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OFFSHORE ANGLING => Offshore Fishing Reports => Topic started by: Dewald Posthumus on September 29, 2017, 09:47:28 AM
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Hi guys,
Just returned from our trip to St Lazarus banks with Island Adventure Charters with Captain Brent. Here is a short trip report – trying to type with land-sickness is not the easiest thing, but here goes:
It was a first time trip for me and it turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life. After months of preparing, visiting tackle stores, and buying second hand tackle from the guys on this forum as well as the ‘other’ forum, importing stuff from China and finally building my own poppers, the day finally arrived to depart on this epic fishing trip. We organized a shuttle service and got on our way to O.R Tambo just before 6 am on Thursday morning. Check in all our equipment and managed to make the check in weight by a mere 3 kg. That is almost 180kg of fishing tackle, and we carried unrigged poppers in our hand luggage! Anyway, on with the trip, the flight to Maputo is a short one of just under an hour, stamped our passports and the flight to Pemba was delayed by half an hour, no communication, announcements or anything. Needless to say, we kept on checking with staff as there is only one flight per week to Pemba, we did not want to miss it, anyway, we made it onto the flight and off we went.
Arrived in Pemba just before 2pm and we were met by Brent and his crew, loaded all the tackle into Brent’s car and off to Nautilus for a quick beer whilst the loading all the tackle onto the boat. To cut a long story short, we had some headwind and big swells on the way to St Lazarus and only arrived on the banks at around 10am the next morning. I was completely stuffed and was seasick. Slept most the way there and spent a lot of time in the cabin sleeping the first day. The guys managed some wahoos and tunas on the first day, I was out of it, so cannot really recall what happened. The days that followed were absolute mayhem, from trawling to spinning to jigging to popping and plugging.
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We managed to land some real bus wahoo’s, the biggest one was 21 kg, followed by some of 20kg, all the way down to around 5kg.
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We cracked the code on plugging for Tuna on GT ice creams and landed quite a couple, the biggest tuna of 31kg landed by Nico (he had a black hole 10’6” rod made by Brandon McQueen), he had quite a tussle with that fish, pulling a tuna with such a long rod is a real mission. Other tuna include a 25kg specimen and a 22kg one. I had the worst record with them and have a record of 13-0 for the tuna’s. For some reason I just could not get hooked up. I had 13 smashes/ takes/ on-off’s on a needle nose GT Ice cream…such a shame.. You need to understand that battling these sized tunas on popping tackle was no easy feat and all that got hooked into the 20kg + specimens chose to do it only once! He he.
All these were on GT Ice creams
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I shared the results of building my own poppers in the DIY Lures section earlier this year and I am very chuffed to say that we managed excellent results on the home made poppers that I specifically made for this trip. The lighter colours seemed to work well, but that being said, we managed a GT on a black popper in the middle of the day as well.
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Some more GT
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I even managed a white tip reef shark on a popper – at first I just saw the tail fin on the take and thought it was a monster GT, but after a couple of minutes into the fight, it surfaced some way out and I knew it was something different than a GT, turned out to be a 20kg odd shark, still a nice fight.
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The GT’s were a bit disappointing as we were expecting bigger fish, most of the fish were in the 80-90cm range, with only one of 108cm begin landed – the tunas did make up for it, but still, would have liked the GT’s a bit bigger.
We also managed a sailie on jig the first afternoon, quite an epic encounter with the fish fighting close to the boat and putting up a good aerial display.
We managed to hook another sailie on the second day – again, on one of my home made poppers – but it did not stick and came off after the initial run and first jump.
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And I almost forgot about the doggies, we managed 4 dogtooth tuna's, all in the 18-20kg range, only one on jig, the rest on trawling.
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All in all, it was a trip to remember, good fish, good eating, good company, lots of beers and a really good time – we were always into fish, whether we were trawling, popping, jigging or plugging.
For those of you thinking about going, DO IT!
You can find more info and pictures/ video’s on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/islandcharters.co.za/ (https://www.facebook.com/islandcharters.co.za/)
Please mind the language on some of the videos and look out for the one on the double up with GT’s, again, both on home made poppers!
