Today was a special day for the new Nikao Fishing Adventures boat, with its first Sailfish landed and some Dorado (Mahi Mahi) for added measure. This is also the first Sailfish out of Durban for this summer season.
Just another day in Africa, or was it?
We departed from Wilson's Wharf at 05h00 and the was a light NE but the swell was a little large and so we decided to do a fast troll out to the deep and so we set our spread just South of the Durban Harbour Mouth and made our way out to the deep.
Near the harbour the water surface temp was 23.0 deg. C, but as we went out deeper the water went just above 25 deg. C and in the deep the water was crystal clear as it has been of late. As the day progressed the sea flattened quite a bit and then the NE started blowing harder later in the day. I was expecting a good day because yesterday the SW was howling until early hours this morning when it turned to a NE which usually means good fishing. I had told my guests that I was expecting a good day and that we should get a Sailfish but I don't think he believed me. I was confident. We also saw a lot of Humpback whales around.
It was not long before the first reel went and we reeled in a foul hooked Garfish, who was not happy and was snapping his long beak when we got him to the boat where he fell off just as we grabbed the leader. Things then went quiet for a while and as the sun started shining nicely onto the water a reel screamed and after a hard 20 minute fight we managed to land a nice sized Queen Dorado. The guest who landed this Dorado was ecstatic because this was his first Dorado ever.
From there we carried on right past Tongaat and then headed out to the 200m depth area with no action and then we started heading back where along the way we saw the first Flying Fish for this summer, they were all small most around 20mm long and I also saw some tiny ones about 5mm long. It was moments after this that 3 reels screamed and we had 3 Dorado on all at once and managed to land 2 of them after losing one to tangled lines. As we were setting the lines and feeding the lures out one of the reels started running whilst still in free spool which ended up in us landing our 4th Dorado for the day, all our Dorado today were Queens.
As we started coming back towards the shallows at around 90m I decided to change the whole spread to a Tuna Spread and troll at a slower speed and mentioning to my guests that I don't think we will get that Sailfish, but lets try for some Yellowfin Tuna.
As we got a little closer in all hell broke loose and 5 reels started screaming all at once and there before my eyes I saw one of the most amazing sites I have ever witnessed whilst fishing. 4 Dorado and 1 Sailfish all jumping in the air at once, I wish I could have had a picture to share.
Unfortunately as all these fish were jumping at high speed they were also crossing all our lines and so we focused on the Sailfish and ended up losing all the Dorado and after a good fight we landed a nice Sailfish. We released him successfully after a quick photo.
After the Sailfish we all decided that that topped the day and we were all totally satisfied and so we packed up all the rods and took a fast run back to port.
So far this summer season has been awesome for me getting the first Dorado for this summer and now also the first Sailfish. We have not even hit peak season yet and my Dorado account is already sitting at 7 fish and my Sailfish account is now open.
Having those 4 Dorado and the Sailfish on all at once is one of the most exciting experiences that one can get when game fishing and the adrenalin really pumps though your veins, this is not something that happens very often and so must be considered special and a privilege.
