# Chronicles of a Blue Water Hunter



## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya


A selection of some adventure's i've had with my buddy's, both fishing and spearing!!

A bit of background: we fish/dive in False Bay. Thats the place where the documentary "Air JAwz" was made. One of the few places in the world where Great White Sharks breach!! Fishing and spearing, especially with the shark element, offers a different type of adrenaline rush!!

Anyways, here's some pic's:

Hiya

Bad viz. meant line fishing this week-end. Flat sea, almost no wind. Great conditions for line fishing. Was on anchor when suddendly the water erupts into a froth of white foam!!! Must be yellowtail (kingie)!!!! Up anchor and speed to them full throttle. Unfortunately it wasn't 'tail (kingies), but something much better...........a school of dolphins!!!! Absolutely stunning!!!! They spent about a half an hour playing with us, then departed. 

Ps. this is about 1km from Seal Island, where the documentary "AIR JAWS" was made.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

I finally managed to outwit the weatherman. Predicted 5m swells and 55km/h winds. Warning that rough seas are to be expected!!! 

Yeah right!!!

Picture of my favourite galgoen (type of bream) spot


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Anybody up for a dive???

This was taken in Simons Town Harbour. I mean, you haven't even launched your boat yet and then get this surprise!!! 
Beautiful!!!!


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## James Howell

Holy ****. I think I would put the boat back on the trailer.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Dassen Island, 12th June 2004. Cold water (13degrees), bad viz (1-2m at some places!!!), just recovered from the cold i've had for the past couple of days, got into a wet wetsuit (went diving on wednesday, came home sick, forgot to hang my wetsuit up to dry!!







). Had a great day though, some good fish and good company, what more could one ask for!!!!


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## tokavi

I'll stick to smimming in the gulf, thank you!


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## Mrschasintail

Holy shamoleee!! I would have a heart attack!!!


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## txjoker

Wow! How big do you think she was?


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## bulllred

*Wow*

Thanks for the pics. :smile:


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

June 16th is a public holiday and its best celibrated by going spearing. Lovely weather, 15-20m viz. (exceptional for my neck of the woods!!!), 16degrees water, small swell, loads of birds and seals feasting on baitfish about 2km's behind Bellows Rock.

Raced up to the action, killed the motors and drifted into the melee of birds, seals, anchovies. My buddy and i simultaneously jumped overboard, one on each side of the boat. As soon as we hit the water a 3.5m shark comes zooming up from the depths!!!! 2 seconds later we're back in the boat!!!! Can you believe it!!!!! Perfect conditions and less than 5seconds in the water and a GW chases us away!!!! Now thats REALLY NOT FUN. Anyways, we stayed in the area for a while and jumped into some baitfish balls, but no yellowtail in attendance.

We then moved to Bellows Rock where some other spearo's were having better luck. They managed about 1 fish each. Not much happening either and still a bit nervous from our earlier encounter, we decide to rather go hunt some nice reef fish. So off we go into False Bay. Just inside Cape Point i pick up a school of fish on the echo. We jump in and see its a school of small yellowtail 2-3kg's. Didn't shoot any, thought we'll just hang around and see if their bigger brothers would show up. Suddenly the boat pulls up next to us with buggy screaming SHARK!!!! Oh, no, not AGAIN!!! 2seconds later, we're back in the boat. Turns out to be a HUGE sunfish (mola-mola). We jumped in and swm with it for a while. Stunning!!!!! (was a bit too slow with the camera







)

Anycase, ended up hunting the reefs and pinnacles in False Bay and managed a couple of tasty reefies of 1-2kg's.

What a decidedly nice way to spend a public holiday. And the best part is that the weekend is only 2 days away!!!!

Regards
miles


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## JOKERSWILD

I don't know but you need a bigger boat


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## BPitcher

A certain quote from "Jaws" comes to mind....


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## Mrschasintail

These pics are awesome!! Keep them a coming!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Weekend again!!!! Decided to go to Dassen Island again. Had no weather reports as all they guys that went spearing on wednesday (public holiday), didn't do too well. 5:30 in the morning and the rain is pouring down!!!!! Ah well, not like we're afraid of getting wet














Got to my buddies house at about 6 and just as i stopped, the boats trailer wheel fell out..........bearing had colapsed........arghhhhhhhh..........i just replaced it a month ago. Bugger, out comes the tools and spare bearings. A hour later we're back on the road.

We get to the harbour and is greeted by a flat sea and clean water. The rain has stopped and the sun is beginning to shine. Looks like its going to be a good day. Launched and started to run to the island. 5mnutes later we're in dirty, muddy brown/red water...........arggggghhhhhhhh...........0m viz!!!!! Water temp 13.5degrees. Saw a small school of dolphins, but they were very skittish and didn't want to play














Ran past the island looking for clean water. Came across hordes of birds and penguins working on baitfish. Got my GF to throw out a spinning rod whilst we kitted up. the spinner just hit the water when the yellowtail hit the lure!!!! Now that she had the fish hooked, all she does is hold the fish, which in turn holds the school there. With all the scrambling on board i simply jumped in, no weightbelt, no wetsuit top, no gloves..........only wetsuit bottom, socks fins and mask and snorkel. As i hit the water a 6kg fish appears out of the murk. Let my 115cm Rabitech do its job!!!!! Great start to the day. Got back in the boat and kitted properly up. Alas, that was the only yellowtail action we saw!!!! Schools were very skittish in the dirty water.

Ended up catching some snoek for the pan. These pelagic fish, which is family of the barracuda, is only found in SA, well Cape Town area. They average 2-7kg's. Very, very tasty. Nobody spears them, as they have a nasty habit of simply attacking you!! Considering that their teeth is coated with a anti-coagulant substance, if you do get bitten, you bleed profusely














A tip here is to cut the eyeball of the fish open and apply the fluid the seeps from the eye to the wound. Lessens the bleeding fairly quickly. Some of the bigger fish had roe in them..........a great delicacy!!!! Caught about 20 fish on spinning rods and handline, then proceeded to shoot some "hottie" (type of bream that lives in the kelp) for the smoker. Shot a couple in the shallows where we found 2-3m viz. Best was a 1.8kg fish. Swam into a small cow shark in the dirty water and almost mistook it for a yellowtail. (harmless shark, with a impressive set on dentures though!!!)

All in all, a great day, with some lovely fresh barbequed fish and fried fish roe as well as smoked fish (well actually, last weeks smoked fish!!!) for supper
















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


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## WTF

Interesting way to dismantle a fish there Miles.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya all

Just another week-end report. After 2 weeks of HUGE seas and gale force winds, the weatherman finally predicted a calm sea with little wind. Left work at 4:00am, picked up crew, drove to Dassen Island (Yzterfontein), which is about 80km's away. Got there, and we couldn't even open the cars doors!!! Gale force winds.........arghhhhh...........one of these fine days i'm going to have a nice long chat to those weathermen!!!!!!
















Anycase, a couple of phonecalls later, we're off to Cape Point, which is now about 140km's away. Got there, flat sea with a fresh wind.........well looks dive-able. Ran out to Bellows, past all the commercial fishing boats, which were all sitting very quitely. Hmmmmmm, not much action. At Bellows Rock, we found a school of yellowtail kingfish. Jumped in only to be greeted by 2m viz!!!! Needless to say, we stopped diving and rather went to shoot some reef fish in the quiter water of False Bay. Here the viz was 5-7m with 15degrees water. Not great, but good enough. Shot some nice Galgoen though. Realised that all this yellowtail hunting has made me lazy, so i need to brush up on my reef fish skills!!!

To brighten up our day, we had a whale come say hello!!!! Not to clued up as to what type, and by the time i got the digital camera out he had sounded already. Managed to get a bad picture of him. Just look below the birds and you can clearly see his tail as he is busy diving. Now if only i could have a bottom time like that whale.........................


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Took my boat out to Dassen Island. Fairly calm sea with a little wind. Echo sounder was reading a coolllllddddd 12 degrees celcuis at the harbour. Just outside the harbour, water was a dirty brown colour. ZERO viz!!!! Anycase, 15minutes later we are at Dassen Island, greeted by a school of yellowtail kingfish smashing bait on the surface, with birds dive-bombing into this melee!!!! Two other boats were also spearing in the area, but they were occupied by other schools!!!! Jumped in, 15degrees water, about 8m viz, and plenty of fish!!!! Blessed a nice fish with the Rabitech steel, and then went looking for some more action!!! Alas, with such a great start, thing started getting worse. Schools were very skittish, you'd run past the working birds, noting the direction the schools were moving, then jump in ahead of them, swim into the action and spear!! HARD work, and the schools would change direction just before you got to them!!!! One tactic that worked was to have the boat drop us about 50m in front of the school, then if the school turns away, the boat goes around them, chasing them back towards us. 

Ended up with a couple of fish, spent an hour or so diving with a baby whale, who seemed to follow the boat where-ever we went!!!!

Not bad for a winter spearing trip. Thankfully summer is around the corner and we should be able to shoot some decent Yellowtail Kingfish!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya 

The weatherman predicted a 6-10m swell in the deep with 40knot winds and lots of rain. Water was a cold 11 degrees in False Bay and there was a HUGE swell running all down the coast. 

Did what anybody else would do..........went fishing!!!!! Sea wasn't too bad, water was a warm 16degrees and dirty brown, from the sediment stirred up by the howling wind. Was raining AND had some hail as well!!!! OUCH!!! 

Regards
miles


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## tobyhamrick

Are you freediving is that S. Africa?? I freedive/spearfish around the rigs in the GOM.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

After all that YF Tuna action, preperations were made for the week-end. Unfortunately a 28knot wind prohibited us from making the 40nm journey.....























Well, after leaving at 3:30 in the morning, we travelled the 80 odd km's to the slip, only to get blown away. Now, being very stressed out at work, i just HAD to get my weekly fix of spearing!! A couple of phone calls later, and off we go back home to get out Yellowtail Kingfish guns. Then the 70km trip to the OTHER slip started. Water was a decent 15 degrees with horrible 2-3m viz with most of the fish staying right on the bottom in 15-20m water. RABITECH'D them!!!!

We had a blast none-the-less, and one of my friends who'd been spearing for almost 10 years now, finally got his first Yellowtail Kingfish.

Feels good to be recharged and ready for another weeks stress!!!! Once again, can't wait for NEXT week-end!!!

Regards
miles


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## InfamousJ

Dayumm, this charming town and calm harbor looks like a place I would jump in and swim around not knowing what lurks beneath... I hope there's signs for the tourists around the water. LOL


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

I've FINALLY managed to get my camera fixed!!!

Lastest adventures!!
Friday, 4th Feb 2005, Dassen Island AGAIN!!! No diving kit, as i'm recovering from a slight flu and Tommy is recovering from an ear infection. So out comes the fishing tackle. At certain times of the year, Longfin Tuna (albacore) come very close to Dassen Island, and are quite easily caught. They're generally small class fish, ranging from 3-10kg's. We heard via the grape-vine that the fish were in the area, so off we went. We spent the morning catching 15 Longfin Tuna. Good fun, but no camera, so no evidence!!

On saturday, 5th Feb , the wife MADE me take her fishing. Once again, no diving kit. We faired very badly, managing only 2 smallish longfins. To save the day, we went to look for some yellowtail. Low and behold, the 'tail were swimming on the surface, smashing baitfish in 20m+VIZ. As usual, they weren't interested in fishing tackle, so we managed only 3. All through the 'tail performance, Tommy and myself were cussing at not bringing our spearguns!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Oh well, you can't ALWAYS win!!

Monday, 7th Feb, back at Dassen. Fully kitted with 15 guns on board!!! RESULT: NO FISH!!!!!!!! Water was ice cold!!! And we took for-ever to navigate in the mist. (I really do need to get a plotter soon!!) Souveniers for the day is a spectacular photo of the lighthouse in the mist as well as the curious sunfish. Well, one of the MANY we saw!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya All

Things have been pretty quite around my neck of the woods. Diving wise, its been a FAMINE!!, due to the bad viz., strong winds, big seas (feel free to add the USUAL lame excuses we spearo's use!!







),etc. I've been line fishing for the past couple of weeks, so my diving skills have started becoming a wee bit rusty.

Tommy calls on Wednesday night. STRUISBAAI is the place. They had just taken some big Yellowtail Kingfish of up to 22Kg's. (That HUGE for South African standards!!). So 4:00am on Thursday sees up driving the 200 odd km's to Struisbaai. Water is clean, 10-20m viz, but lateral viz. is down to less than 10m due to particles suspended in the water.

First spot supplies the first fish of the day. A small 6kg Yellowtail Kingie. The place is alive with skipjack, but we're told in no uncertain terms, that they are NOT to be speared. Reason: they're a dinner-bell for GW sharks.

Half-way through the day, Ferdie comes up to me, just AFTER i lost a 10kg Yellowtail kingie, and warns me of a big Raggie (ragged tooth shark). Generally a fish stealer, so i'm not worried. Five minutes later, i dive down in about 10m of water, over a wreck. I see movement at the bottom and angle down to see what it is. Halfway down i realise its a 3m shark. Probably the Raggie i guess. I slowly angle away, keen to still have a proper look, when all of a sudden i see the white blotches extending from the stomach area. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I slowly start ascending, keeping my gun between me and the GW. Fortunately he only gave me the once over, and continued to where Tommy and Ferdie were. I surface, shout for the boat, but by then Tommy and Ferdie has also seen the shark. Powerheads on!!!! The shark dis-appears, only to re-appear 2-3minutes later. Angle up directly to Ferdie. Tommy and Ferdie manage to fend off the shark and jump into the boat. DAMNNNN!!! My first white for this year, and just when i started seeing 20kg class Yellowtail!!!

Oh well, we give the spot an hour to cool down, diving in another area about 2km's away. Back to the wreck, no sight of the GW, but the dive is spoiled. Every drop, you spend so much time looking behind you that it becomes frustrating!!!

At the end of the day we had 25 yellowtail Kingfish, ranging from 8kg's through to 16kg's. As well as a couple of reef fish. The best part is that YOURS TRULY, only managed to land ONE fish for the day!!!! Oh well, i'll give 'em hell next time!!!









Just for the record, thats been 4 Great Whites seen by Tommy and crew, in 3 Dives, in two weeks!!!!!!!!! Struisbaai is really getting to be DANGEROUS!!! My dive-buddy, was diving with Tommy last week, and he also got "pushed" by a large GW. I'm starting to wonder just EXCATLY how endangered these GW realy are!!!! 4 sharks in 3 dives in a 40km raduis area, those odds don't sound too good!!!

Some pic's of the fish and the new gun tommy is building. Small mid-handled woodie with a 7mm spear and 2x16's plus reel. Works very well, as can be seen from the pictures!!

Great day in the water, none-the-less!!! Can't wait for the week-end!! Struisbaai, here we come!!!! (this spearo was never noted for his sanity!!)

Regards
miles


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## Argo

guess he is catching up on lost time for us. sweet pics.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Just returned from a 5 day holiday. Since the spearing was quite good in the Struisbaai area, myself and my wife deicided to take a short holiday. Amongst the GREAT spearing, we did manage to get some sight-seeing in as well!! Was actually fun just to act like tourists, chatting to EVERYBODY on the harbour about fish and fishing and sharks!!! 

I unfortunately only went spearing on one of the days, which was when my dive buddies came down from Cape Town. Struisbaai is really NOT a place to dive on your own. We shot some nice Yellowtail and a couple of bank fish and was also greeted by a young 3m great white. Fortunately, nobody was injured and thankfully the shark was also left unharmed!! There were some anxious moments, with everybody scrambling to get on board!! Luckily for us, we only saw the one, so diving was resumed a couple of kilomteres away.

