Another great afternoon on the boat today
(In-spite of what people may think from my posts on other topics, Arabia is a truly amazing and varied place, with many generous and kindly people too)
A 3:30 pm cast off.
New leaders on the fly-rods. Flies selected. A bit of a lottery. There is no "matching the hatch" with this Blue Water fly-fishing malarky.
Previous knowledge helps a bit so I elected to go small
(A three inch baitfish imitator is small for this game)
Stayed local and looked for signs of activity. No "rising fish" for this caper - though sometimes a fish leaping can be a clue
Local artisanal fishermen are always a great sign , but there were none today (funnily enough they did turn up once we were into fish, so it works both ways)
We chugged around for half an hour or so,. I knew there had been Long Tail Tuna in a certain area the previous week do we headed there.
Seagulls!
Seagulls are one of the best indicators an offshore game-fisherman can have. There was a mob of the shite-hawks flapping around and bobbing on and off the water,
We steered the boat steadily towards where they were (no point in going gung-ho, that will just put the fish down quick sharp)
Slipped her into neutral and had at it
We were soon into fish
I was on my trusty 7# Greys and Ian was on his 9# Farlows , though we swapped around a bit, We had a few double hook-ups which was great.. (potential pandemonium)
We killed 5 Long-Tail Tuna. Lost three, usually when they ran towards the boat . Stripping line by hand would work but when they run again - and you are usually down to the backing at this stage, they scream away, thrilling stuff but I value my fingers too much for that thank you very much!
We also had 4 Kawakawa (Mackerel Tuna) but as we do not feed cats they were released (also no good for the table)
A perfect afternoon.... Fresh air , great sport, a few fish, great company and a stunning back-drop
(PS The Knife. A Mora Companion Stainless that simply refuses to die. It not only prepares all sorts of food - got some chips in it from batoning through lamb shanks -ooh err, kills and guts fish, batons very hard Acacia wood for the Braai and has done countless other tasks that I can't even remember. 8 years young, still going strong and only cost me £12 )
Ade
(In-spite of what people may think from my posts on other topics, Arabia is a truly amazing and varied place, with many generous and kindly people too)
A 3:30 pm cast off.
New leaders on the fly-rods. Flies selected. A bit of a lottery. There is no "matching the hatch" with this Blue Water fly-fishing malarky.
Previous knowledge helps a bit so I elected to go small
(A three inch baitfish imitator is small for this game)
Stayed local and looked for signs of activity. No "rising fish" for this caper - though sometimes a fish leaping can be a clue
Local artisanal fishermen are always a great sign , but there were none today (funnily enough they did turn up once we were into fish, so it works both ways)
We chugged around for half an hour or so,. I knew there had been Long Tail Tuna in a certain area the previous week do we headed there.
Seagulls!
Seagulls are one of the best indicators an offshore game-fisherman can have. There was a mob of the shite-hawks flapping around and bobbing on and off the water,
We steered the boat steadily towards where they were (no point in going gung-ho, that will just put the fish down quick sharp)
Slipped her into neutral and had at it
We were soon into fish
I was on my trusty 7# Greys and Ian was on his 9# Farlows , though we swapped around a bit, We had a few double hook-ups which was great.. (potential pandemonium)
We killed 5 Long-Tail Tuna. Lost three, usually when they ran towards the boat . Stripping line by hand would work but when they run again - and you are usually down to the backing at this stage, they scream away, thrilling stuff but I value my fingers too much for that thank you very much!
We also had 4 Kawakawa (Mackerel Tuna) but as we do not feed cats they were released (also no good for the table)
A perfect afternoon.... Fresh air , great sport, a few fish, great company and a stunning back-drop
(PS The Knife. A Mora Companion Stainless that simply refuses to die. It not only prepares all sorts of food - got some chips in it from batoning through lamb shanks -ooh err, kills and guts fish, batons very hard Acacia wood for the Braai and has done countless other tasks that I can't even remember. 8 years young, still going strong and only cost me £12 )
Ade
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