Wild Dorado off Port Shepstone
The south westerley buster blasted through during our ride out of the Umzimkulu River mouth – into the chocolate brown plume that spits out of the river, this time of year.
It’s on the seam between this brown water, and the clear deep blue of the Mozambique current, that the dorado hunt. Up and down, ambushing baitfish as they swim in and out of the brown water.
And the dorado just love the westerley gale conditions that now prevailed. A good 25 knots plus kept us on our toes. It took a good hour of battling the wind and waves, before the first rod screamed off with a dorado jumping on the end of the line. It chowed the mackeral fished on the surface.
Shane struggled with the fish which was hooked in the back, and a tense 20 minutes later, it was i.d.b. Then Mark got his fish, on a daisy chain (pink), followed by young Luk, fishing with a silver number 4 MYDO Baitswimmer. Shane stuck the GoPro in the water for the fish’s final moments…
After the third fish, we were beat, Mark and I had hooks in the foot and leg respectively, and we were banged and bruised all over…home time!
Not only are dorado super fun to catch, they are also the tastiest fish to braai, fry or grill. And at 6kg’s, these fish are barely a year old. They grow really quick and reach sexual maturity in 6 months!
Their numbers have definitely dropped overall, they used to come in the hundreds, but each year in summer, we are treated to their acrobatic displays down here on the KZN South Coast. They are great to tag, being hardy and resistant.
