MPT Bay offshore - What's up

[L Hooker]

Lekker enjoy guys post some pics if you can.

[John F]

Lekker enjoy guys post some pics if you can.

 

Sure thing

[wesporra]

Hey Guys


how was the    on Sunday, any reports??????

[peterblace]

so here is the report aboard maguro...I'll let the others speak for themselves as there's too much emotions
in resume and for the first time...maguro (tuna in japanese) is now makajiki
awesome day at sea

I launched with my mate from work JRocha...he came with me a few times and been very good around the boat...so better to have some "experienced guy" then a problem
we arrived at the club at 5:00...set the boats and by 6:00 we were on our way to the fishing grounds
early in the morning and discussing with the rest of the boats we decided that Boia Perdida has been more productive then B1 so that's were we headed to

we got there easily with flat seas and nearly no wind (and that was almost throughout all day)...thankfully for us, weatherman failed on the forecast
by 7:25 lines were in the water in the 25-35mt mark
water temp around 25(max 25.6) and very dead in terms of showings...but by 8:00 we had our first strike and landed a couta
then exploring that area we started getting strike after strike...always trying to guide the fish to one side of the boat while leaving the remaining lines out...fish were wild and did get more strikes
at this moment we only lost 1 fish at gaffing distance...a bonito
after this moment we decided to head out to the 40-50mt mark as one of the boats was getting some YFT...and we wanted more species on the hatches
we saw some bird activity with tuna smashing at the surface and decided to hit them straight....eisha...caos....5 reels screaming
we both grabbed rods and start fighting the way we could...in total landing 4yft and loosing 1yft next to the boat
after deck cleaning (looked like a slaughter with tuna, blood, rods, lures...all hanging on the deck) and some relaxing we set lines again and hit the birds...now only with 4 lines out...enough to get another strike and landing 1 more yft
we decided to take the lines out and play a bit on the spinning kit...and with 4 casts into the action we landed 2yft...those guys gave us a hard time so we did switch engines and had a break
that's what we needed for what came next....without loosing them from sight we set 4 lines out again and decided to hit them one more time
about 50mts from them 1 reel screaming....vazzzzz.....gave JRocha the rod and while looking back for some tangling or checking which other reel would scream I spot a tail at the distance...big one...looked like a fin so I screamed...it's a saily...and after the first aerial I screamed even louder...it's a marlin...a big black marlin
I immediately cleared the lines while fish was taking line and giving us a show and moved to the driving position...
luckily fish made the right choice in regards to kit...went for the tyrnos 30...but loaded with 30lb mono and 8lb drag I had to help JRocha with the boat
so I zoomed in fast (I was doing about 15knt) and got over the fish while JRocha was recovering the nearly 400mts of line out...at a certain moment fish start jumping 10mts from the boat and JRocha could believe it was the same fish
I did try and help JRocha mentally...cause physically he was destroyed...fish gave him a hard time
at the 3rd time we reached the leader I made a call and decided to leader the fish...the two previous times that we reached the leader fish just swam away naturally and I didn't even bother to try
so I left the driving position and grabbed the leader and start pulling up...but fish just moved under and to the other side of the boat snapping the leader
big disappointment for not holding the bill...but we were very happy and I can't express more the feeling I have for this achievement...top emotions

then we made the worst call of the day...we left a very productive area to join the other boats...so from 11:45 till 15:10 no more strikes os action aboard maguro
we headed back to Maputo alongside with matabixo doing about 23knt and about 2nm from Naval we decided to stop and wait for the remaining boats to arrive all together at the club...
out of the blue my starboard engine turned off and never came back to life...so I arrived on 1 engine and will have it checked tomorrow...scary but hopefully not too far from home
getting to the club we handed in a fish to the restaurant that prepared a big table for the group and served the sides and cooked the fish
nice moment of social fishing with plenty stories to tell

[John F]

Congrats bro!!!

[SAfish]

  Congratulations and well done! 

[shagnrelease]

Well done mate sounds like a fantastic day on the ocean. Well done!

[Prego]

 
Well done on your first billfish on Maguro and great game fishing

[SAfish]

I have heard from Teresa (Manico Camp) that a dhow sank on Saturday. It was on its way from Maputo to Inhaca. Norman is helping in the search for survivors. So far 3 people were found but one passed away. Apparently there are still 5 missing. Please pray that they find more survivors tomorrow. Condolences to the families who have lost loved ones.