The picture with the GW approaching the boat was taken whilst divers were trying to get to the boat from the other side. The loaded speargun with powerhead was just a safety precaution, should things turn nasty.

Some pic's....

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

more pic's...


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## Crab_n_Fisher

http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm

Fahrenheit to Celsius Converter

(Our friend is diving in 55 degree water to spear these nice fish!)


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## S_Woody

Unbelievable reporting!! But i must say that if those GWs were in the GOM my golf game would improve greatly!! Thanks for the sweet reports and photos...

Woody


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Took my boat to Struisbaai today. First real spearing trip. Water was a murky 4-6m viz, with the temperature of 20 degrees. Slight swell with a fresh wind. Boat went beautifully. No banging or hanging onto for dear life!!!














. First dive resulted in a 9kg yellowtail, third dive resulted in a 2.5m dusky shark charging my fish and after gobbling it, charging me!!!! Not fun
















Anyways, shot some reef fish as well as some more yellowtail. Then had a 3m dusky bend the shaft on my 115cm rabitech, after a tussle over a 7kg yellowtail














Sharks 2 miles 0. Don't like those statistics







. Will hopefully improve on them next time!!!!
















Had loads of fun none-the-less!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Saturday 24th April 2004. Time 6:30 in the morning. Swell 2.5m, wind 40km/h NW, water temp 17degrees, viz 6-8m(reportedly!!!). Thinking what the devil am i doing here putting on a wetsuit in the rain (forgot the warm water again!!!!), should've stayed in bed!!!!

Result, 36 yellowtail (kingies), one 20kg Yellowfin tuna and one skipjack. 

All shot with my 115cm Rabitech with Omer Pelagic Reel.
At this rate Rabitech should start thinking about sponsoring me!!!! ;D ;D ;D

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

And finally........


a couple of miscellaneous pic's:


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Ok, now for a little more info. My names is MILES and my NEW boat is named "Dr. Fish", after my wife, who is a doctor, who is even crazier than me about spearing and catch fish!!!


Sooooo, let the BIG fish pic's begin!!


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## Mrschasintail

Let's see them!!!!!!!!11


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Spring has finally arrived, only to bring some unseasonal (read crappy !!!!) weather. The week-end looked good for our first juant to the deep. After months of cold water, big seas, small yellowtail kingfish, a good dive was sorely lacking!!!! Re-check the weather on Friday and it looked like a good day on Sunday. Boat was packed, guns double checked, knots re-tied,etc,etc

Sunday morning, after pulling a 36hour shift (agian no sleep!!














) we left for the sea. At the slip, wing was HOWLING 24knots South East!!!! (that wing is affectionately known as THE CAPE DOCTOR!!, and only knows two strengths, no wind or PLENTY wind!!!) Not a good start. Kitted up anyways and had breakfast whilst waiting for the sun to rise so that we could see what the water was like.

Sun rise, wind had dropped to 19 knots and i made the call.....................its off to the deep we go!!!! Crew started to mumble something about their skipper being insane. (i'm used to that!!!!) Anycase, the 40nm trip started off rather bumpily!!! After about 10nm the sea flattened and the wind subsided enough to give a pleasant ride out. At this point, the water was a chilly 13degrees. About 2 hours later we finally find the warm, blue 18degrees water. Plenty of life, bait being chased, birds dive bombing, small albacore (longfin) and skipjack jumping out of the water!!!!!!!!!!!

We run a bit further and i pick up a school of fish on the echo, guys scambling to put their kit on whilst Girlfriend is handling the boat. She immediately throws some chum into the water.

I jump in and start to unwind my bungie from my float. Whilst busy a 90-100kg YF tuna swims around me eating the chum!!!!! Scores of BIG tuna are feeding just a bit lower down!!!!!!! AWESOME sight!!!!

So now i've got the 3x16's my 58" mid handled woodie loaded. Fish are extremely fast and i end up missing that 90-100kg fish!!!!!!!!!!!Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Oh well, at least i saw them!!!! My buddy is using my 63" Mid handled wooden, and also finally manages to load the 4x16's. By now the fish has gone down...................We drift a little longer and again they rise to the chum!!!!! These brutes are so big that they aren't scared of a diver!! I aim......and let her rip!!!!!!!!! Slip tip deploys and the fish decides to try and bury its head in the sand 400m below us!!!!!!!!!! "FISH ON!!!!!" i screamed to the boat. GF now collects my gun and the fight can start. Fish takes all the bungie (25m) and stretchs it out to about 60-65m, then starts towing me around whilst a hang onto the boogie board!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

10 minutes of this pass, then 20minutes, then a half an hour!!!!! My arms are paining, back is complaning, hands are cramping and still no sight of the fish!!!!!! About 40 minutes later, i see him. Glowing silver, with those two HUGE sickle fins that are shining like gold!!!!!!!!! My buddy now passes me my 115cm Rabitech with omer pelagic reel. I load, dive down and place a second shot through the gills, out by the opposite gill plate. BIG MISTAKE...............fish now dives again and 20 minutes later i've got it next to the boat. Buddy gaffs the fish, whilst other buddy puts another gaff into the tail. I take my knife out........as i brain the fish, i give way, knowing that in its death throes, YF Tuna become very violent. Fish rips off both gaffs and HEAD BUTTS me twice in the face!!!!!! 5 minutes later i've got the fish back in control, still with my OMER flat hunt knife sticking out of its head!!! Two gaffs in again and into the boat she comes!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of the day is a blurr of non-stop action and adrenaline. Bent spears, both 7mm and 8mm, are the only casualties of the day!!!!!!

Final tally:
Miles 74kg's and 55kg's
Maruis 72kg's
Henni 82Kg's

Not bad for our first Tuna trip for the season!!























Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya,

Once again the weather gods has decided to send stormy seas our ways for the weekend. Checking the weather forecast, a brief lull was shown, sort of calm before the storm!! Soooo, what do we do, we go spearing!!!!

After ANOTHER double shift, my manager arrives 1hour later than planned, so our trip starts off late. None-the-less, we arrive at the slip, only to find the sea enveloped in a THICK mist. We are two boats running out together, one a 25' Fibreglass cat with 2x130hp Honda the other my 21' Semi-Rigid with 2x50hp Yamahas 4strokes. We both launch and make the 10nm trip to the POINT. 

Ok, now i take the lead and almost end up driving onto the rocks on the beach, i then decide to follow the bigger boat, only to have him almost ride into a HUGE rock!!!! Ok, so now we've proven to our respective crews that we're totally useless with out navigational equipment, we FINALLY USE our electronics to safely guide us to the POINT. 

I some-how managed to lose Tommy and crew in that thick mist and when i got to the point, the mist had cleared and no boats are seen!!! Decided to run out the 30nm or so and get them on the tuna grounds.

As we leave the POINT, we're welcomed by 3 whales that seem to take immense pleasure in breaching, showering all with the spray when they come crashing down!!!! Simaltaneously a school of spinner dolphins were smashing bait fish on the surface, with the usual entourage of seal, terns and various other sea bird!!! What a start!!!

One and a half hours later, we're on the tuna grounds and Tommy catch's up with us. We find two boats fighting YF and run slightly away from them, using the echo, find some fish and start chumming them. I slip into the clean blue water, only to see plenty of small YF in the 30-40kg class. (more about this SMALL YF's later!!!). I aim, and MISS......................noooooooooooo. Load up, yes they're still around, aim, MISS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

The sad part is that this happened on about 8 shots, (this is with my 63" and my 57" and my 1.3m Rabitech Apex!!!!!) so feeling like a complete idiot i finally get onto the boat. Henni also gets in and is also complaining about missing the fish. Even Attie Louwrens, also a nationally selected spearo, complained about not being able to hit the fish!!!

Anycase, i FINALLY manage to feed a smallish looking tuna a chunk of 8mm steel. The boat comes over and asks if i want a second gun. I decline and tell them its a small fish and i'd have it in the boat in five minutes!!! 30minutes later, i BEG for a second gun!!!! One hour has passed, the fish now has two spears in it and still no sign of the end is near!!!! I load a third gun, and just about manage to get a lovely kill shot!!!!! Finally she is IDB!!!!!

The SMALL fish turns out to be a 71Kg !!!!! Lesson learnt, those big fish LOOK small in that clean water. Especially when they're far from you!!!!

Tommy them did quite well, with each diver taking a fish and Tommy taking 3!!!!! Well done!!!!!!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Well, after being blown off the sea last week, and due to work constraints (must be able to pay for all that spearing gear!!!), the weather gods smiled upon us again!!!!!

We took a bit of a hiding on the first 10nm part of the trip. VERY bumpy sea. Managed to break the stainless roll/ski bar on the back of the boat. Then the one motor refused to run. Managed to track the fault down to the fuel tanks breather not being open!!!!! (crew member is to blame) Then find petrol on the deck of the boat. Same crew member didn't connect the fuel lines properly after filling up fuel. ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

None-the-less, the crew of intrepid tuna hunters set forth, overcoming all the obstacles that wanted to twart their trip!!!!














My girlfriend unfortunately had to work so i asked another spearo buddy to join us. He took a two hour flight, straight after his work, had no sleep, to go tuna spearing!!! NOW thats DEDICATION!!!!!

Out on the tuna grounds, the sea improved (as Bouyweather.com predicted) and the wind subsided, making it a stunning day. Myself and Tommy Botha jumped in first and about one and a half minutes later i see Tommy's float cartwheeling!!!!! 15minutes later theres a 60kg fish on board.

A little later, Tommy speared a BIG fish. I threw his kill gun to him, and 10 minutes later the fish was still swimming strong. I then passed another kill gun to him, which he uses to shoot the fish through the head. 5minutes later, fish is still swimming strong!!!!!!! He then grabs the spear on both sides and swims the tuna up. All HELL breaks loose and that tuna dragged and jumped and was beating the water to a froth, all with Tommy holding on!!!! WHAT A RIDE!!!!!! Probably rode that tuna for about 4-5 minutes. Noboby could get close as this fish was swimming in great big circles with Tommy keeping his head out of the water, so as to prevent him from swimming down.

After that, we all took a fish, with my buddy landing his first YF. I then also lost another one when the boat drove over my shooting line. Lost 2 spears too!!! Expensive day!! Also learnt that 10mm spears (3/8" ) also bends!!!! Not even gonna say much about the bent 7 and 8mm spears!!!

After about 4 hours on the tuna grounds we had to leave as there was no more place on the boat!!!!!!!! Looks like i'm gonna need a bigger boat soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Final tally:
Nikko 55kg's (estimated)
Miles 55 kg's (estimated)
Henni 55kg's (estimated)
Tommy 65kg's (estimated)
Tommy 85 kg's - weighed
Tommy 92kg's - weighed

Regards
miles


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## Argo

holy ****, those are some big yellows to be shooting, what a fight.


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## Argo

92 x 2.2 = 202 LBS!!!!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

After a much anticipated wait, reports of fisherman catching small tuna finally arrived. Packed all the kit and went in search of them on Thursday. Went to our usual co-ordinates, but no fish were to be found. We saw a couple of 30-40kg fish jumping out of the water, but alas, we only saw one longfin(albacore) in the water. We ended the day with 8 YF ranging from 10-30kg's and 10 skipjack(Bonnito), all caught on rod and reel. There was fish around, but the schools were very very small and scattered over a large area.

So when the week-end arrived, we didn't have very high hopes. We were invited out by a good friend on his 25' Cat. Well, at least we'll catch a couple of fish. So i packed only my 1500 Carbon RA and a small 57" Mid handled woodie. Tommy also just brought a small 52" two banded woodie (for Albacore) and his 62" woodie. And of course all the fishing tackle. We were planning it to be a fishing trip more for my wife and Tommy's son.

With-in the first hour trolling, we had boated about 6 Albacore and the wife had landed a 40kg YF tuna on 30lb Stand-up tackle!!! Great start!!! So off we go to our "spot". Tommy kiited up, only to realise that he'd left his weight belt at home!! By the time i jumped in, Tommy had already shot and landed two Albacore tuna. 

I battled tracking the fish with my 1500 Carbon RA. Those Albacores are extremely quick and don't have a regular swimming pattern, so shooting them is not quite so easy, especially with a LONG gun!!

Anycase, i then start seeing YF's!!!! He glides into the chum slick and...............BANG!!!!!!.........fish on!!!!!!!!! 20 minutes later he's in the boat!!! The first YF Tuna of the season!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!! He wasn't a very big fish, weighing in at just over 100lbs (50kg's), but completely destroyed that 7.5mm RA spear.

We ended the day with about 20 Albacore between 8-15kg's, one Skipjack and 3 YF's. The two caught weighing 40 and 45kg's. We only speared the one YF and a couple of albacore tuna's. 

Can't wait for the bigger fish to put in an appearance!!

Regards
miles


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## gostomskij

Dude, you must jingle when you walk. After seeing those GW's, well, lets say diving in the water would be out of the question. What a fine load of fish you brought in though, esp the YF tuna.

Victor


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

As most of you already know, i'm ADDICTED to Blue Water Hunting!!! The months when you can't get out to the deep is littered with excursions to the local reefs and smaller pelagics, all just to satisfy the "NEED"!!!

Well, tuna season has FINALLY arrived and last week i managed to spear the first Yellowfin Tuna for the season. A nice 50kg fish. Not a bad start!!!

So, all preparations began in ernest. Saturday, 26 March 2005, saw me launch the boat at 6:00am. After some bad weather reports from other spearo's, i double check www.Bouyweather.com , which still showed good weather. So off we went. Two hours later, we arrive at the Tuna grounds, only to find a FLAT and WINDLESS sea!!!!!! Pure bliss!!!!

Since it was Easter weekend, all the longliners and trawlers were in the harbour, so locating tuna in 400m deep water, in the wide ocean, was quite challenging. Out comes the 30lb fishing tackle and the trolling lures. Pretty soon we're into a 45kg YF tuna. The fish is boated, but by the time i get into the water, the school had left. A while later, we run into some Albacore and after some chumming, i manage to raise the school next to the boat. I get my wife kitted up and we jump in. we've got a school of Albacore tuna of at least 50 fish milling around the boat. I'm using my meduim 63" mid-handled woodie, which is OVERKILL for Albacore, but am looking for YF tuna beneath them. After about 20minutes, with no sign of YF's, i fetch my new 120cm RA Carbon with reel. My wife is using my 115cm Carbon Apex with reel and floatline (just in case a YF swims by!!). She had loads of fun whacking those Albacore.

After about an hour in the water, and getting stung badly by blue bottles, i get back into the boat. We leave the school of Albacore and go searching for YF's. A couple of miles later, then echo sounder shows a good sign. I jump in.............finally.........YF TUNA!!!!!!!!!

I managed to take two fish from that school, both weighing in at 51 and 55kg's!!! Unfortunately, by now, there are more than 10 Blue Sharks around the boat. Smallish sharks up to about 2.5m, with a brilliant blue colour. Very pesky buggers, that are not detered by poking them with a spear or pushing them away with the gun. Generally when they appear, you tend to find another school as they'll just eat up all your chum. I spend some time just diving with them (they're relatively harmless) and then i spot a small Mako. Also about 2.5m long. Was amazing to see how the Blue sharks would keep well clear of the Mako. Another amazing sight was watch ALL the blue sharks come up and check out my motors stainless steel propellors!!! They were fascinated by it and would leave it alone!!!!

