TAKING advantage of the annual sardine run, Overport resident, Roarke Hamilton caught a 316kg male Zambezi shark off Orange Rocks in Margate recently. The shark was tagged and released back into the ocean.
“There is no bigger male landed off the land. It will fall under the unofficial category because I used a drone to take my bait out. I am the current holder of the female Zambezi Shark record, weighing in at 300kgs,” he said.
Also read: Durban angler nets whopping 400kg shark
“There’s been a lot of action on the South Coast, sardines have been everywhere. The conditions were a bit challenging that day, so we decided to pick a deep water point and then flew the bait out with a drone. When we arrived the conditions were so challenging that we left the fishing spot and went to get a coffee while we waited for conditions to get better. When we were able to fly the drone, I sent my friend’s bait out and within 30 seconds he had hooked a big shark of his own. He got dragged about a kilometre t the left, so I was left alone to fly my bait out solo with the drone,” he said.
“Within three minutes I got a bite. It took about an hour and a half to land (the catch). It was a gruelling fight. I’ve had seven hour fights, but this hour and a half, I’ll never forget, purely because of the terrain where we had to land the fish and release the fish. It was super challenging,” he said.
Hamilton said he used a Tackle Centre custom-made 13 foot rod.
Also read: Sardine run flows into Durban waters
“I used the Makaira 50W Reel which has 1.2km of 100lb Winch Braid on, a 100 pound braid. I used a custom trace made by The Trace Guy which consist of 2ml cable, a giant power swivel and demon 14/0 and 16/0 hooks. All of this equipment is super heavy and strong which halves the fight duration, meaning that the fish is under less stress and can be released back into the water quicker,” he said.
Hamilton said he belongs to a tagging project run by ORI (Oceanographic Research Institute) which supplies tags to anglers so they can gather information about marine life.
“Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535. You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple
