ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
OFFSHORE ANGLING => Offshore Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Capt. Hook on January 22, 2015, 10:49:25 PM
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It has been a while since I was last on Ultimate Angling, so greetings to one and all
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This was my last report dated last Sunday....
OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 18th January 2015 - Durban :billf:
We launched at 04h00 on Saturday and started making our way out deep looking for warm clean water as closer in it was not nice, at about 450m depth I decided to change tactics and direction as the further we went the colder the water got and so I headed the boat towards the 150m area past Ballito. On the way we picked up a Yellowfin Tuna around 10Kg, this was after 4hrs of no fish. I got to Ballito and still was not happy with the water and so decided to come back to port shallow and it was not long before we had a reel screaming and a rod with a very serious bend. 2.5hrs later after a very hard fight we released a massive Black Marlin 35km away from Durban. Our 8hr trip lasted 11hrs.
Our first Marlin for 2015 and our second released for the season
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We have had some great catches in the last year
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And some more
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38.3Kg Short Bill Spearfish, unofficial SA and All Africa Record
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Welcome back mike!
Good catches there!
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Good Tuna Dorado Fishing
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We also had a double Sailfish hook-up in July and successfully released both fish :sailf: :sailf:
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Last and not least, my best catch for 2014 and the rest of my life was Theresa. We got engaged on 12th December to be married this year
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Congrats
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Congrats man@! (clap) all the best for 2015
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Welcome back Mike and congrats with engagement.!! (clap)
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A firm welcome back Mike
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:wlcmbk Mike and congratulations to you and Theresa - may you have many happy years together :-)
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:cgrts: on your keeper and welcome home Mike.
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Welcome back Mike! Some great catches and photos. Wishing you and Ma'am all the best and many many wonderful years together.
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Fantastic
Might get into trouble if you mount that catch on the wall
:hehe: :hehe:
All the best for the years ahead
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Welcome back Mike and congrats (clap)
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Welcome back (clap)
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Last and not least, my best catch for 2014 and the rest of my life was Theresa. We got engaged on 12th December to be married this year
Welcome Back and :cgrts: Mike
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Congrats on all the great catches including Theresa, welcome back to UA and looking forward to your trip reports and catches (clap)
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welcome back Mike
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Am blessed with 2 boys and they both hooked on Fishing, Jesse even comes along and helps on my charters
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Thank you for all the warm welcomes :bow:
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:cgrts: and welcome back looking forward to more reports :rck"
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Welcome back Mike, seems you had a good and productive year.
Congratulations on the keeper!
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Fantastic to have you back.
Congrats well done! No tagging and releasing of your keeper.
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Fantastic to have you back.
Congrats well done! No tagging and releasing of your keeper.
No Hannes, am definitely not releasing this one, I did however put a tag on the finger :happ:
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 30th January 2015 - Durban
We launched at 05h00 today to look for a Marlin, within a few miles we hit some heavy rain and decided to push through and after a getting soaked we got to the other side of the weather with some nice conditions. I really struggled to find good water and the water temp was changing all the time, the thermocline was really strange as it was up and down all the time and not consistent, water clarity was also not consistent with pockets of purple water in between green water. Eventually we did find some good purple water. We got one Marlin strike and he pulled about 300m of line and then came off before we could even get the rod into the chair. By the time we found the good water the East wind was pumping and we managed 2 Yellowfin Tuna for all our efforts. The first one was a strange fight as the fish took hard a peeled a lot of line and then suddenly gave up the fight and was like it was taken by a shark, but it was not. Once at the boat the fish was already dead only to find that the hook had ripped its gills out on the one side. There was a screaming S-N current and no life in the water except a logger head turtle that we saw.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 6th February 2015 - Durban
What a fantastic day today, water inshore was crystal clear, just under 24deg.C, bait fish were everywhere and going wild. We launched at 05h00 and were back at 10h00. We could do nothing... wrong today, the Yellowfin Tuna were just hitting our lures, within minutes of setting our spread we had the first Tuna on and after that we could not get all our lines out and our guest could not even get out of the chair because we had 10 hits in a row landing 7 Tuna one after the other after the other. It was even more fun because we were fishing light tackle today and the Tuna were all decent sizes.
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Good to hear - :Like: thanks for sharing.
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(clap) Good one, Mike.
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Well done Mike. That is encouraging news - thanks.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 7th February 2015 - Durban
When I went to bed last night I was thinking that fishing today would be similar to yesterday, and then late last night we had a hectic storm with very heavy rain, the thunder was so hard the windows in my house were humming and when I saw the lightning I knew today would be different. When I woke up at 03h00 it was still raining lightly and there was no wind, the bay was full of rubbish and the water chocolate brown. With all this I had to really change my tactics planned and once out the harbour saw all the bad weather up North and decided to head South. After a while I saw a debris line and a little deeper out I found a current line with cobolt blue 25deg.C water and so we ran some rappies on light tackle very slowly along the line and we landed a Wahoo, 2 Dorado and a Yellowfin Tuna.
Then the fun began when one of the reels screamed off like mad and after about an intense 40minute fight we lost a black plastic bucket about 10m from the boat.
Things were about to get better for us when we got spooled when one of our lines snagged a drum line with what I assume was a very large shark attached to it. I tried to chase but could not keep up and the drum was making a serious bow wave and a wake we wanted to get the drum line and release the poor shark but were not able to do so. I find it sad that people are still drum lining sharks.
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are you not supposed to fly game fish flags when the fish is over 20kg
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are you not supposed to fly game fish flags when the fish is over 20kg
At the marina it is common practice with all the boats and exciting for the clients
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Dorado Fishing with Blue Water Charters :dor:
Dorado (Mahi-mahi) Fishing with Blue Water Charters - Durban (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zCxzBVYHQE&feature=youtu.be#)
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Nice video Capt. Hook (clap)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 13th February 2015
With a stiff NE wind and a strong N-S current making for choppy seas we made our way out of port just as the sun was popping it's head over the horizon. Within minutes of dropping our lines we had 2 small Bonnies on deck. After that things were quiet until we hit the 100m depth line when we had a Sailfish jump onto on of our lines and after 2 jumps before we could even get the rod out the gunnel it was gone. On our way back going over the same spot we had the exact same thing happen on the same rod and lure, I am sure that it was the same Sailfish. We also managed to land 2 nice Yellowfin and a Wahoo. We lost a 2nd Wahoo at the boat just before lines up when it bit through the leader (No Steel).
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Nice going Mike looks like a succesful day on the water. Pity about the :sailf: falling off. What lures did you get the 'hoo strikes on?
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The one we landed took a little red/white jet feather, the one we lost took a Halco red/White 8m Crazy Deep
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:corrct: were you running wire on the feather?
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:corrct: were you running wire on the feather?
No, it was one of those Williamson's that has that tail with a stainless clip that's about 30mm long and I put a long shank hook on
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Cool, well done again (clap)
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FISHING VIDEO - Offshore 30lb Fishing Action with Blue Water Charters on Fat Girl - Durban
Offshore 30lb Fishing Action with Blue Water Charters Durban (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdmb-lK0-bo&feature=youtu.be#)
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Lekker clip, plenty of action :rck"
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Some good fishing Mike :cgrts:
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Very lekker Mike :corrct:
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FISHING VIDEO: 38.3Kg Short Bill Spearfish off Durban
http://youtu.be/ZgsFV5PkNXs (http://youtu.be/ZgsFV5PkNXs)
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Offshore Fishing Video - Black Marlin off Durban
Black Marlin Fishing with Blue Water Charters, Durban South Africa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9V2Un0qTN8&feature=youtu.be#)
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nice fish Mike...
Well done... When was this?
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nice fish Mike...
Well done... When was this?
December
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 1st March 2015
Wow its already March, this year is flying.
Went out fishing with my family today for a few hours with a late launch. Conditions were gorgeous with flat seas, clear warm blue water. Am proud of my boy Jesse who landed a great Yellowfin Tuna today.
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Watch my boy Jesse land his first good Yellowfin Tuna
My boy Jesse lands his first good Yellowfin Tuna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDmps5B5ATw&feature=youtu.be#)
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Well done Jesse!
Now you don't need to do washing for a year.
Congrats boy.
Congrats to a very proud dad as well!
