EXCITEMENT GALORE

TWO OCEANS MARLIN TOURNAMENT

By Helen Fenwich

MORE than 17 years after Meirion Williams,Traill Witthuhn,Gawie Bruwer,Hannes Schreuder,Gerard de Kock,Johan Jooste and Johan van der Walt first discovered there was a viable marlin fishery in the Agulhas area,the Two Oceans Marlin Tournament is still going strong.

The 17th running of this event,held in February 2023, drew 16 boats and many anglers,all keen to catch that elusive monster of the sea.

The first day started off cool and overcast with a light south-westerly blowing,but the overcast conditions did not last and the anglers had a beautiful,sunny day and the fishing was good.

The first call came into Marlin Control at 09:07 when Simon Lowe on My Way reported an on/off.

The next was from Gwaza at 11:25 but their fish also didn’t stay connected.

There was great excitement when John Graeme called in a double strike at 11:50.Wayne Cooke managed to hook and fight it for almost an hour,before measuring and safely releasing a ±317kg black marlin at 12:36.Here he shares his story:

by Wayne Cooke, John Graeme

It is Day One and we are lines in for my fifth Two Oceans Marlin Tournament at Struisbaai.I must admit,I did not have high expectations as I had yet to catch a marlin or even be part of a team catching one.As normal,the bonnies were set and ready for action.

After a while it was my turn to watch the rods.Around midday,one reel started to slowly give line — something was eating my bonnie.The next minute our other rod also went stiff and started giving line.

“Shark!”called one of the crew,as surely it’s not possible to hook two marlin simultaneously.

Hylton Goatley took charge of one rod and I took the other.I promised myself that I was going to give whatever was on the other end time to swallow the bait,and I freespooled for about two minutes.

At the same time,Hylton went tight on the drag and a big black marlin jumped clean out of the water! There was total chaos on John Graeme.Some ran around for the Black Magic harness and others just ran around from sheer excitement. I decided to tighten up the drag on my reel,still not believing what was happening.I was happily looking out the back of John Graeme, expecting whatever was on my line to show itself as not too much line was being taken.Nothing showed. Of course if I’d bothered to look ninety degrees to my left,I would have seen a massive marlin jumping and going crazy.

All the attention was now on me as I heard skipper Chris Goatley radioing that we had not hooked the first marlin but were still hooked up on the second.I have never had so much attention from the crew before — I was offered water and asked if I was feeling okay,and the doctor onboard was even happy to inject me if I required a boost at any stage.

I was pumped with excitement as I realised that it was up to me to catch this one for the team.I was reminded of this more than once by my team mates!

“Don’t F*** it up,Cookie!”I heard one of them warn.

Thanks to some great skill from our skipper and 55 minutes of hard fighting from me,my first marlin finally showed itself next to the John Graeme where it was excitedly measured and then released to fight another day.

It is a day I will always remember!

***

Shortly afterwards Dory had a black marlin of about 200kg play with their baits,give a lit-up performance,and take the live skipjack bait,but they could not capture it.

The next day the fleet set off in beautiful weather once again,and quite a few bronze and mako “marlin”were called in to Marlin Control.

Towards the end of the day Bad Company had a hook up and fought for over an hour,but the marlin won and swam away free.

Day Three today turned out to be very exciting,with Marlin Control receiving constant reports of hook ups,and the day ended with two great catches.

At the beginning of the tournament,Gareth Beaumont promised to allow himself to be towed back to the harbour on a surfboard if their boat caught a marlin.Well,they did and, true to is word,dressed in his bright green wetsuit and hoisting the marlin flag high he was towed in behind Mojo

Below,Serge Wessels from Indigo relates his story and Grant van der Westhuyzen tells how the team helped Jacques van Niekerk catch and release his black marlin ....

by Serge Wessels, Indigo

I was fishing onboard Indigo,skippered by Gawie Bruwer,and being a novice to marlin fishing,I did not realise what a team activity it was,and what experience was required by the other crew.Without the skipper keeping the fish correctly positioned in relation to the boat,the crew member pulling in the leader and grabbing the bill,the member removing the hook and importantly the camera person confirming the catch, there would be a very slim chance of us successfully catching and releasing such a magnificent fish.

