Big waves, big swells & big fish!

The Capetonians on the kayaks around me disappeared from view every now and then as huge swells passed between and underneath us. They braved launching through big surf in front of the Demares Holiday Resort at Chidenguele in Mozambique in search of adventure. I decided to make an easier launch a kilometer to the south and joined them once we were behind the breakers. The team makes ready to go fishing. Gerhard Lourens made big wave surfing look easy with his Stealth Supalight Kayak. A proud Reyno Strijdom shows off his first ever King Mackerel. Valie Pretorius, Tommy Kruger, Reyno Strijdom, Kobus Stander, André Viljoen, Shaun Creswell and Gerhard Lourens, all members of the Western Cape Kayak Fishing Club (WCKFC), decided to travel all the way from Cape Town to Chidenguele in Mozambique (nearly 2500kms) to experience the epic reel screams of King Mackerel, Yellowfin Tuna and other large pelagic fish. They are no strangers to kayak fishing and paddling in the Western Cape waters. When the weather conditions are right, they even paddle the 8km to and around Robben Island in search of their prey, Bonito (Capetonians know it as Katonkel), Yellowtail, Snoek, Slender Tuna and various species of bottom fish. Valie Pretorious had a good day on the water and came home with three big King Mackerel. WCKFC WCKFC was established 3 years ago and currently has 46 members. The Club has a monthly competition during which members can accumulate points for the annual top 5 competition. The winner receives the Club’s prestigious floating trophy. The Club is also known for its annual War-in-the-Shore competition open to all kayak fishermen, held each September at Three Anchor Bay. In 2018, 72 kayak fishermen participated in the competition. The Club’s favourite fishing areas are Cape Point and Three Anchor Bay. They only use lures to fish for pelagic fish and never troll bait. Valie Pretorious with his first King Mackerel. Members have to paddle long distances to fish and paddle up to 30km in a single day during a fishing outing! The predatory fish around Cape Town are, however, not as formidable as King Mackerel, commonly known as Couta, found on the East Coast up to Mozambique. Cape Town is known for the large tuna caught in its waters, but these catches are made in waters far from the shore and out of reach of kayak fisherman. Valie heard about the big fish being caught in Mozambique and decided to investigate. He teamed up with other club members and they set out to catch a decent sized Yellowfin Tuna as well as King Mackerel. The Capetonians did their research on how to and where to fish in the Mozambican waters and decided that Chidenguele is the place to go to. Armed with way points, Couta traces and Japanese Mackerel as bait, they were ready for the new fishing waters. I met them at Chidenguele to share their adventure. Drop-off We were fishing along a drop-off in front of the Demares Holiday Resort, 2km from shore, where the bottom suddenly drops from 25m to 36m, when a reel suddenly screamed. A predator had grabbed the Japanese Mackerel that Valie was trolling. There was a bend in his rod and line was peeling of his reel at an alarming rate. By the time he had pulled his other line in, his reel was nearly empty. He set out to fight the strong fish, which took him in tow. At first, he thought it was a shark but after a while he could see the shine of the fish underneath him and he realised that it was a big King Mackerel. He gaffed it on his first attempt and boated his first ever King Mackerel! A King Mackerel showing its true colours. Over the next few days we managed to catch a few more fish although conditions remained tough with big seas and the sediment discolouring the water. The sea was big, and the wind stirred up. We had to work hard for our fish and even harder to launch through the big surf and to paddle back to shore on our return. Not everybody managed to make it through and not everybody caught fish, but that is kayak fishing. On the last day Valie eventually managed to do what he set out to do - he hooked and boated a Yellowfin Tuna that could not resist a half beak on a Couta trace! Big fish, big waves We set out to catch big fish. We managed to catch big fish and as a bonus also conquered big waves and big swells. Valie posted the photos of their adventures on the WCKFC’s Facebook page and news of their catches quickly spread, so it seems that on our next trip to Mozambique there will be 20 kayak fishermen from Cape Town to conquer big waves, big swell and big fish! Valie Pretorius set out to catch his first Yellowfin Tuna. Kobus Stander with his catch. Tommy Kruger and Valie Pretorious with a King Mackerel each.