:yipee: :yipee:
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Our You Tube Channel has passed 20000 views, thank you for watching.
https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueWaterChartersDbn (https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueWaterChartersDbn)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 7th March 2015
We had a short charter this morning for a few hours, sea conditions were great with flat seas, the water was cold and sitting just above and below 23deg.C. We trolled for about 2.5hrs and had 4 good hook ups and each fish came off leaving me very frustrated. We then stopped and did some bottom fishing for 1 hour and boated 22 fish in that time, all the fish were decent sizes with Bronze Bream, Slinger, Englishman, Soldier Bream in the mix and all the men were out-fished by the lady on board
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FISHING VIDEO - Lady Angler Bottom Fishing
http://youtu.be/1U4s2m9qDn8 (http://youtu.be/1U4s2m9qDn8)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 9th March 2015
Not much to report, was a very difficult day, I tried every trick in the book to get some Tuna but did not even see activity on the sounder, many strange current lines and the thermocline was all over the place, temperature changes were erratic and the S-N current was screaming. I went inshore right behind the backline as I saw some bird activity there and we managed some Sarda-Sarda on Halcos. Went out as deep as 300m and all we saw was an unusual amount of Sunfish.
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FISHING NEWSLETTER - March 2015
http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za/pages/news0315.htm (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za/pages/news0315.htm)
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MARLIN REPORT - Durban - 20 March 2015
We went 1-1 with a Blue Marlin and 0-1 with a Black Marlin.
Frans and Coby from Namibia joined me along with 2 of their friends for 5 days of fishing for Frans to catch the Marlin that he has always dreamed about. The weather did not play ball and fishing was very tough with no life in the water, the water was cold averaging around 22 deg C. We went out in 30kn NE winds, 35knt SW winds, braved rain and rough seas and with the S-N current screaming I started feeling hopeless and down as there was nothing around, not even game fish. On day one we managed to land a Yellowfin Tuna and we came back early as the NE just got too strong. On day 2 we hooked up a Black Marlin and this was exciting as we saw him on the surface and I swung the boat and pulled the spread by him, he hit 3 lures before hooking up on the 4th and after doing some magnificent acrobatics he threw the hook. On the way home we landed a Bonnie. Day 3 and Day 4 got me depressed as we had no fish at all and when we started on Day 5 I felt soul destroyed as I really wanted Frans to fulfil his dream with me, he has done trips around the world to hunt his Marlin and never ever got it. Day 5 was great weather and with the previous weather being too rough for us to get out to the shelf we decided to go deep on the last day. 8.30am in 550m of water at 22 deg.C the right inside rigger line screamed and 30 minutes later we had successfully released a Blue Marlin. Frans was overjoyed and I was so happy for him.
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.
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Blue Marlin Release Video - Frans's Blue Marlin Dream Catch
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GswaYYullb4&feature=youtu.be#)
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Well done bud.
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Lump in the throat stuff, Well done :billf:
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Wow, that fish meant a lot to those guys, well done for giving them the opportunity Mike.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban 29th March 2015
The last week saw us out 4 times, its been extremely frustrating as the fishing has been difficult. I can't blame it on the conditions as the conditions awesome, water has been warm and crystal clear, full of bait fish, sprats and flying fish. On the 3 shorter trips we managed to get a good haul of Sarda Sarda, Small Yellowfin Tuna and Bonnies, but nothing big at all except for a marlin on/off, plenty Dolphins around. Yesterday I had a 12hr trip and we were looking for a Marlin, we decided to go out to the continental shelf and left early, all the way out we had no action. then when 70km offshore past 2000m deep the water colour changed from purple to a lighter blue and we saw a huge group of about 14 Humpback whales which to me is very odd for this time of year in 26 deg.C water. The birds were going mad and we managed to get 3 good sized Dorado out there. Then on the 70km haul home the only action we got was an Oceanic Bonito. I forgot to mention in my previous report when we got the Blue Marlin that we found a tiny little Bat some 55km out, I have no idea how he got there but I managed to catch him and released him when back at shore. Shame the poor little thing was almost at the point of exhaustion when I grabbed him.
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Good Dorrie there.
That is quite weird with the whales but must have been great to see.
Maybe that bat couldn't spell and thought he was flying a vessel named "Bat Girl" :crzy
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 3/4 April 2015 :wahoo:
After some quiet fishing the past week the last 2 days was a remarkable difference with loads of Wahoo Action, On Friday I went out with my Family and my Mrs got her first Wahoo and her second and her 3rd and so on. At the end of the day we boated 6 Wahoo and lost about 6 if not more. On Saturday it was the same we boated 6 Wahoo and lost about 6, we also landed 2 Yellowfin Tuna, all the Wahoo were estimated 12-15kg range but did not weigh them, Tuna were around 5Kg, every fish we caught the last 2 days came off Rapala X-Rap 20s and 30s trolled at high speed on 30lb class tackle. Lost about 6-8 Rapalas also. Grrrr. Water was warn at 26 deg. C, crystal clear and on the whole both days had great conditions with a N-S current. Memory card went south on my Pentax so only have a Blackberry pic and Mrs. don't want her pics on the net.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 8th April 2015
What a hectic day, we launched at 06h00 for an 8hr Game Fishing Charter and the conditions were great, water clean and warm but cooler than it was on my last 2 trips. I started out using 50lb tackle because I was tired of loosing my X-Raps on the 30lb tackle. In the first 5hrs things were quiet and we landed 1 Yellowfin Tuna and we lost 2 small Dorado. I then decided to change down to 30lb tackle running 4 smaller X-Raps and 3 feathers for the way home. At about the same time the wind changed. This was when things got wild and the next 3hrs was so full of action there was not a dull moment. First up we got a small Bonnie and then the action got hectic and we hooked up another 14 Yellowfin Tuna including a 4 up and a 7 up and 1 really good size Yellowfin. We also hooked up 2 Black Marlin on the little Jet Feathers and had each one on for about 30min on the 30lb tackle and it both cases the small hooks opened up. In the end we got back to the Marina 1.5hrs late with 15 Yellowfin Tuna on deck and a Bonnie. What a crazy day.
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Lekker day out well done
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Nothing beats a crazy day on a boat with a few tangles, on off's and some hectic shrieking and swearing. :craz:
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As always, great stuff Cpt.
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FISHING VIDEO - Tuna Frenzy - 4 up and 7 up - Durban.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp0Mk4f6l7A&feature=youtu.be#)
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FISHING VIDEO - Lady Angler gets good Tuna on Fat Girl
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FirVkZ6oODo&feature=youtu.be#)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 11th April 2015
We launched into lovely conditions, but the water was green and colder than it has been for a while, we trolled some Rapala's for about 22km heading North and only found good clean water after 70m in front of Umdhloti where we hooked up into some Yellowfin Tuna. The clients had requested some bottom fishing and even though the current was screaming and we suggested that we carry on looking for Tuna they insisted and we obliged. It was very difficult getting the lines down with the boat drifting at 5-7Km/hr. We still managed some good fish and landed some Englishmen and Rockod along with a some Soldier Bream. Making our way back towards Durban and docked with 2 Yellowfin, 8 good bottom fish and a bunch of smaller ones.
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FISHING VIDEO - Dorado Mayhem on Fat Girl
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMeyHfTCTRw&feature=youtu.be#)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 13th April 2014
We went out looking for a Black Marlin and found two, but neither of them stuck. The first one tried to take a Yellowfin that we were fighting and the other was just an on off. We hooked up a massive Wahoo which made 12Kg's of drag look like butter, I actually thought the drag went of the setting and checked it and it was OK. This Wahoo took off like a Marlin and only because it jumped and I saw it do I know what it was but eventually it broke the wire. We ended the day with 4 Yellowfin Tuna, 1 was a good size.
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We did a short offshore Cruise late yesterday afternoon and stuck some Rapalas off the back, hooked into a nice Yellowfin Tuna that got Taxed by a Shark which even snapped my Rapala in half, the reel screamed and a lot of line was taken as first I thought we were into a big fish, I reckon the Shark had the Tuna before we even took the rod out the gunnel. In the end we got half a head and a broken Rapala.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 23rd -27th April 2015
Been a busy 5 days that started with a howling SW wind and ended with a howling SW Wind
Thursday we headed North along the coast line till past Umdloti and then headed out deeper, water was green and cold inshore but cleaner deeper out and we landed some smaller Yellowfin Tuna.
Friday we headed out deep to the canyons to look for a blue Marlin with no luck.