The day ended well, 21degrees water, 30-40m viz in places, no wind, quite a flat sea, 3 Yellowfin Tuna of 45-55kg's (two shot and one caught on rod and reel), 14 Albacore (longfin tuna) ranging from 8-16kg's and two bonitto.

Ran back home at almost 30knots with over 300kg's of fish on board as well as myself, my wife and another crew member(buggy boy). Not too shabby for a 6.5m Semi Rigid with 2x50hp 4strokes yamaha's!!!

Until next weekend......

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Well, after a very windy week-end, the weather had settled down (as usual!!). So off to sea we went!!!

The day started off well with two small YF's and a Dorado (mahi-mahi) caught on the troll. PERFECT pan sized fish.









Then the diving started. Viz. wasn't that great, 10-15m at best but with quite a bit of particles in the water. The small blue sharks were also in attendance, gobbling up chum as soon as it hit the water. There were quite a bit of YF's around, but they were VERY shy and would only feed on the chum 10-15m deep. They simply would not come closer to the surface. Tommy how-ever showed why he is so legendary by taking 3 YF's which we guestimated to be around the 70kg mark!!! Thats 3 YF's shot and landed in under an hour!!!!

The high-light of the trip was the schools of Dorado (mahi-mahi) we got. VERY RARE visitor to our part of the ocean. We managed to take 14 Dorado's. Great fun!!!!!

Tony and myself weren't having such a good day. We both missed on the longer shots and i managed to give a solid shot on a 70kg class fish only to have the fish bend the spear and to have the slip tip not engage. Tony manged a great shot on a fish only to see the fish BREAK the 8mm spear in half!!!! With a thick fog approaching, we had to make a early run home. (no radar on my semi-rigid!!!)

One VERY funny incident: Just after Tony had his spear broken, i was alone in the water. Tommy and Tony were both on the boat. Tommy was chumming for me, when a blue shark appears. He starts eating the chum and i dive to chase him away. After a couple of attempts, i finally get close enough to jab him with my spearpoint. The blue shark now becomes peeved off at me and starts acting strangely. Starts swimming very erratically and starts circling me. Tommy's laughing and how this blue shark is giving me grief. It is about this time that i realise that its a bloody mako!!!!! Not too worried as i've got a four banded wooden gun, i slowly start swimming back to the boat. All the time will this peeved off 2m Mako is circling me. i get into the boat and my crew is laughing at me for trying to chase a mako!! (mako's are known to get VERY aggressive when provoked!!) Now, about 30m ahead of us is another boat with 3 spearo's in the water. Tommy shouts to the closest spearo, "watch out, there's a mako coming your way!!!" The spearo in the water just shakes his head. Now this peeved of mako is swimming on the surface straight to this diver. all three of us are now watching the shark. the spearo sees the shark and shouts: "there's a [email protected] HUUUUUUGE MAKO here!!!!!!!!! Guys helpppppppp!!!!!!" (note shark was only 2m long!!







) Had us doubled over with laughter!!

Can't wait for week-end!!!

regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*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!!!!














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!!
















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


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

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


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

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.........
















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

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

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!!!









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 [email protected] and i'll mail it.

Regards
miles


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## BPitcher

Good lord, I think I'm going to have to forget tuna fishing in the GOM and head to South Africa.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*Miles in Moz!!!!!!!*

Hiya

Just came back from a 6 day diving trip to Mozambique. Unfortunately my new digital camera didn't arrive in time, so no underwater pic's!!!
















August is generally a bad time for Mozambique, in terms of pelagics, but my wife INSISTED on going. She hasn't been to Moz. yet and badly wanted to go........so who am i to argue?









Trip started with a 1800km drive, done in 18hours. From there, a further 400km's which took 8 hours, due to the sandy track that requires a 4x4. We stayed in tents about 20m away from the beach, in a camp in the Elephant reserve in Mozambique. Place is called Ponta Milibangalala. Really remote, with the closest shop being over 2 hours drive away.

Day1
Horrible viz!!!!! 18degrees water AND 3m viz!!!!! Did some inshore diving, 5-6m depth, but with very little fish action. The howling wind didn't improve the situation either. My wife managed to lose her one fin and i couldn't find it in the dirty water with a current running.

Day2
Wife started her Open Water 1 scuba course. She had middle ear problems before the trip and batte to equalize. Aborted the dive after too much ear ache. Things were starting to look grim........

Day3
8-15m viz and 21degrees water. Wife's ears are fine now and she does a 45minute dive up to 21m deep. She's ECSTATIC with the amount of fish life she saw!!! The reefs are filled with reef fish, making it an AWESOME place to scuba dive.

Day4
Even cleaner water, 21degrees water and 30m+ viz!!!! The group dived a 30m deep pinnacle, whilst my wife and i speared on the same pinnacle. It's about 20-30m deep, rising out of 60m of water!!! Only saw ONE small 'cuda and the wife saw a small hammerhead that was keen on out flasher. After the 30m dive, the group went to a shallower reef, were every-one dived, after the hour needed to outgas. Once again, stunning corals, loads of fish, a sea turtle and a HUGE potato bass of about 40kg's that followed the scuba divers around.

Day 5
Last diving day. 30m+viz again and 21 degrees water. Finally i start seeing some pelagics. A school of Kingfish(Yellowfin Trevally's) and some Pick-handle barracuda (sea-pike) came to say hello to my flasher. My wife did her two scuba dives and then worked the flasher for me. We had two turtles take an interest in the flasher, as well as a big Potato Bass of about 40-50kg's that swam with us for probably more than 20minutes before losing interest.

Highlights of the trip was lifting my head out of the water to see a flock of pink flamingoes flying overhead. Later a fish eagle was hunting in the same area as me!!! We found 3 scorpions hiding away in the fire-wood and happily released them in a safe place.

One of the best experiences was when i saw 8 Potato Bass (Grouper type fish) of between 10-60kg's on one dive. They would follow me around the reef, much like puppy dogs!!! Diving in that clear water with loads of reef fish and HUGE Potato bass and not shooting anything, yet having one of the best dives of my life, was AWESOME!!!

My wife has already started making plans for the next trip which will be in summer, when gamefish like Dorado (mahi-mahi), wahoo, 'cuda, jobfish, sailfish and marlin are plentiful.

Regards
miles

ps. Potato Bass is a protected specie in South Africa. In some locations they are even worse than sharks, when it comes to stealing your speared fish!! Fortunately for these bold fish, the spearfishing fraternatity requested to make them a protected specie.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Well, my new boat is FINALLY on the water!!! Drove her late Saturady afternoon from the harbour at the boat builders to my mooring which was 20nm away. Launched very late, about 18:00, with a horrible choppy sea and a GALE force wind (easy 30knts NW'er!!) She ran very well in that rough stuff, with us taking three waves over the nose of the boat. Got to the harbour in one peice. The trip which is usually 45min's long took us over 2 hours in that sea.

Took her out for a test run yesterday, Wednesday 28 September 2005. With conflicting reports on the tuna grounds, i deicided to go have a look for myself. Left the harbour at about 7:00, after fueling up and baiting up. Ran the 11nm to the point with-out any hassles. From there on, it was another 35nm into the sea. Fairly large swell, with a bit of chop, remanants of the prevouis days wind. The boat ran quite nicely in that swell.

Out on the tuna grounds, we battled to find the long line fishing boats. Only trawlers were in the area we were operating in. After quite some time, we managed to find the long line hake fishing vessels.

We started trolling behind the long line boats, looking to find the fish before we get in. Water was a dirty colour, maybe 10m viz at best
















A bit about my tackle. I was trolling 8 rods. 7 of them were Tiagra 50W's with 130lb line on whilst i had ONE rod with a Shimano TLD25 with 30lb line on it. Murphys Law, we get a strike on the 30lb tackle rod and reel!!! This light tackle is fine for fish up to 100lb's (50kg's) but anything larger, and you're in for a looooooong fight. I gave the rod to my buddy, who started fighting the fish. He is fairly in-experienced when it comes to tuna fishing and after an hour, he finally begs me to take the rod. With almost no line left and a VERY strong fish, i start fighting. With-in 20minutes i've got the fish close enough for us to see it.........or maybe IT wanted to see us............BIG FISH!!!!! That was the last time i say him for the next hour and a half that followed!!!!

After a total of close onto 3 hours, my buddy FINALLY put the gaff into the fish!!!! Lesson learnt: LEAVE THE LIGHT TACKLE AT HOME!!!!

Sadly, that was the only fish for the day. We saw two other fish, but they were reluctant to take bait.

What a great way to have my new boats MAIDEN voyage.

Regards
miles

ps. oh, i almost forgot, the fish weighed in at 84kg's!!!














Surely a sign of good things to come!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

The Tuna have ARRIVED!!!!!

Spent Saturday afternoon putting graphics on my boat. The wind was waaaay to strong, coupled with a big sea, put paid to any plans on going out to the deep. Besides, there was a week long tuna competition, which ended on Saturday, with the final result being 4 fish landed!!! Thats 4 fish for a weeks fishing, between 30+ boats with our countries best anglers on board. Things were looking really bleak..................

Late Saturday afternoon, i check Bouyweather.com, and saw that almost no wind was predicted for Sunday. The wife insisted that we go this week-end as she's working next week-end. Who am i to argue with the boss???
















Sunday morning, 6am, we launch the boat. We barely started the 50nm run to the tuna grounds, when we were greeted by a school of dolphins. After some quick photos, i noticed that our stickers which we put on the night before, had all washed off!!!
















Anycase, we ran in a rather lumpy sea. When we got to the tuna grounds, we found a trawler with 3 other boats behind it already. Two hours later, only one boat had a smallish (10kg or so) longfin (albacore) on board. Things were really not looking good. Water was a cold 15degrees!!! By now, we'd drifted about 7nm from our original destination. I quickly ran back, only to be rewarded with the sight of two commercial boat with anglers straining over bent rods!!!






























30 seconds after the bait hits the water.................FISH ON!!!!!!!!! With-in the next hour, we had over 10 commercial boats working the same area. Being a commercial fisherman, a while back, i have great respect for these guys. I decided not to get into the water, as it would mean that i'd probably drift into their chum trail. Rather leave the diving for a day when there are less commercial guys out.

Final tally, 9 YF tuna with 2 fish in the 50kg class and the other 7 being in the 70-85kg class.

Tommy was also out there with his rib and one of the guys managed to spear a 87kg fish. The FIRST speared fish for this season!!!! Can't wait to get out in the week, when there are less boats around!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Friday 21 October 2005

Since my last trip was done on the weekend, with waaaay to many boats out on the tuna grounds, which makes for very difficult diving, i decided to try my luck on a week day.

The day didn't start off well, with 2 of the crew members cancelling on the very last minute. I managed to get a couple of my old commercial fishing friends to come with, just so that i could have some crew. With only 4 of us on board, we left two hours later than planned.

During the trip, i managed to crack one of the cabins windows and the deck wash pump also packed up. About 5nm into the trip, we run smack into a 25knt SE wind. Makes for a VERY bumpy ride. Was looking to be one of THOSE days when i should've rather stayed in bed........................

The weatherman predicted beautiful weather in the deep, and luckily for us, this time he was right. No wind and a fairly small swell. With-in the first 20minutes, we have 3 fish on rod and reel. Forty minutes later, two fish were lost and i'm still fighting mine. Then...........a bird flies into my line!!!!














So, three fish lost!!! This whole process happened several times during the day. My crew are simply not experienced enough to handle these BIG fish. I managed to take 3 YF's weighing 64kg's, 76kg's and 82kg's on rod and reel.

We then decided to run slightly away from the other boats and try and get our own school of fish, so that i can get into the water. A short while later, i see birds working and YF tuna's smashing bait fish on the surface!!! (We very seldom see tuna working baitfish here!!) I run up to the feeding frenzy, and start chumming immediately. Before i could even put my wetsuit on, we had YF's all around the boat.

I jumped in, only to find the viz. is not so good. Maybe 12-15m, but with lots of particles in the water. The fish were everywhere, but they were VERY skittish, plus it looked like they were moving at MACH3!!!! Since the school of fish were feeding on the chum, i took my time and singled out ONE of the bigger looking fish. I had plenty of YF's in the 60-70kg class swim by, easily with-in range, but as luck would have it, the bigger fish stayed just out of range.

How-ever, THIS is where my 67" Mid-handled Tommy Botha wooden gun with 10mm(3/8")spear and 5x16mm (5/8") bands, really excels!!














I shot one of the bigger fish at probably full range. The slip tip engaged inside the fish!!

Twenty minutes later, the fish was brought along side the boat and my crew managed, with difficulty, to pull the fish on board. Inside that fish's mouth was a old rusted long line tuna hook plus a newish looking 9/0 gamagatsu hook with a short peice of flouro-carbon leader!!! Looks like its luck had run out!!
















By now, i had drifted away from that school of fish and the not so clean water, and with me being the only diver in the water, i decided to call it a day.

Our final tally, 3 YF's on rod and reel and 1 speared. One or two of the tuna commercial boats (rod and reel) did quite well, with them boating up to 20YF's. During the course of the day, we also heard on the radio, a FEW times, of anglers being spooled by BIG YF tuna's. Thats Shimano Tiagra 50W with 80lb line!!!

My fish weighed in at 94kg's and from the other fish i saw in that school, it looks like we're going to break the 100kg with-in this MONTH still!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

16 November 2005

Trip Report: Revenge of the YF tuna's!!!

Tuesday afternoon, one of my mates called me to tell me that they had a good day tuna fishing. They boated 4 fish, with the biggest almost 80kg's. He told me about HUGE YF's swimming in their chum line, eating chum, but not taking the bait. Since i have a chest infection, the wife has BANNED me from diving until it clears up!!(She even put my dive bag in her cars boot, so that i can't sneak off and go shoot some fish...







)

Had a look at the weather, and it showed a nice calm window before a 30knt+ wind and 12' sea. Since it was looking like a small sea and only wind in the afternoon, i decided to take out some old fishing friends, whom i promised a long time ago.

5:00am. We leave the harbour. NO WIND!!! Dead flat sea. After a hour or so, we get a bit of wind, but nothing to worry about. About 10nm from "my spot", i see Yf's smashing bait on the surface!! Didn't even bother to stop, as generally you get the smaller 40-50kg sized Yf's in that area.

By 8:00am, we have our first fish on board. Was loads of fun watching anglers fight with a REAL fish for a change!!! Its even funnier when you give them the wrong harnesses, so that they can suffer even more!!! After some burn off's and many aching mussles, i showed the guys the PROPER tecnique pulling YF's stand-up style.

Now, we have 3 anglers fighting fish and i'm sitting on the trolling bar, throwing chum into the water, when three HUUUUGE YF's appear. They're swimming very slowly, and completely un-afraid of the boat. They circled the boat for more than 10 minutes........in crystal clean water!!! Did i wish i had my speargear with!!
















Anyways, i just about had enough!!! I grabbed another Tiagra 50W and lobbed a peice of chum at them. BANG!!!!! Fish on!!! Less than a minute later, i'm busy staring at the last bits of line left on my reel!! I pushed the drag to sunset and thumbed the spool.................it works........the fish stops!!! Drop down the reel into low range.........and start the loooong fight. 40minutes later the first gaff goes in!!! Meanwhile, the other anglers are still very busy fighting their fish. Being too buggered to put another line in, we still had those HUGE fish swimming around the boat!!!!(for the record, its MUCH easier to spear those big fish than catch them!!) A new personal best for me 101kg's!!!

