The adrenalin is still pumping through my veins even though some time has passed. It was such an exciting experience. I do not even know how to convey the experience and excitement we had on the boat with everyone cheering, encouraging, yells and screams, the teamwork especially when we had a problem when the fly reel started falling apart.
We launched early this morning to miss the heavy NE wind that was predicted and so were on our way out the harbour by 04h00 and made the bumpy ride out to the deep, it was a long 1.5hr trip of about 40Nm before we got to the area we wanted to target.
This trip was purely a fly fishing trip and so we got about our business, the casting was very tough because the wind was already blowing far and so distance was a problem.
1st up was a double hook up of Dorado, one was lost, the other landed.
It is important not to panic when you get a fish on and start tightening the drag, let him run and play him and you will land him, put too much pressure, especially in the beginning when the fish is still strong and you will loose your fish.
We then had a 3rd Dorado hook up.
Then the moment came when we saw a Sailfish hit the one fly and immediately it was doing a tail walk which is incredible to watch. At the same time as the other fly was brought in we had a second Sailfish strike just a meter from the boat, and again the fish was lost by panicking and too much pressure.
The first Sail was still on and taking line with over 200m out we were well into the backing and a long fight took place with several runs and many jumps.
Eventually just after an hour went by since hook up; we got the Sailfish to the boat and it did a spectacular jump when I had the leader in my hand. The fish was very tired after such a long fight and he was unhooked and immediately released without any further stress. I estimate this Sailfish at around 40Kg, and this is an awesome accomplishment on a 12wt fly rod.
My client told me afterwards that he did a 40Km mountain bike race recently, and this fight with the Saily on a Fly rod was far more exhausting.
After that we managed a double hook up with 2 Oceanic Bonito which gave an excellent account for themselves on the Fly Rods.
The fly's we used are my own design which I have developed over some time now combined with my fly fishing and big game trolling knowledge, and they really performed well leaving an awesome smoke trail and most of all they attracted fish. I have been studying, researching and planning to get a Sailfish off Durban for some time, with many misses and today we hit the jackpot. I can tell you that this is no easy feat off-shore Durban and so a real accomplishment for the angler.