Saturday and Sunday we fished the Durban Couta Competition and managed to land a Couta (King Mackerel) of 8.7Kg and we hooked up a massive Zambezi (Bull) Shark (Brown Marlin) which we eventually got to the boat after 2 hours. There was around 380 boat fishing the completion with only 22 Couta (King Mackerel) weighed in and ours was 400grams short from the 15th place prize effectively putting us in 16th place.
On Monday we went far north looking for a Black Marlin and we only managed to land a really good size Yellowfin Tuna. On the way back in we heard on the radio that some poor chap had been blown out to sea on his paddle ski and we assisted in the search, the NSRI had sent out to boats and they eventually found him.
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OFFSHORE FISHING VIDEO - Couta (King Mackerel) Fishing on Fat Girl
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUddrJtrqts&feature=youtu.be#)
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Nice footage.
I'll show you my honey-hole near to that......one day.
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OFFSHORE FISHING VIDEO - Another Good Tuna on Fat Girl
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgH6GCX2Czw&feature=youtu.be#)
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OUR 2014/2015 FISHING SEASON VIDEO - Bending Rods on Fat Girl II
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ5mjjr95VE&feature=youtu.be#)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban
I apologise for my delay in my last 2 reports, but was very busy doing some upgrades to Fat Girl's propulsion system taking an opportunity when we had some big seas this past week, I am very pleased with the improved performance.
On the one trip the SW wind picked up and we ended up fishing live baits on anchor at a well known inshore spot, It was very frustrating to say the least as we ended up with 4 Couta heads and 2 Yellowfin Tuna heads because the sharks were wild that day, none the less the all the action was fun on spinning tackle. On the other trip which was just for 5hrs we ended up with 2 Yellowfin Tuna. Winter has come early and quickly this year and water temperatures are dropping fast.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 12th May 2015
We went out yesterday morning for a short charter, seas were green again and water is getting colder the SW wind was blowing much harder than the forecast said. I saw some good showings of some decent size fish on the bottom. We ended up with 2 Yellowfin Tuna. We also had 2 Sailfish come frolicking around the boat for sometime but no takes, very frustrating. Loads of Red Eye Sardines just outside the harbour.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 21st May 2015
We started out by getting some live bait which has been plentiful at the moment, then we trolled up North without any success. We put out some live baits for a while and again no success and so we stopped for some bottom fishing in about 65m of water for about 2.5hrs. Water was reasonably clean, but is getting colder each time we go out, more and more of the big sea birds are making a presence inshore. The bottom fishing was productive although we did not get a lot of fish we got good sizes with about 25 fish in total, we got some really big slinger. See the attached pic with the big slinger with a cold drink can in the top left corner to show scale.
Winter is coming....
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Nice fish Mike, I wouldn't mind one of those in a pan
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 27th May 2015
We launched at 06h00 this morning for a short 5hr trip, shortly after leaving the harbour mouth we saw our first Whale for this Winter season. We trolled North for about an hour with not even a touch. We then stopped for bottoms at 60m but the current was screaming pushing the boat more than 5km/hr and even with 32oz of weight we could not get the lines down and so we came back in shallow and fished 30-40m and managed a good mix of Slinger and Soldier Bream of medium sizes along with several undersized Rockod (All released). Water temp was just under 21.5Deg.C. Maybe, just Maybe we see Sardines this year, it's anyone's guess.
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Offshore Fishing Report 28-30 May 2015
Not an easy report to make, I had 8 guests with me for the last 3 days, really nice guys. We handled everything for them from transport to accommodation and meals, this was all great.
The first 2 days we were out to look for a Yellowfin Tuna or a Sailfish or any other game fish that was around. Over the 2 days we covered more than 320 km hunting North, Deep and South. On the first days we came across 100's and 100's of birds with a huge variety of species from adults to juveniles, we had an Albatross and 2 Cape Gannets get stuck into our lures, but no injuries and all were released straight away. We also saw Dolphins on both days, a Humpback Whale and a Minky Whale. By the end of the second day I was down and totally demoralised as we got no fish, saw none on the sounder and zero activity, I tried all my best spots but there was nothing.
On the 3rd day we I suggested that we leave the game fishing and do some Shark and Bottom fishing. This turned out great and in the morning before the current turned we landed well over 30 good bottom fish, from Rockod to Slinger to Englishmen to Copper Bream and a few other nice species also. We also managed to land 2 super size Sailfin Rubberlips. We also hooked up 2 Sharks, the first one was a small Black Tip and the second we did not see as it came off the hook after giving the rod a good bend and the line a good stretch,
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Well done.
Thanks for the reports.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 13-15 June 2015 - Durban
These 3 days had some of the most amazing conditions with light winds and flat seas, unfortunately we did not find any Tuna and so we bottom fished. On the first day we did very well with Englishmen and Slinger with some really good sizes, on the 2nd day I had a family with 2 teenagers who each got a good sized Rockod and some slinger and Englishmen. The 3rd day was simply fantastic I had a family with 3 young children and so we did bottom fishing with bass rods and we hooked up several large Englishmen, a lot Good size Slinger, an Amber Jack and a host of other species. The larger fish really revved us on the light tackle and the Dad and myself had to pitch in and help the children land these fish. Lots of Bottom fish around at the moment and the water got warmer each day and was just under 23deg.C on Monday. These last 3 days were certainly the coldest mornings I have encountered this year so far and beanies, jerseys and jackets were required each morning, especially Saturday. Brrrrrrr
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Sounds like fun, lekker report thanks Capt. Hook.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 27th June 2015 - Durban
The whales are out in full force, also saw many sprats around. Water is cold but not as cold as I expected. This had to be the coldest day I had on the water in a very long time. The weather forecast a strong NE wind for the whole day, but in reality we had a pleasant NW wind and sea conditions were great, the NE only started at about 12h30 and we got back at 14h00. I was already home by the time the wind started blowing hard so was pleased the weatherman got it wrong. At last we found some small Tuna after the last few trips of not even seeing Tuna, and on the way back we got a small bonnie whilst clearing the lines.
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Teens get Rockod in Durban
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEdpEs5TepA&feature=youtu.be#)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 4th July 2015 - Durban
Saturday had stunning conditions is the morning with a very light NW wind, later in the morning the wind turned to a SW and things got bumpy, I was already safe at home when the SW started pumping. We trolled out to the reefs landing 1 Bonnie and then we bottom fished with good success, we got a lot of nice fish but nothing to write home about.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 14th July 2015 - DURBAN
We launched early and made our way out to the deep in search of some Yellowfin Tuna, I was not optimistic as the Tuna have not been around like they should be at this time of year which has been very depressing for me. None the less I started the hunt looking for all the usual Tuna indicators when I found a narrow thermocline out in the deep waters and decided that it was our best option to work this thermocline. The water was cold, under 21deg.C and crystal clear, I came across a lot of small showings and saw some sprats about and focused in on this area. The strategy paid off and the area yielded us 8 Yellowfin Tuna making for a grand day. Yesterday was bitterly cold and even with layers and layers of clothing on I still felt cold and could not get comfortable, even once back on shore it took me at least an hour to thaw out. Brrrrr.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 16th July 2015 - Durban
It was a long 12hr day and even though the weather was great the sea was a little lumpy. I struggled to find any kind of thermocline. We hunted from deep to shallow. Water was cold under 21deg.C and crystal clear.
For all that effort and long hours we only hooked up 4 Yellowfin Tuna for the day.
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OFFSHORE FISHING VIDEO - Tuna 7 Up
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-D5QJeiahQ&feature=youtu.be#)
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT 29-30 July + 1st August - Durban
In between a lot of ugly weather we managed to get a few days out at sea, the water has been very cold and we have seen many whales and dolphins around along with a few turtles. I must say I really enjoy the visitors when I see them, or should I say I am the visitor into their wet world. For these 3 days we did bottom fishing with relatively good results averaging 40-50 fish on each outing. Lots of Slinger, Copper Bream and Englishmen about.
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After blowing one of my inboard Volvo diesel engines on the 1st of August it was decided that it was time for Fat Girl to have a complete refit.
We chucked out the inboards and with some modifications Fat Girl now sports a pair of Yamaha F250 Out Board Engines.
The whole boat has also been completely rewired and all the plumbing has also been redone, toilet, deck wash, fresh water and live well.
We also spruced her up externally and have redone the deck and the entire interior.
