Typical Tuna charter off Cape Point.
By: Basil
The lure of the sea and game fishing off Cape Point continues to attract anglers from around the world to our shores as part of their holiday to the Cape.
Along with other ski boats we at Big fisher Charters take visitors and friends to the deep sea to catch tuna, either the large and strong Yellow fin, big eye or long-fin and other species of Game fish. (Most fishermen prefer to target the large Yellow fin tuna). Or we fish inshore for Yellowtail, Geelbek, Snoek, and Kabeljou and Reef fish.
Whilst the waters we fish in can be relatively flat and benign, they are notorious for gale force winds and high waves, in particular off Cape Point as many erstwhile anglers have found to their peril. Fortunately the weather is predictable if one uses the correct forecasts, reducing risk to a minimum. Before agreeing to the date of the fishing trip we look at long range weather forecasts to ensure that we have a window of good weather for the day. We start our day at four in the morning with a look at weather reports, deep sea wave and wind reports, and the barometer.
Having ascertained that the weather will cooperate we set off for our mooring in Simonstown. Unlike KZ Natal the majority of boats in the Western Cape don’t launch through the surf, we have a mooring in Simonstown, removing the hassle of launching and getting wet.
We normally board at five thirty, check out the boat, ensuring that it is seaworthy and all of the electronics are fully functional and perform a radio check. Our boat is the popular 28ft Buttcat with a walk around cabin, it is powered by twin 140, four stroke Suzuki motors, we have a full “Navnet” electronics system linked to an auto pilot, and we carry 400 liters of fuel.
All tackle and lures are checked to ensure that they are in good working order, we carry tackle for both heavy and light fishing. When fishing for Tuna we use multi speed reels loaded with 500m of 38kg line with a smooth, preset drag system. The rods we use have roller guides and are able to carry 50-100lb class line. We find that the less experienced fisherman can take up to two hours to land a large Tuna so we don’t recommend the use of lighter tackle for the uninitiated.
We then move the boat to the peer at the Simons Town waterfront where we load bait, food, refreshments and ice for the days fishing. We carry at least 15 boxes of sardines, squid, chum and 300 kg s of ice to keep the fish fresh. We also carry extra line, gaffs, knives and mutton cloth.
We normally take between three and six anglers on board and two crew
The clients we have on board today want to catch “big tuna” most are seasoned surf and inshore fishermen, but have not caught large tuna so…….we know that our challenge is to ensure that they catch fish but also that they do so safely and that they enjoy their deep sea fishing experience.
After having coffee and holding a safety briefing with all on board on safety at sea, we cast off.
Depending on needs of the anglers we normally leave Simonstown between six and seven o’clock, the journey takes us past the SA navy base where one can see the Navy’s new frigates, corvettes and submarines in there moorings. We pass the lighthouse at Roman Rocks, Boulders beach and on towards Cape point past Basata rock. This area is in False Bay is well stocked with fish but……. is in protected water so one cannot do any fishing here.
The area around Cape Point offers good fishing for Yellowtail, Geelbek, Snoek and reef fish and is a popular spot for Crayfish and Calamari. But today we are heading to the deep so we head past the point, as we pass the magnificent Cape Point we loose the cover offered by the point and the sea becomes more turbulent, the water temperature in this area ranges from 13 to 19 degrees C.
Passing the light house we book out with the safety station based there, leaving the particulars of the boat, passengers and trip with the person on watch, this is essential as in the unlikely event of one striking problems in the deep it enables a search in a given area.
The last natural obstacle to be aware of is a large reef called the bellows, the bellows is a large reef that is over three NM from the point, it projects over a meter from the sea and “blows” white spray high into the air.
Passing the bellows we now head to the deep, normally on a heading of 230 to 245 degrees depending on where the tuna are being caught and where the long liners or trawlers are working. This is in the order of thirty to forty NM s off shore. As we reach the deep the water turns blue and the temperature increases to 20 degrees C.
Part of the journey involves crossing busy shipping lanes where the large Oil Tankers, Container ships and general shipping is unable to give way so a radar is a must have especially in the dense fog that occurs at Cape Point, sometimes way out to sea.
