101 ways to blank

[Half-Pint]

Well my long awaited trip to mazeppa turned into the long wait for a pull. We arrived late on friday afternoon having had a 5 hour trip on thursday and 10 hours on friday thanks to horrendous traffic. After unpacking I took a walk to the island and was greeted by monstrous seas! My very first thought was dam those ESA boys make this look easy! What you never realise when watching on tv is the walk from the point to the beach is roughly 400m over koppies and through big depressions its dam tough! No one there had had a pull so headed back to the hotel and unpacked. The next morning the sea was still up so we took a drive to the 2 main shark spots. Boiling pot and sharks point. Arriving at boiling pot we took a look around and having seen the wash around the point I quickly realised what people mean when they say if you go in you won't come out. Looking at the height of the rocks above the water I thought how on earth do you end up in there? Well a moment later a guys reel screamed off and I got my answer! The tempation when a fish wraps your line around the front of the point is to simply dart forward and unhook it but boy was this scary to watch! I was ready to toss a chiller when this guy went in fortunately he didn't. Eventually he lost a grey or bronzie of 50ish kilos next to the gulley. One thing was clear is you simply cannot land a fish here without a gaff anyone who says otherwise is mad. You can't! Not even ESA! Or Chuck Norris! We headed off to sharks point and had a quick scout around. Later that afternoon I was at the pot sliding a yt head soon the guy who lost the bronzie got picked up by a blackfin. The fish peeled meters of line in no time (so much for the unbeatable saltiga hyper drag hey) his mate told him to walk up the hill behind us and then came the hilarious moment when he confessed he couldn't walk 20m back because the fish had already nearly spooled him! The look on his face was classic. He got cut off a moment or two later nearl 700m out! I packed up at 6 in the pouring rain.  During the day we had heard a boat had overturned near kob inn we watched them tow it in and bring it onto the beach. They blamed the ghillie for turning broadside to a swell but how do you leave an untrained  ghillie alone on board while you go spearfishing?!? The next morning my ghillie was meant to arrive at 6 eventually he arrived at 7 30 and confessed to having been drinking the night before but more on that later. We arrived at the island and slid a bait out on my beachmaster torium 30 combo I moved to the side of the island and started a few practice throws with my new pentagon and 50 combo. My ghillie John came up and asked if he could throw the 50. Looking at him a bit funny I said can you throw a 50? Afterall its not for everyone. His reply was I throw any reel. He took the rod and proceeded to throw .....outta sight! Miles! Far! Warn NASA there is a ufo off mazeppa! Right well that sorts that out he cast while I prepared the baits. I know some guys might disagree with this but I just see it as using your time well. A guy landed a male raggie of about 110kg which gave him hell around the island refusing to arc into either bay. We fished till 12ish with only one more pull coming as I left a mid sized hammer.  Our plan was to fish the pot from about 2 30 but the sw got up so we headed to sharks point. Having been warned about the crabs here I slid a whole yellow tail. 30 mins later we wound in and found just the head! Crabs were wild we slid a live blacktail but nothing eventually leaving around 6 30. While we were here John confessed that it was him on the boat that capsized and he had been forced to swim through the surf zone to shore and walk from kob inn to mazeppa bay hotel. A straight line distance of nearly 6km probably 15 to 20 by road. A reckon considering his day he was entitled to a few too many beers. Next morning we were back on the island by 6 and I slid a flapped shad just next to a rip. I spoke to Robbie Janse who was also there for the week, he reckoned we should get some fish .... By 11 his predictions were far from the truth. We packed up and headed home. 2 o clock saw me back on sharks point. By 5 o clock the rain was coming down in buckets after my ghillie came to me worrying about his phone which by that stage must have been swimming in his pocket we packed it in for the night. The next day we were on the island 3 baits in an hour and a half and all munched by crabs in gin clear water we decided to stop fishing. We scratched out some blacktail my ghillie got one that had he been a club angler Kumz would be looking for a new record 39cm!!! Unfortunately I didn't take a pic but the fish was longer than the top of my orca box! We fished sharks point again that afternoon again with no luck. Wednesday saw the sea on its head so we did some family things went sand boarding and spent time at the hotel. The afternoon saw me at sharks point with some guys I met on the island. We did a bit of kite fishing which was cool. Nothing like waiting for a pull with the braid on a torium 50 showing through! Putting the kite out was a mission because some guy was onto a fish and was hiking the mountains. Everytime we got the kite out he came strolling down towards us. Eventually he got his fish out a 100kilo blackfin which took almost 5 hours to land. Our ghillies named him donkey because he didn't fight the fish he walked around the hill for 5 hours. Having said that at least he got his fish out. Thursday was my last day and I vowed to spend all day fishing if that's what it took. We kited baits from sharks point in a howling south west all day. Everything from sandys to yt to a yt head in a stocking filled with an entire box of mashed sards! Nothing! I spent 10hours fishing that day for nothing.
Despite having caught nothing whatsoever I still enjoyed the trip. I met 3 awesome guys and a gal. Paul (a member of the dark side who will hopefully join here soon) his girlfriend Miranda who fished almost as hard as the boys Luke who we discovered lives less than a km from me yet we have never met and his dad Albert. Fishing with these guys was awesome never a dull moment especially when after a week of no fishing Paul had someone reel over his line and convinced himself and us he finally had a hookup! Between us we had 3 ghillies Andrew from ESA who I can't recommend he has let fame go to his head and spends more time playing soccer than fishing! The other 2 were zola who is absolutely awesome he cranked that kite in from 800m probably 20 times in a 40knot sw on a KP without a complaint and John who despite his one drinking episode knew his stuff and fished hard with no complaints. If anyone heads down there try and get hold of either of these 2 they are brilliant ghillies. All in all it was a shocking trip fish wise there just weren't many fish around even the likes of Robbie Janse were blanking so it was not me fishing like a chop but its an awesome destination. The area is completely wild and unspoilt it has none of the crime problems of hole in the wall and other spots. Best of all no matter which way the wind blows at least 1 point is open to fish. I really think it could make an awesome birthday bash destination. I know I'm going back as soon as possible