We ended the day with 15 YF tuna ranging from 50-101kg's. Then we took a hiding coming back home in that 30knt wind. Had a wave break OVER my CABIN!!!!! Not a fun trip home!!! But what a day!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

20 November 2005

STUNNING weather!! The WIFE had DEMANDED that i take her to sea!! With my chest infection not yet cleared up, and me devloping a nasty cough, still NO DIVING for me









Ran the usual 10nm to the point and were greeted by hundreds of yellowtail feeding on baitfish on the surface. Took lots of will power to drive past all those fish and not throw a surface plug at them!!!

Ran another 15nm out to sea, still more than 10nm short from my usual "SPOT X", when i saw some birds working. Change course, just to have a look. Then saw a trawler a short distance away, with loads of birds behind it, which meant that it was either cleaning its catch, or it was busy pulling its nets, either way, a GOOD sign!!

Ran up to the trawler and picked up a HUGE block of fish on the echo sounder. Stopped the boat and chummed. Before we could even get a line in, we had YF's swimming around the boat smashing the chum on the surface!!! And in CRYSTAL CLEAR water too!!!






























Three bait line is and INSTANTANOUES hook-ups!! That was the scenario that repeated itself for the rest of the day. The wife had het tiagra30lrs spooled by a nice fish and now wants a tiagra50w for her birthday present!!

Woke up this morning with lots of aching mussles, but the cough is gone and my chest is much better!!! Pretty sure i'll be back to normal in a day or two. Then those YF's are going to be punished for taunting me like that!!!!

Our season only lasts perhaps another 3 weeks, so i'll have to cram as much possible sea time in as i can. I've seen those 100kg (220lb) YF's in my chum trail again and simply MUST shoot one of them!!

Regards
miles

Picture1- Wife shows us how to pull a YF
Picture2- Me pulling the daylights out of a YF
Picture3- YELLOWFIN TUNAAAA


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

30 November 2005

One of my fishing bdddies from University days called me up and desperately wanted to go catch YF tuna. He's a ardent rock and surf fisherman and wanted to make his dream of catch a 50kg fish come true!! Like i needed any more encouragement to go to sea!!

The wife was working and has banned me from diving once again (for reasons which will be explained in the next week or two!!) Unbeknown to her, i still managed to sneak my diving gear out of the house!!

We had a nice flat sea inside the bay, but once we rounded the point, the water picked up a bit. Nothing major, small 1.5m (5-6')swell, with a bit of wind, maybe 10knts. Slightly bumpy ride. My friend was a bit apprehensive about the conditions, but the fact that the rest of the crew were blistfully sleeping, put his mind at ease!!

Unfortunately for him, the petrol fumes coupled with the smell of the chum didn't do wonders for his health!! Pretty soon the poor guy was suffering from a mild bout of mal-de-mer (sea-sickness). One of the crew members kept asking if he was of Irish decent, as he kept on leaning over the side of the boat, looking into the water, calling a friend......"O' Rouke....."









Have a couple of new tuna anglers on board is always a recipe for disaster!! Having lost the first 3 YF's, i managed to get through to the guys. Pretty soon they got the hang of things and my friend boated 3 YF's for the day, ranging from 55-76kg's. He was stoked!!! Couldn't get the smile off his face!!! On the way back home, whilst chatting and bragging, he'd interupt the converstion, run outside the cabin, throws up........ returns SMILING .... and continue the conversation!!!

I managed to get wet, but unfortunately we were surrounded by HUNDREDS of small albacore tuna. All in the 4-8kg class. I've never seen so many albacore, which hopefully is a good sign for our commercial albacore guys, as they've possibly had one the worst years fishing. The water was CRYSTAL clear, at least 30m viz, with 19degrees. The YF's were pretty skittish, but no really big fish. Saw a few that looked to be in the 90kg class (200lb's), but they stayed well out of range. Only shot one fish of about 65kg's.

regards
miles


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## agulhas

are you in s.a. living or just working, etc. i lived in port elizabeth for 15 years and still got a lot of friends in cape town, p.e., etc.

i spent a few months a year in cape town and fished out of pedsac.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

14 December 2005

During the week i bumped into a couple of old spearo friends. As per usual, the topic of YF Tuna was brought up. They were very keen to try their hand at blue water hunting. Roughly at the same time, a forum member (from DeeperBlue) had also just arrived in Cape Town and he also wanted to get into some YF tuna action. So off spearing we went!!!

Lets start off with the disasters for the day. My one fuel tank spilt and had a small leak. Luckily it was only on the top so we were able to continue. My VHF radio then conked in. Finally, i found a VERY good reason for not taking your snorkel out of your mouth when diving!!! I stuck my mouth peice back into my mouth with a blue-bottle (portugese-man-o-war) on it!!! ARGH!!! The pain!!!!

Mission for the day: to get all my divers into some YF tuna and to get some underwater pictures and movie clips of the YF and the fight!! (please bear with me, as this is my first attempt at underwater photo's and movie clips)

Let the FUN begin!!!

Deon and his brother Nico whetting their appetites by fighting two YF's on stand-up tackle!! Spearo's finding out that its not THAT easy to fish with rod and reel!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

25 January 2005

Since the tuna season ended at the end of December, i've been dying to get wet!! Hunting tuna is great fun, but so is shooting yellowtail in the off season. The one thing that i learnt on this trip was exactly HOW unfit i am!! This BWH stuff has made me lazy!!! Coupled with the fact that i haven't done ANY inshore diving since August 2005!! Enough excuses now.....
















My manager came to work late, so i left work and went home, packed my stuff, made some food for the day and left to Tommy's place. (my wife's working night shift and already gave me loads of grief for going with-out her!!) At 3:15am i'm at his place and shortly afterwards the others arrive. By 4:00am we leave for Struisbaai. After a nice slow leisurely drive we get there just before 7:00am. Water looks stunning!! Kit up and we launch.

The first spot we go to is 19nm from the harbour. Pinnacle whose shallowest point is 26m. My first dive.........breathe-up....nice and relaxed.....duck-dive.........finning down........hey!! my lungs start screaming for air!!














I surface, check my D3........6m deep!!!







Ok, a couple of dives later, i'm hitting 12m deep!!







This is ridiculous!! I simply can't go any deeper!!! To worsten matters, the fish are all well below the 20m mark.

One of the guys shoots a fish and pulls the school upwards. I dive.......aim......fire.........nooooooooo......s hot too high...............fish peals off 30m of 3mm line on the reel and tears off!!














A short while later a school of smaller fish come in and i manage to redeem myself. Spent the better part of the morning spearing here, but we had more freediving practice than spearing practice!!

We move inshore, hoping for better luck. Water is much dirtier, with 3-4m viz. Not fun with all those GWS that reside in Struisbaai. We move even closer inshore, diving on some shallow wrecks. I did two drifts over the one wreck, before my nerves gave in!! That was the same wreck i saw my last GWS on, and the viz of 3-4m wasn't insipring!! I buggy'd the boat, letting the others spear.

Piere took a nice 14kg Yellowtail Kingfish here and Tommy took a 15kg one.

Pretty dismal trip, but at least i got wet!! AND got to realise how unfit i am!! Need to get some pool training in before my next dive!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Saturday 18 February 2006

It was my wife's weekend off from work, and she hasn't been out fishing for a while now. Since the weather wasn't condusive to spearing, we went out fishing. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of THOSE days, when the fish simply weren't interested in eating!!! We caught a couple of fish, but nothing over 2kg's..................

How-ever, we did have a visit from the TAX MAN!!! A young 2.5-3m Great White shark that circled the boat and then proceeded to take a smaller shark on my handline. I played with him for a short while, but unfortunately, he lost interest!!









Sunday 19 February 2006

I had to work!!! Just before leaving for work, i called my manager. He told me there was a power failure. A couple of minutes later Tommy calls me to ask if i'm available for a fishing trip!!














PERFECT TIMING!!! We went with another friend, Tony's boat. A 23' cat with 2x70hp 4stroke's. Our normal tuna trip starts usually at about 5:00am, but today its 10:00am and we're not even on the water yet!!!














We get to the slip, only to see the wind HOWLING!! Looks like one of THOSE days again. We launch. Since its the first tuna trip this year, we decide to go anyways. By 2:00pm, i had caught only ONE small 10-12kg YF. Most of the boats had no fish or one to two fish onboard, and they've been fishing since dawn. YIP!! Its one of THOSE days when the sea seems completely devoid of life. Saw some flying fish as well as some dorado's (mahi-mahi) being caught, but we were too late for that bit of action. The dorado's are rather rare on our tuna grounds, so we were diss-appointed that we missed out!! One lucky angler got a 12-14kg dorado!!

Its after 3:00pm and we decide to troll home-wards. A short while later the Tiagra screams!!! FISH ON!!!!!!! I grab the black magic harness and clip up and soon the fish is being bullied to the boat. Tommy gets a chum slick going and soon his reel screams. The next hour and a half is what tuna fishing is all about. We raise the school and have YF's smashing the chum on the surface right next to the boat!! AWESOME sight to behold!! At 5:00pm we stopped fishing as we had no more space on the boat for fish!! We left that school of YF as they were still smashing the chum on the surface. Final tally one YF of 10-12kg's and 10 YF of 40-60kg's!!! What a nice start to our season!!! Unfortunately, i couldn't take any photo's as we were all occupied in catching fish!! 10 YF's in under 90minutes, all in the 40-60kg class on stand-up tackle is EXTREME fshing at its best!!

Lets hope that things get better as we get into the tuna season!!
















Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Saturday 25 February 2006

GOT WET AGAIN!!
















Went diving for crayfish (kreef) on the West Coast. Water was about 12-13degrees. Soooo, i put on my 5mm wetsuit, only to tear a HUGE hole in the arm section.....














Looks like its going to be a cold dive!!

Then we swim through the fairly large swell. By the time i got behind the breakers, i was already tired!!!







So we start diving. First dive, breathe-up, quick duck dive.........kick..........kick a little more.......kick a little more.......where the bloody hell is the reef??.......kick a little more....WHOAAAAAHHHHH....almost banged my head against the reef!! Less than 1m viz!! Oh well, at least the waters shallow, ranging from 5-8m deep. After a few more exploratory dives, Tommy call's me over to some great reef structure. Dive down, two hard kicks and i'm almoston the reef........whoooooaaahhhhh.....the reef is moving.........BUGGER!! Current washes me off the reef














Try again!! YAY!!!! Got my first cray, only 3 more to go..........but wait!!......this cray is a female in berry.....OK.......dive down and put her back onto the reef.......... By now Tommy has his allotted 4 crays and starts heading back in. I follow suit, diving all the way back towards the shore. Closer inshore, i dive the kelp beds in the white water. VERY shallow, less than 2m of water, but the waves breaking on top of you isn't that much fun!! I surface.......see a big wave breaking......duck under it......a peice of kelp gets tangled with my mouth peice of the snorkel.......rips my mask off my face!!!














I surface, with mask in hand, only to see a second wave looming.........quick duckdive under the wave, surface and put my mask back on!!! Exilirating stuff!!! I can't remember when last i did a shore dive in such conditions!!!

Was GREAT to get wet again!!!









Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*30 March 2006

*Did my first charter today!!!

29 March 2006. The day before. Checked out the weather reports. Both show BEAUTIFUL weather for the next day







Then i made some calls, but couldn't get any trustworthy reports on whether the guys have caught tuna in the deep. At about 8:30pm i FINALLY got a good report. Good fish were taken only 18nm from the point. Sooooo, all systems go!!

30 March 2006. I was up at 4:00am. Hitched my 21' RIB Hysucat. Fueled the boat and bought the chum. 6:15am at the slipway. Packed the boat and kitted up. Launched at about 6:45am.

We had a easy 8nm run to the point. As soon as we radioed out, we were greeted by a fresh NW'erly wind. Strange, as this wind was predicted......... anycase, we proceed offshore, thinking that the wind will abate, and that the offshore weather report is correct. Not to be. The wind blew 10-15knts all the way out. Slightly bumpy and wet ride out.

We pass the 15nm mark........no other boats in sight........we pass the 18nm mark.......still nothing........mmmmmm......where the hell are the boats then!!! Set my GPS for my usual area and continue running. At about 25nm we find a lone tuna pole boat. Not what we're looking for, as these vessels target Albacore and not really YF. My crew were probably having doubts as to whether there were ANY other boats at sea!! After reaching my usual spot, more than 28nm from the point, we STILL see not long line boats!! Oh well, looks like i'll have to FIND my fish the hard way!! Out goes the trolling tackle. Pretty soon we have a double hook-up of albacore. I boat the one fish and start a chum trail. The guys jump in and Francois spears a Albacore. So we now have two Albacore's on board, ranging from 6-10kg's. Now lets go find some YF's!!!

We find a trawler not far away. Jump in behind it. NOTHING!! Arghhhhh!!! By now we had about 8 other boats also working behing the lone trawler. VERY few fish are being caught. I hear on the radio that the guys are seeing the fish on the echo sounders, but they're not biting. Things are looking grim, but MUST STAY CONFIDENT!!!

Francois shouts!!! YES!!! YF tuna in the water!!! He shoots.......i see the boogie board being pulled across the water surface!! FISH ON!!! He fights the fish for about 20minutes, and has it just beneath the boogie board. Just before he goes down to put in a second shot, the fish tears off!!!!!







ARGHHHH!!!!

By now we've drifted away from the fish.............So i go looking for another school.....and we find fish again...........

By now, David Hotz, an Australian spearo (called NOFOOTPRINTS on Adrenaline Forum) is pumped up to get a fish. He was complaining earlier about his foot that was buggered as well as his knackered shoulder, due to a car accident earlier







Anycase, i see his boogie board sliding across the surface!!! All thoughts of pain GONE!!!














Big YF have that magical healing ability!! FISH ON!!! 5 minutes go by......10minutes.....15minutes......20minutes.... ..still fighting!! I pass him the second gun and he puts in a second shot. I jump in to assist and 5minutes later she's IDB!! (In Da Boat!!) A BEAUTIFUL fish!!! David is over the moon!! He had just bought a 1400cm Rabitech the day before!! First fish on his new RABITECH!! Fish weighed in at just over 84kg's!!!

Bart had taken PLENTY of underwater video footage, so i'll hopefully get see that soon!!!

By now, the tawler had already pulled its nets and they were cleaning their catch. The YF that were around will be stuffed with fish, so things went very quite. All the boats were sitting still. The guys decided to call it a day and we started the ride home.

Now the fun begins!! My GPS's powercable comes lose and the units internal battery is running low. By now, the wind had picked up to 25knts NW and a fog bank was covering land. I run by compass and end up being blown way off course!!! I replace the baterries on the GPS and we get hammered all the way home!!! First time i encountered a very strong wind INSIDE a fog bank. Its normally very calm inside a fog bank.

After a epic journey back home, we're greeted by blazing hot sunshine in the harbour....and no wind!!!
















The Cape Of Storms really lived up to its reputation!!

All in all, a GREAT day with a GREAT bunch of guys!! To David, Bart and Francois, THANX a million guys!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*Saturday 01 April 2006*

Only two of us on board. We were planning on running to thr tuna grounds, but at about 6miles past the POINT, i see the current line and the water shoots up from 14degrees to 19degrees. A bit further, birds are working. As we move towards the deep, i see what looks like two fish swimming in the swell. I stop and put out two lures. BANG!!!! Almost immediately. Both rods hooked up. We each boat the fish rather quickly and with-in the next three hours, we have our allotted quota of 20 fish on board. We had 14 yellowfins ranging from 14-25kg's and 6 Longfin/Albacore and skipjacks. So with are legal amount of fish on board, we can't proceed to the deep









Oh well, at least we were very close to home and had HUGE fun with those, perfect eating size YF's!! YUMMY!!!!!
















