Mafia Island Popping and Jigging

[Gerhard]

Awesome stuff Gerhard!!! Wow! Where did you stay on Mafia?

Thanks Dave,


We fished with Big Blu

[Poenie]

Planning a trip to the azure blue waters of the tropics is nearly as entertaining as actually going!! Getting a crew together is usually quite a process, but in this case, it was as easy as catching yellowtail in Struisbaai during Feb!  When I saw the dates Jigstar Africa set out for Mafia Island, I called Graeme from Seaport Supply in Cpt, and without hesitation, he was in!! ...and soon got Deon (his top salesman) and Shaun (a friend) on board as well! We filled 4 of the 6 spots, with Marc Bennet, an Air Force pilot based in Langebaan, and Gerhard (tackle-junkie  but VERY HARDWORKING fisherman), filling the other 2 spots! We had a crew and soon after the "Mafia Mayhem" whatsapp group was in full swing! Internet browsers was working overtime, with very little info on the fishing there. Tackle talk dominated our daily lives and countless video's were shared as the excitement built!
Another MAJOR point of discussion is HOW TO PACK - getting a bag to be under 20kg for a fishing trip is a challenge in itself - I ended up leaving half my tackle at home and was STILL WELL overweight!
Then finally, the big day arrived:
One night in Jhb, then off to the tropics!! Drinks were flowing like the Niagra falls, and again tackle-talk and fishing techniques were discussed in detail. Suddenly I was the "expert" (which is quite a stretch, but for Graeme, Deon and Shaun, chucking big poppers and stickbaits, and jigging 400gr lures in 120m was a completely new form of fishing)
The next morning, we met up with Marc and Gehard, and departed for Dar Es Salaam, got a taxi to the domestic terminal (which is an experience in itself), and met Cpt Ally who joined us on the puddle-jump over to the island...





Upon our arrival in arguably the smallest airport south of the Northpole, the landrovers took us via the Marine Parks board where we met up with Roy. He paid the park-fees, made new friends in high places and we all proceeded to Big Blu lodge... a quaint, rustic, yet very comfortable and welcoming place - with aircon!!



Tackle was prepped, leaders tied, lures rigged, seafood dinner and a few Tuskers shared, the next day's plans discussed and off to bed, EXTREMELY amped for the next day!!

...to be continued

[Poenie]

Day 1 started with a BANG! On Cpt Ves' boat was myself, Roy, Gerhard and Marc, whilst the Seaport boys joined Cpt Ally and Roger, the VERY quiet, not well spoken, but FANATICAL fisherman/gillie.
Less than 8mins from the lodge, towards Kinasi Pass, the first poppers hit the water. 8 poppers working the reef, sounding like bowling balls dropping from the sky!! Surely a hungry GT must hear it!! ...and they DID!! Within the first 10 casts, my GT Mania was engulfed and I got pulled FLAT - the trip has officially started!!

This fish pulled REALLY hard and was looking to get 20m down to the structure, but some SERIOUS drag kept him off the reef, and a few minutes later, this was the result! 108cm FL and 96cm girth
5 casts later and Marc opened his account on that same drift:
This was all too easy it seemed, but how wrong we were!! Another quick bonnie for me and then QUIET!
Meanwhile, the seaport boys and Cpt Ally was yet to open their account.

We went around Kinasi pass to the wall to have a few throws, and Gerhard hooked an est 10kg couta on the light gear, but AT THE BOAT, the fish turned and his razorblades made light work of 80lb leader! Meanwhile Roy got a nice yellowspot, whilst Graeme opened the other boat's account with a Bluefin on the bucktail, as well as a Rosy Jobfish... which turns out to be a different species - I'll explain later...

Back to the lodge for lunch and a welcome break from the NorthEaster... but some guys still had their proverbial "mombak", and that had to change... QUICKLY!!
....to be continued

[Poenie]

With Deon, Shaun and Gerhard's "mombak" still firm on the faces, they were determined for the afternoon session. We headed over the shallows (accessible on high-tide only) towards the south - Chinjakasa reef. This place just LOOKS fishy! With the NE still blowing, it allowed for a VERY long drift over the 15-25m reef.
With the Seaport boys at the end of our sight, a call on the radio came through: "Ves Ves Ves, Ves Ves Ves, 100's of GT's, literally HUNDREDS" The Seaport boys had struck gold, with Deon and Shaun doubling up and opening their accounts - Deon with an estimated 27kg fish - pity about the bad quality of the photo's!!