I was fortunate to catch a striped marlin and be part of the crew that caught a black marlin,being able to witness the glorious colours of both excited fish as they lit up close to the boat.The black marlin gave us a fantastic aerial display,making for many memorable moments.

by Grant van der Westhuyzen, Mojo

From zero to complete pandemonium can best describe the sensation of raising a marlin and enticing it to strike at the 2023 Two Oceans Marlin Tournament.

The hours of preparation,maintenance,planning,research — and the money — that go into catching one of these beautiful creatures of the deep all becomes worth it when you finally see the silhouette in the spread.

Mojo’s skipper and crew had managed to raise a couple of striped marlin on day one and two of the tournament,but the fish just wouldn’t commit to what we had to offer;they seemed well fed,lethargic and hesitant to strike.After careful deliberation,we decided to stick to our guns and fish the same area as we did the previous day.

We reached our fishing grounds and started setting the spread running two teasers short (starboard and port) with a flasher in between with two short konas,two long and the Japan running way back.There was the usual tweaking to get the konas running at their optimum.Keeping them running perfectly in the ever-changing conditions was a responsibility bestowed on Mojo’s fishing master (Gareth Beaumont) and me.

It had been pre-arranged that if we hooked a striped marlin,skipper Jacques “Mojo”van Niekerk would be on the rod. After all,the man has a Pacific blue,Atlantic blue,a black and a white marlin under his belt.It would only be fair to give him the opportunity to catch his fifth species of marlin here in his local waters.

We had been trolling for half an hour when one of the competing boats 500m away from us went tight on a marlin. We were happy for them,but it was disheartening to say the least.Not long after that, Indigo successfully caught and released a healthy sized striped marlin.The pressure was on.

We kept grinding away and at 12h00 Gareth and I spotted the dorsal fin and shoulders of a marlin protruding from the beautiful purple-blue ocean behind the long.

Adrenalin shot threw my veins just in time to see the fish disappear,but before the disappointment could set in,the fish was back.The anticipation of a screaming rachet was short lived as the fish disappeared again,but then before all hope was crushed the fish was back behind the same kona for a third time! Surely this was the moment,but to everyone’s despair the fish vanished again,just to reappear,and this time it decided to commit.Soon the unmistakable scream of a marlin reel’s ratchet blasted the silence.

Enter the well-oiled crew of Mojo with everyone moving to their designated stations for the day.Jacques stayed behind the wheel while Gareth very carefully and patiently set the hook.As soon as the fish took off Gareth moved to the wheel and Hannes Schreuder (leader man and vocals),Anthony Tait (cameraman) and I scurried to bring in the lines,clear the deck and get the skipper in the fighting chair.

This was it,the moment we had all been waiting for! The skipper was a couple of minutes into the fight when a beautiful striped marlin breached and showed herself in all her majestic glory.

From here it is hard to say how long the fight lasted,but eventually it was leadered by Hannes,measured,tagged and released.High fives and congratulations were the order of the day before the konas went back in the mix.

What an absolute privilege to see the speed,strength and agility of these animals!

The fourth day of 2023 TOMT turned out to be the last fishing day and it certainly was a day to remember,especially for those aboard John Graeme

Chris Hepburn-Brown for one will never forget the day he fought and landed his first marlin — a big black — which started the day off well.

Werner Kotze,John Leppan,Willem Skein and Hannes Smuts also all had memorable days...

by Werner Kotze, Indigo

Earlier this year Eugene invited me to fish the TOMT with him on Indigo, skippered and owned by the legendary Gawie Bruwer.

On the fourth day we went back to the same place Serge had caught his marlin on day three,hoping for another success story.

Radio calls came in of several marlin being fought and even successfully released from the complete opposite direction to where we found ourselves.Although our water looked great, we’d spent hours reaching our GPS coordinates,and it felt like the marlin gods had turned against us.Then I thought I saw something ...

“Did you also see him,”I asked Eugene.

While we looked intently at the spread,we noticed a stripey strike the starboard outrigger and we were on! In the blink of an eye another struck the portside outrigger and the boat became a madhouse.

Sadly,we lost both fish,but we realised that coming out this far was indeed the right decision.Soon all the rods were back in the water.We felt losing the two fish was very bad luck and began to focus on the beautiful water and the few scattered birds.Each man was at his post,ready for a strike.

And then it happened! While sitting on a beanbag next to the portside outrigger I heard a sound similar to a .22 gunshot. The tagline’s elastic band broke off,a Penn International started screaming insanely and a black marlin started jumping and dancing off the stern of Indigo!