Regards
miles


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## agulhas

hows the water temp? from what i remember it is .......... freezing. 6 mil wet suit would kill ya. dry suit?


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*Wednesday 5th April 2006*

Weather report showed PERFECT conditions. I made some calls, but none of my crew could make it!! ARGHHHH!!! After quite a few calls and getting despondent, one of my friends calls me. He has a commercial tuna fishing boat and his crew has also absconded!! None-the-less, between us we can get together 5 anglers.

At 5:30am we arrive at the filling station. Disaster strikes!!! ONLY myself and my friend are there. The others call to cancel. Thoroughly annoyed now, we decided to bugger all of them and go to sea only the two of us.

We launch and the sea is perfectly flat calm. We run to the point at 25knots. Just past the point we see birds and seals working baitfish. Quick check on the FURUNO shows 13.8degrees water. Too cold for any fishing. A few seconds later, we both see the unmistakable yellow sickles cutting through the surface!!! YELLOWFIN!!! Unbelievable!! In 13degrees celcuis water, FEEDING on garfish!!!

Out goes the lures and i'm throwing a surface plug at the feeding fish. No reaction. We troll around the bait schools, through them, in front of them behind them.........NOTHING, even though we can see the YF's on the surface. Knowing that the currentline is very close by, we up lines and run for it. Two miles later we see the current line, littered with kelp debris and birds working. Water jumps from 13degrees to 19 degrees. We put out the lures just before we cross the current line. We're running 3 surface squids/feathers on bungees and two halco's on rods. As we hit the warm water, all five lures are taken!! CHAOS!!! The skipper keeps going whilst i handline the small albacore (longfin) tuna. He stops and i've already landed the three fish on the bungees and am busy fighting a small YF. He grabs the second rod and also fights a small YF. We boat both YF's which are 15-20kg's each. We spend the next two hours working the current line. We manage another small YF and quite a few albacore as well as some small yellowtail up to 6kg's.

Things quiten down and run another 10nm offshore before we find the first longliner. Before we can even get lines in, we have YF milling around the boat in our chum slick!!! Bait goes in......BANG....FISH ON!!! This continues until the longliner finishes fishing. I'm fishing, whilst the skipper is processing the caught fish.

After all that fun, my shoulder and arm is buggered!!! I managed to boat 14 YF tuna in the 40-80kg class on stand-up tackle in under 3 hours. That excludes the two fish i lost to a young mako right next to the boat.

Our finally tally was 10yellowtail ranging from 3-6kg's, 30Albacore Tuna ranging from 5-18kg's and 17 YF of which 3 were 15-20kgs and the other 14 were 40-80kg class. Not bad for TWO fisherman!!!

Unfortunately, there was no time for any photos. The only ones i took were at the boat


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*Saturday 08 April 2006

*Our South Easterly wind, affectionately called the Cape Doctor, is doing what it does best, by blowing 25knt's+. This coupled with a big sea makes diving impossible. So my wife and i went for a hike, which gives you stunning views of BOTH the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Enjoy!!

Regards
miles


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## txjoker

You must have one heck of a freezer!


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## bluecat

all i can say is WOW!!!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

OK, thats enough for today. Need to pack my stuff as i'm going fishing in about....7hours time.....

I'll post the rest tommorow!!

Here's a sneak peek:
http://www.zippyvideos.com/2566433065107276/yftuna1/

Video clip of Spanish spearo's that came to visit me a few months back!!

ENJOY!!

Regards
miles


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## Flynm

txjoker said:


> You must have one heck of a freezer!


or a h3ll of an appetite!!!


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## Mrschasintail

You sure type fast!! LOL


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## GinMan

Cool!


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## Moose

Holy ****! 

Absolutely Awesome Photos, Pat yourself on the back for me.


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## vinsp

Miles you are Truly THE MAN That is a cool way to catch some tuna


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## CAPSIZED

No thanks.... thats not for me. I'm staying in the boat... and not that rubber thing you call a boat. LOL. You should have your own show except that I would hate to see what happens when a Great White wants your tuna. Keep the reports coming they are awesome.


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## BayTex

You might be the man, but I think that is crazy as he77.

No way dude!!!

But you do get a greenie!!!


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## Syncerus

This is one of the greatest fishing/hunting threads that I've ever read. This is doing things in STYLE.

Syncerus


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## WilliamH

He's averaging 21 posts a day!! At this rate he'll be head of the class in a year!


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## Argo

hmm, 10 miles offshore for 200lb tuna? that sounds like mcgolfers new home.


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## agulhas

argo the water in the area is 100 to 400 meters deep as you get out of valsbaai, drops off to 1000 meters and then to about 4000 meters. a little round the cape to the east (port elizabeth and durban) the water is extremely deep and quiet a few sea mounts.

the readings below are in meters.


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## WilliamH

Hey, they named a bank after you! Cool!!


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## Mrschasintail

This is an awesome thread!! Love it.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Sunday 16 April 2006

Forum member, Johan from Denmark arrived here in Cape Town on Friday evening. Check the weather on Saturday and it looked good in the deep. How-ever, there was a bit of wind inshore, BUT the offshore conditions looked ok. So plans were made to go out on Sunday. 

I picked Johan up and we spent about 10minutes at the waters edge, waiting to see if the inshore wind would subside. With a slight decrease, we went to Tommy’s place. Hooked up his boat and off we went.

At the launch site, the wind was blowing quite strongly. After some coffee, we decided to launch, with the wind report showing dropping wind at the POINT. After a bumpy, but dry ride, we reach the point. Outside the point, the swell is bigger, but since its open ocean swells, it makes riding easier and less bumpy. Fortunately the fish have been very close, sort of 17-18nm from the point. That’s about 10nm closer than our normal hunting grounds.

With it being Easter weekend, no longline vessels or trawlers are out, so we knew that we’d have to find our own fish. Tommy sees some fish on the surface and out goes the trolling lures……………NOTHING………. Water temperature in 19degrees and there is some bird life. Looks good, but no fish action yet. Sooooo, we have breakfast. MISTAKE!!! Reel screams half-way through my sand which!!! FISH ON!!! Boat stops and I start a chum trail. I grab the rod and start pulling……..mmmmm…..feels like a Albacore(longfin)…….no……feels like a small YF……….mmmmm….no…….feels like a Albacore…………….

Tommy puts the harness on and after 5 minutes we have an YF next to the boat. Unfortunately, the YF was tail wrapped, which effectively drowned it. I gaff and we have the fish on board. Not a bad fish weighing in at 78kg’s. Meanwhile I had continued the chum trail, but couldn’t see any fish in the water. We suggested Johan get in just to see if the YF were feeding just out of view from the boat. He jumps in and soon his shouts of glee herald the arrival of the YF’s!!

Johan kits up properly and jumps back in. After hearing from Tommy and me how fast these fish are, he manages to almost STONE his first YF with a 130cm Rabitech Carbon Apex!!! BRILLIANT shot!!!! Almost 10 minutes after he got into the water we load his 54kg YF!! Unfortunately, by now the other YF sounded and we have Albacore in the chum trail. Johan whacks a couple of albacores in the 8-14kg class.

We move and find another school of fish. Unfortunately there are very few YF around and only LOADS of Albacore. 

We then caught some Albacore and at one stage we had a school right against the boat smashing chum on the surface. I and Johan jumped in with cameras and got some great footage of Albacores eating chum next to the boat.

Final tally, one YF of 78kg caught on Rod and Reel, one YF of 54kg’s shot and 23 Albacores from 8-14kgs, caught on rod and reel and shot.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*20 April 2006*

Unfortunately, the wind started blowing at 25knts+ and we had to make it a short day. Even with the limited amount of time, Danish spearo, Johan managed to take some quality fish!! He also found out first hand, when a multiple band wooden gun is far superior to a normal euro gun when hunting these large fish. I'll let him explain his experience!!

Pity about the weathet, but we really can't complain too much!!

Final tally: 12 YF with the largest being just over 90kg's and 2 albacore.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*24 April 2006

*DANGERS OF DIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Problem#1 : we're launching the boat and need to lower the motors. Big spider is sitting where the lever is!!! I'm too scared to remove the spider and Tommy finally gets to the boat and informs us that its a harmless spider. He takes it off the motor and Johan releases it into some trees close by.

Problem#2 : this bird kept on eating the chum and was particularly keen on seeing what Johan was up to UNDER the water!!

Spearing wise, it was dismal. Water temperature was OK, viz. was good, but simply very little fish. We ended up with 5 Albacore and 2 YF of about 50kg's on Rod and Reel, as well as some hake, kingklip and a HUGE John Dory which we picked up behind a long-liner


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*26 April 2006

*I had a fishing charter today. Unfortunately, the water was a murky green. Not exactly the Blue Water stuff the anglers were anticipating. Unfortunately, my deckhands were off sick, so i was all on my own with 6 anglers. To further complicate matters, there was a fishing competion being held and we had boats all over the place, none being very succesful. We did how-ever manage to find some YF's. The action was thankfully very slow, with us taking one fish every 30-40minutes.

Our final tally was a spectacular 14 fish between the six anglers!! No really big fish, all ranging from 40-65kg's. It was still the largest fish each one of the 6 anglers had caught in their lives!!

Unfortunately, due to me being alone on the boat, i couldn't take any pic's. How-ever, on our way out to the deep, i can across this vessel (see pic's), which i thought was simply STUNNING!!! Looks like a sailing vessel from the 16th century!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

02 and 03 and 04 May 2006

Fernando Abella and Daniel Sanchez (Dani), spearo's from Spain and Carlos Martinez from the Med. came to visit!! Unfortunately, the weather was very bad, with strong wind and big sea's, making diving conditions very unpleasant. How-ever, we did manage to get out for three consecutive days.

Day1 - 8 Yellowfin ranging from 40-72kg's
Day2 - very bad weather, but we managed 22 Albacore, ranging from 4-15kg's
Day3 - 7 Yellowfin ranging from 40-82kg's

I'll let these three GREAT SPEARO'S tell you their stories!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

more pic's....


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

check the small blue shark below the diver in the first pic!!!


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## CAPSIZED

.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

food!!!!!!!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

I've been a bit busy over the past week or two, so i'll cram in some pic's!!

My wife was a bit tired of all the tuna fishing and wanted to get away and relax. So, she MADE me take her rock and surf fishing!!!














The week-end was a mixture of tears and joy. After a driving HER car to a spot where i normally take my 4x4, i made her walk 4km's along a beach with some rock climbing as well, all with the required tackle and bait-box!!














My thinking was that if i can make it difficult enough, she'd not want to go rock and surf fishing soon again...............BIG MISTAKE!!! She now LOVES it more than ever.....
















Once back home, we managed some tuna trips, but nothing spectacular to report. The usual, run of the mill, 40-70kg class tuna (90-160lb's), are still around in fairly good numbers. (check out the FABULOUS FLAT sea!!)It should start to quiten down in the next 2-4weeks, as we come towards the end of the season.

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*05 June 2006*

The weather looked superb and with no charters, it was simply too good a day too waste!! With the end of our tuna season looming, and the LOADS of requests from my friends for some tuna fillets, we decided to go and TRY to shoot some BIG YF.

Unfortunately, this time of the year, its normally quite difficult to get fish over 80kg's (190lb's). What also happens is that the fish schools become smaller and tend to be concerntrated in very small specific area's. This makes FINDING the fish extemely difficult. By 10:00am, we didn't even SEE a fish yet!!! NOTHING in the water, NOTHING on the echo-sounder, NOTHING behind the 3 trawlers.................simply NOTHING!!!! Coupled with the fact that some of our friends spent the WHOLE day at sea on the previous day, with NOTHING to show for their efforts, didn't bode well.

All around we can hear the guys on the radio pulling lures with equal lack of success. Looks like its going to be one of THOSE days...........

After visiting the trawler for the umpteenth time, we finally see ONE lone red dot on the echo sounder, depicting probably ONE YF or maybe even a seal. We start a chum trail and by the time i slip into the water, Tommy has managed to hook the YF on rod and reel. Unfortunately, the fish swims bewteen the trawlers cables and burns the line off. To make matters worse, for some unknown reason, the trawler decides to BACK UP!!!! ARGHHHHH!!!!! We quickly get out of the way!!! Pretty pointless argueing with a 250' steel trawler!!

So, once again, we're left fishless. Thats the FIRST fish we've lost this year due to a burn-off............

Quiet a few boats started trolling lures back home. Despondent. Seems like the end of the season has arrived....................

Unfortunately for those fish, we have travelled more than 35nm from land, in a 21' RIB (inflatable). Admitting defeat isn't an option for us!!! We'll TRY for fish, even if it means staying until late and running home in the dark!! (safety DOES come first, but weather conditions were STUNNING!!) Staying positive and believing that you WILL see fish in the next minute, is EXTREMELY important. The NEVER SAY DIE attitude!!









One of the nicest things is to go out there, with all the BIG 30'+ sportfisher boat owners sneering at us in our SMALL 21' inflatable, and THEN, TWO lowly spearo's managing to outfish them all!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Capsized, JUST for you!! No photoshop'd pic's, the REAL deal!! This is Andre Hartman, another CRAZY spearfishing South AFrican, playing with his "friend" at Gansbaai, Cape Town, South Africa. Andre is the guy you see in the documentary's, patting the GWS on their noses!! Represented South Africa many years ago in SPEARFISHING.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya 

Our law stipulates that as a RECREATIONAL angler or as a spearo, you're not allowed to sell your catch. The penalties are stiff and they WILL confiscate your fishing tackle, diving tackle, boat and car!!! Some guys, simply don't listen and get fined very HEAVILY for even selling ONE fish!! I was a commercial fisherman and fully support that law, as the recreational guys would sell their fish and by doing so, flood the market and cause the fish price to drop, making the commercial guys lose alot of money. 

The rule GENERALLY is 10 fish per person per day. Certain species have special bag limits and all species have their size limits, which are VERY strictly enforced!! For tuna and yellowtail its simply 10 fish per person per day. So no worry's as all these trips, all allowed catch's were legal. (Obviously the exception is when i fish off some-ones commercial fishing boat, then you have no limit as to the amount of fish you're permitted to catch)

Most of my fish i normally give to family, friends and the neighbours. If i have lots of fish, like the tuna, the crew gets some fish to distribute amongst their family and friends and neighbours. I also try at least once a month to donate some fish to the orphanage and the old age home in my area. (They've asked me NOT to bring any more fish this week though, as their freezers are full!!) 

So, don't worry, NOTHING is wasted!! 

Regards 
miles


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## GSMAN

Hey Miles, this thread has really been entertaining to say the least! Crockodile Hunter has got nothing on you! Keep the post coming. Your stories make my offshore spearfishing adventures seem boring! By the way, I almost fell out of my chair when I read:
"I'm too scared to remove the spider and Tommy finally gets to the boat and informs us that its a harmless spider." Swim with GWs but too scared to remove a spider???LOL!!


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## kdubya

GSMAN said:


> "I'm too scared to remove the spider and Tommy finally gets to the boat and informs us that its a harmless spider." Swim with GWs but too scared to remove a spider???LOL!!


I laughed at that as well.