Before we could move towards the other boat, we too got in on the action with a nice little pack-attack! Gerhard and Marc both going VAS on the popper and stickbait respectively! As Gerhard was on with his first open water GT (yes, they can be caught in a POND  ), I decided not to add to the chaos and kept my popper in the boat...

As quickly as the mayhem started, it all disappeared, and the afternoon jigging bite was slow too yielding nothing really worth mentioning. ...That said, day 1 saw all but Graeme get into GT's - the main reason why we were there!!
Tomorrow, I'm fishing with Graeme - I NEED TO SEE HIS FIRST GT!!

...to be continued (next week probably)

[Lenny]

 


Thanks for sharing Poenie .

[Prego]

Thanks Poenie for taking the time to do a report, pity about the persistent wind.

I know the weather did not play ball but I have to ask Poenie. If you had to choose Mada or Mafia?

[Poenie]

Day 2 arrived, and we decided to do a FULL day with lunch on the water. With Cpt Ally was myself, Graeme and Marc, and the rest with Capt Ves.
The morning's popping session off Chijakasa yielded no results, so we decided to jig in the deeper water off the reef. Not long and Roger (the gillie) and myself hooked up nearly simultaneously! Line peeled off my Maxel F50c at a rate of knots, then we saw it!! SAILIE DOUBLE UP!! A few seconds later, another jump and the line chafed on it's bill - OFF! Same with Roger's fish! A spectacular show followed as the fish torpedoed through the air trying to shake the jig.

We headed down South towards Kitutia, with the intention of joining the other boat for lunch on the "sand island" - a truly MACNIFICENT place and only accessible at low tide, and completely underwater when the tide pushes! It's one of those places you think only exist in travel-magazines! On our way there, we saw some bird working. My Starwalker 160 got eaten by a Skipjack, and that's where the plans changed! Screw lunch, we're pinning this one live at the ledge!! With the skippie out, we worked the jigs and soon I was VAS!! AMBERJACK!

Now Graeme is starting to really hurt jigging with a grinder (Trevala XXH, Stella 14k), and is eager to try this "overhead" setup of mine (Jigstar Katana Nano, Alutecnos Gorilla 12). He drops to the bottom and somewhat awkwardly tries to get the rhythm of overhead-jigging... but he had VERY little chance to get into it before his jig got eaten by a hungry Dog - the first of the trip!
The live skipjack came back UNTOUCHED, and we headed to the shallow reef for some popping. A couple of bonitos were caught on the way, and I had a VERY GOOD size GT interested in my Darkstar GT Mania, but he came up, swirled on it, missed, and never returned! :roll:

On the other boat, Deon got a smallish GT on his medium jigging outfit as well as a grouper (double up) with Gerhard, who gave an Amberjack a tasty lead-snack, whilst Shaun got a teenage GT on popper.

[ulua]

Awesome detailed report thanks for sharing and well done.


Craig

[comm29]

Nice trip and Report guys, thanks for sharing

[Poenie]

More to come... if only I get the time!

[Poenie]

Day 3 started with a morning session at Kinasi Pass... the topwater bite was slow, so we decided to jig at the 80m mark outside the pass. As we were bringing lines up, Deon got hit about 20m from the surface... on/off. I dropped a 200gr Bite-Me butterfly jig into the zone and immediately got smashed HARD! On/off again! Another drop and as I started working it, I got flattened again! Line peeled of the reel at a rate of knots, then it jumped! SAILIE!! Needless to say, with my luck on Sailfish, the hook pulled on the 2nd jump! ...I've now made peace, this is my nemesis species!! 0 for 8 on them! I've hooked them on popper, stickbait, jig, pitch-bait, live-bait, strip-bait and deep diver, and not ONE has stuck!! 
At lunch I decided to join the Seaport boys for an afternoon snorkel-session, which was just what the doctor ordered! Every muscle was now aching, and a bit of relaxation, beer and underwater-exploration sounded to good to miss. ...and it was!! The life on these reefs are mind-blowing, with triggers, parrots, wrasse, flutefish, GIANT pufferfish and Bluefin kingies to name a few! We had 2 lovely dives, a couple of cold ones, but then the urge to fish took over again!! We did a bit of light-tackle fishing and I managed to get a small GT to eat a Starwalker 140S - on my yellowtail outfit (Kingfisher Blue Diamond, Biomaster6000, 40lb gatorbraid). It was something I've always wanted to get - only wish it was a little bigger
The other boys headed out for a slow-pitch session, and had a great species-bash, with Roy landing a 12-15kg Amberjack on slow-pitch PE2!
They managed a few fish that afternoon, which I cannot remember... there was a grouper that stole Gerhard's Darkstar GT Mania, a Big-Eye kingie on popper for Marc and a VERY angry shallow water GT at Mushroom Rock for Gerhard...
A blank day for some, a slow day for others, but we were all recharged and ready for another full day!! ...and still waiting for Graeme to get that GT!

