This fish is definitely the first couta of the 2021 season. It was actually caught in 2020.
This is Jonno Gouws. And he has definitely got the first couta of the 2021 season. In 2020!
In NOVEMBER 2020!
And! There were two of them!
Kayak anglers Jonno Gouws and Justin Campbell eager to put their newly rigged skis to work launched at sparrows on the 27 of November this very 2020. After having some fun catching live bait, all hell broke loose on Jonnos ski.
Jonno was fishing fluorocarbon leader with a circle. He was not expecting a crocodile to come along a wolf his bait down literally immediately he put it out. In November!
But thats the way it went that spectacular morning for Jonno. With Justin watching from a fair distance – reporting that that Jonnos screams of elation at boating his fish could be heard in Durban!
And then un-unbelievably, as the brace of skis were swept south by the prevailing and rough east conditions – Justin’s live-bait got sharked. A hammer, which got his Mydo trace! All he had left then was a Mydo StripBaitSwimmer rigged with just a single hook. Justin chucked out his last live bait on the Snoek trace and kept paddling.
As he was about to pack it in – the current and wind had gotten these guys all the way down to Winkel – he called his girlfriend to come and get them.
Mid conversation…
His reel screamed!
And soon enough had an even bigger crocodile in the hatch of his ski!
These are two historic fish and will be very hard to beat regards being the first couta of the season each year.
Remember, remember, the 27th of November…
If you are keen, and would like some professionally made rigs and traces made up for especially, just like Jonno and Justin, then give me a buzz. I will make up a pack of exactly what you need for where you are going and the fish you are gonna be after.
This was an extremely enjoyable post to put together since I have known Justin Campbell since he was a kid and to see him and his mates excel at this level is inspiring.
And guess what! We got the whole story, all over again, in multimedia! Narrated by Justin and produced my The Sardine News!
Yes, that’s right, The Sardine News has gone completely solar!
Our mobile office and studio, only really consists of a few laptops, tablets, chargers, routers, speakers, microphones, cameras and the like. All 100% powered by 100% sustainable solar energy – for over a month now!
And so, on the roof, we have three 5 amp solar panels. These go through a 20 amp solar charge controller. Which pumps 15 amps into my battery bank.
That is some useable power.
The TSLA Turtle
On our boat – the TSLA Turtle – we are also completely solar-powered. A 5 amp panel mounted upfront across the bow rails keeps the battery bank of three 105 amp-hour monsters alive and well no matter what. These batteries power through a same 20 amp charge controller and into an 800-watt inverter that charges the boats onboard computer, communications and camera system.
AND THE MOTORS!
That’s a neat 5 amp solar panel mounted up front. One battery is always on charge. The others are kept isolated but at the ready for use at any time. This boat can literally keep going and going. It hardly needs any sun and also charges a bit on overcast and rainy days.
Yes, thats right. Our little estuary boat the “TSLA Turtle”, also runs on solar. And if I run the motor through the charge controller on a hot day, I can get number 2 setting before the systems auto-shuts down to due to overload. This means that, I am drawing less amps than the sun is putting in and I am literally 100% solar-powered! You need at least 15 amps of solar panels to make this work ok. But if you had more panels, like say 50 amps worth (the entire roof of our big river cruiser), then we would easily be running all day on the suns power. Through the batteries and charge controller.
At maximum speed, the electrics we use draw about 50 amps per motor. So a 100 amp hour battery will last two hours before you need to stop using it.
Battery management
Make no mistake, running a battery flat, as in below 10.8 volts, destroys both the battery and your warranty. 11.8 Volts is actually dead flat and you need to immediately swop out a new battery at this number.
Never go below 11.8!
Replenish immediately. Which sometimes means charging two batteries in parallel, which is way better than no charging at all. Do not leave them flat.
It is not a great plan to charge a charged battery with a flat battery as the flat battery will just suck all the power out of the charged battery until they balance out and charge together again.
The TSLA Turtle is powered by various configurations of electric outboards. Giving a total maximum hp of around 10. Useable for about two solid hours before a battery change is necessary. The boat carries three monster 105 amp hour batteries. Making for all-day fishing (and enhanced by charging on the solar panels at the same time).
