Chronicles of a Blue Water Hunter

[w3ac]

Miles,
I don't say this very often but you are the man. I can't believe how much quality fish you guys shoot. I also can't belive that you mistook a mako for a blue, then tried to poke it away :duh . You guys are the real deal man. Any chance of you guys shooting video? I would love to see that.

Brad

 

[fer_abella]

Good catch Miles !!!

You always shoot them in the same place !!!

Fernando

 

[miles]

Comedy of errors!!

Week-end again!!! Unfortunately, very strong winds had made the tuna vanish, but since my wife hasn't been out last week-end, i was TOLD that we're going to sea!!!

Tommy was out on Friday and they managed to spear a 30kg YF and catch 5 others, in the same size, on rod and reel. Water was 18-19degrees cecuis and green. Not very good!!! Sooo, i invited a couple of fishing buddies to come catch some tuna, with the hope that the water would've cleaned up a bit to allow me to get wet!!

The day started badly. One of the crew members forgot to close the fuel tanks cap. Spilt at least 20ltrs feul on the deck!!!. Washed it off with a hose pipe at the slip. Then TWO crew member realised that they had brought two LEFT boots each!!!! Whats the odd's of it happening to TWO guys at the same time??? Then i put my wetsuit on, back to front!!!! :vangry :vangry Starting a day off like this, does not bode well!!!

Ran to the tuna grounds with 6 of us on my boat. Sea was a bit lumpy, but the weatherman predicted very little wind. Spent the WHOLE morning trolling, but was only rewarded with a couple of small skipjacks/bonito's.

By now, my crew were staring to get mutinous ideas. Wife was telling EVERYBODY how hopeless the skipper is!!! Enough i thought!!! Kitted up and jumped in. We chummed 2x5kg's of bait, but not a fish in sight!!! Looked like one of THOSE days.

I was a bit hungry and took a lunch break. The guys then put some baited hooks into the water and lo and behold.......HOOK-UP!!!!!!!! By now, i was really starting to look bad!!! Funny thing was that the fish was fighting alot different to a tuna, but i rather kept my mouth shut. After 30minutes, we finally have the leader in sight and i get ready with the gaff. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! Bloody 3m Mako!!!!!

Wife reckons that she wants mako steaks and everybody now also says they'll take some as well!!! Skipper shakes his head and cuts the line..................(imagine the carnage that would ensue if you put a 3m mako on board a semi-rigid!!). Crew becomes even more mutinous............wife mentions that they could throw the skipper overboard........he can swim....and he has flippers on as well...........

Wind starts picking up and its blowing about 15knots and we're 20nm from land. We decide to run home. About 5 miles later, i notice the temp. of the water had increased and that there was lots of LIFE in the area. In go the trolling lures and immediately we're into fish!!!! YF TUNAAAAAA!!! (small one though!!) Four rods in the water and four fish on!!! During the next hour and a half, it was non-stop action. Lost 4 YF's due to tackle failure (thats the term used when the skipper makes crappy knots!!, in my defense, its not east tying a bimini twist on a small boat in a windy and lumpy sea!!)

Total tally, 6 YF's ranging from 15-30kg's and a couple of smaller fish. NO fish was shot!! :waterwork :waterwork

Oh yes, did i forget to mention that the skipper also forgot to put the bung plugs in the boat, so the hull filled up with water??

Oh well, all's back to normal and the skipper is man of the day!!!

Can't wait for next week-end!!!

Regards
miles

 

[island_sands]

Comedy of errors!!

I was a bit hungry and took a lunch break. The guys then put some baited hooks into the water and lo and behold.......HOOK-UP!!!!!!!! By now, i was really starting to look bad!!! Funny thing was that the fish was fighting alot different to a tuna, but i rather kept my mouth shut. After 30minutes, we finally have the leader in sight and i get ready with the gaff. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! Bloody 3m Mako!!!!!

Wife reckons that she wants mako steaks and everybody now also says they'll take some as well!!! Skipper shakes his head and cuts the line..................(imagine the carnage that would ensue if you put a 3m mako on board a semi-rigid!!). Crew becomes even more mutinous............wife mentions that they could throw the skipper overboard........he can swim....and he has flippers on as well...........

jeez Miles i wouldnt mess about with your wife!!!

 

[Huan]

Miles
Is that a Kingclip and Hake in the pic?
Your crew look less mutinous, more bilious!!
Nice one, still a good catch by any standard.

