Fishing tales aboard MAXIMVS: Club Naval's "Trofeu Verao", 15 Dec 2012

[John F]

This competition is the only one being organized this year by Clube Naval de Maputo. It will take place on the 15 Dec 2012 (last comp pf the year in Maputo) - hoping the guys will pitch.

A lot of preparation went into MAXIMVS in order to have a nice, fun and productive comp.

Lots of things happened in the last couple of weeks including:

* New "club" trailer. The original one is a nice galvanized break-neck, fully rolled trailer; perfect for the road. I didn't want to ruin it by using it in the club's ramp so a good opportunity came and I got another trailer. Strong, heavy and with timber planks that make loading very easy, especially in those windy afternoons;

* Added another pump (600 GPH - thanks L Hooker!) for the starboard luna tube and pressure hose. No more bucketing to wash the deck;

* New knob wheel (thanks Aquafan!), to make those tight manuevers much easier when fighting and landing/releasing big fish;

* New 10 h stand-alone speaker (thanks Shag!) that will keep the heavy-duty marlin attracting sounds pumping all day!

* Other bits and pieces touch ups here and there including drink holders, "flat-riggers", extra fuel tanks, are also ready; and finally...

* New additions to the arsenal: brand new, sparkling and blinging combos: Okuma Makaira 50W II reels on 50/80 Lb Okuma Makaira rods (thanks Fishing Adventures, Prego, Dodger, PH, Reefman, shag! hope not leaving anyone out!).

Team MAXIMVS is being partially sponsored by a local autoShop - AutoEstoril and will be flying the UA flag high! The team will be: John F, Manuel Jr, jsilva and Rui Ferreira (soon to register here... or else!!).

The comp will be a 2 independent divisions comp: a Gamefish and a Billfish division. So there's space for all and one can score points on both divisions (and even win both!). So a carefully designed strategy must be put in place taking into account the weather and goals of the team. This is where we are now. Checking the million weather sites and temp charts, getting intell from other boats regarding catches/areas (especially spearos!), and getting the tackle, bait and all the rest in place.

More to come...

[Nakkie]

Looking forward to the report!!! 3 more days to go. Good luck with all the planning but more importantly though, good luck with the comp!!!
Here's to a lot of

[PH]

Good luck John F!!

[Happy Dog]

Good luck and  send reports and photos

[Prego]

And a new speaker so you can have a party on the boat with some  rocking tunes   

 

[John F]

Exactly.... AC/DC & Co!

[peterblace]

Prego...today I saw Marcos in the morning...he was hidding some secret weapon on the freezer...
he is full of secrets hein!!!

tight lines bru...

regarding Maguro there were some preparations as well

* new club shed (thanks Marcos)...now she has a new home...and my missus is all happy because seh found that there's an extra room at home
* new rod rack (thanks L Hooker for bringing...many thanks Prego for following the construction...thanks Marcos for helping with the mount)
* water separators/fuel filter/new hour meters are being mounted at the moment (thanks Prego)
* a pair of extra jerrycans donated by Pinduca...they were about to be binned and are in perfect shape...I grabbed them, cleaned them and they ready for Saturday
* new props will be mounted on Friday (thanks Prego)...according to Prego I will have pink props to match with my new pink columbia shirt and the speedos
(that will be the dress code aboard Maguro)

[John F]

Prego...today I saw Marcos in the morning...he was hidding some secret weapon on the freezer...
he is full of secrets hein!!!

tight lines bru...

regarding Maguro there were some preparations as well

* new club shed (thanks Marcos)...now she has a new home...and my missus is all happy because seh found that there's an extra room at home
* new rod rack (thanks L Hooker for bringing...many thanks Prego for following the construction...thanks Marcos for helping with the mount)
* water separators/fuel filter/new hour meters are being mounted at the moment (thanks Prego)
* a pair of extra jerrycans donated by Pinduca...they were about to be binned and are in perfect shape...I grabbed them, cleaned them and they ready for Saturday
* new props will be mounted on Friday (thanks Prego)...according to Prego I will have pink props to match with my new pink columbia shirt and the speedos
(that will be the dress code aboard Maguro)

  secret ingredient.... this is war brother and the gladiator is getting ready.... well can't keep it secret from you... you got the keys to the gate locks!!!!


Don't thank me... thank the Club's vice-comodore!

Pink speedo's and shirts, hey?! I better say nothing.... 

[Prego]

John F do you have space on your boat for me please, I'm not to keen on this speedo story! 

[John F]

 

Bring your Red/blue  shirt and you're welcome Prego! Only thing pink on that boat are some of the lures and  birds!!!!

[jaenswart]

Well done Marcos.

Good luck with the compo

[John F]

Thanks for the wishes guys.

We'll fish hard hopefully beat Prego by more than 200 gr!!! Lol

[L Hooker]

Good luck to both Pedro & Marcos , kick some butt . LOL have to add some pics with the pink kit

[Prego]

Thanks for the wishes guys.

We'll fish hard hopefully beat Prego by more than 200 gr!!! Lol

Not going to let than one go hey? 

Hope the weather holds out, looking forward to it.

[Nakkie]

Once again, good luck for tomorrow Marcos & Co. May you guys have plenty    and lots of

[shagnrelease]

Good luck guys!!
Its a bit of a travel to the heat!!

[peterblace]

Greg..what's the difference on your showing and my showing?

regarding wind this is the forecast..might be a bit bumpy

[John F]

Bumpy or not we ready!

[krissi]

  John and Prego hope you get lots of      !! Looking forward to the report and pics 

[John F]

A brief report on the comp.

We launched at 05:30 and made our way to the northern reefs to target couta. Our game plan was simple: target the species division in the morning and maybe try and get the odd sailie or even a marlin a bit deeper....

Sea was flat with a bit of a northerly breeze but nothing to worry about. Water temp was just above 25o C.  Cruise speed was 22 knots and 1 h 15 later we got to a few marks that have bee producing couta lately...

Our initial spread was 2 x-raps in the short positions, 2 magnum rappies in the long and one half beak on a couta trace in the shot gun...

Five min later our first strike on the x-rap: couta about 8 kg! We kept working the area and got 6 fish: 3 couta and 3 nice barracudas in 2 hours (lost about 4 fish - missed strikes and lost one a few meters from the boat - treble opened!).

Following up on our plan we decided to go a bit deeper to try and get some tuna and a dorrie.... sea was dead flat! All we got for our effort was a small dorrie (4 kg; didn't make the scales) and a billie that played with one of the lures but didn't commit! 

The boats that went deep (+500 m) had a fantastic billfish day!): 9 marlin and one sailfish were released. For a total of 12 boats that entered the comp this is very good.

At the end we placed 6th in the gamefish division and had a great time on the water! Flat seas, good company and fresh fish for supper....

Pics to follow...