[charles1985]

Hey Guys
Well done with the catches on Sunday Peterblaze.
Would you guys mind sharing some waypoints for Maputo bay and around Inhaca as im new to this fishing waters.
And let me know when you guys have a get together again would like to meet ya all.
 
 

[peterblace]

I have heard from Teresa (Manico Camp) that a dhow sank on Saturday. It was on its way from Maputo to Inhaca. Norman is helping in the search for survivors. So far 3 people were found but one passed away. Apparently there are still 5 missing. Please pray that they find more survivors tomorrow. Condolences to the families who have lost loved ones.

we knew about that...and for our outing on Sunday we were all in allert as we knew all were wearing life vests
boat sank around 6:30 on Friday...and 2 of the survivores were able to reach one of our friends place in Inhaca by 17:00...they launch in search for anything but couldn't find any
from what we heard none of the Inhaca boats launched
according to the recent news 6 are still missing and 1 was found near Manhiça (about 35km up North) and is under observation in the hospital

[SAfish]

Thanks for the update. Norman from Manico helped with the search yesterday and they wanted to continue this morning but bad weather moved in and they had to return to base.

[peterblace]

some footage from the day
1) running to the deep
2) 2x strike
3) spinning action

[peterblace]

4) chasing the marlin
5) in front of the boat
6) great fight on the tyrnos30

[peterblace]

7) black marlin
8) leadering
9) guess who's in the back??? (and I'm not talking about matabixo)

[John F]

Here's my report.

With much anxiety Sunday 19 April, finally arrived. The weather was expected to be good with a breezy SE early in the morning,  flat seas during the day and the typical easterly to bring us back in the afternoon. The boat was ready after the carpet job and the 20 h service. Plan was to spend the day around the B1 area looking for game fish. We stuck to the plan.

The weatherman was spot on with the best possible weather one could ask for. Water temp was slightly over 23o C in the morning and went up to about 24.5o C during the day out in the deep. Water was clean and although the sky was cloudy in the morning it cleared up into a fantastic day.   

We set horses just after 06:00 h with the four boars riding at ~21 knots in a convoy! For a change Maximvs was the largest of the fleet...   

A quick stop at Baixo Ribeiro to find livebait proved unseccssful. The full spring outgoing tide was simply too strong and the lighthouse was empty. We moved on and tried another buy a few miles north. Nada. Oh well... we would have to rely on rappies and 4 Portuguese sardines for the day...

   

Waiting for the bite...

     

We went to my usual couta spot and managed 3 couta and a green jobfish from about 7:45 to 10:30... lost a few too... nothing really outstanding but good size for the pot (4-6 kg)...

   
Come to papa...
 

      
Couta... hooked right at the tail...
 


    

Green jobfish... yummy...

       


The fish went off the bite and we decided to explore a few marks further north... With the Zukes this is something I can confortably do without worrying about fuel...

   
  

Trolling...

     
We kept trolling and did a quick drifting session up north but nada... despite the involuntary chumming help from some of my crew, which had no trouble laying flat to ponder about the mysteries of the universe...



       

Philosophical moments aboard Maximvs....


   

At about mid day we decided to move south and join the gang at the B1 area were they had just moved in from Bóia Perdida... We came back trolling on the 45 m line with some konas on birds with teasers, etc hoping for something different... went over a few birds but nothing stuck and didn't see any tuna jumping either... had the trevalla ready for some plugging action...

     
Maguro...

       
 Matabixo...

     

Spent some time with the boys and decided to go back to my couta marks and score some more fish for the pot, as we were fast moving towards the time to call it quits. At last got 3 nice couta out of 4 strikes....   


Went back home with a nice NE breezy behind us doing 4000 rpm at 21-22 knots. Had a bit of a mishap with the engine bolts and the transom that got me very worried initially but looks like it's not so serious.

      Heading back...

     

In the end, we did 86 nm and used 90 litres of juice! What a pleasure! Got some nice fish, great day at sea and my mate got his first bill on his 16 ft cat... what else could one ask for?

   

[Bwana]

Great reports guys, sounds like a lekker day on the ocean    Congrats on the  Pedro!!

[FishStyx]

Nice one bud. You must be happy as a clam hearing those babies purring behind you.

[Seventenths]

  congrats gents! Now you will wonder why you did not upgrade those gas guzzlers sooner!!

[peterblace]

thanks guys...I'm really in the clouds with this awesome fishing day
....and thanks JohnF for the report