“Clear the rods,clear the deck,get in the chair,and start filming!”

Twelve years of trying and even losing marlin,and I could only think of one thing:DON’T F… THIS ONE UP!

Thanks to precision skippering and excellent team work, we managed to release a beautiful black marlin.The fight and release took about 40 minutes,and with Lourens Odendal filming everything,I will always remember 15 February 2023 as a day full of excitement,adrenaline,and conquering my nemesis. Thanks,team Indigo!

by John Leppan, John Graeme

Having boated the first fish on the fourth day,our skipper nominated me to be next in the chair.After locating the bonnies we set about catching two fresh baits and getting them rigged.All the while we were listening to the radio,as Indigo had just hooked their second fish of the comp.Our job at hand was clear — we needed a third fish!

Fifteen minutes after setting our baits the ratchet on the starboard reel brought us all back to attention.No sooner had it started than it abruptly stopped.As the realisation of this lost opportunity sank in,silence befell the crew.Fortunately,this didn’t last as a portside rig exploded into life and brought us all back to our senses.

Turning off the ratchet to calm the situation,we allowed the fish to peel off line while I got into the harness.Still not knowing what we were dealing with,I tightened up the drag and,on cue,a beautiful black marlin surfaced 200 metres off the stern and walked in search of freedom.Having set the hook,I then got as comfortable as possible and tried to concentrate.

The John Graeme crew have always been generous with their advice.Knowing that we needed to boat this fish to get back into pole position,we all set about our jobs,working hand in hand with our very able and calm skipper Chris.

We tried to subdue the fish,but it was having none of it. Spending more time in the air than in the water,this majestic beast tried every trick in the book to throw the hook.At times I had brief thoughts about being the guy who lost the fish.We finally got hands on the leader and brought the fish alongside. As we were getting ready to bill and measure the fish,the line parted,allowing the fish to swim away strongly,back to freedom.

Great celebration ensued! I would just like to thank the crew and especially our skipper,Chris,for his kindness and generosity.

by Willem Skein, John Graeme

As was our usual custom,we were taking hourly turns on rod duty.

All three of my crewmates had caught their first marlin ever in this tournament.The last two were caught in the last four hours,and now it was my turn.The pressure was on to try to catch my first marlin and complete an unthinkable hat trick of three blackies in a day for John Graeme

Earlier that morning as we set out from the harbour,I’d confidently told Chris Hepburn-Brown that we were going to catch three fish that day;it was time for me to make that happen.

At that stage,we were neck and neck with Indigo,and the competition could still go either way.Everyone on board could sense the tension of the possibility of getting pipped at the post,as had happened to John Graeme two years before.

Shortly after noon I brushed away all thoughts of doubting my own prediction.

At 12h25,my heart rate instantaneously skyrocketed to the urgent sound of my reel’s screaming ratchet.

Excited shouts of,“Come on Doc,your fish is on!”urged me into action.

The fish stripped 200m of line in no time,entertaining us with several impressive acrobatic aerials. Thankfully I saw it was not as much of a heavyweight as my crewmates had to deal with.By this time our skipper had advanced to the next level of marlin skippering,making me look even better on the rod.

Twenty minutes later a beautiful black was craftily ushered to the side of the boat.I felt a kind of humble gratitude towards this beautiful fish when I stroked it before it was released to reign in the oceans again.

Then the joyous thought that this fish gave us a likely unsurpassable lead descended on all of us.

What a privilege it was to be part of this incredible crew and to continue the legacy of love for the ocean and fishing.

by Hannes Smuts, Bayswater

On Wednesday 15 February 2023 at 14:45 we had the first strike on the boat.Piet called it in and we were given extra time.I was on the rod,and was awestruck when the fish jumped out of the water at least six times! I had it on the line for one hour and 45 minutes — the strongest fish I’ve ever had on a line and probably the biggest!

Eventually I got the fish right next to the boat.Kokkie was on the leader,and according to him this was at least a 300kg fish.

It was probably a blessing in disguise that the next day’s inclement weather prevented the boats from going out again; after four exhilarating days of fishing,everybody was ready for a rest. * * *

The prize-giving took place on Friday 17 February 2023,and once again Marinda and her team served an excellent meal. Each team received a prize and expressed their gratitude to the organisers and safety committee who ensured the whole event ran smoothly.

See you next year!

1. John Graeme

2. Indigo

3. Mojo

4. Bayswater