The GPS and Fish Finder is to be replaced with the all new Furuno 12" NavNet TZ2 Touch complete with a commercial class transducer. The system will come with the Max Sea weather overlays.
This will be the first Furuno TZ2 unit in Durban. I am awaiting this unit to arrive next month for fitment and am rather excited.
She went back in the water this weekend after 31 days of hard work and will be fully operational sometime this week.
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Back on her mooring
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Very nice Mike, who she go with the outboards compared to the inboards ??, at least you now got plenty hatch space :hehe: :hehe:
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Good luck Mike!!
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:cgrts: she looks WOW :envy :toppie:
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Congrats Mike
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Congrats on the new power, did you move the fuel tanks back??
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Looking good, wishing you a bumper season with no downtime, only fishingtime
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Good luck for the season... feels good to be back, hey?
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Congrats and well done Mike. Good luck with the new power plants and wishing you a great season
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Nice Mike
Pretty sure we spotted you exiting harbour yesterday and head South, we were heading back North after getting caught in the heavy rain and SW that was blowing. Was not close enough to see the changes.
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Thanks guys.
It was not me out on Saturday, I am preparing for my LGSC with SAMSA and still finishing of the last work that needs to be done.
It easy to identify Fat Girl out at sea, she will be the boat with the bent rods off the back w;k
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Congrats on the new power, did you move the fuel tanks back??
No
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Congrats on the new power, did you move the fuel tanks back??
No
Forward?? What size is she Mike, The reason I ask is that the ride will change for sure, the fore/aft balance will change and the cog is going to be much higher??
No tests yet?? should be interesting.......... I think the speed at wot will be better, planing time should be better and the fuel usage should be better.
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Congrats on the new power, did you move the fuel tanks back??
No
Forward?? What size is she Mike, The reason I ask is that the ride will change for sure, the fore/aft balance will change and the cog is going to be much higher??
No tests yet?? should be interesting.......... I think the speed at wot will be better, planing time should be better and the fuel usage should be better.
Fuel tank is 900 litres and is mid ships and will stay there.
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Let us know how the tests go, it will be interesting to see the difference, what size is she?
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Looks good Mike......not the same but looks good.
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Fat Girl is ready for the new season, and with the new motors pushing 500 HP at the back she runs superb and flies with a top speed of 35 Knots (65Km/hr), all SAMSA inspections passed and ready to bend some rods.
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Let us know how the tests go, it will be interesting to see the difference, what size is she?
9.7m - 10.4m Total
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT 14&15 NOVEMBER 2016
It was great to be back out on the water again after a long while. Saturday has a very strong SW west, the sea was big and it pretty much rained the entire day. We had 2 x 5hr Charters one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We ran light tackle and kept inshore in teh sheltered area to target Snoek, Tuna and Bonnies. On both trips we got Bonnies with the biggest around 3Kg which was great fun on the light tackle. I really hate being out in the rain getting cold and wet, but its still beats a day in the office.
Sunday was great conditions in the morning and the seas were flat, we ran out far North looking for some Dorado, Tuna and hoping for that elusive Black Marlin. All the way out we got nothing, and when we turned to come back I came in shallow and worked the ships which yeilded us Yellowfin Tuna and a Tropical Yellowtail, we also got a tiny Dorado of around 1Kg which we released along with the Yellowtail. On one ship we found a big school of Dorado and I tried everything but they refused to bite. As we got closer to Durban the SW started pumping harder and harder and the last 10km we decided to make a run for it as I saw heavy rain on the horizon. It was a good choice as we had just finished cleaning the Tuna for our guest when the heavens opened. Fat Girl is running awesome and it was a great feeling to pass everyone on the way in who used to pass me, those days are over, Fat Girl is a beast now and Rocks.
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Lekka Mike!!
Good to know you are on the water again!
Bring that big Marlin in now!! It is time for another one!!
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Good to hear Mike. You happy with the fuel consumption?
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Good to hear Mike. You happy with the fuel consumption?
It is higher that the diesels, but then I am also running much faster. I think if I ran at the same speeds as the diesels it would be a small percentage more.
Engines that don't use any fuel would make me happy :crzy
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Good to see you up and running again Mike. Hope it goes well...
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 24/11/2015
Wow but we have sure had some nasty winds and this weather always gets us shuffeling our trips around. Friday started out great and then the NE started blowing far to strong and we ended up having to turn and go back early and the rest of the weekend was a write off. We did a night trip last night in stunning conditions and even though it was full moon we managed to land some nice bottom fish.
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Today we installed our New Furuno NavNet TZ2 GPS/Sounder complete with a commercial transducer. Best Technology on Fat Girl now. This system is great and not only do we have a fantastic Fish finding ability with this technology we also have complete and up to date weather/SST etc. overlays on the GPS. Time to play and start using it.
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Wow that's an impressive system congrats. Please do take a few pics when out there using it, would love to see it at work :cgrts:
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Wow that's an impressive system congrats. Please do take a few pics when out there using it, would love to see it at work :cgrts:
Thanks, am excited about it. Still need to learn how to use the weather overlay and how to go on to the internet with the unit.
I think having updated SST, Current, Water Temp etc. overlay on the charts will help produce more fish.
Transducer is huge
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Cant Go wrong with that system, very Nice!
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Wow that's an impressive system congrats. Please do take a few pics when out there using it, would love to see it at work :cgrts:
Thanks, am excited about it. Still need to learn how to use the weather overlay and how to go on to the internet with the unit.
I think having updated SST, Current, Water Temp etc. overlay on the charts will help produce more fish.
Transducer is huge
Proof will be in pictures I hope.
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Wow that's an impressive system congrats. Please do take a few pics when out there using it, would love to see it at work :cgrts:
Thanks, am excited about it. Still need to learn how to use the weather overlay and how to go on to the internet with the unit.
I think having updated SST, Current, Water Temp etc. overlay on the charts will help produce more fish.
Transducer is huge
Proof will be in pictures I hope.
:corrct:
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT DURBAN - 5th December 2015
In the morning I took my mate Tims son and Craig from Furuno's son out fishing, shame both boys got sick within an hour and we came back in, was awesome to see the Dads comforting thier sons. In the afternoon I took the Hyundai boys out for some bottom fishing for 4hrs and we had a great session landing about 30 fish or so (I did not count) in the mix was slinger, soldier breem, copper bream, englishman, false englishman and cape stumpnose. We fished with light spinning tackle making the fishing really exciting.
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Mike was kind enough to take my son and I out for a little bonding time on Saturday morning.
Even though not as much time was spent on the water, it was great to share Troy's first trip "out to sea".
Fat Girl flies with those Yammies and is such a smooth ride.
Most impressed by the new hardware on the boat and what info is at Mike's fingertips.
You made my sons Saturday a great one and I can never repay you for that.
Thanks again guy.
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Mike was kind enough to make my son and I out for a little bonding time on Saturday morning.
Even though not as much time was spent on the water, it was great to share Troy's first trip "out to sea".
Fat Girl flies with those Yammies and is such a smooth ride.
Most impressed by the new hardware on the boat and what info is at Mike's fingertips.
You made my sons Saturday a great one and I can never repay you for that.
Thanks again guy.
Anytime my friend. Was a pleasure
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT 17/12/2015 - DURBAN
We eventually got going with our game fish season after so much lousy weather. We launched in a light rain on Thursday morning and made our way out deep in light SW conditions. The day turned into a stunning day with a light NE wind. Water temperature was averging 24.5deg.C. We opened up our season account with 2 Dorado and an Oceanic Bonito, on the way home had some action with a small Black Marlin that threw the hook after a few minutes.
When cleaning the Dorado back at the docks we found some interesting contents, small fish, squid and a fish with a very long tail.
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Well done guy.
What is the long fish from the contents of the guts?
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Well done guy.
What is the long fish from the contents of the guts?
No clue.
Will research next year when I get some time
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Well done guy.
What is the long fish from the contents of the guts?
No clue.
Will research next year when I get some time
Looks like a worm or spaghetti eel (Family Moringuidae). Having been caught in SA I'd say it probably is a male Lesser thrush eel (Moringua microchir)
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Looks like a worm or spaghetti eel (Family Moringuidae). Having been caught in SA I'd say it probably is a male Lesser thrush eel (Moringua microchir)
We'll done Mike
Very interesting (thanks for the ID John) from Wikipedia it looks to be a shallow water bottom dweller, I didn't think of Dorado as bottom feeders.