[Poenie]

On day 4, I teamed up with Roy, Gerhard and Marc again, with Cpt Ves, and the Seaport boys with Cpt Ally. On the first drift at Chinjakasa reef, my Darkstar GT Mania (now looking worse for wear) got missed once, but a few casts later I managed to set the hook properly... and the fight was on! Thumbs up to Cpt Ves for ALWAYS keeping you informed whilst on a fish... "You're in 19m of water", he shouted as the fish went STRAIGHT down to the reef. "24 meters" he shouted as I managed to turn the fish. I gained a few meters and she shot down, making my Stella 14k sing again! ...but a short while later she was in my arms:

Shortly after we went South to Kitutia for some jigging, and landed in ROCK COD CENTRAL. Countless small rock cods were caught, then Marc got a nice Green Job:

Whilst having lunch on the sand-island, we lost the steering on our boat. With Cpt Ally out of reach, we were stuck... We managed to get hold of the lodge, who sent a boat out to tow us home, STRAIGHT into the North-Easter! We did make the best of our time though playing around with shoals of Bluefin, some garfish and some small snapper, but chasing big fish for the afternoon was done!

Meanwhile, on the other boat, completely oblivious to our misfortune, the Seaport boys were having a blast!!

[Poenie]

...some pictures of the Seaport boys' day 4 - 'cause sometimes, picture speak louder than words!
Shaun got a very nice GT on the jig, Greame got a decent Rusty Jobfish, all of them got Amberjacks, Deon and Graeme got FAT bonitos, Deon dropped a sailie on the jig, Graeme got a couta and another Doggie, and then they had a light-tackle session of note, with all the guys getting into some Bluefin kingies... however, Graeme was still looking for his first GT!!

[Gerhard]

Day 3 - Was my hot popper day...

GT early morning on GT Mania.
Then a Bluefin Trevelly on the GT Mania.
Then a big grouper came up and took the GT Mania in 6m of water and before I could do anything he reefed me and cut the braid 2m from the leader...

The afternoon session we focused on slow pitch jigging with not a lot of action. Had a nice dorado bull come past the boat and we scrambled some stickbaits but he did not stick around.

Late afternoon we moved closer and started popping.

A GT hit the Hammerhead popper. After a short fight he was at the boat. While we were taking photos Mark gets hit by a GT.

I put the GT back move forward launched the Hammerhead and a small GT nailed the popper...

Just before sunset we were around Mushroom rock with a pushing tide...

My PB GT nailed the Hammerhead and proceeded to fight way above his weight class in the pushing tide in rushing current... 

[Royboy]

Gerhard and Christo - awesome report guys!!!!!

Great destination with a wonderful group of anglers guided by Ally and Ves - hugely Professional Skippers. It doesn't get much better than that. I am stoked that EVERYONE was catching fish most of the time. Many 1st's for pretty much everyone, with everyone boating GT's and Amberjack, and a few Puppy Doggies for the Seaport lads. Together with all the other species boated, and based on the smiles on everyone's faces ..... a very successful trip all round.

No Monster Trophy fish unfortunately - they are there, but conditions put a damper on them I think. The wind wasn't our friend, and it shouldn't have been blowing in February - very unseasonal.

Good one lads!!!!!!

Cheers - RB

[Poenie]

Eventually I have some time to complete the report....
On Day 5 myself and the Seaport boys joined Cpt Ally, with Roy, Gerhard and Marc on Cpt Ves' boat. Graeme was still GT-less, and I for one was VERY amped to change that! We headed through the shallows to Chinjakasa, with the early morning popping session yielding no results. Then a jigging session in 60m and 90m, where we got a nice amberjack and a Bluefin on the jig.