Kelly


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## Hogpaw

Awesome stories.


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## Argo

miles, are you using a "pithing" technique on those tuna, AKA brainspiking......???????????


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## gunsmoke

Miles,

I've got to give it to you. Most people in Texas wouldn't even go offshore in a boat your size. I wouldn't. You're amazing. You must have a big pair of huevos. Nobody's ever going to call you a whoosie. Keep posting, and don't capsize "Dr. Fish."


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## spotsndots

Miles, you need to change your 2cool name to "iron balllls" and if those great whites didn't make you fill your wetsuit I wouldn't want to play poker with you. Those are some incredible stories and pictures.


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## scubaru

Miles, Glad to see you made it over from Spearboard! Welcome to our little corner of the web. As always great posts and pics.
Regards,
RU


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya


Sorry for the slow response, but i was out fishing!!!  

GSMAN and kdubya, unfortunately, i AM rather afraid of LARGE spiders!!! Even my WIFE makes fun of me about that!! I'd rather tangle with sharks than get intimate with big spiders!!

Argo, i'm not familiar with the term "pithing". When i started fishing for tuna, yellowfin and albacore(called Longfin locally), we simply used to pull the fish to the side, gaff and throw into the fish box. That was fine for recreational fisherman. How-ever, i did spend two years commercial fishing, for tuna as well as other inshore pelagic and demersal species. The tuna we were catching was for the export market, specifically for sushi resturaunts, all over the world. NOW, looking after your catch is of prime importance!! We's fish from 26-30'+ boats, carrying a crew of 3-5 anglers, with 3 guys fishing and the other 2 cleaning the catch. Now ALL YF HAVE to be gaffed in the HEAD. No marks should be made on the body. The fish is then bled in the water. NOW, anyone who's caught YF can attest to the violent thrashing that ensure's once you put your fish on the deck. To prevent this, and more importantly, we would cut a wedge out of the head, exposing the spinal column, then push a wire (similar to the old car aerials) down the spinal column. This serves two purposes, its HUMANELY depatch's the fish and it prevents the fish from thrashing around, thereby damaging the flesh. The fish is then beheaded, cleaned and wrapped in mutton cloth and put into a ice slurry. This all happens in under 4 minutes from the time the first gaff is put in. 

That was the way we did it commercially. When i started taking out friends, i never bothered with all the hassle. I simply taught the guys how to bleed the fish, so that they'd get good quality fillets. How-ever, when i started fishing from my 21' RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat), i needed to change my tactics. Having a 200lb fish with a Rapala X-rap thrashing around on the boat floor isn't a bright idea!! Not only can i punture my boats pontoons, but its also a HUGE safety risk!! I've seen waaaaay too many guys with treble hooks through them!! So, out of habit now, i simply spine all fish i catch or spear, even if i'm on my 29' Fibre-glass cat.

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya



> Most people in Texas wouldn't even go offshore in a boat your size. I wouldn't.


gunsmoke, I've got a 21' semi rigid boat (inflatable). Its a 6.5m Hysucat, a cat that runs on a hydrofoil system. Its powered by 2x50hp 4stroke yamaha's. My buddy also has a 21' semi rigid. His is a 6.5m Mako monohull also powered by 2x50hp 4stroke Yamaha's. My work boat is a 29' Fibreglass cat, powered by 2x140hp Suzuki's 4strokes and my mate has a 31' Fibreglass cat powered to 2 stroke yamaha's.

When i do charter work, for fishing or spearing, i use ny 29'. On a typical day, we'd do a 100nm round-trip and the boat would've consumed 250-300ltrs (about 80 gallons). As the charter cleint is pretty much paying the fuel bill, i don't mind!! The EXACT same trip with my 21' RIB would use less than 100ltrs (about 25 gallons)!! Now imagine this: i go to sea at least twice a week, so that 8 trips per month (minimum), which would mean 640gallons on the big boat as opposed to 200gallons on the 21' rib!!! Considering, i can get 10 AVERAGE sized (40-60kg/100-130lb) Yellowfin on board with 4 anglers or spearo's and still come home doing 30knts+, with a very small fuel bill. That reason, and i simply LOVE outfishing guys in their 30'+ boats with my little 21' RIB!!

A bit more information on rib's which i posted on another forum:
All my life i've been a fibreglass boat guy. I also used to look at guys in RIB's and laugh at them. I had a fire that destroyed my business and ended up selling my boat for the capital needed. Shortly there-after, i bought a 4.7m gemini RIB. It was really cheap and my boat dealer promised to buy it back at the same price i bought it at, when i do upgrade. That boat had a single 40hp motor on it and i did alot of spearing off it. We used to go to sea when the 6m fibreglass boats would be to scared to launch!! You'll not beleive HOW sea-worthy these RIB's are!!! We have very rough waters and if anything happens to your, our National Sea Rescue Institue (NSRI) will send out their 5.5m gemini RIB to rescue you!!! Speaks VOLUMES on their sea-worthiness. Their larger vessels are also despatched, but the RIB is simply quicker and more manouverable through the surf.

All our rib's here are required by law to have a MINIMUM of 3 air compartments, AND should be able to FLOAT with TWO compartments completely DEFLATED!!! Tommy Botha has a 6.5m Mako RIB and had 4 YF on board with a crew of 3 spearo's when one of the guys gaffed a hole in the pontoon. The hole was too big to repair and there had to call it a day. They ran the 35nm+ back to the harbour with the greatest of ease. This is because when the boat gets onto the plane, your pontoon are out of the water, so they have no effect on the ride.

For our conditions, a rib is the BEST spearing boat available. It is very easy to get into the boat, especially with our large population of GWS!!! 4 spearo's can jump in on the same side simultanuously, with-out the fear of capsizing. Its a VERY stable dive platform, and has minimal windage due to it being so low on the water, which means you don't drift away from your divers or chum slick. The other plus factor is that it requires smaller motors to power the boat, which in turns equates to a lower purchase price and a lower fuel bill. Another plus is that my wife and me can launch and retrieve it EASILY on our own. The downside to a rib is that they need more maintanance, hate sunlight and offer less space than a fibreglass boat. Puncturing of the pontoons are RARE. I've only had two punctures since i've used rib's, and both were due to crew being careless.

We're very safety concious here. Our boats are equiped with twin outboards and should be able to plane with only one of them, should the other break. We have vhf radio and follow strict booking out and booking back in procedures when you're out on the tuna grounds. So from a safety point of view, everything if OK.

Just for interest sake: I've been seeing quite a few large RIB's on our waters lately. Up to 28' powered by 2x250hp 2stroke!!
















Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Some idea's of what our conditions are like!!

Things can go from a flat calm sea to a scary waves breaking over your boat in less than 30minutes!! Its not called THE CAPE OF STORMS for no reason!!

You get those that live further north of Cape Town, who don't have harbours, so they launch straight off the beach. Sometimes in nasty stuff!! My friends who do surf launch's maintain that there are two skipper, those that have flipped their boats and those that WILL STILL flip their boats during surf launching!! your average sized boats are 14-25', but recently the guys have started launching 30'+ boats THROUGH the surf!! 

The powers that be has declared, that your boat must have two motors if you're going to sea further than 1nm. This has now changed, and you're allowed up to 5nm off shore on a single engined boat, IF you have a VHF radio onboard. Anything over 5nm and twin outboard motors are required. The rule is normally to fit two outboard of identical make and power. The reasoning behind this is that if you damage one motor or have motor problems, you can limp home on one motor. Or, if you hit a log or reef, and both motors are damaged, you might still be able to get ONE fixed by using parts of the other motor. For boats launching through the surf, it is recommended that the boat should be able to plane on one engine, should the other engine fail. Just some info. on our regulations!!

Compared to the rest of the world, our boats are quite slow. Most boats have a top speed of 28-30knts. How-ever, since our waters are rarely calm enough to travel at 30knts, anything faster is a waste. On a good day, i'm able to get out to the tuna grounds at 20-22knts. Very, very rarely can you get out any faster, unless you want to pound your boat to peices!!

Regards
miles


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## Kenner21

Man I wish I could read that article about that cat shooting off that wave, looks very interesting.


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## agulhas

kenner we used to launch our boats out of the surf in south africa. it is very common. cat's are much easier to deal with becuase of the draft and stability on the sand. remember you have to run the boat nback up onto the beach when you come in. i have some old pics somewhere and will try and post if i can find. the surf is often 5 to 10 and got to hit the swell before it breaks. you can see in that pic what happens when it collapses.


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## agulhas

http://www.thundercatracing.co.nz/Pages/Photos.htm

although these are not photos that have anything to do with fishing in south africa (not a hijack.) but cool photos of racing in the surf. big sport in the southern hemisphere.


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## Masonator

Man, that is freakin' awesome! Someday....Someday...


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## Argo

wanna know about the cat too


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## WilliamH

What happened to Miles, no reports lately. I hope he didn't get eaten by one of those sharks!!


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## WilliamH

Check out this video from the above site. Insane!


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## Argo

yikes


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*It begins!!!*

SEPTEMBER has arrived!!! FISH BEWARE!!
















After a fairly quite winter, with only the odd decent haul of yellowtail, SPRING has finally arrived!! We should start looking for tuna in the next two weeks. Can't wait!!

In the meantime, i'll justy keep myself occupied by harrassing the local yellowtail population!!
















Just what the doctor ordered, a boat hatch full of yellowtails:


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*23 September 2006*

My wife had the day off and insisted on going rock and surf fishing. Called a couple of friends and we were soon on our way up our west coast. An hour or so later, we arrived at Langebaan Lagoon. A natural estuary, which has PLENTY of fish, if you know where to look!! I know the area very well, as i started fishing it with my boat, because back then, i was too scared to go out to sea!!!
















After pumping some prawns and worms, we rigged up our 12' rods and the fun began. We were targetting white stumpnose, a VERY, VERY tasty fish, that seldom exceed's 2kg's. I've caught them up to 4kg's here, but fish that size is exeptional!! The average is normally 500grams to 1kg. GREAT fun and a wonderful, relaxing way to spend the day!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*29 September 2006*

The tuna haven't arrived yet, with only the odd, unsubstantiated report of one or two YF being landed by the commercial albacore fleet. They should be here anyday now!!

So, with no tuna to go and harrass, we have to make do with some nice fat yellowtails!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*FIRST BLOOD!!!*

The day started out on a very good note. When we rounded the point, we were greeted by shaols upon shoals of yellowtail feeding on small anchovy. VERY frustrating for anglers, as they simply refuse to take any lures, BUT heaven for spearo's!! After seeing the size of the fish, averaging 4kg's (10lb's), we decided not to bother them and continue on our way to the deep.

Turned out to be a good decision!!

8 Yellowfins, with two being in the 80-85kg class (180lb's) and the rested all bigger than 50kg's (110lb's)

What a way to start the new season!!






































EDIT:
Unfortunately, me guess-timation of the weights of those fish were woefully in-adequate!!

The biggest Yellowfin for the day weighed in at 96kg's!!! (211 lb's!!) VERY, VERY good sign to start off the season with a big fish like that!!
















Regards
miles


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## jaredchasteen

Hes Back......


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## minnow

How far affshore do you fish to get those monster yft?
thanks,
tj


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## fishinguy

I thought he got a new boat and ditched the inflatable.


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## Argo

If I remember right he had put a map in this thread a little earlier on of where he gets them and it was like 40-50 offshore. 

I think he has two boats........ The Cat and the riggid hull inflatable. 

I was wondering where he was.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya



> How far affshore do you fish to get those monster yft?
> thanks, tj


It's usually about 40-50nm from the harbour, but only 40nm from land.



> I thought he got a new boat and ditched the inflatable.


No. Still have my 21' semi-rigid as well as my 29' fibreglass cat. The biggest difference between the two is FUEL CONSUMPTION!! We'll sledom use more than 80-100ltrs fuel on our 21' semi-rigid's with 2x50hp 4stroke yamaha's, whilst the big boat uses 300-400ltrs fuel, depending on how far you run. When the fish are scarce or when we're only spearfishing, the semi-rigids works exceptionally well. Low fuel bill, low windage, means you drift slower than the bigger cabin boats. The low fuel bill also en-ables you to get out more often.



> I was wondering where he was.


Sorry for my un-explained absence!! Just had alot to deal with. Bought a house, moved in, fell down the stairs at the old place, broke some bones, changed careers, etc, etc. Got everything sorted now, but most importantly, the season has just started again!! 

Regards
miles


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## wacker

Good to see ya back!


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## lite-liner

Miles: more info on the yellowtail & YFT's
is it true y'all catch 80# yellowtail down there?
Very interested in fishing opp's in SA
tight lines
-Brian


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## word-doctor

Good to see you back. But you're supposed to bring a note from home: "Miles couldn't be at school because a fish ate his transom."

That is an awesome tuna!


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## scubaru

lite-liner said:


> Miles: more info on the yellowtail & YFT's
> is it true y'all catch 80# yellowtail down there?
> Very interested in fishing opp's in SA
> tight lines
> -Brian


Visit the whole thread, like page 4-ish.


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## Brewgod

DAYUMN!

It's like the Civil war pics, Dude, bust a grin! Hell, if I had fish like that, you could'nt kick the smile off my face...


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## Crazy fisher

How do you find them "YFT" do you just drive until see them busting the water?


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## Seahuntress

*Chronicles*

Miles,

Thanks for submitting the chronicles, and photos of your guest and family.

Oh and a special thanks for submitting the photo of the pilot.







Thanks


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## agulhas

miles good to have you back.


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## TOP FLIGHT

Best fishing post I've read yet. I couldn't believe the GW at the boat ramp. Put the lines out! Good way to save on fuel. 

Spearing YFT, I thought I gotta see this. Then they freedive and spear unbelievable.

Miles, thanks for the reports. Be careful man!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Thanx guys!!!



> is it true y'all catch 80# yellowtail down there?


No, not 80lb yellowtails!! That's in New Zealand!! Ours grow to a maximum of 50lb's.



> How do you find them "YFT" do you just drive until see them busting the water?


Various ways. Current lines, birds working, longliners, trawlers, blind trolling, etc, etc. Water is very deep, anything from 500-2000', so there is no structure that holds fish.

Heres some video clips of the fun we have:

A small story of what happened here:

On the way out to the tuna grounds, the topic of sharks was brought up. South Africa is notorious for its Great White shark population, so its a question which ALWAYS crops up. So, we inform our Spanish friends that there are NO Great White sharks in the deep, only small blue sharks, which are fairly common late in the season and the VERY occational Mako. We've probably seen less than 10 mako's over the past 2 years, so the possiblity is fairly small of them getting one!!!
Murphy's law!! Danny gets in and IMMEDIATELY see's a young mako!!! To top it all off, they then have the unfortunate luck to get a second mako as well!! Luckily, the YF soon arrived and all thoughts of sharks went out the window!!

Spearing YF's:
http://www.zippyvideos.com/2566433065107276/yftuna1/
(long clip, about 5minutes.....)

Regards
miles


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## CP

*Incredible*

Those are great videos. it looked like the mako wanted to tango. Keep the pictures, videos, and reports coming.

thanks,
CP


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## myprozac

Those videos are sweet
Jeff


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## Dances With Fish

This is the best thread of fish I have ever seen.....Thanks RYAN


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

15 October 2006

As told by Dr. Fish herself:

As i lay in my bed the night before our first tuna trip of the season with dr.fish, i found that i could not fall asleep. the excitement was overwhelming.
word had it that 'the tuna were back in town' and it was time that we went to see for our selves. The weather forcast was dismal ..20 knot south westerly with 3m swells...but despite this the lure of a hook up with a great yellowfin tuna won out and we put to sea.

