Pierre de Villiers in the Transkei
After his annual winter sojourn from the Durban coast home to the Cape, Pierre de Villiers sent us in these amazing perspectives.
Send more please!
All pics (c) Pierre de Villiers
BIG GT tagged at sunset on Bazaruto Island
BIG GT at sunset! by Captain Duarte Rato
With winds blowing well in excess of 25 knots we were grounded to the resort for 3 consecutive days. But, when one afternoon the wind eased off a tad we decided that a short trip to the GAP (AKA Kingfish Alley) was in order. We only left the lodge at 4 pm but within 30 minutes were over the reef ready to start plugging. Carl was going to use a sub surface bobara stick bait and his guest was going to through a big Rooster Popper. On the very first cast Carl hooked up to a fish that soon proved to be VERY powerful and strong. Using all the pressure that the 100 lbs braid we tried to move the fish away from the shallow reef to avoid being cut off but what gave in after about 20 minutes were the Viper XL hooks that simply bent straight! What a bummer, this fish felt it could have topped 40 kg´s and it had been a while since Carl landed a GT this big at Bazaruto. We did another 3 drifts and caught some smaller kingies on dropshot and the sun was on the horizon as we stopped for our last drift. Luck did struck twice and Carl hooked into another big fish and again fought it with the heaviest possible drag to pull him away from the bricks. This time everything held and after a 25 minute tussle we got the fish on the boat for a quick photograph and release. The fish measured 118 cm, which translates to a good 33 kilos….
Bella Jankowitz´s biggest ever fish!!!
Bella Jankowitz´s biggest ever fish!!! by Captain Duarte Rato on Bazaruto Island
Despite the rough weather Bella, Carl jankowitz oldest daughter joined on a fishing day and after missing a few game fish finally come solid on a big tuna on one of the 30 pound bait sticks. Tuna are know to be deep tough fighting fish and this one certainly put Bella through a big marathon, but in the end and after a tussle lasting for almost 40 minutes she brought the fish within gaffing range and boated her biggest ever fish….by far!!! A beautiful 26 kg Yellowfin tuna that provided finger licking good sashimi for everyone…
Early summer as already brought in some really good game fishing with reports of big and lots of tuna, but as it normally does one of our favourite species as also arrived in good numbers and the wahoo fishing should really get on fire as we move into late September when fish exceeding 30 kilos are not uncommon. Here´s Alex, showing off with a nice fish caught this week!!!
Dive Report: Protea Banks, Shelley Beach
Aqua Planet have been operating out of Shelley Beach and diving the Protea Banks for many years…
DIVE REPORT FOR PROTEA BANKS, SHELLY BEACH:
So with the turn of season into Spring, we had the start of the Hammerhead shark season. Shoaling Hammerhead sharks, up to more than a 100 were seen on dives last week, which started off the Hammerhead shark season with a bang. If this was not enough, other sharks encountered during the dives last week were Ragged-tooth sharks and with Oceanic Blacktip sharks popping in and out, divers were always entertained. A Dusky shark was also encountered on one of the dives. The odd friendly Potato Bass also popped in to say hi. With lots of reef fish around and even some Nudibranchs, the reef was worth looking at.
Humpback Whales have been seen while driving to and from the dive site daily. A stunning encounter of 2 Humpback Whales at 30m on the Southern Pinnacles, was seen just over a week ago. A MIND BLOWING DIVE!!!
The viz has been averaging about 15m, but there has been a lot of plankton in the water which made it look a bit milky.
The water temperature had been around 21 degrees Celsius with barely a current.
With conditions looking great for the weekend ahead, it is time to dust off that scuba gear and get back in the water.
Aqua Planet Dive Centre and Charter dives Protea Banks daily, weather permitting.
Bookings: 082 877 3966
Report courtesy of southcoaststyle.co.za
Dive Report: Tofo, Inhambane
In from Jamie Edwards in Tofo…
“During the course of the day we visited Galleria twice and both of them were amazing! Starting off with the first one this morning. At the moment there is not to much current but just enough to give you that perfect drift dive as well as a slight temperature increase which always helps. We encountered a fairly large potato grouper on the drop point who was extremely curious and actually followed us for about 10mins! A few of the divers got a closer inspection from the potato grouper, coming right up close and seemed to be peering into you eyes, amazing! Then a short visit from a Spotted Eagle Ray as well as a Giant Manta who cruised slowly pasted us! Along the bottom of the reef we managed to find one of the Sea Moths which is always a special find. Now for the second dive. Just off the back wall of the drop we found a resting Loggerhead Turtle who seemed very relaxed to have us there. We also then found the same Sea Moth and just before we arrived at the cave found another Loggerhead Turtle swimming slowly out into the deep, always a beautiful sight. Just before we started to leave the reef we stumbled across a huge Bowmouth Guitar Shark! Unfortunately he didnt seem in the mood to hang around however still awesome to see! :)”
Special thanks to Jamie Edwards of Diversity Scuba
And a fresh report from today…
“Humpback Whales on Scuba this morning! Off we went to Salon this morning and what a dive that was! Started the dive off with a couple of the smaller creatures, 2 Cleaner Pipefish and 2 Samoan Pipefish when all of a sudden 2 Humpback Whales pulled in to say hello. They seemed very relaxed and we got to swim along side them for quite some time as they were just playing around. At least three times one of them went into the “sailing” position which was absolutely mind blowing to watch! After witnessing that awesome encounter we carried on to have a great dive none the less. Kuhl Stingrays were scattered all over the reef, found a Spotted Guitar Shark, one Crocodile Fish, big variety of Nudibranch’s and a school of Giant Reef Squid at the end. Also after the Humpback encounter we had a little Remora following one of the divers for the rest of the dive up until we reached the surface. What a fantastic morning! :)”
Keep it coming Jamie!