Big mako on fly......off cape point

[PezVela]

"Time flies" was the thought that entered my mind Friday morning at 4h30. Its was exactly 18 or so months since I hit offshore - no reason other than a 14kg / 16 month old energy packed toddler and a growing business.

Friday morning 4h30 the alarm beckoned, I was hammered - a week of hectic work, late nights and early mornings had me worn.
The 4h30 came sooner than expected. I packed my gear and drove to "on the fly" , not forgetting the traditional stop at the engen to stock up on sandwiches and coffee.

5h45 I arrive, "on the fly" still looks amazing ! August had packed most of the boat - thanks mate. All we needed to pack my kit , rods , cameras and a hectic dose of courage. There seems to be an element of self doubt that infiltrates your
mind when you haven't fished in a while. The adage "its like riding bike" rang in my mind , never the less I was still uncertain. How was my body going to cope, was I not biting more off than I could chew , maybe we shouldn't target tuna and rather focus on snoek...you know , get back into the swing of things. Too late!

A quick check of the boat and gear , contact lenses in and away we were. Her 22 ft hull slid in the cool 14 degree water with ease , her four-strokes barely making an impression on the sullen calm morning. With the sun peering over the mountains , we flanked its rays out the harbour and towards Cape Point.

August , the gentleman he always is offered me the helm. I was apprehensive - "its been a while" i thought. Grasping the stainless wheel , the energy of the boat went pulsating through my hands and I - immediately felt alive , the wind rushing
through my hair , a small lump grew in my throat - one of immense relief and adoration for this genre of fishing. Its a true team sport and felt so good to back onboard with my team mate.

Offshore fly-fishing is so far from the peaceful quiet calm environments we all cut out teeth on , its loud and heavy, expensive, hard on your body and more so on your tackle. Its a commitment with a sell by date - something will give! Its a harsh reality knowing that at the age of 35 I am showing the signs of the wear on my body. The overwhelming fact is that I love this sport , if a person is this committed then you certainly will push through the pain and suffering.

An hour passed , Cape Point was poking its head out through the fog , I was nervous...what lay ahead. The fog looked thick , the clouds
on the distant horizon looked immense and the sea certainly wasn't looking inviting. We decided to run beyond the point and test the ocean , first thing you
consider is the deep ocean structure off cape point - namely THE BELLOWS. The last time I was out , I took Morne Strydom and Colin out for
some longies. It was a perfectly flat and clear day , the not so typical - one in a million day. Even though we have gps , one always looks out for
these things. I have never seen bellows on a flat day and wasn't too sure what it would look like , the ordinary bellows looks like an angry aggressive reef that wants to suck you in and roll you over its rocky gut , it spits and spews spray meters in the air.
On that day ,i couldn't see it , UNTIL I WAS ON IT! I briefly shat myself and made a rapid correction to our course. Morne and Colin were non the wiser.
Today we saw that horrid menace and glided past it safely.

August and I made it beyond the bellows by about 5miles or so, the sea looked bumpy. We had to make a call. We radioed, "Tyler , Tyler , Tyler" , "this is on
the fly , on the fly , over". Tyler was ahead of us by about 10 miles or so, her skipper Gareth radioed back , reporting our fears , the sea is rough and promised to make our day tough , he proposes we rather wait 30 minutes. we cruised beyond bellows waiting Gareth's feedback.
"on the fly , on the fly, this is Tyler , over". Gareth said the sea was getting worse.
We made a call, not going to the Canyon but rather fish the point and surrounds for tail or snoek.

Not long afterwards we saw birds working , baitfish on the surface. We were on the fish. The eco sounder confirmed this. We dropped jigs to 30 meters, with a few cranks
we had our first of many double hook ups - Snoek. We released in excess of 20 snoek.

"What are we doing, we here to flyfish!" I thought , and out came my T&T 12 weight
a quick double haul, the head shot out and landed , the line lay down current, while we drifted past the line allowing it to sink. Before long it straightened, two strips and I was "vas" a huge snoek peeled line off my reel. A few seconds later - dead! I was deflated, I was bitten off. Okay if that's the game they wanna play then so be it.
Unpacked my gear, 100lb flouro ... uh no how do I join these lines again. Gees has my brain turned to mush. Oh yes that's it , the slim beauty , a true beauty it is. Such an
effective knot to tie and such a wonderful feeling seating it. Oh the small victories in life. "I remembered the knot, i thought!". My confidence grew and my chest puffed a little more.

Okay so where have the snoek gone? Eco - clear, baitfish - gone, snoek - gone!!! I was perplexed. We chummed a little and a little more and then suddenly out the blue snoek swarmed around the boat.
They were everywhere , August nailed a massive snoek on his jigging outfit, cranking it to the surface , the braided line twanging under pressure when miraculously the already strong snoek gained an almost steroidal like burst. It went wild , it penetrated the surface and swam in huge circles in front of us as if its life depended on it , then
without warning a huge Blue pointer, torpedoed toward it ... the snoek tried to make a quick getaway by swimming beneath the boat.
The Mako was just too fast - well actually it was more like a marlin, the aggression and speed was something to behold, it punched through and planned over the surface to get the snoek , it was violent, the burst of power propelled it half way up the gunwale pushing gallons of water into the boat. This happened millimetres away from August's wedding tackle. We were hysterical.

@#$% the snoek we want the mako - on fly!