We decided to go inshore again for a light-tackle session, as the Seaport boys had such a great session the day before. A couple of fish came out on the dropshot, but no fireworks! Something had to change - I was still BLANK for the day and getting quite despondent.
We headed South to Kitutia, and put jigs down onto a 60m ledge... As I worked a jig on my 200gr outfit, I got smashed... rod-tip shaking like only Mr GT does, but I'm afraid that was "the one that got away". I had NO CHANCE to stop him as he took me straight into the reef! I'd gone from despondent, to angry, UNTIL... a few seconds later Graeme hooked up. His Trevala XXH bending with that typical GT-shake. I knew it, Cpt Ally knew it - Greame was onto his first GT!! The pressure was immense, could he break the curse on the final afternoon?? Minutes later the fish was boated, and the curse lifted!! There were high-fives, hugs and beers shared all around the boat, and that's where the "mojo" on the boat changed completely.

On this same drift, the razorgang came to visit and claimed a few of our jigs, so we moved off into deeper water. First drop and I go VAS! ...then Greame as well! We dance around, try to balance the boat whilst bringing fish up from 120m. Lines tangle, but we sort it out quickly and we land a nice pair of Ambers...

 

[Poenie]

Next drift, I immediately go VAS, and get revved properly. Same time Shaun goes on. Again we dance, lines cross, back off the drag, sort lines out like pro's and continue to fight our fish. ...but mine feels weird, it's fighting different to an Amberjack, with more STRONG runs. Eventually, Shaun's amberjack gets boated, then I see colour! It's red... it's a Rusty jobfish, a BUS! Check the propeller on this fish!! It's the biggest Rusty ever seen in Mafia! Since they're superb eating, it was kept for the lodge and weighed in at 11.8kg. I've done some research and CANNOT find any record of a bigger one caught on rod & reel (Please let me know if there's record of a bigger one, IGFA has 6.6kg, and Spyker Kruger had one just under 9kg also at Mafia, IUSA spearo record is 12,1kg)

We then went on to boat plenty more amberjacks and Bluefin kingies on the jig, before we decided to end the trip with a popping session at Kitutia. We were all smiles, but a GT in the final hour would put the cherry right on top!!
We found LOADS of birds working baitfish on the SHALLOW 8m channel, and had some great light tackle fun with Bluefin kingies and bonnies, with Deon landing a GREAT Bluefin on the light gear. Cpt Ally convinced us to leave the birds and throw a last couple of poppers as the sun was setting.
The Seaport boys were done, and having a cold one, so Cpt Ally and myself put in the last bit of effort.
A few casts in and I get a rat GT to take my GT Mania, but with my drag set for much bigger fish, the hook pulled. Same time Cpt Ally went on on Deon's Williamson popper, with the same result - hook pulled!! Next cast, Cpt Ally and I BOTH hooked much better fish and the dance was on again! Cpt Ally (with an old back injury) then handed Deon the rod to complete the fight, and soon we had ended the trip with an lovely pair of GT's... or so we thought!

 

[Poenie]

Whilst we celebrated an amazing trip, Shaun picked up a popper and sent it... something came chasing after it, missed, missed again, and again!! Another cast and VAS!! A yellowfin in 6m of water!! What a treat, and what a way to finish the trip!!

Battered and bruised, aching all over, but MASSIVE smiles all round, we finally put our rods down and shared a few beers on the way back to the lodge.

The other boat also hit Amberjack central that day, with Marc landing 10 himself!!

A massive thanks to all involved in arranging a phenomenal trip. Roy, Big Blu dive resort, Cpt Ally & Cpt Ves, the "moersteek" for some entertainment, and of course, the fishermen who made this trip unforgettable!!

[Royboy]

Awesome group of anglers - great guys, and a pleasure shooting pics of happy faces! Almost better than the fishing itself! Almost......

New News..... we are running another 2 trips either side of New Moon in October 2015 (best month of the year) so if anyone else is keen on joining us.... Gerhard and Marc Bennett have already committed - together with a few guys from Singapore.

Check out the dates, and if you want to go boxing with good fish.... give it a thought?

http://www.jigstarafrica.co.za/index.php/en/2013-12-11-13-05-47

Cheers, RB