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It's a tricky one :hehe:
glad you brought that up.... the females are bottom dwellers... the males are pelagic. Check fishbase.org
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:corrct: You learn something new every day on UA
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It's a tricky one :hehe:
glad you brought that up.... the females are bottom dwellers... the males are pelagic. Check fishbase.org
Thanks Marcos
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - 18&19/12/2015 - Durban
Dorado are out in full force, mostly smaller females, but we managed to land a nice Bull today on lighter tackle and he gave us a fantastic fight along with the customary acrobatics. Yesterday we had great weather and conditions, but today started out with a strong NE wind and ended with a howling SW wind. Water temp is averaging 24.5deg.C.
Yesterday we had 2 big hits, one I am sure was a Wahoo as the lure was severed from the leader with a clean cut, the other which was a very big hit looks like a Marlin because 2m of the leader was very rough as if it had been sand papered. We also got a nice Yellowfin Tuna yesterday on light tackle that gave us a great fight. So the fish and Marlins are definately around and the water is looking good except close to Durban where the rain water coming out the harbour has made the waters turbid.
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Nicely done Mike.
JohnF and Chigger, great info!
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 20-22/12/2015
The last 3 days has seen the waters ff Durban go colder and green with a screaming S-N current, along with some horrid SW winds mad for some choppy days and very difficult fishing. On Sunday we eventually ended up inshore going back to port and landing 2 Dorado on the 20m line. Monday was a surprise as all the clean water was dirty as far as we could go. At 06h00 on Monday morning we had the port inside rigger go and about 20 minutes later we had a small Striped Marlin next to the boat, sorry no pic. A little later that day we got hit by a large black who did one jump and that was the end of the action as he just came loose. After bringing in the line we found that the Marlin had pulled the skirt right off the lure, other than that we had no action for the day except another on/off from something smaller. Tuesday was a simply horrid day, we found no fish at all, I did not even see bottom fish around on the finder, water is green from inshore right out to 400m which is as deep as we went. We ended up catching some shad on the backline before heading in.
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Hey Mike, what happened to the back hook?!
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Hey Mike, what happened to the back hook?!
LOL Marcos. Its a single hook rig so the hook you see is the back hook. Ha ha ist also the front hook. It has its skirt pulled down
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Ok got it. Reason I asked is from your pic it looks like a tag end of wire... must be one of the tentacles from the skirt...
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At 06h00 on Monday morning we had the port inside rigger go and about 20 minutes later we had a small Striped Marlin next to the boat, sorry no pic.
UA Billfish Hall of Fame?!?!
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At 06h00 on Monday morning we had the port inside rigger go and about 20 minutes later we had a small Striped Marlin next to the boat, sorry no pic.
UA Billfish Hall of Fame?!?!
I thought Charters were excluded
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Nope. Please post there.
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Fat Girl Running 30knts at sea
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0-apSxF8mU&feature=youtu.be#)
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There is an s missing in her name now.
Congrats on the marlin!!!
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 27-31 December
I first would like to wish everyone a fantastic 2016, may God prosper you during this year.
With a variety of seas from nice calm days to a few bumpy days with NE winds we have been out on the water the whole week and every trip has produced Dorado, the water inside has a slight green tinge but it is clear and averaging 23.5-24.5DegC, 40km out on the 500m the waters are the colour purple and 27deg.C which just gets my blood tingling with excitement, cant wait for this to come closer in. We had a big knock out in the deep when looking for a Blue which I think was a big Tuna, unfortunately it did not stick. We have seen large pods of Dolphins. Wahoo have stolen some lures from us but we have not landed one as yet. The good news is that the persistant SW winds have left us and so we should see the fishing improve as I have found that the fish are not as active as they should be this time of year and even though we getting fish on all our trips it should be better. Plankton levels are low which is probably the reason for this.
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O no come on is that a salad fish or a darado in the photo with the old man? Either or does that make a kg?
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O no come on is that a salad fish or a darado in the photo with the old man? Either or does that make a kg?
Was probably a Kg, unfortunately this little guy swallowed a Halco which hooked into his gills and was bleeding profusely. We catch many little guys like that and some even a lot smaller which under normal circumstances are released, but there are those ones that are not worth releasing.
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Such good photos !!!
That blue blue water!!!
Some lekka fishing there.
I hope that 2016 will see Fast Girl hooking up more and bigger than ever before.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 2nd-4th January 2016
We started 2016 with an offshore fly fishing trip, it was a stunning day with virtually no wind and the water was warm and crystal clear, all we managed to get were small Dorado around the ships. The next day the NE was blowing a little and the day went well with nice clean warm water and we landed some nice Dorado. By the 4th the NE had started blowing strong and to my dismay the water had gone green and dead, there was no life there was not even bottom fish showing on the sounder, we saw no birds. We did see 1 hammer head shark lazining around and on our way back from the deep we came accross a Black Marlin sun tanning who had no interest in our offerings. Very frustrating. Am hoping the current westerly conditions and rains bring some life back to our shores.
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OFFSHORE MARLIN REPORT - Durban 14012016 :billf:
Wow what a stunning day, sea was flat like a lake water at 26.5deg.C and that deep purple we always long for. I see that the sun is starting to rise later already, time flies. We did a long trip yesterday to specifically find a Marlin and we traveled almost 90km from Durban. We left port just before 04h00 and it was slightly overcast, after about an hour the sun showed its face and gave us a glorious sunrise, as the day went on the day turned out sunny. At about 06h30 we dropped lines some 50km out of Durban and just before 08h00 the port outside rigger line went tight and a nice 30min battle followed and we got a nice Striped Marlin next to the boat which we released. He gave us a fantastic jumping display and had all his lights turned on and was glowing. Later on during the day we had a double Dorado hook up, we lost one but landed a nice size Bull. At midday the wind turned to the poison SE and we had no more luck with fishing. Then we had to make the long trip back to port.
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Nice Mike, can see the boys very happy.
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Nice Mike, can see the boys very happy.
I was happy too, first Marlin for the year, Second for the season
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Well done on the :billf: Mike, good to see they're around!!
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I hope that oke in the photo is looking at a pic he just took and not on FB or something :hehe:
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I hope that oke in the photo is looking at a pic he just took and not on FB or something :hehe:
Someone is missing the game
Haha
Some good fish lately Michael!
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 18/02/2016
We launched in the rain but were lucky that for most parts we seemed to miss the wet spots (Maybe because I dodged them). The water was warm and clean and we had intermittent NE winds blowing from strong to low which kept on changing. Lots of life in the water and we saw Yellowfin Tuna jumping frequently. In the end we dropped 3 and landed 5 good specimens.
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Nice Mike! :yft:
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Good fish there, big guy.
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You should have seen the fish he caught on Saturday... his PB by faaaarrrrr!
Mike got married!
:cgrts: :yipee: (clap) :happ:
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I saw all the pics.
Congrats on tying the knot Bud.
Knowing what your traces look like, I doubt the knot will ever come undone.
Mike is off on honeymoon so will probably be quiet for a few days.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT - Durban - 12/03/2016
Fishing was tough this weekend with a strong reverse current and green water, we struggled to find clean warm water but eventually we managed to find some purple water at 27deg.C and picked up a really great Bull Dorado. We had a large Black Marlin on the outside rigger line he did a jump and threw the hook then he moved and hit the short corner and did a superb aerial display and threw the hook. We had a few on/offs and fish hitting the birds but it seems they biting short. Bottom fishing was not easy in the strong current but with big sinkers in shallow waters we managed some really nice slinger.
We came across a monster sized Manta Ray and is wing span was wider than Fat Girls 12ft beam. Amazing to see such a magnificent creature.
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Its been a while since I posted a report, life gets so busy at times. For the last while bottom fishing has been good with some good size Singer and Englishmen around along with Copper Bream and Rockod being caught on most of our trips. On the trolling side we have been getting a lot of Bonnies and there have been a few Yellowfin Tuna around. This past Game Fish season was certainly the worst I have ever experienced and I don't know what to put this down to. The waters are still relatively warm and averaging 23deg.C. With a more than usual amount of rain the inshore waters have never really been clean the whole season and winter came early this year. The last few trips have had some nice seas for a change after a lot of really lousy weekends.
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You should have seen the fish he caught on Saturday... his PB by faaaarrrrr!
Mike got married!
