Quick Late Season Tuna Trip

[tkei]

After the Easter tuna trip with mates, the same chaps have bought a 28ft Butt Cat in Cape Town and put her at Hout Bay. Saturday I got a call inviting me to fish Sunday. Having been away in Jhb for work the previous Sunday, leaving for the Transkei on Wed till sunday this coming week and it being Exams for my daughter and a sick son I was surprised the "Fun Control Manager"allowed me to go.
4am start to HB and we loaded up and launched by just before 6. We headed West having had reports of some fish there from Sat. The rest of the fleet all headed more south. It was a risk.
It was a very long ride on on a magnificent flat sea. 2 hrs later we found the deck boats and trawlers. there were some skipjack jumping so things looked good.


On the 2nd drift we picked up a triple up of 45-50kg fish which we manged to land without too much problem, except when we had 2 on the gaffs to be reamed and bled, when I was left with 2 gaffs in my fish it kicked, and a new short hand gaff was donated to Neptune. Not ideal.


Things remained quiet with good marks but no takes at all. We had a spearfisherman in the water and he saw a 50kg class fish oin his first down, but couldnt get a shot off.
The fish all seemed to be sitting right under the trawler and drifting too far back wasnt getting us anything.
Around 10am I went Vas on a decent fish. The spearo was actually watching my bait and didnt see the fish but my bait dissapeared. Awsome fisht and about 1hr later I landed my PB yellowfin (other than on commercial boat) of +_80kgs.
He saw a few other 85 to 90kgs fish but missed when he came up short.
It remained quiet except one fish that broke off on the skelm light rig. after fusing all the available bait (without defrosting another box) we had just cleaned the boat and were on the way to pick up the rods when one rod shot off.  No marks nothing. an awsoem fight ensued with the fish staying within sight for almost the whole fight. It was another 50kg fish, so we ended up with 5 fish, 4x 45-50 and an 80.
The weather was absolutely perfect (too perfect) not a breather of wind which made setting a chum line difficult as the bait dropped straight down.
The run back was 55NM which took a fair while but on a glassed over sea. Good friends, fish, flat seas. Its hell in Africa.
the round trip was 122nm for the day. Luckily the 140 suzukis are economical and the Butt is a great hull so the fuel bill wasnt too bad either.
I cant wait for ext season. Now to hit the Kei for 2 days on Wednesday.

[dugong]

 

[travelmember]

Nice going  It really was a peach of a day out there!

[REEFMAN]

Wow Adam! Awesome!

[FishStyx]

Lekker stuff mate... Pity the spearo didn't have a gopro on 

[dodger]

nicely done Adam, I guess you don't have many tax men around out there

[SAfish]

  Well done, Adam! 

[Nooduck]

Well done on the great catch

[Bwana]

Great report Adam and congrats on your new PB 

[Visenvryheid]

That 80 kg fish doesn't look like a yellowfin to me ;) Nice report, ja the tuna fishery in Ape Town is something else when the weather is nice and the fish are around.. That fish looks like the smaller brother of one we hooked last year..Less barrel shape, more torpedo shape, shorter sickles, yellow colouration not as pronounced..
I took a look at pics of yellows I caught in the 65kg range and the shape is different and the sickles much longer already (those the sickles on 60kg class fish, anal fin extending to finlet 7-8 already and top sickle extending to finlet 5-6 already, your 80kg fish sickles extending to finlet 3-4), that and yellow on the flank and bottom chin's are brighter and vibrant on the yellows. i could be well wrong but I've seen pics of quite a few in the last 2 years and we hooked a mamma last year 50nm west of HB..4 1/2 hrs on 130lb gear and we could never get it above the thermocline, 2 folk a lot more experienced than me tried..only one thing it could have been.. they are around.

Thanks anyway, nice report..

[WalkersKiller]

  Awesome!

[dodger]

That 80 kg fish doesn't look like a yellowfin to me ;) Nice report, ja the tuna fishery in Ape Town is something else when the weather is nice and the fish are around.. That fish looks like the smaller brother of one we hooked last year..Less barrel shape, more torpedo shape, shorter sickles, yellow colouration not as pronounced..
I took a look at pics of yellows I caught in the 65kg range and the shape is different and the sickles much longer already (those the sickles on 60kg class fish, anal fin extending to finlet 7-8 already and top sickle extending to finlet 5-6 already, your 80kg fish sickles extending to finlet 3-4), that and yellow on the flank and bottom chin's are brighter and vibrant on the yellows. i could be well wrong but I've seen pics of quite a few in the last 2 years and we hooked a mamma last year 50nm west of HB..4 1/2 hrs on 130lb gear and we could never get it above the thermocline, 2 folk a lot more experienced than me tried..only one thing it could have been.. they are around.

Thanks anyway, nice report..

ok so if it isn't a Yellow fin, what do you think it is?

[Visenvryheid]

https://fishingmag.co.nz/fish-new-zealand-sea-fish-species/bluefin-tuna-thunnus-maccoyi-southern-bluefin-tuna



Looks like a bigger one of those to me.. :) I could be completely wrong of course!