(Originally published Mar/Apr 2017)
South Africa Fishing for Yellowfin Tuna
By Capt. Tred Barta
I have fished off the African coast quite a bit as well as all over the world. It amazes me at how similar and how different the fishing techniques can be.
In the canyons off the New England coast, I always, always, always have used outriggers and center riggers. Yet my friend, Donna DeWeil, fished off Cape Town during their spring tuna run and they did not use them; yet they were very successful in their fishing that day. It is an unmitigated fact that the use of outriggers and center riggers ar mandatory for maximum use of trolling techniques. Nobody would ever argue that but success is success.
Donna DeWeil, the co-author of my new book “Driven,” which can be purchased at Bartaway.com, shares with us her fishing trip in South Africa. Even in my wheelchair, I am planning to fish there again.
Here is her account:
I planned my fishing trip with Capt. Sean Amor, who owns the fishing charter company Hooked On Africa. Sean Amor has been featured on the National Geographic Kingfisher series and on Discovery Megalodon. He has the largest charter fishing company in Cape Town and holds the Cape Town record for a 268-pound bigeye. Sean has won numerous tournaments and has fished in the area for 35 years. We exchanged numerous emails as I asked many quiestions about the boat, fishing gear, and fish in season. Sean assured me I would be safe and we would have a good day of fishing. The week before I arrived in South Africa, Capt. Sean sent me another email about his charter hooked up to a 330-pound mako.
It was a little early for the tuna season, yet I was going to be in South Africa working on an Earthwatch white rhino project. Capt. Sean carefully watched the upcoming weather using “Buoyweather.” There was a cold front coming in with northwest winds of 25 knots making the seas very rough on our scheduled fishing day. Plans can change as sometimes there is more wind offshoure than inshore. Fishing inshore for snook, yellowtail and katonkel (which look similar to false albacore) was an option if the seas were too rough. Due to the cold front we rearranged our schedules and fished a couple of days earlier out of the quaint Hout Bay marina on the Extavagance, a 2-foot sport fisher with a full walk-around.
They do not use riggers because they find they work best for marlin to get the dropback after the strike. Since it is not marlin seasons, the riggers were not used. Capt. Sean normally averages 25 longfins and five yellowfin tuna daily so they feel there is no reason for outriggers or center riggers with this high daily tuna catch.
The tuna come out of the south and migrate toward the area down the Mozambique current from the spawning areas aroudn the Seychelles. Just days before I flew to South Africa, longliners told Capt. Sean they had caught seven longfin on the way home plus saw yellowfin jumping and the water was so blue it looked like the tuna fishing season was about to start.
The longliners based out of Hout Bay and Cape Town targe fishing for hake and kingklip on the bottom in 950 to 1,650 feet of water. Longliners process their catch as they haul in the 13,000 feet of longline. Normally two longliners next to each other create a chum line of bycatch and the contents of processing, which attracts the big yellowfin, bigeye, and of late southern bluefin. There were lots of good-size albacore laced with a few quality yellowfin. My goal for the day was to catch some yellowfin tuna.
Capts. Sean Amor and Sean Todd, our mate, and I headed offshore with the longliners trolling six lines. The sky was dark gray and the seas were choppy. We trolled 5.5 knots with a combination of Halco Laser Pro 190s, Rapala X-Rap Magnum 0s and a white bird with a squid behind it. It was not long after reaching the canyon, 40 nautical miles offshore, before I caught my first 80-pound yellowfin tuna on the Halco Laser Pro 190. The boat handling was magnificent and the tuna was landed in just 15 minutes.
While trolling, a dozen gray heads popped up out of the waves near the boat … yes, they were seals! Two southern right whales and a pilot whale also survaced near the boat while fishing, making not only the fishing a great day but fantastic to see the other wildlife. Shortly afterward, I caught a 138-pound yellowfin tuna on the white bird with a squid 30 nautical miles offshore! Again, I viewed supreme boat handling, making reeling in the catch fun and exciting.
The winds were picking up from the cold front and the captains asked if I wanted to continue fishing or head back. Catching two yellowfin tuna in just a few hours was phenomenal and I was very happy so off to Hout Bay we headed.
There was a big crowd on the docks to see the yellowfin tuna as they were the first tunas caught for the season.
When I told my story to my dear friend Tred Barta, he was immediately skeptical of charger boats who are not using any riggers or teasers in their daily operation for tuna. Tred backed off quite a bit when he saw my pictures. One thing Tred did agree on was after researching South Africa fishing, this resource is greatly undiscovered and holds a huge bounty for visiting anglers.
As a single woman traveling alone, I felt completely safe at all times, but it will be fun to fish with Tred and friend on the Extravagance. There is a trip planned for a couple of days of fishing in March. As the season continues there seems to be a change from previous fishing seasons. Very few longfins have been caught each day but now the yellowfins have increased from five per day to 20 caught each day. To contact Capt. Sean Amor: sean@hookedonafrica.co.za or visit www.hookedonafrica.co.za
Until next time, Capt. Tred and Donna DeWeil