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Superb report Dewald, thanks for posting this! :+ cred: :+ cred:
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Ya agree, awesome report and some great fish! Well done, especially on the home-made poppers!!! (clap) :+ cred:
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Thanks for sharing :+ cred: , the tuna on plug is great, we had the same a couple years back.... even better to see your poppers produce the goods Dewalt!
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Great report. Makes us land bound JHB'ers quite jealous!!
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Fantastic bud... 108cm worth of Geet is no slouch... That's a good fish. Sounds like you had a blast. We've got just a few more sleeps till we head off there to go and tax Brent.
So glad the poppers worked well... Is that tarbender full of teeth marks now? (clap)
Must say, 10'6" worth of popping rod on a boat is quite long. Lekker for shore based game fishing but a helluva task for the boat.
Thanks for the report :+ cred:
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Great report, thanks. Sounds like an excellent time had by all. I saw a few tired anglers in Brent's FB posts yesterday :fshn:
Your weather looked stunning. We are hoping for the same in a few days time.
How were the currents for jigging?
Were you trolling and jigging with wire trace?
:+ cred:
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Awesomeness!!!!!!! Great report!
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The currents were ripping at 2 knots for the first couple of days, then settled down. The weather held up great, we had some windy days, but not that bad, day two was an absolute gem, almost windless and the sea was very flat. We found the doggie in 20m water, both on trawl and on jig - the one on jig was very close to the mooring buoys. Just to the north of mooring spot there was plenty of sailie action and a bit further off is where we found the tunas, plenty of them, what we would do is to trawl and when we got hookups, we would cast the 4oz GT Ice Creams, it worked a charm.
We jigged without wire and got bitten off on three occasions on the drop, dropshot also worked well, we also got bitten off quite a lot. A light outfit with a small Couta casting spoon worked well for Bonnies adn wahoo - I got smashed by a huge wahoo on a 9ft rod and Stradic 5k, broke me off in a second. My brother was the most successful fisherman of the trip and he just stuck to his recipe for fishing, a simple 3x3 method. Pop for three casts, the jig for three drops then cast out dropshot for three casts. He was on more often than not.
The GT's were all around the fusiliers, the video where we have a double up you will see that we cast into a shoal of fusiliers and then pop through them, that enticed the take. the jigging was slow and with the exception of a sailie and a doggie on jig, here was nothing to write home about.
Got these two on 50lb jigging outfit as well which was a nice fight.
And then the final fish on the way off the banks was a 34kg tuna on trawl - Brent asked a normal guy to sit next to me to give it perspective (at 2.03m and 145kg the fish looks small next to my frame!)
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The currents were ripping at 2 knots for the first couple of days, then settled down.
I stand to be corrected but our trip to Laz, we were whacked with a current of 5-6 kts... It was harsh. We had rappies out at anchor :shk
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The currents were ripping at 2 knots for the first couple of days, then settled down.
I stand to be corrected but our trip to Laz, we were whacked with a current of 5-6 kts... It was harsh. We had rappies out at anchor :shk
And it was still a bit fast for them :craz:
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great report...thanks for sharing...awesome catches
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:envy WOW , thank you for sharing your experience with us, brilliant report - really great that you caught on your poppers (makes all the prep.time & effort worthwhile). How did the jelutong / tarbender built lures hold out against the toothy onslaught, were they tough enough?? (I'm busy with a lure build at the moment using the same materials - is there anything you would change?)
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The lures held up just fine, they took some punishment from the GT's and the shark, but all in all, not bad.
One thing I would change is to make them a bit lighter and apply two coats of Tarbender. I used Gamakatsu GT recorder 5/0 hooks on them which added to the weight as well. We even had a GT recorder open on a big fish...these hooks are pretty strong though..
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Cool, thanks man, so I guess you're already planning your next trip? :hehe:
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Cool, thanks man, so I guess you're already planning your next trip? :hehe:
Absolutely!
We are looking at entering the Fogo islands competition for GT's..
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We are looking at entering the Fogo islands competition for GT's..