As we made our way out of simons town harbour, it became apparent that the weather forcast was correct if not a little bit of an underestimate. However all was quiet on the boat, each crew memeber not voicing that the weather was horrible incase another would intimate that it was necessary to go home.bump , bump, bump and an hour later we reached Cape point and a sigh from the crew , finally almost a third of the way. As we went past the point the weather semmed better and excitement levels were rising. I couldnt wait to get to the tuna grounds. Eventually we noticed a hake trawler in the distance and decided to pursue the vessel. 
On arrivel at trawler, frenzied activity was happening on Dr Fish, chumming , gearing up and lines in the water.....and now the wait............... 1 min of waiting and HOOk uP!! the fun and games beagan in ernest , with 14 yellowfin ranging btn 75 and 100 kilos caught, amidst lots of struggling,aches and pains, moans and groans.

Last season was but a distant memory of Man is superior to fish. Period. The distant memory was becoming more clear and distorted,....FiSh makes man cry ..everytime .

The above report as per my wife!! Ugly sea, with a horrible wind, and preseverance shows what can be achieved!! 3 Fish over the 90kg mark (200lb's+) on 80lb stand-up tackle, with the others all averaging 70-80kg's. 

Seeing YF smashing your chum right next to your boat, having the odd swell splash over the side of the boat, refreshingly cooling you off with a shower of salt water ................, all whilst you're harnessed into a 90kg (200lb) YF tuna............... feels like its the ONLY place in the world where i am at my happiest!! (even more so, looking over my shoulder, watching my wife also hooked up to a similar sized fish and seeing her grinning from ear to ear!!)


----------



## GSMAN

Keep the tales of the high seas coming!!! You guys, and gal, are my heroes!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

22 October 2006

The tuna season has been PHENOMINAL so far!! Some pictures to whet the appetite:

pic1 - STUNNING albatros
pic2 - catch of the day
pic3 - 29kg albacore
pic4 - 85kg YF caught by my wife with a new penn 70 vs on 80lb stand-up gear


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## word-doctor

That is a superlative catch... and your wife must have wrists like a stevedore. Very good.


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## lite-liner

WOW! That's a Huge albie! a real longfin, too. 
nice job on the YFT's
-B


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## fisher__man

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST THREAD I HAVE SEEN YET. you guys are crazy and I like it. I only dream of one day being able to do what you do. I have dove with sharks in Mexico but only nurse and bulls but I dont know about great whites thats just a little much for me. 
keep the post comming I love them and be safe. At least as safe as you can be while jumping in the water shooting giant YFT that are bleading along with great white sharks swiming around.


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## golffisherbob

*Wow!*

I would like to echo that this is the best report I have ever read, and looked at. Please keep the stories coming for us that are stuck in offices probably all over the world wishing we were doing what you are.

Thanks again
Bob


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## ol billy

This is an awesome thread. Thanks for the stories and pictures.


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## fishomaniac

You are a very fortunate man, Miles. You have relatively close access to large tuna, you have a big heart, and you have a lovely wife who loves to fish as much as you do. I agree, this is a great thread. I hope the bones healed up okay!


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## bjreid

nice pics!


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## hoogenda

Hey Miles - you may have mentioned this but this thread is 15 pp now - what do you do with all that Tuna meat? 

cool pics - a lot of guys here in Texas are jealous..

Brian


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

I've been askes numerous times on what happens to my fish. This is the response:

"Our law stipulates that as a RECREATIONAL angler or as a spearo, you're not allowed to sell your catch. The penalties are stiff and they WILL confiscate your fishing tackle, diving tackle, boat and car!!! Some guys, simply don't listen and get fined very HEAVILY for even selling ONE fish!! I was a commercial fisherman and fully support that law, as the recreational guys would sell their fish and by doing so, flood the market and cause the fish price to drop, making the commercial guys lose alot of money. 

Most of my fish i normally give to family, friends and the neighbours. If i have lots of fish, like the tuna, the crew gets some fish to distribute amongst their family and friends and neighbours. I also try at least once a month to donate some fish to the orphanage and the old age home in my area.

So, don't worry, NOTHING is wasted!! "


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

How-ever, that was all changed now. More than 2 years ago, we've applied for a Commercial Tuna Fishing licence and have FINALLY been granted one!! So, i did what any normal sane angler would do, i quit my day job, gave up working in a box for a life of FISHING!!! As i've said before, i have spent a considerable time previously as a commercial fisherman, so i know EXACTLY what i've gotten myself in to!!

The greatest thing about commercial tuna fishing is, ZERO by-catch!! You do hook the occational blue shark or mako, but they're always brought to the boat and the line cut as close to the mouth as possible. 

The greatest thing is that i get to learn PLENTY of new techniques!! The idea now is to land Yf as soon as possible with as little damage to the fish. Some techniques which i've used, which are basically commercial style fishing:

1.short sticks
These are short metal rods of about 1' long (30cm) which fits into a bracket on the boat's gunnel. A penn 12/0 or Tiagra 130W is then bolted onto the rear of the short metal pole. A large eye is welded on the front of the pole. The reels are spooled with 500lb (2.0mm) mono. Basically, the fish grabs the bait, runs and the angler simply winds the fish back in. 40-60kg fish take less than 8 minutes to boat. Larger fish requires more time, but we'll then simply get a guy to handline the fish, whilst the other retrieves the slack line.

2.bungees
These are used when trolling. They are 3-5m length's of 20mm spear gun rubber, to which 3.5-4mm mono is attached. There is about 15m of mono and the 3-5m of rubber. The lures, all which are surface type plastics are trolled and when a YF grabs the lure, the bungee extends to double its length and two guys then simply handline the YF in, all whislt the boat is still moving.

Some newer tactics is POLING. All this entails is using a 4m+ bamboo pole, with a 2' (50cm) peice of mono attached to the end. Attached to the mono is a 10/0 hook and a pilchard is hooked onto it. The bait is dangled JUST on the surface of the water. When a YF grabs the bait, you hold his head upwards and pull him next to the boat. GAFFSSSSSSS!!! 40-90kg YF landed in under 10seconds........ Needless to say, lots of poles are broken and lost when the fish managed to get its head down!! I've seen big commercial poling boats take over 100 Yellowfin in 2 hours..........

My tackle will also need upgrading. The 50W Tiagra's work well, but the 80W Tiagra's and the Penn 70VS's work even better!! They have bigger drags and their low-range is sooo much faster, due to the increase in the spools arbor. Ordered matching Calstar rods already!! No more messing around, it'll be serious FISHING!!! 24-26lb's of drag on strike, after the fish peals off 50yards or so, push the drag lever to sunset and HOLD ON!!! 40-50kg fish boated in under 8 minutes, 60-90kg's in under 15minutes....... Really hardcore style of fishing!!

Simply sooo much to learn still...........

Regards
miles


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## jaredchasteen

Dude that is tight, try to post a pic of the short poles, i would love to see this method.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

jaredchasteen, i've been land-bound for the last two weeks. The wind simply doesn't want to stop HOWLING!! Was doing 69knts yesterday!!  I'll take some proper pictures when i get to the boat, but look at the attachment at the bottom: the short stick with Penn 12/0 is mounted on the rear trolling board.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*Trip Report Time!!

*After such a good start to the tuna season, we were bitterly dis-appointed by the weather. THREE weeks of solid HOWLING winds!! Absolutely no chance of any-one getting out in that big seas. I was starting to wonder if the wind would stop blowing..........ever??

Fortunately, the wind did die down and we managed to put to sea.

*Monday 20 November 2006*
First fishable day after the bad weather. Checked all the weather sites and all showed very little wind and a small swell. Loaded up the boat with 1000kg's of ice (2000lb's) and off we went. We just rounded Cape Point when i see one of the commercial boats coming back from the deep. Probably engine trouble i mention to my crew. 10nm later we have now seen 6 other commercial boats also pass on going back home. Can't figure out why......sea is a bit lumpy, but otherwise OK. 15nm off-shore one of my mates in a MUCH larger boat raadios me and tells me to turn back as the sea is HORRENDOUS in the deep. He can't stop the boat to fish with bait, as the swells simply breaks INSIDE his boat. So, i turned around and headed back home. My FIRST trip in three years, where i have turned back........







Sadly, one of my friends boat sank about 7nm from shore. He has a 40'+ fibre-glass cat, which got holed and took on water. Luckily, everyone was rescued. The day before, i took him to his boat so that he could fuel up.

Then, back in the harbour, i see another boat sink!! A 30' monohull sank on its mooring!! Really not nice seeing a beautiful sportfisher go down.........

*Tuesday 21 November 2006*
My ANNIVERSIRY!!!! Needless to say, the wife INSISTED that we go to sea!! Luckily, the sea had settled down quite a bit and it was a very pleasant trip. The new crew that i'm training did mess up quite a bit, but we managed to get some good quality YF's with one going over 90kg's(200lb's)

*Wednesday 22 November 2006*
Days like these are what dreams are made of!!! FLAT seas, with viz. being over 40m (120')!! We had YF's smashing chum on the surface, with a few VERY VERY big fish jumping out of the water right next to the boat. By 3:00pm our boat was full and we headed home.

*Thursday 23 November 2006*
EXACTLY the same conditions as the day before!! Beautifully flat sea, with execptional viz. Saw a school of pilot whales and the sea with literally ALIVE with YF's jumping out of the water everywhere. By 2:00pm we were once again full and had to call it a day.

After 4 consecutive days of 100nm roundtrips, the body starts complaining, and thankfully, Friday 24th wasn't a very good sea day, so a well deserved rest was had.

*Sunday 26 November 2006*
Sea is still to rough for a tuna trip, so off we went to spear some yellowtail. Viz. was a horrible 2-4m and the yellowtails were a bit skittish. Tommy's son did very well, spearing the most fish for the day!! We barely managed to get our alloted 10 yellowtail per person. Was visited by a MONSTOROUS sunfish (mola-mola). First time i've seen one that big. Actually scared the daylights out of us in that dirty water. Ever notice how the colour scheme on a sunfish is very similar to a great white?

*Wednesday 06 December 2006*
I've been promising my cousin a trip to the deep for a while now. Since its school holidays, he was finally able to come with us. Fairly lumpy sea, but the day turned out quite nice once the wind dropped. The water was a murky blue-green, with possibly less than 10m viz in places. The fish weren't biting well, but we still managed to fill the boat by 5:00pm. My 17year old cousin took his first YF on rod and reel and that fish went 73kg's (160lb's). Not many anglers can claim to catch a fish that weighs more than themselves!!

Here's some pic's of my cousin's fish and some other pic's of us messing around in Langebaan Lagoon


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## wacker

Very cool!! Thanks for the report from the other side. We could use some good weather days around here.


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## Third Coast Fishing

Nice report & pictures. How much $$ are you averaging per pound on those YFT over there and how many pounds can you hold per trip? Just wondering (being nosey) about how it's working out since you quit your job and went PRO YFT FISHERMAN!


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## lite-liner

Miles: Must come visit! maybe give it all up & get a shack on the beach!
how do I find you if I do make it down there?
-Brian


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## feeder

miles "Dr. Fish" said:


> No more messing around, it'll be serious FISHING!!! 24-26lb's of drag on strike, after the fish peals off 50yards or so, push the drag lever to sunset and HOLD ON!!! 40-50kg fish boated in under 8 minutes, 60-90kg's in under 15minutes....... Really hardcore style of fishing!!
> 
> Simply sooo much to learn still...........
> 
> Regards
> miles


Serious fishing???? You mean you were just playing around before? I almost feel sorry for those tuna now


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## Freshwaterman

Miles, there ain't much that makes my jaw drop too much anymore. But Brother, you are a certifiable exception. I would fish with you anywhere, anytime, and you have an invite to Puerto Vallarta to fish our style of stand up any time you want. Pacifico's record is a 232lb Yellowfin in 9 minutes. Cal's Penn 80ST on a calstar 46xxh with 200lb spectra and a 20 foot topshot of 200lb momoi fluoro. Life Is Good!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Third Coast Fishing, the price is dependant on the export markets. Our fish gets sent to the USA, Spain and China. Prices vary according to supply and demand and it starts getting complicated. Two weeks ago was thanksgiving in the US, so the fresh YF destined for the US ended up in Spain, amongst other places, flooding the market. Then there was two holidays in Spain last week. EVERYTHING seems to affect the price!!

Carrying capacity of my boat is 2000lb ice and 2000lb YF Tuna, with their heads and guts removed plus about 100 gallons of water to make the ice slurry. That equates to roughly 20 Yellowfin carcasses of 100lb's. The boat can carry more fish, but then the quality starts to deteriorate. Better to catch 20 first grade quality tuna than 30 tuna of lesser quality.

The money is good, BUT, i'm not just in it for the money. The life style is simply so appealing. Whats better than being at sea EVERY possible good weather day? You get to see and experience things most recreational anglers can only dream about. When my bussiness burnt down about 5 years ago, i also spent a year as a commercial fisherman, handline fishing from my 18-6 mono-hull. That year was possibly THE best time of my life!! Seeing things like Great White sharks breaching and hunting seals, schools of Bronzies cornering a school of yellowtail in shallow water and then SMASHING into them!! Amazing sights, which will always be remembered!!

lite-liner, i still do charter work, so simply drop me a email if you're in our neck of the woods!!

LuckyDrew, THANX!! 9minutes in insane on rod and reel!! I've boated a 200lb YF on 130lb tackle in 5 minutes, but that fish seemed very weak. Didn't even run off 100yards in its first run. My initail thoughts was that its possibly a 50lb albacore. Unfortunately, my Calstar rods aren't done yet. The blanks have arrived here and they're currently at the rod builder. I haven't used braid on our tuna yet, as i'm a bit worried about the crew losing their hands or fingers!! We had a guy have his hand cut to the bone when 500lb mono got tangled around his hand whilst a fish was taking line. The we had a guy who's nose got broken when a fish when mental on the gaff. Then there was the guy who also broke his nose when the penn 12/0's gears jammed and the reel exploded!! The handle almost took his eye out!! And this is only what happend during the last two weeks!!!

Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*10 January 2007

*My brother-in-law has been bugging me to take him fishing. He's a ardent rock and surf angler, so i thought i'd teach him how to spin/plug for yellowtail from the rocks. There have been quite a few 40lb+ yellowtails coming from the ledges, so thats where we went.

After some good few hours of fruitless casting practice, into a HOWLING 25knt wind, we tackled the climb back up the mountain. Being situated in a national park, we had quite a few animals keep us company. Spent another GREAT day at the waters edge, even though the fish weren't co-operating.









Regards
miles


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

more pic's.....


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## WilliamH

Wow, you need to get on the "Friday Pics" threads on the main board. Really cool photos.


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## trodery

WOW! I have not seen this thread before! Absolutely awe inspiring! Without doubt the best forum thread I have ever seen on any website!

Miles, do you take guest along on your fishing adventures? I would love to come down and spend a few days fishing and hanging out with you and your crew!

I have vacation time available just need to renew my passport!


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## Seahuntress

Miles, Thanks always for the awesome photos. Glad you're having some great adventures in life. I'm always looking for an adventure. Happy New Year to you, and your family.

Hey what happend to the pilot?


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## shanegair

Great pics and stories, keep'em coming


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## scwine

*Great stories and great pics..........*

I (for what is worth) truly believe you need your own TV Show. You and your wife are living out a lot of our dreams Miles. You are the "John Wayne" of the sea!


