winds are still pushing through, and the rest of the country is washing away, we have managed to get a couple of sea days.
Shore Angling
The biggest news I have is that of a 38kg Kob caught by our good friend and sometimes client, Brian McFarlane. He was fishing in a Boland shore angling league tournament on Saturday and decided, as did many other anglers, that Die Mond was the place to go. During the course of the afternoon, his fresh maasbanker (horse mackerel) got picked up by a really good fish that turned out to be a monster kob. The fish measured 1.68 meters long, and although they tried for over an hour to resuscitate it, the fish died and was kept. Before you all cry foul, I understand the
sensitivities of keeping/killing big fish, but I know Brian and can guarantee that if he says they tried to revive it, then they really did try. I addition to this, I saw the fish later and it was really wasted away. It was extremely thin and covered with old "battle" scars. I have no doubt the fish was very old and certainly past it's prime. I mentioned to Brian that trying to revive a fish that old would have been akin to reviving an eighty year old man (sorry to all the old boys that read this) after running a marathon. It is still sad that it died, but it is better to kill a fish that can probably no longer breed than to kill some young 30kg fish that is still in its prime. No doubt about it, it is a fish of a lifetime and very few anglers have ever had the honour of catching such a specimen. To those of you who don't know, Brian is also a grand veteran! Well done old man!!Those who head out after the galjoen, get your gear sorted, it is only another month before the season opens. There are some fish about and I tagged three on a short outing the other day. The fish were very poor condition, but that is normal for this time of the year.
Offshore
Last Wednesday was my first sea day and I was on the water at first light. After catching my quota of squid I headed off to the engine block of the Oriental Pioneer. This spot sometimes holds some really big yellowtail and some of you will remember that two years ago, Ion Williams, one of our regular charter clients, caught a yellowtail of 23kg at this spot. I had no sooner arrived than I noticed a school of yellowtail on the surface, swimming directly at me. It was a bit overcast and even with polarized lenses it was difficult to see them clearly. I sent a spinner over them and had hardly started winding when I was "vas" into a good sized 'tail. A few minutes later, the yellowtail was alongside the boat. I already had the gaff in my hand when the "yellowtail' turned out to be a leervis (garrick) of about 10kg. A quick jiggle of the spoon and the leerie was free to swim and fight another day. I looked up, and the fish were still around so I threw the spoon again and caught another one. This time it was an even better size fish of about 12kg. I released this one as well and looked around for some yellowtail but without success. By 10am I was well happy at home.
Sunday was another sea day. Off we went to the 45's on "Tyler" and to the Alphard Banks on "Met Eish". The Alphards trip was spearing trip and we bagged some really classy yellowtail up to 14kg. The water was warm but very green and unless we get some westerly winds in the next few days, I am not very hopeful for the marlin competition that starts next week.
Tyler went for red steenbras and they managed to get five reasonable fish (8 to 13kg).They also lost a really big one (usual story) but could not tell how big as they never saw the fish. They also got a 
few yellowtail, but none as large as the ones from the Alphards.
few yellowtail, but none as large as the ones from the Alphards. Next week is the much publicised Two Oceans Marlin Tournament and hopefully mr Needlenose will put in an appearance. As mentioned in the section above, we hope the blue water is not far off. The satelite pictures show good water lying down towards the 45's. All we need now is a gentle SW wind for a couple of days and I have no doubt the water will move in closer. My next update will have all the answers. For now, we hold thumbs that the weather gods are kind to us. Till next time, tight lines, fair winds and keep safe.
Cheers
Alan
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Friday, January 14, 2011
Cape Point and Cape Agulhas Fishing Report - Friday 14 January 2011
In my last report, October 2010, I mentioned that the tuna had not yet arrived. Those of you who have been fishing and/or keeping your ear to the ground will know by now that our spring 2010 tuna season was practically a non-event. But, more of that in the offshore section below. Then came December and the general consensus is that it was the windiest December in many years, so much so that the water along most of the coast was icy cold. The yellowtail at Cape Point made way for the biggest shoals of snoek that many of us have ever seen and at least when we could get out, the snoek fed like they were running out of time.
False Bay has been her usual finicky self and up the coast things have not been much better. Not because there were no fish, on the contrary, I heard reports of massive schools of yellowtail off Struisbaai, but no-one could really get out there to catch them, and when they did, the buggers would not bite.
Meanwhile we still wait with forlorn hope that the tuna will arrive late and give us something to cheer about......