Its been a while since I posted a report, life gets so busy at times. [...] and I don't know what to put this down to.
Been a while Mike.... think YOU know why you haven't posted in a while :hyst:
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You should have seen the fish he caught on Saturday... his PB by faaaarrrrr!
Mike got married!
Its been a while since I posted a report, life gets so busy at times. [...] and I don't know what to put this down to.
:geet :vio
Been a while Mike.... think YOU know why you haven't posted in a while :hyst:
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Offshore Fishing Report
This winter has been very cold, I dont remember going out dressed with so many layers for so many trips. Or maybe I am just getting older and can't take the cold like I used to. Either way it's been freezing early mornings and somedays freezing all day. Tuna fishing has not been what it should be, perhaps the Chinese trawlers have played a big part in this. None the less we have been getting some smaller Yellowfin Tuna in the 4 - 5Kg range. Bonnies, and Sarda - Sarda in the 1.5 - 2kg range have been full up and on some days we have caught so many we just had to stop. Shad have been very active early mornings and most have been just under and over size so many have had to be thrown back. The mackerel have been amazing and we have caught a lot of them that have been bigger than the Bonnies and Sarda - Sarda, real monster Mackerels. Bottom Fishing has been productive on most days except when the current is screaming with Copper Bream, Englishmen, Slinger and Soldier Bream making up the majority of the catch. Whales, Dolphins and turtles are now a common site on every trip.
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If there were any fish to catch, I know you'd catch them Michael.
As far as feeling the cold, it happens when you get married.
...have a look in your wife's handbag...that's why you are not as tough as you were before
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Nice Mike, good to hear from you with some fish.
Enjoy the good times.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT DURBAN 20-11-2016
After several months of bad health and then an accident busting up my leg and hand I fInally got out on the water again after almost 4 months. It was great to get my veins filled with Saltwater, even though the trip was tough on me I really enjoyed it and will be getting stronger and stronger each trip and hopefully soon I will be back at the helm as my leg heals. Felt strange to have someone else skip my boat whilst I managed the deck with my crew, but I suppose there is a first time for everything in life.
Water was clean and blue as we headed out around the ships, but the water was cold averaging 21.3deg.C today with a reverse current. The sea was relatively flat today with far spaced swells, conditions were overcast and a light SW wind.
I saw a bow wave from a fish heading directly into our spread at great speed and then BANG the starboard outside rigger elastic band popped, the rigger bounced and we had a rod bend followed by the reel making that buzzing sound that's gets all fisherman's adrenalin going, as the line was running I saw a Dorado jumping, we waited for the hook to set properly and then gave the rod to the client and a good fight ensued and Fat Girl opened her Dorado account for the season with a stunning Queen on deck.
Was great to be back on the water.
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OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT DURBAN 22-11-2016
We got going just after 06h00, itbwas overcast and a moderate SW wind was blowing, the sea was better than I expected and water temps averaged 21.7deg.C, we decided to stay shallow and head up the coast. Just a short while out the harbour we had 2 lines go with some really decent fish, reels screaming rods bent, I suspect Tuna or Big Bonnies. Sadley both fish got taxed by a Shark, I think the same one, even my Williamson Speed pros got taken. Put some more on and we continued and after about an hour we had another 2 lines go and one got taxed again by a shark costing me another Speed pro and on the other line we landed a really good size Bonnie (Kawa Kawa) with my Speed Pro attached. We had 2 guys that did not feel so well and headed back to port and back on the dock before 10h00. These Williamson speed pros really troll well at high speed, will have to get me some more.
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Good to see you back!!!!
Are you sure the sharks always went for the bonnies!?!? I got 3 of them a few weeks back, that went straight to the rappies and speedpros even before the tuna....
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Good to see you back!!!!
Are you sure the sharks always went for the bonnies!?!? I got 3 of them a few weeks back, that went straight to the rappies and speedpros even before the tuna....
When fishing in Moz I also caught loads of Black Tips on rappies, but not in Durban. Also the fish was on we had a good fight and when about 20-30m from the boat the line went vas and the reel screamed hectic which we could not stop until line went limp, was definitely something bigger.
Good news I got today is that Rapala is giving me 5 of the new X-Rap 40 Magnums to test and put through their paces :happ:, I will post a pro staff report when I have pulled them around a bit so look out for it
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I get them tomorrow :-) Love the pink one
They say they swim 12m deep 40ft
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That's interesting... seems like they are a bit more lazy down south and only chase hooked fish.... here they go straight to the rappies at 6-8 knots... eish...
Looking forward to your reviews. Hope Rapala addressed the widely felt and reported rust related shortcomings on their lures
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2016/2017 Holiday Fishing Report
Greetings to all and I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone for 2017.
We had loads of winds this season, blowing from every direction, currents have been strong and the water never got to the warm temperatures that we usually get this time of year we also had a lot of rain but with the water shortage I suppose I should not complain. We had to cancel several trips due to the weather, but we still had a busy season with many visitors to Durban this year. We had some good fishing days and some bad fishing days.
I dont ever remember such a cold season as there were some days that were icy like Christmas day morning when I froze. We have not yet had the proper hot Durban weather.
We caught a fair amount of Dorado but we never got any big ones so far, we also did not get those bumper days and most daily catches were in the 1s, 2s and 3s for the day but we got Dorado on almost every trip.
The new Rapala X-Rap 40s running 12m deep did well for us on the Dorado even though we were running them for Tuna they got us Dorado and some decent size Bonnies.
The Tuna and Wahoo have evaded us this season and we have not caught any.
We got a really nice Black Marlin at the end of December which we released and dropped a monster of a Black Marlin.
Bottom fishing for most parts was actually very good and the Slinger were prolific, especially when the currents were stronger with some decent sizes. We caught a beautiful Picasso Trigger Fish off Durban whilst bottom fishing which was a first for Fat Girl ever, this fish was released.
We did some bay fishing and we caught a good amount of GTs on Drop shot along with some Sea Pike, Salad Fish, Walla Walla and for the first time ever we got a really large mullet on Drop Shot. We had a young man that wanted to use his light tackle Bass set up in the bay and caught himself a nice little Hammer Head Shark, all the fish we caught in the bay were released.
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Nice Mike! :happ:
PS Thats a Clown Trigger, not a Picasso.
Picasso looks like this
(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSyKog4sYGuBcjuGIN-Iqk5dNC8Wrjpc9ti3Y1Aj6yvX32b3MFsAg)
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The colours on that Clown Trigger look awesome , and thats quite an achievement , the small Hammerhead on bass tackle .. (clap)
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Nice Mike! :happ:
PS Thats a Clown Trigger, not a Picasso.
Picasso looks like this
(https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSyKog4sYGuBcjuGIN-Iqk5dNC8Wrjpc9ti3Y1Aj6yvX32b3MFsAg)
Yes you right, thanks
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Mike, your reports are the earliest things I remember about UA.
Not that I am saying you are an old fart.
Your reports have always been something I really enjoyed.
Your East Coast Radio-style jokes are a different kettle of Picassos.
Glad to see you are up and about.
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Mike, your reports are the earliest things I remember about UA.
Not that I am saying you are an old fart.
Your reports have always been something I really enjoyed.
Your East Coast Radio-style jokes are a different kettle of Picassos.
Glad to see you are up and about.
Am turning 21 this year, so shut up laaitjie w;k
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Offshore Fishing Report 20170110 - Durban
Game Fish Grand Slam and our first Billfish for 2017
We had a 6hr trip for today and decided to do it in the afternoon as the wind was blowing strong in the morning and so the boat launched at 11h00. 1hr into the trip the shotgun claimed a Wahoo and about an hour after that the same bullet on the shot gun claimed a Sailfish of around 50Kg which was released. After that 2 Dorado were also hooked up, so 3 species of Game Fish in one short trip.
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Well done Michael. Good pics
Happy customers.
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Stellar Mike!!!! Awesome, well done! (clap)
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Great day out! Congrats on the :sailf: (clap)
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Offshore Fishing Report - Durban
Seems like the weather is settling a little bit and we are still getting Dorado on every trip, water has been clean and warm but we are still getting some horrid winds on some days making for big seas.