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## GSMAN

Thanks for posting Miles! Your adventures are worth reading!!


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## Tiny

Mr. Miles...err... Dr.YFT Fish..

I second that notion, you definately deserve your own show!!!! WHell you already got the Narration down to a Tee, what's a little more pictures and video???

Great Job.... Very Interesting and Beautiful Photos!!!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*12 January 2007*

After my dismal fishing expedition off the rocks, i managed to take my brother-in-law and 17year old cousin out on the boat. We left the harbour at 5:00am and was greeted by a FLAT sea!! It's very RARE that our sea's are that calm, so i planned to make the most of the day. First on the agenda, caching some bait. Out comes some light tackle and some jigs and soon everyone was shown how to rig up and how to catch squid. Pretty soon the boat was covered in black ink and the guys were so happy, that they were content on ONLY catching squid for the day. How-ever, they were brought along to catch their first yellowtails, so off to find some fish.

After rounding the point, we were greeted by over 60 boats all catching yellowtail. Modus operandi was to wait until some-one lands a fish, then 20-30 boats will storm the boat and hopefully also catch some fish from the school. This type of boats charging all over the place is definitely not for the faint hearted!! The commercial guys have big boats with huge motors and have a very colourfull vocabulary, so recreational guys are normal very, very, very wary of them!! Thankfully, having a big boat is a advantage, as well as knowing most of the commercial guys personally!









Sadly, two of my crew suffered very bad bouts of sea-sickness, but once the fish started biting, they recovered VERY quickly.

Huge fun was had by all, and with a stunning day like that, life simply couldn't get better!!
















Regards
miles

ps. brother-in-law has now decided he wants to start spearfishing!!














This is going to be fun!!!


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## Third Coast Fishing

Great stuff as always Miles, but we need more pictures & stories!! Don't make come down there!


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## captainnordloh

Best thread ever!


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## Arlon

Any better pictures of your boat? I like seeing what other folks are using to fish from as much as what they are fishing for. Arlon


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

I've got 2 boats, first one:

21' Semi-Rigid Inflatable powered by twin 50hp yamaha 4 strokes. The boat is a HYSUCAT, which is a cat hull with a hydrofoil system. Runs exeptionally well in the rough stuff. This is my spearfishing boat. Operates up to 40nm from land and is possibly THE best boat i've owned.

29' Butt-cat powered by twin 140hp Suzuki 4 strokes. A VERY old boat, maybe 30 years old, that has been refurbished by the factory, and custom built for my commercial tuna fishing. Also operates 40nm from shore. Normal trip entails carry-ing 2000lb+ of ice.

Our sea's are very big and therefor our boats have low top speeds. Both my vessels do about 30-33knts top speed, but 90% of the time, you're travelling at 16-20knts, simply becuase the sea won't allow you to go any faster.

Here's some pic's: Note the pinned to the rail pic on a inflatable boat!!


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## Chunkn' Charlie

Man I just found this thread and read the whole thing. Miles you are now officially my new hero. This is GREAT Stuff. You are a blessed man. Keep'm coming.

Charlie


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## snap

Great thread, great stories, thank you so much for sharing. I look forward to read the next one.


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## Arlon

miles "Dr. Fish" said:


> Hiya
> 
> I've got 2 boats, first one:
> 
> 21' Semi-Rigid Inflatable powered by twin 50hp yamaha 4 strokes. The boat is a HYSUCAT, which is a cat hull with a hydrofoil system. Runs exeptionally well in the rough stuff. This is my spearfishing boat. Operates up to 40nm from land and is possibly THE best boat i've owned.
> 
> 29' Butt-cat powered by twin 140hp Suzuki 4 strokes. A VERY old boat, maybe 30 years old, that has been refurbished by the factory, and custom built for my commercial tuna fishing. Also operates 40nm from shore. Normal trip entails carry-ing 2000lb+ of ice.
> 
> Our sea's are very big and therefor our boats have low top speeds. Both my vessels do about 30-33knts top speed, but 90% of the time, you're travelling at 16-20knts, simply becuase the sea won't allow you to go any faster.
> 
> Here's some pic's: Note the pinned to the rail pic on a inflatable boat!!


Like to see a few more of 29'. That's an interesting looking boat. Arlon


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*17 January 2007*


Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 4:00pm. Phone rings......"a few tuna were caught in the Canyon area....don't have co-ordinates......"

After 4 weeks of no tuna, and this being the usual time when they dis-appear, this bit of news was interesting!! After a few calls, to my dismay, i couldn't get bait or ice!!! FINALLY tracked down a company that would sell me ice, but the downside was that i am to load and off-load the 2500lb's of ice myself!! 

Some phone calls later, i can't get hold of ANY of my crew, so i did what had to be done. Armed with a plastic spade, 2hrs later, the boat was iced up and fueled up!! Ready for the first trip of the year.

By 10:00pm, i had 3 crew members confirmed plus my brother-in-law and myself, making up the 5 man crew.

Wednesday morning, 4:00am, at the boat, only one crew member and my brother-in-law shows up!!! The other two guys rather opted to go fish for yellowtail, with-out having the decency to inform me!! Needless to say, they'll never be invited again......

At the marina, i see a 4lb (2kg) flying fish flopping on the jetty!! First time in my life that i see these uncommon fish so close inshore. Surely a sign of very warm waters. Tackle is loaded and off we go.

Outside the harbour the sea is stunning!! FLAT with a very small swell, with NO WIND  Closer to the POINT, the sea starts picking up with a 8-10' swell and a 15knt wind. Enough to make the trip just a bit uncomfortable. Luckily we push on, and the sea clams down again and about 5nm off-shore, the windless calm conditions prevail once again.

After a 15nm run, i come across a patch of water that simply looked "FISHY". No trawlers, no longliners, no baitfish..........just a couple of birds flying around. Picked up some albacore marks on the echo, but no YF. Moved slightly away until i found a small school of albacore on the echo, with what looked like YF beneath them.

Out went the chum and minutes later we were straining over 2 bent rods!!  Fishing was quite challenging with only two experienced fisherman, and getting the fish bled and iced quickly. We how-ever managed and by 2:30pm, i ran out of ice!! Cursing myself for not bring more ice, and since the sun sets only at 8:00pm, we had to call it a day. Final tally, 1 albacore of 25lb's (12kg's) and 28 YF from 80-140lb's (40-65kg's). What a way to start off the season!! 

Unfortunately, with only 3 of us on board, i wasn't able to take picture's. Oh well, next time....... 

Regards
miles

ps. very sad day, as one of my friends 42' boat sank and the skipper and one crew member lost their lives. The remaining two survivors were found 8 hours after their boat went down.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya


Arlon, here's a couple of pic's:


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## Seahuntress

Dr. Fish thank you always for the great reports, and photos. Glad you and your wife, are having some great adventures in life. 

Oh I did see a photo of the pilot again. I never forget a face. LOL


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Thought you'd forgotten about him!!Here's a couple more for you:


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## Seahuntress

Thanks Dr Fish. NO, I have not forgotten about him.


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## Seahuntress

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to miles "Dr. Fish" again.


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## Michael Shindle

Don't post here much anymore, but have to say that I love your stories and pictures! Best of luck and good fortune to you all! Adios...


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## captainemil

I think, I need a bigger BOAT


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## S-3 ranch

start a new post as this one is geting to long !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## dallasrick

Miles, am having a great time reading your fishing reports, keep em coming.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya

Trip report time again!! 

I've been very busy with my commercial tuna fishing, which unfortunately, has led to my diving time being severly hampered!! Our tuna season started off with a bang and the fishing is quite unbelievable!! Every week, it simply seems to get better and better. How-ever, seeing as this is a diving forum, i won't bore you with the details of line fishing......

Last week, i had two ardent spearo's from Finland come and visit. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so co-operative, so the obligatory sight-seeing was done!! Table-Mountain and Two Oceans Aquaruim were simply AMAZING!!!

Well, the weather did clear up and we had a spearable day. The morning didn't start well, with a thick fog bank for the first 30nm of the trip. Not fun if if you don't have a radar.....

Oh well, we reached the tuna grounds in one peice. Water was blue, warm, but not that clean. 10-15m viz at best. The day started off very slow, with only reports of the odd fish coming out. By 12:00, the spearo's hadn't even entered the water yet!! Not exactly what these spearo's, who had travelled half way across the world, wanted.

FINALLY, i give them the go-ahead and with-out much fuss, they jump in. Literally minutes later, i see Jukka's board sliding across the surface!! First shot with my 63" Tommy Botha mid-handle and he's ON!!! Half an hour later, he boats his FIRST tuna AND largest fish to date. 49kg's!!!

Mikko, who selflessly, assisted his dive buddy, by simply keeping an eye on all the procedings, jumped back in, to try and spear his tuna. A short while later, i see his board also being pulled across the surface!!! BRILLIANT!!! half an hour later, just as he is about to dive, to put a second shot in, the fish tears off!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! 

Mikko was devasted!!! So close, yet so far. Unfortunately, the fish has now sounded and we resume looking for more fish. It's late afternoon and i spot a trawler. Run up behind him and start my chum trail. With-out much hope the spearo's jump in again. I manage to raise another school, and have YF smashing the chum on the surface!! Mikko, unfortunately, is have a terrible day!! He misses one fish, the clean water making the fish seem closer than what it is, then hitting a fish in the gill plate, which merely BENDS the spear!!! The dis-appointment on his face was dis-hearteming..... 

Oh well, i pass him the 67" Tommy Botha gun, with a 10mm (3/8) spear. First shot with the gun and i hear screams of joy!!! FISH ON!!!!! 40 minutes later, he puts a second shot in. An hour later, he manages to despatch the fish and get it to the boat!! His FIRST Yellowfin too AND his biggest fish to date!!! 82kg's!!!! Absolutely BRILLIANT!!!

Just to put things into perspective, these divers spent less than 3 hours in the water and managed to spear and land two YF, on what i considered to be a BAD day!! Needless to say, plans are already put in place for their next visit in October, when there are PLENTY of the larger YF's around!!

It was really great to have such wonderful guests!! And it was even better, to supply them with a lifetime of memories from the Fairest Cape!!

Regards
miles


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## Argo

you never disappoint with your reviews. I always imagine it with a british type accent.....


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## Ragman

Argo- South African accents sometimes get confused with the British! LOL

Great report Miles and thanks for the pictures too!

Excellent and I'll bet no other board has a thread on tuna like this!


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## BPitcher

Awesome!


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## agulhas

miles is that mandelas old home in the background? beautiful views. lions head and devils peak in the background. one of the most beautiful views on the planet.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Been a bit busy harrassing the YF population. Fishing has been EXPLOSIVE, with FULL fish hatch's by early afternoon being the norm. Since most of you are probably bored of the usual 50-90kg (100-200lb) YF pic's, here's a couple of pic's worth mentioning:

Pic1, 2, 3 and 4 - DORADO, MAHI-MAHI, DOLPHIN FISH
A rare visitor to our waters. My crew posing with these tasty fish.

Pic5 and 6 - Albacore. Very common, but fish of this size would be considered to be largish for the species here in Cape Town. My wife with a 29.04kg (63.89lb's), taken on 16lb tackle, with a metal spoon.


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## haparks

where yall at n w coast n e coast i love to know


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## haparks

is this portugal or where


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## haparks

if the water is that cold u need a dry suit check intoo dui dry suits they are the best


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## trodery

haparks said:


> is this portugal or where


South Africa


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## Ragman

Hey Miles!

Great pics!

In the last pic, in that an OTI jig we sent you?

I'm anxious to see your wife try the poppers to see how they stand up to your monsters! LOL


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## agulhas

that water is cold. kind of same as san francisco. it's atlantic as it rounds to meet the indian.


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## captainemil

That is some cool pictures


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## Seahuntress

Beautiful Dr. Miles...alway's thanks for sharing.


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## Quint

Good Pics!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

*25 April 2007*

Fished in a local comp. on my friends 32' cat. Lumpy 10' swell with 25knts of wind. Not for the faint-hearted or those prone to sea-sickness!! Spent the first hour trying to troll in that conditions, with very little success. After persuading the skipper, he allows me to take charge and 10 minutes later, triple hook-up on bait!! I boated my fish very quickly, and proceded to take some pic's and make some video clips!! We ended up having a HOT school of YF hitting chum right next to the boat.

Unfortunately, my friends daughter fell ill and was admitted to hospital, so when he recieved that message, we simply up-ed lines and ran for home. The fish will always be there, family comes first!!

At the scales, we didn't fare that well. My wife took second place in the womans division, with a 63kg (138lb's) YF and we took about 8th place in the mens largest YF for the day. Not bad for 1.5hrs fishing!! My buddy took first place for the day with a 86kg (189lb's).

Thankfully, my friends daughter has been dis-charged today, so those fish better beware for the rest of the comp!!!


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## fishinguy

Nice job, those seas do not look like much fun.


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## Third Coast Fishing

Good job Miles and kudos to your bride for her 2nd place YF! I always look forward to your post, keep'em coming! TCF


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## Batboy0068

That is huge. We need to see if someone on this site would like to hold that one for a pic.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

28 April 2007

Second day of the comp. Once again, a fairly lumpy sea, which became rather pleasant towards mid-morning, only to deteriorate again, later.....

Unfortunately, we simply couldn't find the bigger class of YF's, all our fish were in the 120-130lb class. We DID how-ever find a school of very decent sized albacore, with my wife taking a 25.75kg (56.65lb's) albacore, which earned her second place in the MENS albacore section for the day, as well as second largest albacore for the comp!! We also managed to take 4th, 5th and 6th place for overall largest albacores, all our fish 48-55lb's.

Final prize giving tomorrow, so i'll know whether my wife will take top ladies angler and whether we'll get top boat as well.......


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Hiya


Some random pic's of the last few days.......


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## wacker

Very nice Miles, Back in california we would jump up and down when we catch 40 lb Albies. Here is a random pick of how it has been in the gulf.


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

Update time!!

Been quite busy for the last couple of weeks, with some good weather allowing us to get out quite a bit.

The tuna scene has quitened down a bit, but we still managed to eke out a couple of fish.

Picture1 - yet another 29kg (64lb's) Albacore. Simply CAN'T seem to break the 30kg barrier!!

Picture2 - some Yellowfin marks on my echo-sounder, showing between 20-30m deep

Picture3 and 4 - crew posing with yet another tuna!!
















Picture5 - stunning end to a wonderful day at sea!!


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## miles "Dr. Fish"

See-ing how poorly the tuna have been lately, my crew desperately wanted some fresh fish for their homes....... so off to harrass some inshore fish!!

Fishing with the usual handlines, i hooked into a small cat/dog shark of about a meter (3') long. At the same time, my mobile phone rings. I leave the line and answer the phone, jamming it between my ear and shoulder, so that i can continue pulling up the pesky little shark. At the boat, i look down into the water, only to be greeted by a 3m Great White baring its teeth at me!!! I quickly drop the phone, pass the line to a crew member and dive into the cabin for my camera!! The GW chomped the small shark on my line in half, then turned. The crew member i had passed my line to, had meanwhile pulled the head part of the now deceased shark back to the boat. The GW ended up JUMPING out of the water to get the remaining head part that was still attached to my line, smashing into the side of the boat in the process!!! Luckliy the boat wasn't damaged. Unfortunately for me, i was too slow with the camera and only got a photo of the shark passing the back of the boat. Tried chumming to get him to come back, but it was not to be........


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