Proof of the Pudding
And so, almost as if to prove the point to ourselves, Chelsea Dog and I took the TSLA Turtle on a secret mission down into the Transkei. Where part of our deployment included living on a secluded and pristine estuary.
On the Turtle!
For 30 days Chelsea and I battled storms and bad weather characteristic of a drought breaking rainy season. For 22 of those 30 days it rained. We were wet right through most days.
BUT!
We had power. Lots of it. And we were able to charge and stay charged for the entire 30 days. Phones, power banks, lights, two-way radio set, laptop, tablet…all stayed alive no problem. The charge controller has four 2 amp USB outs. Which really make life easy.
The inverter we had was rated 800w and even made fruit-shakes whilst we were out on the water with my smoothie machine (400w)!
And the motors remember!
Reliability
An outboard that starts first time every time – without the need for a starter motor or starter rope! Because that is another big take-home from all of this experimentation and trials. Ultimate reliability. The engines don’t even have gears!
And then the safety of course. You will easily teach someone how to drive the TSLA Turtle. Powered by a 54lb electric. The plastic propellor. Lowish speeds. Ease-of-use. Zero emissions. Easy up and down. No Oil pollution (two strokes pour half their unburnt oil directly into the ocean via the exhaust). Makes for a completely harmless package, when compared to any petrol outboard.
Scaleability
Just add more…motors and batteries…and you can push anything at all!
Yip, we poweredthat big ole river cruiser with three 54 pounders and took 17 people for a transfer across the waters pictured above, on one challenging occasion. Amongst many!
The reliability of the configuration is something that stays with you as never have to worry about trying to start a cold motor ever. Sweet dreaming!
This boat, The Umzimkulu, is back on the Umzimkulu Estuary in Port Shepstone doing solar-powered boat cruises right now!
These solar-powered boat rides are incredibly quiet and encounters with marine wild life occurr far more plentiful these days.
Reality check
But ok. Warning!
When the winds got up and over 20 knots, the big boat lost all steering as the sheer bulk of it was overtaken by the wind. We could have put another two on to make 5 motors at about 12hp. Would have done the trick. BUT, luckily we had a 15hp petrol as the main source of propulsion in the flood conditions that came at us continually. And that we had to work in. Mainly at night!
That all said…
Change to solar at your earliest opportunity. Aside from feeling really good that as I write this since I am powered by the sun – but it really does make the biggest difference to operating costs and bottom line.
And reliability! And…
Stealth
So ok, you can do this. For your river cruiser. Your small RIB. And even on your ocean-going boat. Imagine a silent slow troll along the backline with live baits out!
It’s a whole new dimension in stealth too!
This is how I fished up in Tofo with the inimitable Dave Charley…last season!
Dave put an electric motor and battery on this big old plastic kayak and we trolled for 6 long hours every day!
And here is that video, shot over a year ago, and finally out of the edit-suite this very morning!
These are the kind systems we promote and sell. They are really all DIY installations actually.
Shopping online with the Fishing Pro Shop: The Batman Flu really actually got me shopping online. I first bought a solar panel. Then some motors. I ordered charge controllers. They all came to my gate!
Having had just completed the Fishing Pro Shop online store project – an e-commerce store carrying some of their huge range of stock – we were just in time for this consumer behavioural shift. People are buying online. A helluva lot! And it really was the Batman Flu that did it. Pushed many, many people over the line, and into cyber shopping.
But ok, for sure, the Fishing Pro Shop is a sterling example of a content driven website. The website is jam-packed with information!
Firstly, every product that features on the website, has a thorough accompanying review. Written by the ous!
You can spend hours and hours, days and days, on this website whilst absorbing quality fishing information that will help you improve and enjoy your time on the water more and more. However, if you are that guy that wants to talk face to face, the team at the Fishing Pro Shop in Graeme Rd, Pretoria, are standing by for a visit from you.
Video: Dorado season outing on the Niteshift – November 2020
Dorado season on the KZN South Coast: Our YouTube Channel is growing nicely, thank you to all who have subscribed (click here if you haven’t yet). This latest instalment deals with the 2020 dorado season in KZN. When the rains bring the brown water which sidles up to the winding and deep blue waters of the angry Agulhas Current.
