Hiding to nowhere on Protea Reef
Hiding to nowhere on Protea Reef: I watched helplessly as the reel in front of me, just melted away line. The sound was deafening. I was absolutely flummoxed. For the longest time, I can’t remember being in such a state.
“I am sick n tired of big fish!” – going through my head. It had just been 15 minutes of craziness. And I had no idea at this stage, the dire future that screaming reel had in store. Plus another rig too…
This is how I think it happened, it’s all a blur…but there are three of us to corroborate the story with. Digby Smith invited me and my newest guest, Sean Calitz, along for a jaunt. Marlin was the keyword. And the weather websites ALL agreed on a perfect Tuesday.
Enjoy the launch, a tiny bit of the story, and hitting the beach again…
Watch the VIDEO right here. Where you can Like and Subscribe to our channel.
As you can see from the video, the weather reports were totally wrong. And true to fishing on Game ON form, the SW pomped. And pomped. Over 15 knots most of the time. The swell jacked in the current, and our chosen starting point, Protea Reef was moody.
Game On as a boat only likes inclement and worrying conditions anyway.
Daisy chains were our only retort to this cacophony of wind and swell. We got two bonito (these ones are actually Eastern Little Tuna) in no time and chucked them in the luna tubes.
If we stuck either of these guys out live on the southern pinnacle on Protea, we would have had trouble. We might have got a strike. But the sharks love it down that way. Then, to make the run all the way back to the backline (5 miles), we needed at least two more baits.
I watched the spread out the back as I always try to be doing in times like these. When I saw a big fish come flying and smack a small kona type feather thing. Which just screamed in agony. No chance. Two more rods went. All screamers. The guys each had one on. And this is where the opening scene comes into the story.
Targeting live bait
These were daisy chains and small feather rods for bonito and baby yellowfin. But we had just been marauded by a wolf pack of huge gamefish. Yellowfin Tuna were our first suspects. All our small lures were gone. Some bitten off. We deduced tuna being sharked. I scrambled for solutions and found a stout little Tyrnos 20 and chucked on a small Kona. The line was 50lb and so I let the lure back and jammed the drag up tight. Slammed it into the back upright holder and went back to work.
I grabbed the next rod – a lovely little Penn 40 lever drag, and set to work on that fast. Trying to scratch together a daisy chain or something else to put out. Digby and Sean had each put another rod out the back and were all set.
Strike
They came in like rockets. Every strike was visual and on top. Explosions. Flashes of blue. Digby and Sean were vas with each of their fish trying to burn off the other. They did really well to stay connected for the few seconds that they were. Both were bitten off. The Tyrnos 20 in front of me was also shouting at the top of its voice. I tried to take it from the upright holder. Would not budge. Drag was set soooo tight.
Disaster
Suddenly the Tyrnos slowed right down and stopped. I got the butt out of the holder but was still stashing the rod I was working with. I was dealing with two rods and all the chaos and excitement had literally overcome my decision-making abilities. The angry fish aimed its head somewhere and put on a huge burst of power. I had zero chance. The rod was ripped from my hand and was gone at very high speed. I jumped anyway. The water is very clean on Protea I might tell you. But I never saw any rod. It was gone in an instant.
And again…
When I came back up I jumped on the boat only to discover that I had kicked the other rod clean off the boat with my well-meant but completely pointless jump-in (well I got a viz report for the visiting Boland Spearo Team). Luckily the hook I had just tied on got stuck in my shorts. But the rod was in free-spool, and all the line was all out. 500 metres of braid. Plus top line and leader. I tied up to another light rod with some space and man oh man, I have never fought a fishing rod for so long or so hard.
Backline
Beaten. A hiding to nowhere. Or to the backline at least. Where Sean”s live bonito got munched by a hammer in no time flat. Those brown marlin shark fish can behave exactly like a couta. From the strike to the way it fights, well, I was hopeful in the beginning. And after one helluva run. But when it came back brown, I knew that was the end for us on this day.
A hiding to nowhere!
Later this day, my phone started beeping about wahoo on Aliwal Shoal. Then this photo came through and I realised with a sick feeling in my stomache, that these were wahoo too. That had obliterated us like that.
Wahoo of 30kgs by Mark Hadley-Grave on Aliwal Shoal. 60kms north of Protea Reef.
Stay with us at the Umzimkulu Marina where the guys at Umzimkulu Adrenalin can hook you up. Deep-sea. Estuaries. Rock n surf. You can also get MYDO Lures here and you can learn more at https://thesardine.co.za/mydo.
