Just haven't found the time to report back but rather late than never I guess.... so here's a little report from our trip to Latham in October...
So Kirk Newton (Editor GoFish aka chunky boy aka the Fishing Panda) and I planned this about a year ago and then spent a few months getting a crew of guys together to get it done.... At this point I would like to put on record that a certain Mark (Comm29 aka Ninja Mark) dropped me late into the planning phase causing much distress but I have just recently made peace with it all so we won't go there.....hey Mark??
Anyway the rest of the crew were made up of some regulars (Munier and the Panda) and a couple newbs including my brutha from another mother The TillyMan, and good mates Andre "Dr Dre" Bell, Percy "Pershond" Van Zyl and my china Dwayno Badenhorst.... another late cancellation brought Dave aka Doggy Dave aka Crackerkid (on the forum) to the party and off we went. Idea was the usual, get out there, search hard, fish hard and pop till you drop.
Some logistical info before the fishing - Latham lies just under 70kms off the coast of Darresalaam, Tanzania. We flew to Dar (I wouldn't recommend Fastjet as though the flights were cheap with cheap extra weight allowances we did get messed around with flight times etc so I'd rather pay the premium for some certainty). Anyways, once in Dar, boarded the vessel and did the 6-8 hour trip out. Couple of the boys succumed as usual but that didn't last too long.
We were greeted by some ugly wind and rather uncomfortable swells which made day one very challenging to stay sure footed on the cat nevermind work a popper in the swell. Thereafter we had really good weather, generally very hot with a stiffish breeze, nice chop on the water and great conditions.
The fishing was tough but rewarding, we had to really put in the graft for a fish but we got some really nice fish. Couple highlights:
1. Watching Percy own the rear deck with his blue Halco Roosta - not the fact that as a first timer he was on fire but rather that he was battling Gts while puking at the same time........he got railed a few times but was awesome to watch his face
2. Doggies - we were putting in serious graft on the drops with jigs with a return that didn't refelct the graft! We got some decent fish to the boat, the speed and fury of the initial hit and run is nothing short of spectacular! Blistering speed that just DOES NOT STOP, you start feeling the heat build up in the handle of the rod and your spool burns the skin to the touch! Doggy Dave, most senior on the boat but with a work rate of note, his relentless dropping and jigging paid off with an absolute beauty in the 40kg class!
3. Bluefin Kingfish - its not just the electric blue when they're all lit up, but they're such feisty creatures that box way above their weight class.... we got some BUS sized bluefines whilst fishing for G's and they were an absolute bonus!
4. Geeeteeeees - man they made us work, we did some drifts where we'd all have an on or smash up on the first drift and then things would just die and then had some where you'd swear nothing was alive in that water! Nonetheless we persevered and when they pulled in it was epic! Best GTs were in the 35kg class and all the guys eventually got a taste..... we had some mad terminal failures, proper hooks getting bent open and snapped but at the same time very cross somersaulting taikwando heavy weight MMA skilled GTs assaulting some of those poppers!!! Mad to watch them in full on charge mode!! Highlights for me was definitely getting me a really really dark GT, Ive always wanted to catch one of those that are just like a black shadow crusing the reef and managed one - stoked with that fish..... and the other was last day, sun going down.... last cast..... pop pop BOOOOOOM!!! HOOOOOOORA!!!
The usual light tackle fun bucktailing the reefs delivered awesome fresh chow and then the usual
k@k talk which goes on every evening..... superb bunch of okes and another great trip done and dusted......... pics and videos galore, I haven't even been through all the footage yet...
Enjoy the pics
Cage Out
