Well, here we are, back on-line after hibernating for the winter. Not that it has been a particularly severe one, on the contrary, and this is my opinion only, our winter this year was quite a mild affair.
Judging by the amount of fish that were caught at Cape Point during the winter months, they seem to think so too.
BUT, the big news is that the yellowfin tuna are back. We have been watching the satellite generated sea surface temperatures for the last few weeks, (Oh, the wonders of modern technology) and the water in the tuna grounds has been looking particularly good for this time of the year. One must bear in mind that the tuna usually only arrive in the first week or two of October. Early last week I received a report that a pelagic longliner caught a few tons of fish about 120 miles SE of Cape Town
Then on Friday a tuna boat had some yellowfin around 6 miles south of the canyon and on Sunday one of our club boats, "Ivory Madonna", caught 6 yellowfin behind a hake longliner in the same area.
Although the fish were not big, i.e. around 40kg ea, they did apparently lose a few bigger ones. Perhaps the anglers are a bit rusty after the extended lay-off!! Nonetheless, these are the first confirmed reports of tuna and from now on things should get better and better.
It is no secret that I regard this tuna season coming as a bit of a watershed. We have had fairly poor tuna catches in the last three years. This, combined with the nagging rumours, reports and stories of dwindling tuna stocks by the prophets of doom tends to create a gloomy outlook for the future of tuna fishing and in particular the yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin, our most prized fighter, and without a doubt one of the most sought after gamefish to be caught in our waters, is being targeted more and more by a fleet of foreign vessels in the Indian Ocean. The tonnages that these boats are taking is frightening and I have it on good authority that IOTC (Indian Ocean Tuna Commission) has just awarded another 500 or so licenses to target tuna in the Indian Ocean alone. How will this increased fishing pressure affect our tuna stocks and catches? Who knows? At the moment it is a complete thumb suck, but if the stories the tellers are to be believed, then the days of the yellowfin tuna are numbered. A really worrying prospect. "Time will tell" as they say. On the bright side though, the fact that the fish have popped up earlier than usual augurs well for the season.
October and November are traditionally two of the best months to hunt these brutes and the average size of the fish at this time can be upward of 60kg. Fish of 80 to 90 kg are common and to catch one of these always has been and will remain a lifetime achievement.
To put things in a nutshell, if you have not yet caught one, or have already done so and would like to do it again, now is the time to come out with us and catchem', before they go the same way as the broadbill swordfish and the giant bluefin tuna.
To get back to Cape Point, the winter season just past has been one of the best we have seen for many a year and the snoek even came right into the traditional areas of False Bay. Something we have not seen for about 15 years, if my fading memory serves me correctly. In addition to this, the yellowtail fed up a frenzy and although August is traditionally a month when one just does not catch any, many yellowtail were caught at rocky bank during August........... and July....... and June. A friend of mine informed me that he has taken to tagging yellowtail because he feels bad about catching too many......He has personally caught 321 yellowtail on spinner in the last few months.
On the rock and surf scene, the bronze whalers have already put in an appearance on the beaches of False Bay, (also very early) and a number of anglers did quite well a while back. After a south easter (or whilst it is still blowing) is the right time to look for them. There were some exceptionally good catches of belman on the Swartklip beaches last month and I heard stories of anglers catching them "throw for throw". Hopefully they stuck to their bag limits, but I have my doubts. Fish of 6kg were common!
Gareth, (Yes, the same one that takes you out on "Tyler") has been busy poking tags into white steenbras at his "secret spot" at Silversands this winter and he has done very well there. If you want to know where it is, call him and I am sure he will take you to his honey-hole. I am a bit worried that he is going to hang up his tuna rods and play with his surf tackle this season!
Finally, the Hout Bay Two Oceans Tuna Derby is coming up in November.
If you are interested, Tyler is still available for charter for this competition. For more info, drop us and e-mail and we will get back to you.
Thats it for now. Not much news I am afraid, but we are entering our busy period and by end October we should have more news about big fish caught and lost.
Tight lines, see you at the water.
Regards
Alan
South Sea Safaris
