As we were packing to go home from the story before this one (Protea Reef 16 Feb 2013), we were treated to seeing one of the biggest king mackerel / couta caught on Protea Reef in a while!
With Noel were none other than 3 of the Posthumous clan – Louis, Dawdie and Sean. This fish never stood a chance! The ‘couta weighed 32kg’s and was presumably taken on a livebait (that kind of info very hard to extract from these fellas). Nice fish!
After the usual hectic river mouth launch out of the mighty Umzimkulu (Port Shepstone), we headed out on a bumpy sea, to Protea Reef a few miles out, to take on the yellowfin tuna that frequent it’s pinnacles. The first two drifts at 3.5knots yielded nothing, but on our third attempt, things hotted up fast.
Guest on the Niteshift – Randy Stevens, was the first to have his arms stretched – by a nice yellowfin of 9kg’s. That fish started the rush and soon we were going 3 sticks away. The yellowfin
got bigger and bigger and our last fish – caught by Frenzy, weighed in at 14kgs. She pulled it right out of a shark’s mouth – check the bite mark in the picture!
A huge school of bottlenose dolphin came by – one with a white dorsal fin and white patches all over his body – spectacular. We captured him on video, along with some of the fishing action – see video below…
The Umzimkulu Marina on the south bank of the Umzimkulu River in Port Shepstone is completely rigged for the family fishing holiday. The Niteshift – a Supercat hull with a walkaround cabin and powered by twin 4 stroke Yamahas takes on the launch with aplomb and confidence. Protea Reef is the main attraction and the Hibberdene area (famous for huge king mackerel / couta) is a quick 30 minute race north.
The Umzimkulu – a 25ft cruiser with a roof and seating and licensed for 17 is ideal for parties / events / functions / fishing on the Umzimkulu River. Estuary fishing for Grunter and Rock Salmon (Mangrove Jack) at night is another great distraction. There are also ski’s and a paddle boat available.
Email umzimkulu@hotmail.com or call +27732711694.
For a fantastically eery experience, log onto Ocean Global Shark Tracker and see what a few Great Whites are doing right now. As of yesterday, Maddox, a 2000lb monster, was casually heading into the Maputo Bay area. Brenda Fassie and Louise were cruising the coast just south of Inhambane, a bunch of whites are swimming about in Zululand…and for those of you living and swimming in the Cape – wow! An amazing concentration of sharks hang out in the Southern Cape waters…check it out…!
Another success story is about a shark called Success, a 3500 pounder – he swam across from deep Cape Town to past Maputo and across to Madagascar in 6 weeks!
http://sharks-ocearch.verite.com/
Tofo is an amazingly safe spot to swim – usually. But every now and then, a storm surge on a good spring high tide wreaks havoc with the sand. This last storm was no exception and it scoured out right up to Casa Barry’s steps – making the local fishermen stow their boats way up the headland that makes Tofo bay, and stealing a few straw parasols from out front.
Then after a few days, low tide reveals the little sandbank reforming – and at dead low it goes knee deep – great for bathers to venture right out there into the crystal blue. But. When the tide comes back, as what happens at many similarly laid out beaches – the trouble starts.
As it gets deeper and the current stronger, bathers on the sandbank are pushed back towards the shore – and into the basin that forms between the sandbank and the beach. And this is where the drownings occur.
There are no lifeguards at Praia da Tofo out of season, and until I heard the shouts, I had no idea someone was in trouble. As I got it worked out – some kid had gone the way of the basin – a local fishing row boat came to the rescue.
These two guys were in the shorebreak in the corner, and when they heard the shouts and saw the bather go under – turned their row boat around, and accelerated – charging towards where the kid had gone under. I have never seen a row boat go with such grace and accuracy. They got to where the kid went down in a few seconds and one of the fishermen jumped off the back and into the basin. After a few breathtaking seconds – he surfaced with the kid, who looked very dead from my angle.
Anyway, he wasn’t. These fishermen saved his life. After a few seconds the kid spluttered and coughed and went into shock – but alive.
Mais Respecto Amigos! Parabens!