Dorado Season 2020 Port Shepstone with Chad and Cait on the Niteshift
Having guests all the way from Tofo in Inhambane, Mozambique is always a treat. We still have a lodge there too (Earth Lodge), but we will have to see what happens next year.
Chad and Cait were on their merry way to the Kei when they stopped over at the Umzimkulu Marina in Port Shepstone, for a couple of nights. Luckily for them, their well-chosen Monday for fishing and ocean safari – ing around the place, dawned a pearler. It was just glass and there were hardly even any waves to make a splash during the most boring launch we have ever had. Although some whales still straggle around here this late and even into December, we saw none on this day. No dolphins either. But the seabirds were also attracted to the plume of brown water shaped by the current to form a very distinct seam between the brown and the deep blue of the Agulhas Current.
Along with the dorado!
And its not only the dorado that know about this convenient setup of different colours of waters side by side like this. Nope, striped marlin also know about this special occasion. And, the Niteshift has come home with a handsome yellowtail also taken on a live mackerel. And a 30kg gas bottle yellowfin tuna – that made a huge fuss in the shallow, almost backline waters. Tuna fight much harder in the shallows!
Cait ended the excursion with a leap from the fly-bridge and into the clear blue 23 degree water to take a look around for herself. This is her choice collection from the day – thanks Cait!
Unfortunately, the Niteshift is off the water as one of her outboards exploded in the middle of the night this week. This was the culmination of a sequence of events triggered by us hitting something in the mouth area during a heavy launch. And damaging the trim and tilt mechanism. Again.
At about 10pm, the port side motor exploded. The cover got blown off and flames leapt 2 metres in the air. Luckily my Dad was awake and put the fire out quicksmart. Anyway, no more charters on the Niteshift this season but we have plenty other boats to choose from. And now we are desperately looking for a replacement 60hp Yamaha four stroke! Any leads please drop us a line!
In the meantime if you want to go fishing, deep-sea or the estuary, get in touch with me Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com or +27793269671.
Ok, so dont forget to Subscribe to our YouTube Channel right HERE. We are on Facebook because we have to be – right HERE. But this is the best place to find our cool and contemporary content – on The Sardine News.
FishBazaruto.com 2020 marlin season: Surviving the Batman Flu has been a full-time endeavour for the FishBazaruto squad. Home-schooling and all sorts!
BUT!
We are back!
The fleet is back on the water right now and as you can see from the following featured FishBazaruto posts by Captain Duarte Rato – they are rocking and rolling all over again.
The collection of blog posts that Duarte has religiously kept since we started this website, is fine reading matter. Use the Captains Log menu item on the main menu of the FishBazaruto.com website, to see all of the action.
There is a helluva lot to learn and be inspired by. Especially the fact that many of those big mommas that Duarte chases for a living, also swim by here (KZN) on their way to their big date off Baz.
There is no doubt that the congregation of big fish each season in those purple waters, is for spawning purposes. Although not much data can back this up, their behavioural patterns at this spectacular bite time, are typical of a mating formation. A big momma, and a bunch of suitors chasing it as frantically as Duarte!
Actually, unbelievably, Duarte and the crew have stopped fishing for the year. They customarily do this even though nobody can believe it. Even me!
There are a few posts outstanding from Duarte so check his website soon!
However…closer to home…
The KZN marlin season 2020
Just in the last few days, fishing out off the Umzimkulu on the Niteshift, we have encountered a pair of most likely striped marlin, swimmig around the boat. Whilst we were catching dorado. FACT. Every year with the dorado, are the striped marlin, in shoals too! We have seen them 10 or more together, and we have hooked, nit caught, out fair share along the colour line over the years.
It is just quite simply that nobody targets billfish here. Nobody. If you dragged a good spread wherever this colour line materialises, you are IN with a chance. You will need about 7 to 9 knots, four konas and two daisies down the middle. Big daisies.
And hold on tight!
You want me to arrange this? No problem except one of our motors self-exploded last night, on the Niteshift! Luckily my Dad was awake, and fire-fighted the fire out. More on this bummer development later.
BUT!
In the meantime we have many backup boats to choose from…so get in touch for some colour line action.
