Yellowfin Tuna spotted in the waves.....

[phly]

Hi all who are interested....

On a recent successful fishing trip up to Kosi, a mate and i were walking back along the beach after a good day's fishing when we spotted two large fish swimming side-by-side towards us down the one wave...

They moved very quickly and effortlessly and were clearly visible, coming to within 10m of the shore, circling a few times and then moving out just as quickly....

While they were coming down the waves their very large pectoral fins and torpedo-like shape were clealy visible and then when they turned side-on to us their shape and other fins were distinctive...

Some might disagree but we were both convinced they were yellowfin tuna. Later on we caught up with good friends of ours who have lived up in that region for the past 25 or so years and were hesitant to suggest seeing those fish as normally they're an offshore species but the sea had been unusually calm for a few days..Our friends weren't amazed and had earlier spotted several dorado chases just behind backline! Another mate told of fishing on a fishing ski off Sodwana and having a yellowfin tuna come up next to him in the waves.

Has anyone else seen these fish so close to the shore or heard of them coming in like that?

[MCC]

Hi there Paul

In Cape Town, at Rooikranz, a couple of Yellowfin Tuna are hooked by the spinning crowd off the ledges every year. This normally happens during December or January when the warm water pushes all the way in to Cape Point. None of these have been landed in a few years though.

Cheers
MC

[Scythe]

Why would you say that is MCC ? Are the guys just totally undergunned for the fish they hook into ?

[Jasper]

Why would you say that is MCC ? Are the guys just totally undergunned for the fish they hook into ?

The FEW anglers that have managed to land big Tuna from the spinning ledges (first one was about 50-60 years ago - read the classic books by Biden, also Schoeman) must be superb anglers. I have caught many yellowfin up to about 90kg from my skiboat - and cannot imagine landing one from the side!!

I hope to be proved wrong - but I think it would be impossible to land a large (say 50kg+) Tuna from the shore using a FLY rod. Apart from that, the spinner men on the ledges would not allow fly-fishing during a run of fish - there is usually not enough space, and a fouled line often results in the spinner men losing their lures and a lot of line!

[chris williams]

That's right Jasper. I remember that old Schoeman book when it was 'normal' to get them off the ledges by spinning - as you say, I'd award a VC for anyone who could nab one on a fly off one of those ledges..

[Nepptune]

Phly - First off... where the hell have you been mate? We been missing your reports and pics bro!!!

Second - did you see any colouration of the fish in the waves? Why I ask is that when you are catching tuna in the deep, you start to see colour pretty deep down and the yellow of their fins and sickles are pretty evident.... just wondering if you saw any colour...

Thirdly - Where are the pics?!?!? :-)

As to Tuna off the ledges at Rooikranz... I think the biggest fish landed from the ledges was a 186 lb ( 84 kilo ) Yellowfin by Jackie Wheeler in the 60's.... thats fishing!!!!!
They also used to Hook Bluefin from those ledges, but obviously none were ever landed....

[Jasper]

I once saw a pair of Yellowfin off Rooikranz (while spinning for Tail) ... great excitement and a rain of spoons - but no hookup!! But is was really adrenaline-pumping stuff for a few moments!!

[Korrie]

There is a documented, with photographs, incidence of a youngster of about 10 years old catching a tuna, quite sure it was a yellow fin, of about 10kg from the beach/rocks at Balito.
This happened about 35 years ago. All the locals was amazed, as this has never happened in "their life".
These fish might be more often than we think quite close in.

Korrie

[Arthur]

As to Tuna off the ledges at Rooikranz... I think the biggest fish landed from the ledges was a 186 lb ( 84 kilo ) Yellowfin by Jackie Wheeler in the 60's.... thats fishing!!!!!
They also used to Hook Bluefin from those ledges, but obviously none were ever landed....

Nepps I think it was 156 lb - I was reading about it an old book of my Dad's about angling in SA in the good old days - amazing stuff.
Things like photos of a 93lb red steenbras caught off the Bull Nose in Simonstown.Fantastic feats, considering the unsophisticated tackle they had back in the 50's and 60's.

[Nepptune]

Arthur - I could be wrong mate... I've always remembered it as 186 lbs.... but if you can double check that I'd love to find out... either way, what a fish....
Unreal fishing truly back in those days, and with that tackle... I was paging through "A Fishermans Tale" again last night, about fishing the Natal Coast during the 30s till the early 70's.... unbelievable what those guys achieved on that tackle... 1000 + pound sharks on bamboo rods, Scarboroughs, and flax line, from the beach, in under 3 hours.... Crazy stuff....