As we travel to the fishing grounds we use the sonar to check for shoals of large fish, and other indicators of Tuna such as birds diving for bait fish and boats working an area. We stop and fish the area if we encounter these.
Depending on the sea, weather and other conditions we may choose to trawl for game fish on the way to the fishing spot, this is normally at five to six knots. If one trawls through a shoal normally at least two lures are hit and ratchets run. When fighting the fish we try to bring the shoal close to the boat by chumming.This brings the tuna to a feeding frenzy and enables more fish to be caught.
Once we get to the fishing spot, either behind a Long liner or Trawler or where the sonar indicates Tuna, we prepare to fish. Whilst traveling out sardines are cut into a chum filling the chum bucket, we normally cut the sardines into three pieces. The preparation of tackle is most important, knots must be tied so they will not slip, hooks are sharp and that the drags on reels are pre set to the correct level. All of this is done as part of the preparation for the trip.
We rig our rods with single tuna hooks which we bait with Sardine then play out the line into the water by hand, the drag is set before doing this as a tuna could take the bait during this process.
The baits are staggered three to sixty meters from the boat. Anglers are allocated rods and fitted with fishing harnesses such as black magic.
The drift bait remains fairly close to the waters surface, but as we are fishing in water at depths of over 1000 meters we need to entice the tuna to come to the bait from the deep. This is either done by following fishing trawlers that have already attracted the Tuna by the offal and chum they drop, or by dropping a line of chum from the boat, this is achieved by dropping handfuls of cut up sardine that has been “treated” with chum oil at regular intervals into the water. There are varying methods of doing this, but a lot of chum is needed as many of the sardine chunks are taken by seabirds.
Despite this, the chum and its scent normally have the desired result and the quiet on the boat is broken by the sound of one or more ratchets screaming as reels run, taking everyone by surprise.
By the time the rod is placed into the harness and the reel clipped on, the fish has taken over 150 meters of line on its first run and the fight is on! The drag is moved to its preset maximum, despite this, the tuna continues to take line as if there is no tension on the reel. The reaction of the inexperienced fisherman is to tighten the drag to stop the run, it is important that the drag on the reel is preset to prevent this as….if the drag is tightened further the tuna will either break the line or the reel, or pull the hapless fisherman into the water!
Suddenly another reel runs, and then others as the shoal finds the bait, the fight is on! As the Tunas strip line from the reels it seems that the runs will not stop, in time it slows, sometimes with the backup braid in evidence, pound for pound the yellow fin tuna with their torpedo shaped body, long pectorals and incredible speed test the angler and tackle.
An hour has passed with the anglers having been forced to move around the boat always avoiding each others lines as the tuna are making runs in different directions.
The tuna continue to make more powerful runs and the anglers are pumping the rods hard to retrieve line and……..losing it back as the Tuna seem to take line at will.
Finally the tuna start to tire and begin to rise. Whilst this is happening we continue to chum to keep the shoal close.
Eventually one Tuna breaks the surface some 25m from the stern of the boat but when it sees the boat it dives and runs hard, this continues for some time, the time taken depends on the strength of the tuna and experience of the angler.
Soon the Tuna can be seen swimming in large circles below the boat and tiring, patience is the key word here as many a yellow fin tuna is lost at this stage of the fight.
The circles become smaller as the fish slowly rises, when the fish breaks the water if we are going to keep it, we gaff it and rope the tail and bring it on board.
We follow the same process for the other hooked tuna.
Time to rest and recover refreshments and snacks are readily taken. After boating another 4 yellow fin tuna the day has flown by and its time to return to port. We head back towards cape point at around 2h40pm once there we radio back in to the control station.
As we pass by Cape Point we stop to take in this amazing sight and let our clients take memorable photos to take back home with all the memories of the trip.
We reach Simons Town Waterfront and secure the ropes and start offloading.
It’s been a Fantastic day out in the deep with some nice fish caught and meeting new people.
There are many different species of fish to catch in the deep and many different ways in which to catch them these we will discuss in a future issues.
Check out: Big Fisher Fishing Charters and Scenic Tours | | |