That's a lovely trip... From reef system to reef system. Sadly the fish were not playing ball when we did it last year but I have seen the potential of the area. Had a lot of fun catching bonefish at Fogo on light tackle. Crankman did a report on the trip. http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=21399.msg364480#msg364480 (http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=21399.msg364480#msg364480)
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Thanks Martin,
Will check it out. The cost is quite a lot more thank for Lazarus, would be really disappointing to have bad weather for this type of trip.
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I see all my pics in the Primeras trip report have disappeared?
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Found them here http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=278 (http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=278)
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congrats looks like you guys had an epic trip (clap)
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Hi guys,
I had a request to break down some of the actual costs for this kind of trip, so I will gladly share it here.
Herewith a breakdown of costs:
Vessel:
6 nights on the yacht at around R75k, give or take, split that into maximum 6 guests. It includes transfers to and from the airport, all meals incl tea and coffee, soft drinks and water. It also includes all the fuel etc. It works out to around R12500 pp.
Flights:
Connecting Flights from JHB to Maputo to Pemba via LAM, R5800 per person. SA Airlink is a round R13k! The reason why we extended our stay on the boat is because LAM changed their flights to Thursday's only. So you have to stay a week. You can set up in a local lodge if you only want to be on the boat for 5 nights, but who the hell wants to lose out on a day's fishing in Lazarus banks??
Extra's:
You can buy beer from the new Shoprite Liquor store - it is directly across the road from where we boarded the vessel. You can find all the local stuff as well as things like Castle Lite, Black Label etc. Expect to pay between R200-R250 per case of beer - local beers are cheaper than SA brands. They also have things like Ciders and all other brands of liquor. We bought expensive drinks at duty free for the evenings, another R500 per person.
We boarded the vessel at Nautilus bar and restaurant, we opted to have a late lunch and a couple beers before boarding - an extra R300 per person. Also, we returned very early in the morning and had to kill time until 12Pm before we could head off to the airport, so again, return breakfast/lunch at Nautilus and a couple of G&T's, another R300-R500 per person.
Tip for the deckhand/ staff on the boat, another R1000-R2000 for the group, depending on staff numbers.
Tackle:
NO COMMENT!
On a serious note, we overkilled on tackle.
Let me rather give you an idea of lost or broken tackle, we lost around 8-10 jigs (broken off on reef or bitten off by wahoo on the drop). We lost 3 poppers (broken tip guide on one rod which cut through the braid and wind knots casting, no fish that broke us off). Lost/ used plenty dropshot, one fish, one dropshot. Also, one bite, one dropshot, wahoo would nip off just the tail and the lure is gone.
We also lost one tip of a popping rod and one tip guide ring - you have to take a backup popping rod between the 6 guys, more than one would be perfect.
So, for next year's trip I will be taking 5 poppers, 5 jigs, 5 bucktails, 5 spoons, 4 GT ice creams and a bunch of dropshot. Take a couple of packets of inline singles, jigging assist hooks, split rings and so forth, I took 5 packets of jigging assists, and lost one hook! Don't overkill.
So in total you are looking at around R22k (without tackle), depending on your drinking habits.[size=0pt][/size] :beer:
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Hi guys,
I had a request to break down some of the actual costs for this kind of trip, so I will gladly share it here.
Herewith a breakdown of costs:
Vessel:
6 nights on the yacht at around R75k, give or take, split that into maximum 6 guests. It includes transfers to and from the airport, all meals incl tea and coffee, soft drinks and water. It also includes all the fuel etc. It works out to around R12500 pp.
Flights:
Connecting Flights from JHB to Maputo to Pemba via LAM, R5800 per person. SA Airlink is a round R13k! The reason why we extended our stay on the boat is because LAM changed their flights to Thursday's only. So you have to stay a week. You can set up in a local lodge if you only want to be on the boat for 5 nights, but who the hell wants to lose out on a day's fishing in Lazarus banks??
Extra's:
You can buy beer from the new Shoprite Liquor store - it is directly across the road from where we boarded the vessel. You can find all the local stuff as well as things like Castle Lite, Black Label etc. Expect to pay between R200-R250 per case of beer - local beers are cheaper than SA brands. They also have things like Ciders and all other brands of liquor. We bought expensive drinks at duty free for the evenings, another R500 per person.