Huan

 

[miles]

Hiya

Yip. Thats kingklip and hake. We're allowed 5 hake per person, but we only collect a couple. Pointless in storing more than that, as then you might as well buy it from the fish shop!!

Pity we don't get more kingklip. You're normally very lucky to even get one!! Our best has been 4 kingklip on one day!!! As you know, its very delicious, so we're always fighting over who gets the kingklip!!

The photo was taken in the morning, whilst the skipper was unsucessfull in locating feeeshes!! So whilst trolling, my crew simply fell asleep......

Regards
miles

 

[miles]

Hiya

After two weeks of not getting wet, we SIMPLY HAD to go to sea!!!! The weather report looked good, the fishing reports looked good, so off we went. Very pleasant trip out, with the NorthWester on our back, and warm water very close in. We ran to the 25mile mark form the point. After about 10miles to sea, the wind started picking up, and the ride became bumpier. Started looking like a BAD day at sea.

We quickly located the fish and started chumming. PLENTY of fish!!!! Those YF's would smash the chum on the surface, the yellow sickle fins slicing through the water exposing their backs!!!! AWESOME watching those 40-50kg fish smashing the chum right next to the boat!!!

Tommy jumps in. After a short while he shouts back that there's loads of small YF's, 40-50kg class fish, and that he's waiting for something bigger!!!! (I know, we're VERY spoilt down here in the Cape, when we start regarding 40kg YF's as small fish, and not wanting to shoot them!!)

Well, thats it. The wife says she's going to get in and shoot one!! She kits up and jumps in. Next thing i hear is screams of joy!!! FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!! 10 minutes later the fish is just under the boogie board, but unfortunately she couldn't load the second gun for the kill shot. (hell, even i have problems loading THAT particular kill gun, it has a VERY short 20mm rubber on it) So unfortunately no SA womens record, but she DOES have her first YF tuna taken on spear!! We've guestimated the fish at about 50kg's, but will weigh it later this morning for an accurate weight.

We ended up only taking 5 Yf's, all in the 40-50kg class. The water was a bit dirty and i bumped into two small mako's. Funnily enough, those mako's always seem to be grinning at me!!!! Impressive set of dentures!!! Since we didn't see any bigger fish, and the wind had started making it unpleasant, we decided to call it a day. So at 1pm, we left the tuna grounds for home.

I really think that we're getting spoilt pretty badly down here in CApe Town. When we left, those YF's were smashing the chum that we threw away, on the surface!!! But all on the boat agrees, the fish are too small!!! Rather leave them to grow a bit more!!!!

Oh well, next time we'll get that 220lb fish, thats been eluding us for so long!!!!!

Regards
miles

 

[shaneshac]

I guess congratulations is in order.

Miles did you teach your wife to shoot or is she a natural

Mate, get her a kill gun that she can load.

Maybe a short airgun with an 8mm shaft

What is that saw at your wifes feet used for???

 

[fer_abella]

Miles, you were my hero. Now it is your wife ! :girlie

Not to shoot 50 kg YF, :duh

 

[Dobs]

Yet again awesome story and pics, Miles.
Can you shoot some UW pictures of these "small" tunas? I would love to see what a school of 40-50 kg tunas looks like inside the water rather than on your boat
Cheers!

 

[QUETZAL]

You are the Man!
And what a wife!

 

[icarus pacific]

(I know, we're VERY spoilt down here in the Cape, when we start regarding 40kg YF's as small fish, and not wanting to shoot them!!)
Next thing i hear is screams of joy.

Regards
miles

Regards indeed Miles! It's gotta be the coolest thing to be around someone you care for experiencing the excitement that keeps us going back. I still tear up when I hear my kids shouting into their snorkels at the goings on below.

Great stuff! Congratulations! :king

 

[island_sands]

Hiya
Well, thats it. The wife says she's going to get in and shoot one!! She kits up and jumps in. Next thing i hear is screams of joy!!! FISH ON!!!!!!!!!!! 10 minutes later the fish is just under the boogie board, but unfortunately she couldn't load the second gun for the kill shot. (hell, even i have problems loading THAT particular kill gun, it has a VERY short 20mm rubber on it) So unfortunately no SA womens record, but she DOES have her first YF tuna taken on spear!! We've guestimated the fish at about 50kg's, but will weigh it later this morning for an accurate weight.

