Brian Lange and Morne Uys celebrated Brian’s birthday night fishing!
Nice fish Pop!
Tag: brian lange
Protea Reef 16 Feb 2013
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.
Team Tuna 5-0
Launching out of the Umzimkulu River on Saturday – on the hunt for dorado, led my Dad (Brian Lange) and myself past the quiet water line (not a strike or sign of the westerly loving Dollies), out to 55m for a few bottomfish. A Ferdie Kingfish and a few slinger later, the current got up to max speed…despatching us off to Protea Reef for a tuna or two. Ha ha!
The first strike came in three at once…after a minute my hook came out (drag too tight on the strike), the second was bitten off (must have been a couta or wahoo, possible small shark) and the third also shook it’s hook.
Back for another drift, a shoal of tuna broke the surface – threw the plug – taken as it hit the water…a few minutes later and the small fish right next to the boat…I pulled the hooks out – out of practise! These tuna are mean!
Back up to the Northern pinnacle for a last drift…before dark… a few hundred metres away we see some huge yellowfin jumping clear of the water, sailing through the air in arcs. Chumming and spraying water, we get their attention – my rod screams…really screams!!! This time I did it right and soon the fight was on. Or so I thought. With only two of us on the boat, clearing lines was a mission…not that it affected my fish…which just kept going and going against a 5kg drag. After 200m or more line was gone, I reduced to about 3kg’s…the fish just kept going and going. Another 100m of line gone and the TLD 25 was smoking. Down to 2kg’s drag. Then the fish stopped for a few seconds and I won a metre or two, but it then took off again at very high speed. The 60lb line could not cope any longer – bang it was gone. The line had parted, and on analysis was found to be frayed and damaged. The fish most likely swam off the edge of the inside pinnacle and the line scraped the rocks or something!
So, a nice welcome back to Protea Reef for me! Need practise for that place!
Dorado bite
Up in Southern Mozambique, and right down the coast into Southern Natal, the seasonal “Dorado” are coming out regularly. Local boats in Tofo are getting 4’s and 5’s interspersed with the usual small couta and the odd sailfish. Yesterday Jose Rungu hooked a big marlin that towed him and his rowboat around the bay for a few hours.
In the photo…Alan Ngobo and Themba hold up their catch, made off the Umzimkulu River mouth area.
Because they are so delicious, cooked any way you prefer, seafood chefs worldwide refer to Dorado as The “Chicken of the Sea”. It also goes by the name “Dolphinfish”…and in the Pacific – “Mahi Mahi”.