We left Wilsons Wharf just before 06h00, and made our way out Durban Harbour while it was still dark. It was a cold overcast morning and the SW wind was blowing at a stiff breeze, as we got out of port we were greeted by a pod of friendly Dolphins who swam with us as we made our way towards the bait fish grounds. Water temperature was around 21deg.C most of the day and we also had some spectacular whale sightings.
The sea was choppy and the SN current was screaming, but we managed to get many mackerel and mozzies, and if I got R1.00 for every sand soldier we caught I would be rich as they were there in a multitude.
We then made our way out a little deeper and fished some bottom baits along with some live bait, but it was not easy with the strong current and the results were poor with only a few smaller bottom fish coming up. We then changes tactics and took a troll out deeper for some Yellowfin and were rewarded with several Kawa-Kawa in the 4Kg range but no Yellowfin Tuna, none the less at least every one got a chance to fight and land one.
We then came back a little shallower, by this time the conditions had changed dramatically, the current had slowed down nicely and the wind had died off leaving us with a glorious afternoon and flat seas. We again put baits down and used some of the sand soldiers as flappers and these produced us some superb Cat Faced Rockod; we also got some nice slingers and a really large trigger fish which I am struggling to ID still. The trigger fish was released.
The guests had made a special request for a large shark and so I rigged up a 4kg Kawa-Kawa on my 80lb rig and a heavy Shark trace and let it out off the back off Fat Girl leaving it on free spool, whilst this big bait was out we continued to fish for bottoms and about 40 minutes later we heard the 80lb rig begin to scream, I knew it was a Shark and let him run giving him a good chance to swallow the bait before tightening up the drag and setting the hook. The selected angler was now ready in the fighting chair and he was connected to the rod and reel and the fight began. It was a very intense fight and after about 15 minutes the butt harness broke and so the angler got some help from his mates and after about 20 minutes we landed a superb Black Tip Shark of around 2.8m long estimated at 150kg (330lbs). I held him on the teeth with a gaff and some photos were taken and the trace removed and the Shark was safely released.
This shark fight was the highlight of the trip, and I enjoyed seeing all the excitement on every ones faces, it was good to get a chance to educate people on catch and release.
We got back to port at 16h00 with many smiling faces on board.