Historically August and I have often seen Makos while tuna fishing , Shaun Mills also tussled with one some years back. We have often tried targeting them but always get bitten by a Blue shark or tuna. The Makos appear to be more subdued, almost calculating. The short finned mako or Isurus oxyrinchus a cousin (Family: Lamnidae) of the great white , swims at an average speed of 35km/h and can reach 80kmh in rapid bursts , usually ejecting it from the water in huge cartwheel jumps. Their appearance and demeanour are identical to great whites , slow calculating
and opportunistic. It will never just frenzy its way around.

Maybe today was different , maybe this is the real mako we are meant to see. Fast, determined, aggressive and violent. Perfect for fly-fishing!

Augusts 13weight T&T was pre rigged with 100kg wire and a chartreuse feather duster , we dropped chum to keep the mako in the surrounds while we prepared for the battle. Clearing the deck , getting the cameras and HDV recorders ready. We were set and the mako was still cruising , I could clearly see the needle teeth poking out from its semi closed mouth.
August cast , the line straightened and plop the fly landed, with in a millisecond the Mako was onto his fly , sucked it in, turn and swam away from us. Instinct dictated what was about to happen, I steady myself and the camera, the line peeled from Augusts palm. BANG he hit the fly hard and leaned into the rod , tugging on the line to "pull start" the mako.

The line screamed from his reel, like all large marlin when hooked , it dived deep and swam in a semi circle , once it reached its depth , it turned on the afterburners and accelerated to the surface, its rapid burst of speed expelled the mako from the water , launching it 2 meters in the air. Screams of joy and laughter!

August was "on"

The fish fought hard for over an hour , bursts of acceleration dotted the hour long fight. August remained focused and strong , not showing any signs of weakness or wear. He had the determination of a man on a mission.
Nearer to the end the Mako circled the entire boat , I was forced to manoeuvre the boat continuously, sterning and turning while filming. This was the first time we managed to get a good look at him. Silver blue in colour with a pitch black eye preceded by a sharp pointed nose adorned with millions of ampullae of Lorenzini.

We had to ensure his safe release, not an easy feat considering you either cutting the fly off or using a dehooker adjacent to those needle teeth , a swift shake of its head could render a hand useless. We had to revive him and release him safely. With motors in gear we plodded along , turning it into the current. August held the leader tight , while I filmed close-ups and even stroked its dorsal fin and flanks.
August then clasped the dehooker around the bend of the hook , a single rapid tug and the mako was free , unharmed and swimming strongly.

Calmness descended upon the boat , a presence of spiritual serenity lay upon us and we just basked in the moment, we repeated the phrase Mike Gradidge often uses , "this is a *** moment". August stared into the blue water while I snapped away.
I looked at him with admiration and congratulated him , we shook hands and gave high-fives. This is why he is easily one of the top fly fishermen around.

Later the day , we hooked and landed a 3m Bronze whaler. I had the fortune of hooking and landing two Blue sharks , we took home a total of 5 snoek.
We wrapped the day up , stored the rods, gear and cleared the deck of the boat and made the long run to harbour island with the sun on our port flank.
The wind laid down and the sea flattened , averaging 25knts I looked at August and said,

"bud, today G0D was showing off"

[Rendier]

Awesome read mate. Should have it published in one of the mags

[rseebach]

awsome thread. thnks.

[Garage]

Love your work Karlos. Awesome.

My question is: Why did you and August decide to do a day like that while I was in London???!

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[rols]

A refreshing adventure read to wind down an exasperating day. I could almost smell the shark's breath as you took the hook out.
Thanks.

[PezVela]

Love your work Karlos. Awesome.

My question is: Why did you and August decide to do a day like that while I was in London???!

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

MAAAATE?! Sorry bro , you know we never get it right to connect for an offshore trip at least you got a mention. Just keep the classic chirps coming along , my mind absorbs them like a sponge. Example , as full as a .... , happy as ....., this is an orgasm for your ....., and on and on and on and on. This way I can script you in the article and report back every occasion with out having to put you tthrough the misery of waking up at 4h30 after 29 minutes of sleep , after hacking with gus and matt!

Maybe we should start a thread in order to include you , something like ,
"SHOW US YOUR DOUBLE HOOK UP ON CLAN YELLOWS" whoops!

[swsmith]

Love your work Karlos. Awesome.

My question is: Why did you and August decide to do a day like that while I was in London???!

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

capt mike,the reason u dont crack the nod is,cos rumour has it you havnt quite found your sea legs yet...stick to what you do best....bowling express pace deliveries at over 140kph.

[PezVela]

Mike can bowl? Nooit he is better at sniffing out monster fish and landing them on a 5w redington. WHich I am sure the new jigging rods have based their designs on.

[HolyGT]

Great story as well as a fantastic fish!

Well done on getting the fish, footage and the experience. Nothing like being prepared for an opportunity like that to come along and having a cast at it? Flyfishing for shark is a humbling and often overlooked area of flyfishing and we are fortunate enough in SA still to have some good stock of shark left, albeit they are definately under huge fishing pressure.

Nice to read something exiting on the forum again!

[Garage]

That Redington is THE rod brother. It eats T&T's and cr&ps Sages. But then you know. You've seen it in action.

Stephen thinks I'm Dale Steyn's long, lost twin brother. He's clearly hit himself on the back of the head once to many times with those big clousers of his.

And there's nothing wrong with my sealegs. Its the wonky way that Conrad was driving the boat.