Regards
miles

Miles!! my congrats to Z.!!! wow what a woman! very nice catch indeed.

 

[miles]

21 May 2005

Weekend again!!!!! Sadly though, my wife and myself have the flu. So NO diving!!!!

So we do what all normal people would do, go FISHING!!!!! The spearguns are exchanged for my Tiagra 50W (with a 30lb drag!!) and a Black Magic harness. We catch those tuna stand-up style.....fighting chairs are for girls(as my wife so aptly puts it!!) Went with friends 25' fibreglass cat...........oh the joys of not getting wet whole day!!!

Anycase, after being greeted by a stunning sunrise, we find the warm BLUE CLEAN water. An hour of fruitless trolling had me frustated!!! MUST find fish!!! The ususal Rapala's/Storm/Halco's/yamash-itas/etc failing to raise a strike. We KNOW the fish are here, as we can see them leaping out of the water, not swirling on the surface, but LEAPING like a dolphin!!

Ok, so now we stop the boat and start chumming. Three minutes later, we've got 3 fish on!!!!! Problem: these are BIG fish!!! A hour and a half later, the first fish is boated..............THEN the fun began...........we had a 2.5m mako chomp the rear end of a 70kg+ fish, we had LOADS of tuna smashing chum on the surface!!!! Oh, did i yearn for my speargun......... :waterwork :waterwork

The finally tally was 9 fish. 3 weighing between 78-80kg's and the rest between 50-70kg's.

Regards
miles

 

[miles]

My favourite pic of the day:
a yellowfin tuna that has just smashed a peice of bait on the surface. (look at the size of the fin protruding above the water!!)

 

[Naim]

I see from your picture Miles that you are spending far to much on boats and not enough on your spearing gear!
Wooden spears?? Sigh, whatever next?

 

[QUETZAL]

You guys are sooooooooo lucky to be spending your time doing that!

 

[shaneshac]

AWESOME

Is the water ever flat calm there Miles?

Congratulations are in order once again, and hope you get rid of the flu PRONTO!!!

 

[miles]

Hiya

21 June 2005

Its been a while since i've been out. Bad weather, but more importantly, i don't have a boat anymore!!! My new boat is simply taking for-ever to get completed!!! :rcard

So, Monday morning i'm up at 4:00am, and off to the harbour to go on a commercial tuna fishing boat. Just before i leave, i double check Buoyweather.com and see that the prediction has changed to a 25knt NW'erly with a 15' swell.......argh!!!! Anycase, we go to the harbour only to be blown away!!!! (thought the weather report MIGHT be wrong!!)

Tuesday morning, BACK at the harbour. ALL the other boats are tied up. Oh well, lets go to sea anyways. We start off and about a hour later the wind gets us. 20knts of SE'erly and a 12'+swell. No problem, as we're on a 30' fibreglass cat.

About 35nm from the harbour, out goes the trollong lures. First hour, only two albacore and a couple of skipjacks. Then my 50w tiagra's rachet screams!!!!!!!!!! YELLOWFIN!!!!!!!!! Boat is stopped, chumming commenced. All the trolling rods are removed, and bait rods are put in. Its basically a Tiagra50w with 100m of 130lb line on top, with 80lb line filling the rest of the reel. Fighting stand-up style with 30lb drag is PLENTY of fun. 10min's later my 50kg fish is IDB. By now, both the other anglers are fighting fish and the school is feeding around the boat. As fast as you can get you line into the water, its FISH ON!!!!

Unfortunately we ran out of ice at about 12:00 so we had to leave!!! By now the wind was HOWLING about 25knts with a 15'+ swell. Made for a LOOOONG trip home!!

We ended to day with well over 20 YF's which would equate to maybe just under a ton of fish.

Unfortunately there wasn't time for photos, but just before we left, i did manage to take some vidoe clips of the sea and the YF's eating the chum just under the surface. Unfortunately the clip is too large to post, so if anybody wants to see it, just drop me a email at isonday@mweb.co.za and i'll mail it.

Regards
miles

 

[island_sands]

Hiya

Unfortunately there wasn't time for photos, but just before we left, i did manage to take some vidoe clips of the sea and the YF's eating the chum just under the surface. Unfortunately the clip is too large to post, so if anybody wants to see it, just drop me a email at isonday@mweb.co.za and i'll mail it.

Regards
miles

me me me me me me (howzit miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiles!)
send it to my yahoo address..
island_sands@yahoo.co.uk