OFFSHORE
I was still in Gabon in early September when I received reports of a couple of yellowfin being caught in the canyon area. I got back on 16 September amidst a general air of excitement and anticipation, and a few more reports.
The tuna "professors" were saying, and I'll put it in the words of one of them, "A tuna bomb is about to go off in the deep".
I will admit that I also expected the most. For the first time in a couple of years, the early winds were blowing from the SE and the water was looking good. All the "signs" were there. But nothing happened. The winds dropped away, the water remained greenish, never got warm, but most of all, for whatever the reason, the tuna arrived in what could only be described as drips and drabs. I managed to do five trips on Lynx in October and caught five yellowfin. Three on one trip, two on another and zero on the rest. Tyler caught one fish of 82kg. Of the five fish on Lynx, two were over 90kg. One was 98kg and I caught it on 50lb tackle. A personal best for me!! And that was it.
November came and went, we did not do a single trip for tuna and those few boats that did venture out caught a longfin here and there. Then came December and the SE came with it. I do not have the stats, but it blew practically every day. So much so that I heard of a number of holiday makers that said "Bugger it", packed up and left their holiday behind them.
On the odd day that the wind did drop, the water in the canyon was green and cold. All we caught were snoek at Cape Point. At least they did not let us down.
The question begs to be asked. What happened to the tuna this year?
I am certainly no authority on the subject, but I did have the priviledge of listening to someone who is. The chief scientist of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is of the opinion that the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stocks are in a severe state of depletion. The IOTC is a body governing the harvesting of tuna in the Indian Ocean and is represented by about 27 nations fishing in the entire Indian Ocean. In the last five years, these nations (SA is a very small fish in this pond) have literally decimated the tuna stocks in the Indian. According to the recommendations of the IOTC, the sustainable yield of yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean was around 250 000 tonnes per year. By now, due to over fishing, it is much lower. During the course of 2005, 2006 and 07, the participating nations removed over 500 000 tonnes of yellowfin alone from the Idian Ocean.
Where does this leave us? In a nutshell, unless the IOTC changes the way they fish, our yellowfin are effectively a thing of the past. We will continue to catch the odd one, but the catches as we have come to know them are over. We find ourselves at the extreme end of the yellowfin tuna's migratory path and each spring and autumn it is the overflow of the Indian Ocean stock that reaches us. With the state of the stock, there is far less overflow and hence less fish in our water. The findings of the IOTC is based on a tagging program that was undertaken three years ago in which around 180 000 tuna were tagged, roughly 40 000 of them were yellowfin.
This is a very simplified version of the current state of affairs, and there are many other factors to be taken into consideration, but it surely paints a bleak picture. I hope everyone is wrong and that the only reason the tuna did not show up is because the water, wind and currents were not right. We will have to wait until April to find out...............
On the bright side, he also told me that the activities of the pirates in the Indian Ocean are severely curtailing the fishing operations and a number of countries have already told their fishing fleets to pack up an go back to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans where they were operating until a few years ago. Every cloud has a silver lining.
INSHORE AND FALSE BAY
Cape Point has delivered snoek in abundance. Basically it has been a case of "when you can get there, you fill up". The water has been between 10 and 14 degrees for most of the summer and this probably explains why the snoek are still there and why they are still in superb condition. I cannot remember a December season when the snoek have been as plentiful. The downside of this little scenario has been the absolute lack of yellowtail. Personally I think they all froze to death. Well, not quite, but almost. There have been a few caught ten or fifteen miles off the point where the water is a bit warmer, and there have been some in the far NW corners of False Bay. i.e Fishhoek, Simonstown etc. The beach seine netters hammered them a few weeks ago and I heard rumours of tonnes of fish being trekked. There has been no sign of them at Seal Island or any of the other regular haunts. I did see a few from the fly-bridge of Lynx when I was in Buffels Bay the other day, but they were in a screaming hurry to be anywhere but there and they did not even turn on my spinner.
The rest of False Bay has been OK. Down at Strandfontein, Swartklip and Macassar the thresher sharks have provided us with some brilliant fun on light tackle, but the cob and cape salmon have been scarce. The shore anglers have been doing very well on cob and have even caught some cape salmon from the beaches. I can only ascribe this to the fact that we have had so much SE wind that there is a severe thermocline in any water deeper that a few meters. In addition to this, the continuous wind has blown the warm surface water into the shallows and this has resulted in the fish staying very close to the shore. So, False Bay is worth a go, but fish close to the shore.
