Clube Naval's centenary anniversary comp took place yesterday
it was announced last Monday that the comp would take place yesterday...no prizes involved has it was a meritory comp so number ob boats attending was reduced...only 10 boats participating...2 from Clube Maritimo and 8 from Club Naval
although I registered my plan was to head to Sta. Maria to spend the day with Anouck's (my wife) family...and go out aboard Fourplay trough Hells Gate...but during the skippers meeting Marcelo (Fourplay's skipper and Anouck's cousin) told me that his plans were to spend the day till late in the sea...and Anouck had a party from 16:00...because I had a early return planned and head to Maputo early Sta. Maria plan was canceled...so I had to setup all at 19:00
it was gona be me and Anouck aboard maguro...eventually JohnF would join us as unfortunately Maximvs electric problem came back...when he was setting up all for the outing...he was too off with his situation and decided to stay back...plenty more opportunities will come
launching time was scheduled to 05:30 so we planned to leave a bit later at 6:30...forecast was supposed to be awesome in the morning with some Eastern wind pumping from 13:00...my planned return time to get to Maputo on time for Anouck's to attend her party...she didn't make it to the party as soon you will discover
my plan was to head North and fish some shallow waters for some couta and tuna for the pot...and then head out for some dorado
and luckily all went with the plan
we had a soft ride to get to Boia Perdida area...and by 7:20 lines were out...2 rappies and 2 feathers...and soon we saw some bird activity that we started working...but no takers
we kept heading North to the shallows and I added another rod to the spread with a allien kona rigged with a halfbeak and replacing one of the feathers for a halco GT jig...second time out
getting to Bx Ze area we saw Pumula working a birds activity area...and having a strike and fighting a fish...we when we were giving them some space we had our first strike
shotgun rod with the HB going
non stop
I cleared the feather and GT jig and left the 2 rappies on has they were closer and easier to clear later (if needed)...wrong (or right) guess...while giving instructions to Anouck I started fighting the fish and recovering some line
very heavy body at the end of the line and giving me a hard time on the TLD 30A...and when things were getting nicer for me another
on one of the rappies that were still on the water
if I was struggling to fight that big fish at the end of the line now I was double up...but I kept fighting the big fish until I realised that I had to clear the second strike rod...which I did in a short period of time and with one hand on the rod and the other on the gaff I managed to land a 3.8kg couta
straight to the hatch and back to the big fish that at a certain moment I thought it was a shark...too heavy with no kind of shakes...till some head shakes that made me think I had a tuna
after 13'30 of fight I landed a 19.5kg YFT (after bleeded...might have had a bit more...but even on a comp I preserve good quality meat then a few more grams on the scale)
this time I couldn't do it on my own so I oriented Anouck and position the fish on the side of the boat...asked her to setup the gaff next to me and when fish was in gaffing distance I handed in the rod to Anouck and gaffed the fish
after recovering a bit (muscles were too hard with lactid acid accumulation) lines were out again...now with anothe allien kona and HB combination replacing the last feather...and activity was wild with big tunas and couta jumping wild on bait balls...and plenty birds showing us the way for a wonderful show at the surface...we even saw birds fighting in the air for the small bait (spoon size silver shinny fish)...I carry no spoons but I guess if I had taken some I would have some good fun
moments after and while I was filming the birds and tuna activity I went vas on the GT jig....and with an extra incident
trolling board broke in half and I had the shotgun rod hanging on the water hold by the safety leash...and the strike rod going fast still on the rod holder and just being hold by....the hands of God I guess cause you guys can't imagine how fortune I was not to loose that rod
this time I took no chances and cleared all the lines before starting to fight my fish
ufa...what a fight...I thought another big bus tuna was at the end of the line...at a certain moment and while the fish was under the boat I had to use my hands to hold the line as a drag as the fish was still taking line on the TLD25 full drag
after 18' I saw some color and instructed Anouk as before...setup the gaff and get ready to hold the rod...that was when I told her...uauuu...it's a big ggggeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttttttt
gaff stayed where it was...and used my hands to land this beauty of a fish
after a short photo shoot session and tape measure I safely released the fish...fork length 98cm~18kg
if I was tired from before it was time for a quick break and a snack...after setting again in search for some more fish
we kept working that area and after a few drifts with no takers we decided to head out...this time only 3 rods were out (2 HB and a medium kona with a bird) due to my trolling board misfortune
plan was to go out to Poco area...but bird activity were keeping us away from our plan...even with no takers we were trolling the area
we had a strike on the medium kona...but the fish didn't commit properly...no idea what might have been...but I have a guess as later found out that the leader was slightly marked
not long after we had another strike...on the same medium kona...not a great run...no show...but soon I could see a dorie at the end of the line...after positioning the fish and following same procedure with Anouck just after gaffing her she got loose from the gaff...and the hook
the show she didn't gave us at sea started inside small maguro...I told Anouck to move away to the front and open the fishing hatch...while she was slapping all over I managed to gaff her and put her to the hatch...door close and happy with our 4th species for the day...wighting 4.9kg...100gr short for the comp
later we had another strike on the shotgun...and no gaffing needed as it was a small 2kg YFT...I guess HB and allien kona together were longer then that fish
just getting to Poco another strike on the shotgun...that position and that lure were producing hein....I soon realised I had a big bull dorie has the show just started
cleared the lines and lost some precious time helping Anouck cleaning the deck...I didn't want to have a packed deck with loose lures, rods, etc with a big bull aboard...
when setting up for gaffing (same procedure as before) fish turned direction and got loose at a nearly 3mts from the boat...frustration was installed
but I guess that's fishing
at Poco in the Radio Active area nothing happened...and by this time (13:00) sea was a bit rough with the Eastern wind already pumping so I decided to start heading towards Maputo to gain some time but still trolling (till 13:30)...at 13:30 and when I was getting ready to call it a day last strike on the HB on the long....but again another non taker
no idea what was it but I have to say that only HB head staid on and again leader has to be replaced as it's all marked
we had a bumpy ride on the way back and 15nm from Maputo and just after changing jerrys starboard engine started gasping and not reving up...eventually died and I was not able to turn it back on again
only strange thing I noticed was when engine was trimmed up and I was pumping petrol I could see some petrol licking from the engine cover...so I knew something was not right with the fuel supply
we arrived 1h45 later then predicted and Anouck started getting sick with the forced trolling speed and rough sea...I was too stressed for putting Anouck on a situation like this...we both know it was out of our hands but I didn't want to end a wonderful day like this
today when I went to the club I soon found out what the problem was...carb 1 and 2 fuel hoses were out of place...no idea how that could happen but another element on the checklist before a outing
water temp was 22.40º at the beginning of the day and went up to 23.10º...beautiful color
good work for the team...it was her second fishing outing just with me and after some yelling in the end we did a great job
biggest game fish with the tuna...and 4th overall on the gamefish division...I guess that the GT and the lost dorie would make us win the comp...but that's fishing...and I'm happier that that GT is still swimming at sea growing up to give me another back pain and sore arms and hands
some small dorie (with a exceptional 2nd biggest fish of ~18kg), some small couta (with a exceptional 3rd biggest fish of ~13kg), some small tuna 5-7kg were caught
on the billfish side only 3 fish were caught...shollay caught 2 (one being dead with 167kg that DNQ) and Shakra caught 1
on and all...a big day out at sea with my special one
