Good Times at Mapelane
- Thread starter Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
Senior Member
Van Straaten
Senior Member
Van Straaten
Senior Member
Van Straaten
Senior Member
A Beast of a Rocksalmon also caught at lighthouse on a live maasbunker on a couta trace. The sad part is that the fish was hooked in the gills, we spent some time reviving it and it did swim away but I doubt it survived :-( .
We took a quick measurement and at 78cm , fishweights.net calls it 9.33kg!
We took a quick measurement and at 78cm , fishweights.net calls it 9.33kg!
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Van Straaten
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We fished the Mapelane Cuda Derby the past weekend and as always we had great time despite some tough fishing.
We had about 15 boats fishing and over the two days only four cuda were caught.
I was invited to fish with the lads on "Boertjie" to add a bit of gamefishing experience to the mix as they had mainly fished for Marlin in the past. We had great boat - a 21 Yeld - and young and eager crew and we were hoping to show the old hands a thing or two!
On Saturday the prediction was for a 20kts north/northeaster to blow almost the entire day so we decided to head north past Bats and fish back with the wind. We started on the 50m ledge but the wind kept pushing us off and the bottomfish kept destroying our baits so we headed shallower and worked the area between 14 and 20m , fishing in between the pockets of bait.
It wasn't long before the screen lit up as we went over a shoal of redeyes and at the same time we had bite on a down rigged sardine. Jan had the first turn on the rod and after a short fight we boated a small cuda. With it being Jan's first cuda and knowing that the conditions were making life difficult for all the anglers we were happy to at least have something to show for our efforts!
We worked the area a bit more and managed to get a bonnie that wasn't out of the water for 30 seconds before he went straight back in with a couple of trebles attached! It is only a matter of time now!!!!
About an hour later we are working our way back to Mapelane when we get a rev on the live bonnie and after taking a couple of meters of line and getting all our hopes up a dolphin pops up and spits the bait out leaving us with only a dead bonnie and shattered dreams
Having had enough of the conditions we head back and at the weigh in it turns out our little 4kg rat cuda gets us into second place.
The only other cuda was a very nice 17kg fish caught by mates of mine fishing on "Captain Charlie"
We had about 15 boats fishing and over the two days only four cuda were caught.
I was invited to fish with the lads on "Boertjie" to add a bit of gamefishing experience to the mix as they had mainly fished for Marlin in the past. We had great boat - a 21 Yeld - and young and eager crew and we were hoping to show the old hands a thing or two!
On Saturday the prediction was for a 20kts north/northeaster to blow almost the entire day so we decided to head north past Bats and fish back with the wind. We started on the 50m ledge but the wind kept pushing us off and the bottomfish kept destroying our baits so we headed shallower and worked the area between 14 and 20m , fishing in between the pockets of bait.
It wasn't long before the screen lit up as we went over a shoal of redeyes and at the same time we had bite on a down rigged sardine. Jan had the first turn on the rod and after a short fight we boated a small cuda. With it being Jan's first cuda and knowing that the conditions were making life difficult for all the anglers we were happy to at least have something to show for our efforts!
We worked the area a bit more and managed to get a bonnie that wasn't out of the water for 30 seconds before he went straight back in with a couple of trebles attached! It is only a matter of time now!!!!
About an hour later we are working our way back to Mapelane when we get a rev on the live bonnie and after taking a couple of meters of line and getting all our hopes up a dolphin pops up and spits the bait out leaving us with only a dead bonnie and shattered dreams
Having had enough of the conditions we head back and at the weigh in it turns out our little 4kg rat cuda gets us into second place.
The only other cuda was a very nice 17kg fish caught by mates of mine fishing on "Captain Charlie"
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Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
Senior Member
Early on there is a bit of a land breeze blowing like it normally does during winter on the north coast so we decide to go down to Light House and if we don't have any luck there we will fish the ledge later in the morning.
Upon arrival we find the water to be a really ugly green colour but knowing that sometimes those crocs like the off colour water we work the area until about half past ten without getting a bite.
We head out to the ledge to find almost all the boats fishing the same area and quickly learn that Captain Charlie has caught another BUSS of a cuda!
We start the drift with a couple live maasbunker some sards and the dead bonnie from the day before.
The drift is perfect, there is no wind to speak of and just a bit of current. With the conditions being so calm I decide to put another surface rod out with only a single and some flouro leader and the smallest maasbunker we have in the hope getting a fresh bonnie or even a passing yellowfin. I am still letting the bait out when a greedy little bonnie eats it! Out comes the dead one and a fresh vibrating live bonnie gets sent down to go find us a cuda.......
Not five minutes later I look around and see the rod load up and the next moment ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......