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Offshore Fishing Report - Durban
After the hectic season in December and January things went back to the normal pace in February. Water temperatures have been very warm with some days recording over 28deg. C and this has been in-spite of the large amount of rain that we have experienced, inshore waters have been dirty but out in the deep the water is clear. I cant complain about the rain as it has seen many of our badly depleted dams restored and a huge relief on the drought situation. The fish have been around and we have been getting catches on every trip even though not as many as we would like. There has been a good variety of fish being caught including Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, Prodigal son and as always the bottom fishing keeps the rods bending on the slower game fish days. We have not managed to bring a Marlin to the boat but had a close call the other day with a big Black that came off. April looks set to be another busy month with Easter and the holidays approaching us, cant believe April is already around the corner. Sure hope these big winds either NE or SW take a break at some stage.
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Nice one Mike!
I miss your more in depth written reports. Not just a summary at the end of the month.
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I hope all the long weekends and public holidays keep you very busy and that your reels scream and smoke!
I do plan a visit some time but not sure when.
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Nice one Mike!
I miss your more in depth written reports. Not just a summary at the end of the month.
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I hope all the long weekends and public holidays keep you very busy and that your reels scream and smoke!
I do plan a visit some time but not sure when.
Even if you don't fish, would be nice to meet up Hannes.
I will get back to those reports have just had my attention divided for a while and a new wife w;k
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I get them tomorrow :-) Love the pink one
They say they swim 12m deep 40ft
Herewith my test report on these
X-Rap 40 Report
I was quite excited when I got the new X-Rap 40s to test this season as I have always been a big fan of the X-Rap 30s.
I used gear equipped with 50lb (24Kg) line and drags set to 8kg on strike.
I put 6m of 0.80 Suffix zippy leader line connected to the main line with a double fig.8 knot.
I connected the 0.80 leader directly to the X-Rap 40 using an improved fig.8 knot and no steel wire.
I ran 2 rigs like with the X-Rap 40s from the two corner positions on my boat in a mixed spread along with 5 Konas for almost all my trips with the exception of 3 Marlin Specific trips where I ran large Konas in these positions. So we tested over 18 trips averaging 8hrs per trip, with and average of 100km travelled per trip.
I ran one 35m behind the boat and the other 30m behind the boat.
The total test time was around 144hrs and 1800km.
We had all kinds of weather and conditions during this time and some really strong winds on certain days and some big swells and some very fast currents were encountered, so I am satisfied that these lures were put through their paces and thoroughly tested.
Going head into the strong currents the 40s never popped even once so a big improvement over the 30s which would most certainly have popped out a few times.
Coming back in some 3.5-4.0m swells in a following sea with the boat surging forward they never popped, with the 30s I would have to slow down but the 40s ran true and never popped.
We trolled at speeds from 6 knots up to 12 knots and in all conditions the 40s ran true.
The 40s have a serious pull on them and there is no ways that one could run them on 30lb rigs with 5Kg drags over 7 knots as they would have pulled line from the reels, so the 50lb rigs are best suited for trolling these lures.
I was really hoping to get some good Yellowfin Tuna on the 40s, as the 30s have produced me some really great Tuna over the years but we did not see one Tuna this season.
It must be noted that weather conditions this season were not normal and we still have not got the warm waters which we are accustomed to this time of year and so fishing was well below average and one had to travel far and work hard to get fish.
We caught a lot of Dorado on the 40s and several large size Bonnies.
One thing I can say that on several days we were the only boat at the Marina to bring back Dorado when all the other boats were only trolling konas we brought back Dorado all caught on the X-Rap 40s.
Another thing I noticed is that at slower speeds the X-Raps did not produce any fish and all the fish we caught on the X-Raps were caught trolling at 8-9 knots.
Of the 6 colours I tested only the pink and the red head produced fish.
As a rule I usually only run X-Raps in the cooler months specifically for Yellowfin, but I learnt a good lesson this summer running them as they often caught me the fish when nothing else was working,
Conclusion
The X-Rap 40s troll well in all conditions and like to be pulled fast, the hooks are bigger than on the 30s and this seemed to be a big advantage as all the fish we hooked were hooked properly with both hooks. I like these 40s and will definitely be running them in the future on my boat, they are definitely suited to a mixed spread with konas and bullets. I am dying to try them in the cooler months when the bigger Tuna are around.
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban - 20-03-2017
It was a stunning weather today with nice calm seas, we took a father and son along with some of his buddies out for a birthday treat with a 5hr inshore/mini deep sea charter. Water was clear and 25 deg.C and it was not long before the first Bonito was on deck. For a short while after that things were quiet when there was a Dorado (Mahi Mahi) double up making for some great excitement for these young men and I am sure for the dads also. I must say that when I see young people full of excitement and outdoors it gives me great pleasure.
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Good to see you up and running Mike! (clap)
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Nice one Michael
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Offshore Fishing Report - Durban - 24/03/2017
Another Game fish Grand Slam on Fat Girl to the delight our mix of guests from Belgium, France and Holland.
With an early launch for a 5hr charter and were able to get some good fishing in before the big West wind hit Durban.
Water is warm at 25deg.C and reasonable clear.
Very early we hooked up a cute baby Dorado which we released to swim another day. It amazes me that even as small as it is, it is already a perfectly formed Dorado, and it always intrigues me the size of lure these little guys tackle.
Next up was a really nice size Wahoo, which gave a good fight.
On the way back in we had a double hook up with a Yellowfin Tuna and a Oceanic Bonito
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban - 25-03-2017
Saturday was overcast and raining and we had 4 guests from up country as this trip was part of a bachelors party weekend, they were happy to go fishing in the rain when we gave them an option to move the trip to Sunday and suprisingly they were sober for a bachelors weekend, am sure they did not want to go fishing on Sunday with thier plans for Saturday night. LOL. The barometer was very low and expectations were not good. For all the efforts we endded up with 2 Oceanic Bonito (Skip Jack) and again got a tiny Dorado which we released to get bigger. We also lost a decent size dorado at the boat and had a big strike but no hook up.
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban - 05/04/2017
A short trip inshore for some young boys proved to be great fun on light spinning tackle and a great day out, sea conditions were Ok but the current was screaming and sinkers ice cold at the end of it all a nice Yellowfin Tuna was the pride of a young man along with some bottom fishing fun for everyone.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 08-04-2017
With our deckhand getting robbed on his way to work this morning we left later than planned, shame poor guy had his whole weeks wages stolen, very sad.
So departing at 06h30 we decided to give our customers an extra hour due to the delay and so ended up being out for 6hrs instead of 5hrs.
Light NE winds made for nice seas and water colour not to bad but not as blue as we like it. The water temps are starting to drop as we are in autumn already and were just under 24 deg.C.
The fishing turned out great today with a lot of fish, 2 Dorado (Mahi mahi) one of 7Kg and a nice Bull of 13Kg, on top of that we also got into a school of Oceanic Bonito (Skipjack Tuna) and landed 15 of these so everyone had great fun and sport today.
www.bluwatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluwatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 09-04-2017
With it being school holidays we have had many children along on our charters and today was no exception. I always love the pure joy that oozes out of them when they catch a fish, its contagious and one ends up in a great mood feeling happy.
We had nice conditions today with water temps just under 24deg.C. Water is clear but not blue. Wind was up a bit from yesterday peaking at a 12knot NE and conditions were sunny.
Still lots of Oceanic Bonito (Skipjack Tuna) around today and we landed a good few putting some really contagious smiles on some young mens faces.
I think that with the amount of Bonito around all we need is some clear cobalt blue water and we could have a good black marlin bite going.
www.bluwatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluwatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 11-04-2017
We had some guests from Sweden today, sea conditions were great, water reasonably clear but the temperature is slowly dropping with today at 23.3deg.C.
The wind has turned again and coming from the SW but it was a very light wind today.