STRUISBAAI AND CAPE AGULHAS
I was down there three weeks ago and although there were not many fish being caught, (SE hammered them as well) when the boats did get out they were reporting plenty of yellowtail on the banks. Since then the SE has still been making its presence felt and although I have not been there myself, judging by the reports, the weather and fishing has not been great. A friend of mine got some nice yellowtail (up to 14kg) on the Alphards a week ago and I have spoken with a few divers who shot some on the shallower reefs.
The shore anglers have been getting into the cob quite regularly and I have heard that the Pearly Beach area has been outstanding.
On the bright side, the Two Oceans Marlin Competion is coming up in Feb and just this week I have had reports of good water, flying fish, birds, bonnies etc. A few marlin have been seen and if the weather plays ball we should be in for a banger of a comp. I hope so. I need something positive to say on my reports. If I keep going as I have been above, we won't have any clients coming fishing. Times are tough in the fishing business you know.
On that note, I need to let everyone know that we will, as we did last year and the year before, be going down to Struisbaai with Tyler for the month of Feb and maybe March. We have had a few enquiries for the Marlin Comp, but no-one has made a firm booking. If you are keen, get hold of me. We are working on a "he who books first, comes first" basis. We have also got a few firm bookings for the Alphard Banks and the Forty Fives. BIG RED STEENBRAS. We have the right co-ordinates and although we have yet to land one of those 40kg plus brutes, we have had them on the line and landed fish in the 20's. In addition to that we often get dorado, yellowtail and all sorts of other things on those trips. We have really had some awesome days out there on the deep reefs and I can recommend a trip. Weather permitting of course.
That is about all we've got this time around. Lets hope I have good news shortly and that 2011 is a cracker of a year for you all.
Till next time, tight lines and good fishing. Regards - Alan .
In my last report, October 2010, I mentioned that the tuna had not yet arrived. Those of you who have been fishing and/or keeping your ear to the ground will know by now that our spring 2010 tuna season was practically a non-event. But, more of that in the offshore section below. Then came December and the general consensus is that it was the windiest December in many years, so much so that the water along most of the coast was icy cold. The yellowtail at Cape Point made way for the biggest shoals of snoek that many of us have ever seen and at least when we could get out, the snoek fed like they were running out of time.
False Bay has been her usual finicky self and up the coast things have not been much better. Not because there were no fish, on the contrary, I heard reports of massive schools of yellowtail off Struisbaai, but no-one could really get out there to catch them, and when they did, the buggers would not bite.
Meanwhile we still wait with forlorn hope that the tuna will arrive late and give us something to cheer about......
OFFSHORE
I was still in Gabon in early September when I received reports of a couple of yellowfin being caught in the canyon area. I got back on 16 September amidst a general air of excitement and anticipation, and a few more reports.
The tuna "professors" were saying, and I'll put it in the words of one of them, "A tuna bomb is about to go off in the deep".
I will admit that I also expected the most. For the first time in a couple of years, the early winds were blowing from the SE and the water was looking good. All the "signs" were there. But nothing happened. The winds dropped away, the water remained greenish, never got warm, but most of all, for whatever the reason, the tuna arrived in what could only be described as drips and drabs. I managed to do five trips on Lynx in October and caught five yellowfin. Three on one trip, two on another and zero on the rest. Tyler caught one fish of 82kg. Of the five fish on Lynx, two were over 90kg. One was 98kg and I caught it on 50lb tackle. A personal best for me!! And that was it.
November came and went, we did not do a single trip for tuna and those few boats that did venture out caught a longfin here and there. Then came December and the SE came with it. I do not have the stats, but it blew practically every day. So much so that I heard of a number of holiday makers that said "Bugger it", packed up and left their holiday behind them.
On the odd day that the wind did drop, the water in the canyon was green and cold. All we caught were snoek at Cape Point. At least they did not let us down.
The question begs to be asked. What happened to the tuna this year?
I am certainly no authority on the subject, but I did have the priviledge of listening to someone who is. The chief scientist of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is of the opinion that the Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna stocks are in a severe state of depletion. The IOTC is a body governing the harvesting of tuna in the Indian Ocean and is represented by about 27 nations fishing in the entire Indian Ocean. In the last five years, these nations (SA is a very small fish in this pond) have literally decimated the tuna stocks in the Indian. According to the recommendations of the IOTC, the sustainable yield of yellowfin tuna in the Indian Ocean was around 250 000 tonnes per year. By now, due to over fishing, it is much lower. During the course of 2005, 2006 and 07, the participating nations removed over 500 000 tonnes of yellowfin alone from the Idian Ocean.