[REEFMAN]

Aggg no Brad... no luck fella! Big ups to you for not giving up! Great report... we want some pics of the place please!

[Half-Pint]

I have very few pics of the spot I get very single minded when fishing. Ill check with the family tho they may have some more

[Rods]

Hey MB.  Even though you didnt get your fish it was a great report anyway.  With the amount of time you put in, the big one HAS to come soon. 

[John F]

Great report MB!

Don't worry about the fish... they're are just an accessory!

Big ups to you man! You'll be rewarded for you effort sooner than you expect!

[J-Rock]

Great report. The most important thing is to enjoy your time fishing, whether you catch something or not. We all have trips like this. I'm on one now!!!
Just be patient & the biggies will come.

[WalkersKiller]

Superb report M-B very unlucky though bud, next time!

[Kumz]

  Brad ..
Damn i wud have loved to break my old record ??? 

Always a next time buddy .... 

where are da Pics ????  ....

[Half-Pint]

Will upload a couple pics this afternoon first have to write a test:( the rest I'll post on friday when I have my sisters camera

[Rory]

Nice report Brad, sorry to hear the fishing was so slow!  Looking forward to the pics. How much of all that bait did you bring back?

[Half-Pint]

Nothing! I was left with probably 8 yt and 2 chokka which I sold to one of the guys fishing with us. Also with the fishing being so slow I changed baits pretty often to maximize my chances and most of the time I had 2 rods out.

[Lichia amia]

Hard luck Brad . Remember every blanked session is one session closer to your dream fish !

[BigG]

Hard lines Brad, i have a feeling though that when your fish comes it's going to be big

[Half-Pint]

Forgot to mention the day I got home paul sent me a msg ....landed a blackfin off the island pcl ..... 1.9! Argh the frustration

[BigG]

Forgot to mention the day I got home paul sent me a msg ....landed a blackfin off the island pcl ..... 1.9! Argh the frustration

Murphys

[Half-Pint]

Just 2 pics of some different baits I sent out.
Some other interesting baits for the week were chokka stuffed with about 6 mashed up sards, mackie wrapped in chokka which got some good laughs since the chokka tube looked more like a durex product (fish obviously werent practicing safe eating ) and a chokka on a 2m hook link and 2 meter sinker line floated with more foam than comes with your new tv, sent out on a kite. If you had seen the baits I put out you would also be as shocked as I am that we didnt get fish

[Kumz]

Nice very nice ..
Perhaps fish went on a veg diet .... 

[MIKE PIKE]

     .. Bradley good report had me on the edge of my seat , the sheer determination and tenacity , not to give up at all costs ... awesome , thats  why its called fishing and not catching , believe it or not your time will come and when it does it will be well worth the effort and time youve put in 

[REEFMAN]

Michael Pike!!! Good to have you back. How was Vamizi? Did you get a chance to fish??

[Half-Pint]

Finally got round to posting some pics.
Pic 1: A small bit of bait
Pic 2: The beach south of boiling pot. Also where first river comes out
Pic 3: Why its called Boiling Pot