We boarded the vessel at Nautilus bar and restaurant, we opted to have a late lunch and a couple beers before boarding - an extra R300 per person. Also, we returned very early in the morning and had to kill time until 12Pm before we could head off to the airport, so again, return breakfast/lunch at Nautilus and a couple of G&T's, another R300-R500 per person.
Tip for the deckhand/ staff on the boat, another R1000-R2000 for the group, depending on staff numbers.
Tackle:
NO COMMENT!
On a serious note, we overkilled on tackle.
Let me rather give you an idea of lost or broken tackle, we lost around 8-10 jigs (broken off on reef or bitten off by wahoo on the drop). We lost 3 poppers (broken tip guide on one rod which cut through the braid and wind knots casting, no fish that broke us off). Lost/ used plenty dropshot, one fish, one dropshot. Also, one bite, one dropshot, wahoo would nip off just the tail and the lure is gone.
We also lost one tip of a popping rod and one tip guide ring - you have to take a backup popping rod between the 6 guys, more than one would be perfect.
So, for next year's trip I will be taking 5 poppers, 5 jigs, 5 bucktails, 5 spoons, 4 GT ice creams and a bunch of dropshot. Take a couple of packets of inline singles, jigging assist hooks, split rings and so forth, I took 5 packets of jigging assists, and lost one hook! Don't overkill.
So in total you are looking at around R22k (without tackle), depending on your drinking habits. :beer:
Hoping to get a bite on this old post...
We are going to Premeira's in July and I wanted to get some more info on the exact tackle (rods and reels) you took as I am a total noob on jigging and popping. I have no clue on which rods to get etc. Do you perhaps have a list of the tackle you guys took with?
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I've done quite a few dedicated popping/jigging trips and I generally take far too much tackle with me, but it's always that FOMO of not having the right thing at the right time. But since you are asking for specifics... My first few trips were like this:
Popping: Turbulance PE8-10 with Old 6k Saltiga z model
Flick stick: Berkley Air 9' xh with 5k Stella
Jigging: Shimi Trevala with 6k Spheros.
Over time, it has degenerated into approx the following:
Popping: Black Hole Cape Cod Nano with 18k Stella.
Stick baiting: Turbulance with 14k Stella
Plugging: Temple Reef BD100 with Tranx 500
Light plugging: Phenix Blue Diamond with 6k Gossa
Flick stick: Black Hole Suzuki Special with 5k Stella
Jigging: Jigstar PE 4-9 with Alutechnos Gorilla 12c
SP Jigging: Major Craft N-One PE 1-2,5 with Tranx 400
Playing around: Shimi Beast Master Special Tiger with 4k Stella.
I generally take a few backup reels as well, but it's become a problem... It's just too much tackle. I might even have had more fun in the old days with vastly simplified kit... Less to obsess over. I have a trip to Lazarus later this year and I want to see if I can reduce to 4 outfits. I don't know that I have the will power though. Skippers generally don't like you bringing entire tackle shops with you, unless you plan on leaving them on board when you leave.
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Like Marty says, you always over cater on tackle for these trips. I reckon going with the basics might actually work out for the better.
1 x popping rod, around 8ft with a 10 000 plus (Shimano sizes) reel.
1 x jigging stick, around 7ft and not too stiff (especially if new to jigging) with a 6000 plus reel. The Shimano Trevalla 50 - 100lbs is perfect, so are the Assassin
Duels.
1 x flick stick, around 9ft with a 5000 reel.
A spare rod and reel across the range is handy, but split that up across the group.
Do bring spare braid - 80lbs popping, 65lbs jigging and 40 lbs flicking.
Obvously a selection of poppers, jigs (not too heavy, 100 to 200grm), plugs and icecreams, dropshot plastics, bucktails and a few casting spoons.
Mix it up, don't get stuck on one discipline. There is a massive variety of fish on that section of coast.
Bring some small hooks and heavyish ball sinkers for when at anchor behind Fogo island, you can have great fun with some big Bonefish on your flick stick using small bits of tuna as bait.