Where does this leave us? In a nutshell, unless the IOTC changes the way they fish, our yellowfin are effectively a thing of the past. We will continue to catch the odd one, but the catches as we have come to know them are over. We find ourselves at the extreme end of the yellowfin tuna's migratory path and each spring and autumn it is the overflow of the Indian Ocean stock that reaches us. With the state of the stock, there is far less overflow and hence less fish in our water. The findings of the IOTC is based on a tagging program that was undertaken three years ago in which around 180 000 tuna were tagged, roughly 40 000 of them were yellowfin.
This is a very simplified version of the current state of affairs, and there are many other factors to be taken into consideration, but it surely paints a bleak picture. I hope everyone is wrong and that the only reason the tuna did not show up is because the water, wind and currents were not right. We will have to wait until April to find out...............
On the bright side, he also told me that the activities of the pirates in the Indian Ocean are severely curtailing the fishing operations and a number of countries have already told their fishing fleets to pack up an go back to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans where they were operating until a few years ago. Every cloud has a silver lining.
INSHORE AND FALSE BAY
Cape Point has delivered snoek in abundance. Basically it has been a case of "when you can get there, you fill up". The water has been between 10 and 14 degrees for most of the summer and this probably explains why the snoek are still there and why they are still in superb condition. I cannot remember a December season when the snoek have been as plentiful. The downside of this little scenario has been the absolute lack of yellowtail. Personally I think they all froze to death. Well, not quite, but almost. There have been a few caught ten or fifteen miles off the point where the water is a bit warmer, and there have been some in the far NW corners of False Bay. i.e Fishhoek, Simonstown etc. The beach seine netters hammered them a few weeks ago and I heard rumours of tonnes of fish being trekked. There has been no sign of them at Seal Island or any of the other regular haunts. I did see a few from the fly-bridge of Lynx when I was in Buffels Bay the other day, but they were in a screaming hurry to be anywhere but there and they did not even turn on my spinner.
The rest of False Bay has been OK. Down at Strandfontein, Swartklip and Macassar the thresher sharks have provided us with some brilliant fun on light tackle, but the cob and cape salmon have been scarce. The shore anglers have been doing very well on cob and have even caught some cape salmon from the beaches. I can only ascribe this to the fact that we have had so much SE wind that there is a severe thermocline in any water deeper that a few meters. In addition to this, the continuous wind has blown the warm surface water into the shallows and this has resulted in the fish staying very close to the shore. So, False Bay is worth a go, but fish close to the shore.
STRUISBAAI AND CAPE AGULHAS
I was down there three weeks ago and although there were not many fish being caught, (SE hammered them as well) when the boats did get out they were reporting plenty of yellowtail on the banks. Since then the SE has still been making its presence felt and although I have not been there myself, judging by the reports, the weather and fishing has not been great. A friend of mine got some nice yellowtail (up to 14kg) on the Alphards a week ago and I have spoken with a few divers who shot some on the shallower reefs.
The shore anglers have been getting into the cob quite regularly and I have heard that the Pearly Beach area has been outstanding.
On the bright side, the Two Oceans Marlin Competion is coming up in Feb and just this week I have had reports of good water, flying fish, birds, bonnies etc. A few marlin have been seen and if the weather plays ball we should be in for a banger of a comp. I hope so. I need something positive to say on my reports. If I keep going as I have been above, we won't have any clients coming fishing. Times are tough in the fishing business you know.
On that note, I need to let everyone know that we will, as we did last year and the year before, be going down to Struisbaai with Tyler for the month of Feb and maybe March. We have had a few enquiries for the Marlin Comp, but no-one has made a firm booking. If you are keen, get hold of me. We are working on a "he who books first, comes first" basis. We have also got a few firm bookings for the Alphard Banks and the Forty Fives. BIG RED STEENBRAS. We have the right co-ordinates and although we have yet to land one of those 40kg plus brutes, we have had them on the line and landed fish in the 20's. In addition to that we often get dorado, yellowtail and all sorts of other things on those trips. We have really had some awesome days out there on the deep reefs and I can recommend a trip. Weather permitting of course.
That is about all we've got this time around. Lets hope I have good news shortly and that 2011 is a cracker of a year for you all.
Till next time, tight lines and good fishing. Regards - Alan .
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