Catch ‘n cook: Kingfish ace out…GT caught by Brian Lange
Launching on a whim earlier this year out of the Umzimkulu, and therefore ace out – “I’m just going fishing in the river…”, Brian Lange came back with this monster GT (Giant Trevally / Giant Kingfish) caught on a live bonito on the backline off Port Shepstone. It was too difficult to release fishing on his own and we needed fish for the fridge, so it came home and fed everyone.
Marinaded chunks grilled on coals for not too long are delicious, and shallow fried battered slices will get the kids crazy for it. It’s easy to flavour the batter with your favourite herbs and spices. Don’t cook for too long!
However, the GT is normally released – in fact most of the kingfish species are best thrown back, some also carry ciguatera poisoning.
What we shouldn’t tell you though, is that the Bluefin Kingfish is the one to eat. Succulent, full flavoured…it just melts in your mouth. Luckily they are hard to catch and hard to find, mainly further north. They swim in shoals and so are susceptible to over fishing by netting, sometimes in the fish markets up north, someone brings in a bakkie load. They get quite big, a 10kg bluefin is one helluva fish. And here is a real treat, an underwater video clip of two beautiful adult Bluefin Kingfish…enjoy…
And then finally…the biggest Giant Kingfish I have ever seen was this one we caught off Tofo in Mozambique. It was estimated at 60kg plus, it was a full 6ft long and had eyes like golf balls. I was on Meida van Wyk’s boat fishing with his son Richie, who just had enough battery for this one photograph. It was a smooth release – the kingfish chowed a 5kg live bonito and the brand new heavy tackle outfit gave a good performance bringing the fish healthy to the boat in an hour or so.
Estimated 60kg GT released in southern Mozambique.
Bonito Bolognese: Catch ‘n Cook series – this was written in 2014 – The Sardine News has been publishing since 1986.
But ok, if there are any fish out there plentiful enough to be harvested, it would be the many bonito. Eastern Little Tuna. Skipjack. Sarda Sarda. Kawa Kawa. And others. They are all tunas. And in fact, skipjack tuna is the guy you buy in a tin from the shops. A practice I have stopped completely. Every time you buy a tin of tuna, you are directly filling the diesel tanks of the hated trawlers and long-liners we see even plundering along our very own coastline.
Bonito Bolognese
Bonito Bolognaise is a super healthy version of your regular beef bolognese spaghetti meal.
Step 1
Catch a bonito…
Step 2
Bleed, loin and grate/grind the bonito into mince form. A cheese grater does the job just fine. And removes most of the sinew efficiently. But a real mince maker if you have one…will save you some time and effort.
Step 3
The morning after the storm. An incredible place is Pomene. (c) Boa Gente
This is my simple campfire method. Since at the campsite is where and how we invented bonito bolognese. We had just sunk at Pomene. For real – the boat we had just purchased from a complete drunk for USD 1000 (sporting twin 115hp V4 Yamaha 2 Strokes) had some latent defects. The boat just couldn’t stay afloat for extended periods. Her name was Nikita, she sank right in the holding area on the point at Pomene. With me and Paul asleep in the cabin. We woke up in the early hours. Pitch dark and storming hard. Both soaking wet as the high tide filled the boat and our sleeping quarters.
We had travelled by sea from Tofo the day before. Wild sea. One motor spun a prop halfway. So we arrived in the dark. Sinking but not quite sunk. Yet. Paul and I took watch and slept on the mostly floating boat.
Captain Paul Cook on the helm for the first 6 hours to Pomene (c) BoaGente
6 AM the next day- it was cold that eventful morning. Soooo cold. Mid-winter cold front and exposed on the beach. And we were soaked. And sunk. Paul and I escaped the sunk vessel and tried to make a fire on the beach. Our victims (read guests) – most of our friends from Tofo, had all scuttled the boat upon arrival in the dark the night before. And eagerly settled in the beach camp. About 200 metres from where the boat had just sunk.
Luckily with first light – Chad from Tofo was also awake and saw our predicament. He brought us coffee and helped to recover all the flotsam and jetson strewn about the beach. Once the tide had turned to go back out again, and we had anchored the sunk boat and put her in recovery position (on a steep piece of beach to drain her out again), we left our post and headed to the salvation of the beach camp. Camp was buzzing when we finally made it across the beach.
I stumbled into the kitchen area, found a spot under a table and made a little bed. And cleanly passed out. It was an exhausting evening and morning. Sinking is never fun. Paul found himself a spot somewhere too and we got some deserved shut-eye.
The boat was a big old Interceptor from Invader and somehow we had gotten 9 people on board. And a helluva lot of stuff. There was so much food. Cooler boxes. Crates. Bags. BUT! Someone had forgotten the 2kgs of mince we had brought along for our first big meal together. A spaghetti bolognese.
Chad Leavitt’s first sailfish, released off Morrungulo, on the way to Pomene (c) BoaGente
When I woke at about 11, the mince was a big issue. And that’s when it came to me! Grate the tuna! We had caught so many fish (including Chad’s first-ever sailfish) on the drive from Tofo to Pomene, that we had been filleting some of them along the way. And keeping some beautiful tuna loins for sushi or sashimi. This stuff was perfect. And the cheese grater made short work of the loins. Soon we had far more than 2kgs of mince. Which was a very good thing.
Because, out of all the hundreds of bonito bolognese’s I have made thus far, every single one has sold out. There has never, ever, been leftover bonito bolognese.
Bonito Bolognese Recipe
Fry some onions a while…add the tuna mince about halfway to brown
Tomatos etc…
Garlic etc…
Done!
Big Meal
Making a huge bowl of gourmet bonito mince is my best plan. It fridges and freezes well, so you can make a whole bonito’s worth and stash it away for things like Spaghetti Bolognese, Mince on Toast, Samoosas and even Vetkoek!
Make a heap and live good!
Sardines and Sighting Maps
It has been a fantastic sardine run this memorable 2024. And all the action has been logged right here on The Sardine News. This year’s map has been viewed 191,000 times and just keeps growing.
Which led us to decide to keep the map live. And keep adding unique marine animal sightings and events. That occurs non-stop all year round. This year we started to log more whale and dolphin sightings. And we even had a shipwreck! And a freaking tornado! And recently a capsized KZNSB boat! We have been updating the map with recent catches too…
These events will from now on be included in the Sardine News Sightings Map for 2024. And on the 1 January 2025, we shall start all over again.
Here are the links to existing and past Sardine Sighting Maps. Great for a windy day like today to research. With instructions to install The Sardine News right on your phone or desktop.