It is pandemonium on the boat as everyone falls over each other to clear the other lines and at the same time we chase after the fish to try and win back some of the line that he took on that first run! We manage to get right on top of the fish but he refuses to come to the surface and that fear begins to grow.......
The next moment the rod gives a couple of big nods and immediately you think it's getting taxed but the fish screams off again and for the moment I am sure it is still one very healthy cuda!
We are all coaching Willem like there is no tomorrow but he manages to ignore all of us and does a great job to turn the fish's head and keeps the fish coming and all of a sudden we see the first colour about 15m down.
It's a CUDA and it's a BUSS!!
He lifts the fish another couple of meters before it makes another dreaded run and disappears into the depths....
This is that crucial moment. The final run where so many good fish get taxed!
But Willem just keeps doing what he's doing and he quickly has the the fish under the boat again. It tries to make one more turn under the boat but the gaff is just long enough to reach it and I sink the gaff into a very fat fish!
It's high fives and hand shakes all around as we congratulate Willem on his very first cuda and only the second cuda on "Boertjie"!
Upon arrival we find the water to be a really ugly green colour but knowing that sometimes those crocs like the off colour water we work the area until about half past ten without getting a bite.
We head out to the ledge to find almost all the boats fishing the same area and quickly learn that Captain Charlie has caught another BUSS of a cuda!
We start the drift with a couple live maasbunker some sards and the dead bonnie from the day before.
The drift is perfect, there is no wind to speak of and just a bit of current. With the conditions being so calm I decide to put another surface rod out with only a single and some flouro leader and the smallest maasbunker we have in the hope getting a fresh bonnie or even a passing yellowfin. I am still letting the bait out when a greedy little bonnie eats it! Out comes the dead one and a fresh vibrating live bonnie gets sent down to go find us a cuda.......
Not five minutes later I look around and see the rod load up and the next moment ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......
It is pandemonium on the boat as everyone falls over each other to clear the other lines and at the same time we chase after the fish to try and win back some of the line that he took on that first run! We manage to get right on top of the fish but he refuses to come to the surface and that fear begins to grow.......
The next moment the rod gives a couple of big nods and immediately you think it's getting taxed but the fish screams off again and for the moment I am sure it is still one very healthy cuda!
We are all coaching Willem like there is no tomorrow but he manages to ignore all of us and does a great job to turn the fish's head and keeps the fish coming and all of a sudden we see the first colour about 15m down.
It's a CUDA and it's a BUSS!!
He lifts the fish another couple of meters before it makes another dreaded run and disappears into the depths....
This is that crucial moment. The final run where so many good fish get taxed!
But Willem just keeps doing what he's doing and he quickly has the the fish under the boat again. It tries to make one more turn under the boat but the gaff is just long enough to reach it and I sink the gaff into a very fat fish!
It's high fives and hand shakes all around as we congratulate Willem on his very first cuda and only the second cuda on "Boertjie"!
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Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
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We keep fishing and hook up to a shark on the remaining dead bonnie and after towing us around for about half an hour it finally rubs through the leader.
On our final drift we get a strike on the surface bait and Pieter makes light work of a medium size yellowfin. We quickly bleed the fish, check the time and decide to hit the beach and celebrate with a couple of cold ones
At the beach everyone was venturing a guess at the weight and most said it would be tight between our fish and the one Captain Charlie caught.When we finally arrived at the weigh in they confirmed that Jeff's fish weighed 25kgs and I suspected that we might just come up a bit short.
Willem proudly walked up to weigh his fish and even though it turned out we did get pipped he couldn't hide the smile! Ours came in at 22,2kgs, if only it had been a bit longer... Well that's fishing for you.
In the end we were well beaten by Jeff and Trevor but we did make them sweat a bit and had a great time at it!
That night " it was going off like a raw prawn" to quote The Badger and the next day it was a couple of bent and slightly broken but very very happy anglers that had to hit the road terug na die ou transvaal.
On our final drift we get a strike on the surface bait and Pieter makes light work of a medium size yellowfin. We quickly bleed the fish, check the time and decide to hit the beach and celebrate with a couple of cold ones
At the beach everyone was venturing a guess at the weight and most said it would be tight between our fish and the one Captain Charlie caught.When we finally arrived at the weigh in they confirmed that Jeff's fish weighed 25kgs and I suspected that we might just come up a bit short.
Willem proudly walked up to weigh his fish and even though it turned out we did get pipped he couldn't hide the smile! Ours came in at 22,2kgs, if only it had been a bit longer... Well that's fishing for you.
In the end we were well beaten by Jeff and Trevor but we did make them sweat a bit and had a great time at it!
That night " it was going off like a raw prawn" to quote The Badger and the next day it was a couple of bent and slightly broken but very very happy anglers that had to hit the road terug na die ou transvaal.
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Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
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Van Straaten
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benniejordaan
Sealiner
Lovely fish! Well done.