I tell this tale to share with fellow lure anglers & a mutual friend & associate of some nl Rolfe Deppe (Allsorts).
As per usual we gathered the group consisting of Matt, Mike, Jade, Ben Kobus Wess & Pat...& to fish the Richards Bay harbour. Our aim was to test the waters for some serious sharks & see if they really do swim the harbour waters, & test our newly acquired Zombie Killer (90/105) lures.
So early on Saturday 7th February we arrive at the Cassuarinas & slid Macks, dead shad, & casted some CID Slim-baits & put the ZK lures through its paces while waiting for screaming reels…… It was peak high.
We had no luck on slides neither the lures…...bit sad but there is always a next time.
But Pat hooked & landed a lovely Honeycomb of 9kg on fresh Mack fillet. After a huge tussle on a light 11ft rod & Penn reel, & good pics, the fish was safely released.
Low tide set in & we decided to move on, scouted the harbour area & ended up on Pelican Island fishing the canal feeding towards Meerensee Ski boat club/R.Bay Yacht club. The idea was to "kill time" till high in the avie & get serious again.
We put out smaller baits & Matt casted his ZK 95, Flashing mullet. We only bought them the previous day.
We must have been there about 10 min & we heard Matt shouting “Yoh.... I am vas" We all turned & saw Matt into something huge & seriously strong. The 7ft rod bent seriously & the fished peeled line at an alarming rate. According to Matt the fish ambushed the lure in the shallows about 5-8m away & set off with no stopping.
Matt was using his Daiwa Mega-Force 702 MFS & Daiwa Exceler 2500, loaded with 20lb SUFFIX braid.
We continued watching from our spots, but soon realised this was no average fish & joined Matt next to the canal. It was clear that this fish was huge as it swam strong& hard.
Matt fought the fish for almost an hour.....& by then we all had our predictions in a hat as to what it was....from Manta Ray, to big salmon, to me saying its a Diamond skate.
The game was on & Matt tired........we kept him going & he had to land the fish to claim a catch & that on a ZK lure. Matt did consider cutting his losses, but reminding him why we came boosted him to continue the fight. Matt seriously wanted to end the fight …but me….noh Matt hold on …….after all…Why did we go fishing ?? It’s all about the exact thing that just happened to Matt & more…..fishing, fun & excitement.
The fish would take meters of line & Matt would gain a few....so it continued. Then it happened.......a large "crack"....Matt was still holding his rod but it had snapped in two.......How on earth is he going to land this fish now.....?? Well......"boer maak n plan"......overlap the 2 pieces of rod & hold on for dear life....
All is not over cause now he has to hold the 2 pieces together.....crank the reel......pull the fish……& this continued for at least 20minutes.
The best sight ever was to watch Matt pull on the rod's top section to gain line.....hold on to the rod pieces , & crank the reel……… what a sight it was....this was not easy to say the least. Hats off to you Matthew.
My son had to assist him making turns in holding the 2 pieces together & pulling the fish. This continued for a few more minutes…..& we mastered a plan to join the 2 pieces together with the only tools we had....short & thin cable ties.
This plan did not work to well as some cable-ties snapped under the pressure …...so Matt gave the rod to Kobus & ran back to his bakkie, only to return with a bandage from his 1st aid kit. He tied more cable ties & used a bandage to tie the 2 pieces firmly together. It was a little relief, yet still very uncomfortable. The fight continued.
Then Matt devised a brilliant idea.......at least to him at the time as I thought how crazy it will be………& then he ran back to his bakkie collected his heavier outfit, a Daiwa Exceler Rod EXSW1002XXXHFS with a Daiwa Laguna 4000, loaded with SUFFIX Braid 20lb & joined the 2 lines. This became a serious planning & execution operation……. & was a sight to watch....Mike wrapping the line with the fish onto his palm, Kobus holding 1 rod , me the other & Matt tying a serious strong knot.
Matt had to work fast & had to tie the knot before he cuts the main line from the broken rod.....eish.....& to wind on the knot section quickly onto the new reel so that there no tension on the knot.......a renewed fight started with new tackle ......... or at least beefed up gear.....at least so we thought.
The fight went on.....I then thought of a plan to ask a passing boat/canoeist to assist & after a few passer byes....unwilling helpers & one specific guy on a paddle board commenting “shame” , we manage to attract the attention of very helpful ski-boat anglers returning to base from their days outing to sea.
They came closer to the shallows...& by now Mike took the rod & waded into the water & hopped onto the boat. The fight was on with new advantage & they managed to get the fish on the move ago.....they followed in pursuit. The fish never seem to tire & our helpful co-anglers obliged to assist to to the end. (A huge thanks to those boat anglers).
The pressure was on.....Mike made progress & the fish came up......The idea was now to 1. To ID the fish & 2. to retrieve the lure & 3. to safely release it to fight another day.
That idea was short-lived.....the fish showed its number, a huge Diamond skate & even turned over to show its belly to all on board the boat & they confirmed the ZK securely in its mouth.
Then all hell broke loose.....the skate then turned & made a sudden dash & bailed with renewed power in its wings......(Red Bull gives you wings....right ??) At the same time the rod snapped........a loud crack was heard by even us on the shore.......the comment from the shore was like a loud "Aaaaagh....." as if the other team had just scored a trie against us......!
We were very disappointed & it was a bitter-sweet moment......happy to see the fish swim away ........but not with a lure in its mouth & not leaving Matt with 2 broken rods on 1 day, fighting 1 fish & still losing the battle..........that was not so sweet !! But then again “You win some & you lose some.
Now the wow part of the story…........at least to us………..it was a skate taking a lure....this is unusual....unheard of & to top it all.... …..all the crew including Mike (a seasoned deep sea angler) estimated this huge skate to be around the 40-50kg mark...!! Now that’s huge & remarkable.....
As Matt asked me the next day.......why does all these funny things happen to us on our outings & then people still stare with a big question in their eye as to ask......really……you want me to believe you ……. ??
Well, how does one tell such a story with integrity? Easy I said to Matt......even if they get away, we always have some form of evidence....this time we had 6 friends with 1st-hand pics taken.
We both wondered what’s next!!