Fishing was good with some Dorado (Mahi Mahi) catches and some Oceanic Bonito (Skipjack Tuna), our guests only kept 1 Dorado and 1 Bonnie and the others were released.
www.bluwatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluwatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 16-04-2017
Easter weekend brought us a cold front and some strong SW winds and so we were only able to do one of our trips. Inshore waters are now at 22 deg.C and deeper out just over 23 deg.C so the temperature is steadily dropping as we get into Autumn. There was a strong S-N current but heading out in the deeper water we managed this magnificent Yellowfin Tuna making an 11yr old young man very happy.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Fishing Report Durban 22-04-2017
The guys from Nissan in PMB booked an afternoon backline trip with us on Saturday, along with Mackerel and Shad some nice bottoms were also caught along with a nice Rockod. The water was warm and over 24deg.C and so one of the mackerel was sacrificed to be used as a live bait to see if anything big was lurking around. I must make note that this was done on very light tackle and it was not long before the reel was screaming and an hour later with an epic light tackle fight a superb Yellowfin Tuna of 16Kg was landed making this the highlight of the afternoon.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Fishing Report Durban 25-30 April 2017
A busy long weekend and lots of trips. We had great weather on most days. On average the water temps were around 23.6deg.C, green inshore but nice and blue out in the deep. A fair amount of Yellowfin Tuna and Oceanic Bonito (Skipjack Tuna) on the smaller side were caught and what I would guess was probably our last Dorado for the season came out on Friday. We also saw some big Tuna on the sounder out in the deep on the thermocline. I think we can expect some nice Tuna catches if the conditions are right over the next 2 months and usually among these once can get a Sailfish as the water starts cooling down.
The worst thing happened on Tuesday with a Tuna estimated at around 25Kg was lost near the boat on light tackle when the hooks pulled after a 1.5hr fight. It is frustrating and disappointing when that happens after all the work has been done and no reward.
The highlight of the long weekend was a magnificent Sailfish caught on Saturday out in the deep and after a good fight it was released back into the ocean.
Some 6yr old girls had great fun on the backline with Mackerel and Sand Soldiers and a few nice Slinger were caught on other trips.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Fishing Report Durban 5 May 2017
Stunning conditions, but the water was green and water temps averaging 23.6deg.C, before heading out to the deep there was a stop for live bait and then these were deployed inshore and some nice Couta (King Mackerel) were landed. After that the deep was quiet with the exception of a sailfish that made itself known but showed very little interest after that.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #fishing #charter #Durban
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 17 May 2017
After all these heavy rains it was great to have sunshine again, we were expecting the water to be filthy but deeper out it was clean and the temperature was a surprising 23.8 deg.C.
Conditions were also great with flat seas and a gentle current.
It was only a short morning charter and we had 2 very unusual catches with 2 Bludger King Fish caught out deep trolling Rapalas, never seen this before. Perhaps they were lost.
In addition to the 2 King Fish, 4 Yellowfin Tuna also succumbed to the Rapalas making a good fish count for the day.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #fishing #charter #Durban
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Nice :rck" :rck" although that looks nothing like the Bludgers I have caught?? :dunno:
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Agree dugong... think that fish is a black jack (Caranx lugubris)... which is an oceanic species. Also the dark coloration of the body and white-bordered anal fin is consistent... would like to see a pic without the extended mouth...
Nice one Mike (clap)
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Agree dugong... think that fish is a black jack (Caranx lugubris)... which is an oceanic species. Also the dark coloration of the body and white-bordered anal fin is consistent... would like to see a pic without the extended mouth...
Nice one Mike (clap)
Barry Wareham says it an Amberjack. I never saw the fish myself and although we have hooked up Tropical Yellowtail in the shallows, never had something like this from the deep, as these were caught after the 100m dropoff. So not sure
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Not an amber either... Most likely a Black Jack. Caught quite a few at Bassas. Amber and Bludger both similar body shapes but without that "Jack" profile.
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Not an amber either... Most likely a Black Jack. Caught quite a few at Bassas. Amber and Bludger both similar body shapes but without that "Jack" profile.
Thanks, whatever it is it is very unusual out in that depth of water
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I always considered it to be a shallow reef dweller but I got this from Wiki... "Black jack are rare in shallow waters, preferring deep, ledges and seamounts in clear waters."
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Definetly not an amberjack....
Here's a better pic of a black jack. Long yellowish pec fin and the little white blotch at the base of the dorsal fin... all check on your fish Mike.
(http://marinebio.org/gallery/flowergardens/images/image4.jpg)
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 19/20 May 2017
Offshore waters are still nice and warm at 23.8deg.C and the weather has been superb, we had some short morning charters on both days and after some early Tuna and Bonnies light tackle bottom fishing got some nice results with some interesting species along with some slinger.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #deepsea #fishing #charter #Durban
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Boat no. 2. Won't be long now for her maiden voyage, Nawty Girl is nearly ready :) Bookings available from July. Watch this space.....more to follow
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Great stuff (clap) Safe sailing and :sreel:
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 27 May 2017
Saturday was cool weather and started out as a really stunning day and was stunning for most of the day with only a stiff wind that picked up later in the afternoon. Water temperatures have come down a little and are sitting a little over 23deg.C. There was a strong N-S current and although the water was not dirty it was not clear either. There was loads of Skipjack Tuna (Oceanic Bonito) around and they provided some great lighter tackle fishing fun for everyone on board; with a total of 9 landed and a few more lost. Bottom fishing was done at the end of the trip for a short period with some general bottom fish caught with nothing to write home about it was not so easy to get the lines down in the current out deeper.
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #deepsea #fishing #charter #Durban
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:happ:
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 4 June 2017
Stunning weather this morning before the South Westerly came through. Fat Girl was out deep on a short 5hr trip early this morning. Water is still over 23deg.C, I was expecting it to be cooler and am also anticipating seeing the first Whales arriving at anytime. No signs of any sardine activity although I have heard that they holding deep off the Eastern Cape. We had some great action with a really nice Yellowfin Tuna today. Can anyone guess its weight?
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #deepsea #fishing #charter #Durban
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Nice yellowfin, guessing 13 kilos
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10kgs?
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+/- 12kgs?
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 4 June 2017
Stunning weather this morning before the South Westerly came through. Fat Girl was out deep on a short 5hr trip early this morning. Water is still over 23deg.C, I was expecting it to be cooler and am also anticipating seeing the first Whales arriving at anytime. No signs of any sardine activity although I have heard that they holding deep off the Eastern Cape. We had some great action with a really nice Yellowfin Tuna today. Can anyone guess its weight?
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #deepsea #fishing #charter #Durban
Whoever gets it right wins a lollipop :crzy
That fish looks like 90-95 cm long... I'd say 15-17 kg
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We had guesses from 6.5Kg to 28.4Kg which means that one can never tell the weight of the fish from a picture. Actual weight was 15.5Kg when initially weighed and 20 minutes later after hanging on the scale for a while it weighed 15Kg
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I win!!!!!
Here's my lollipop
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSgPFkBLcfI3lcQeTTvhD8RUUX9AbOgv2tDR3hUcBY1K0U3r7i30g)
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I also just went and got my lollipop from the cupboard w;k
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I also just went and got my lollipop from the cupboard w;k
You can actually have mine.... trying to cut down on processed sugar :crzy
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It's our "Berthday" today 9yrs of operation, over1000 charters done, loads of great fish caught and many happy clients
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:hpybthd: BWC... Hope you have many more safe and rewarding charters :beer:
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Congrats Mike! (clap)
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Thanks Guys
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Offshore Fishing Report Durban 02-09-2017
At long last we got some warmer waters with the temperature gauge showing at 23 deg.C out on the 200m.
After a short light rain we were treated to a stunning rainbow over the sea early in the morning
For a short 5hr trip it was great fun with 11 Oceanic Bonitos (Skipjack)getting hooked up providing some great entertainment.
Looks like we may get an early start to our game fish season this year and if conditions continue like this we may even see a Dorado being caught on some boat during September and I anticipate some nice Yellowfin Tuna very soon. Marlin love these Skipjack so if the food is already here.......We wait and hope
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
#gamefishing #tuna #game #marlin #deepsea #fishing #charter #Durban
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Introducing NAWTY GIRL, a 19.6ft Catamaran as Fat Girls little sister who will run as our smaller 2nd charter boat.
Fully equipped for game fishing with Shimano tackle, a fighting chair and outriggers. Powered by 2 x Mecury 90hp out boards.
Bookings from mid October
www.bluewatercharters.co.za (http://www.bluewatercharters.co.za)
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Fat Girl is out on the slip for her annual maintenance, anti-fouling paint and safety inspections to be ready for the next season. This year Fat Girl also received a great upgrade with a nice pair of 31ft out-riggers to help catch even more fish.
She is nearly done and will be back in action soon
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Nawty Girl our second boat is complete and ready, she is in the water and on her mooring at Wilson's Wharf. We launched her on Friday.
Book your Game Fish trip now, season has started
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Started a new thread for fishing reports for both Fat Girl and Nawty Girl
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=22557.new;topicseen#new (http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=22557.new;topicseen#new)