Herald Fishing: Ski-boat anglers reel in a fine catch

DEEP sea anglers had to get their game plan together in order to win the grand prize of two 150 horsepower four-stroke Mercury motors worth R400 000 when they descended from all over South Africa on Shelly Beach Ski-boat Club for the annual Shelly Beach Ski-boat Festival that started last Wednesday and concluded on Saturday.

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The popular fish-off coincided with the best fishing tides and the annual sardine run which brings in the best fish.

In past years, fishermen had seen some excellent catches coming in, having caught yellowfin tuna, king mackerel, couta and a wide assortment of gamefish and this year was no different.

A number of anglers signed up to brave the big seas and try to capture the main prize. There were safe launching conditions at all of the launch sites from Port Edward through to Durban, but it was Shelly Beach Ski-boat Club that featured as the preferred launch site with the majority of boats launching there to go in search of yellowfin tuna and amberjack.

Fishing was slow on day one with very few reports of decent fish caught.

It was a pleasant surprise for the large crowd gathered in the tent at the prize-giving last Saturday night when Lourens Viljoen and his team, fishing off ‘Bliksem’ caught the winning fish, a 40.9kg yellowfin tuna.

Second place was scooped by Paul Marshall with his 28.5kg couta and third place went to Chris Nel with his 27.6kg yellowfin tuna. The top junior angler was Michael Joubert and the top woman angler was Megan du Plessis.

With such fabulous prizes and some of the best fishing in the world, anglers and spectators were delighted with the four-day programme, including the entertainment for the whole family.

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