Ski-Boat magazine September 2014 by Angler Publications

R31.00

Other countries: R27.19 excl.

The South African Deep Sea Angler

SKI-BOAT

BOATS REVIEWED

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014

• Mystique 22 • Yamaha Waverunners

September/October 2014 Vol. 30 No.5

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND Navionics starts where the road ends

VOL. 30

MAKE MINE A SINGLE

NO.5

Testing new hooks ideal for catch-and-release

www.africanangler.com

GETTING JIGGY Giving you a distinct advantage

CONTENTS September/October 2014 Volume 30 Number 5 COVER: A CASE STUDY Dr Paul Cowley, of the SAAIB, with a lovely garrick caught in Port Elizabeth harbour on dropshot whilst fishing with Craig Thomassen. Photograph by Craig Thomassen.

FEATURES 14

What a Wahoo! 2014 Guinjata Mercury Z-Craft Bonanza — by Erwin Bursik

Getting Jiggy With It A distinct advantage — by Daryl Bartho

Explore Unspoilt Moçambique Zongoene Lodge is the perfect springboard — by SKI-BOAT Reporter

Boat Profile: Mystique 22 A high-quality, stable all-round boat — by Heinrich Kleyn

To Infinity and Beyond Navionics starts where the road ends — by Francois van der Merwe

How the Wet Was Won Part 3: The evolution of ski-boats in South Africa — by Johan Smal

Crocs Aplenty! Mallards/Mercury Shelly Beach Festival 2014 — by Erwin Bursik

Lightest in Class Suzuki launches the new DF30A — by SKI-BOAT Reporter

Knot Savvy Part 3: Taking it up a level — by Paul Borcherds

Power Up! Unveiling the 2014 range of Yamaha Waverunners — by Heinrich Kleyn

Boats on Parade 2014 Durban International Boat & Lifestyle Show — by SKI-BOAT Reporter

Make Mine a Single Testing new hooks ideal for catch and release — by Craig Thomassen

100

Where to Fish in Africa Wildfly puts you on the water ...

DEPARTMENTS 8 9 74 83 85 91

Editorial Comment — by Dave Rorke Postbox SADSAA News & Views Subscribe and WIN! This Issue’s Kingfisher Awards Reel Kids

93 98 99 104 105 106

Mercury Junior Anglers Marketplace Smalls & Advertisers’ Index Business Classifieds Charters & Destinations Directory Rapala Lip — Last Word from the Ladies

The official magazine of the South African Deep Sea Angling Association

Managing Editor: Dave Rorke Editor: Sheena Carnie Editorial Assistant: Vahini Pillay Publishing Executive: Erwin Bursik Advertising Executive: Mark Wilson Advertising Consultant: Joan Wilson Administration Executive: Anne Bursik Accountant: Jane Harvey Executive Assistant: Kim Hook Admin Assistant: Sunny Kandaswami Boat Tests: Heinrich Kleyn Contributors: Daryl Bartho, Erwin Bursik, Paul Borcherds, Heinrich Kleyn, Craig Thomassen, Johan Smal, Francois van der Merwe. ADVERTISING – NATIONAL SALES: Angler Publications Telephone: (031) 572-2280/89/97/98 Mark Wilson cell: 081 270 2433 Joan Wilson ADVERTISING – GAUTENG & MPUMALANGA Lynette Adams (011) 425-2052 or cell 083 588 0217; lynadams@mweb.co.za; skiboatgauteng@icon.co.za PUBLISHERS: Angler Publications cc PO Box 20545, Durban North 4016 Telephone: (031) 572-2280/89/97/98 Fax: (031) 572-7891 e-mail: angler@mags.co.za admin@mags.co.za Subscriptions to SKI-BOAT: R145,00 per annum (six issues). New subscriptions and renewals: SKI-BOAT Subscriptions Department, PO Box 20545, Durban North 4016. Telephone: (031) 572-2280/89/97/98 Fax: (031) 572-7891 • e-mail: safety@mags.co.za • Through www.africanangler.com, or • E-zine digital subscriptions — visit www.africanangler.com > SKIBOAT > SUBSCRIBE, then choose your option. • Click the E-zine short-cut on the magazine’s home page, www.africanangler.com, or visit www.zinio.com/SkiBoat. Reproduction: Hirt & Carter, Durban Printer: Robprint (Pty) Ltd, Durban Full production is done in-house by Angler Publications & Promotions on Apple Macintosh software and hardware for output directly to plate. SKI-BOAT Magazine, ISSN 0258-7297, is published six times a year by Angler Publications & Promotions cc, Reg. No. CK 88/05863/23, and is distributed by RNA, as well as directly by the publishers to retail stores throughout South Africa. • Copyright of all material is expressly reserved and nothing may be reproduced in part or whole without the permission of the publishers. • While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of this magazine, the publishers do not accept responsibility for omissions or errors or their consequences. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers, the managing editor, editor, editorial staff or the South African Deep Sea Angling Association.

8 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

EDITORIAL COMMENT

FTER receiving an email from Gary Thompson in Cape Town about Miss Lucy (red stumpnose) restrictions, I sought out the rationale which is the foundation of our marine resource management, the “Introductory Provisions” of South Africa’s Marine Living Resources Act, the law by which all fishermen — recreational and commercial — are governed. Indeed, South Africa’s marine resource management’s “Objectives and Principles” leave no room for doubt. The intent is clear — our country’s fishery will be properly managed by the ministry whose task it is to do so. It goes as follows: “The Minister and any organ of state shall in exercising any power under this Act, have regard to the following objectives and princiDave Rorke ples: (a) The need to achieve optimum utilisation and ecologically sustainable development of marine living resources; (b) the need to conserve marine living resources for both present and future generations; (c) the need to apply precautionary approaches in respect of the management and development of marine living resources; (d) the need to utilise marine living resources to achieve economic growth, human resource development, capacity building within fisheries and mariculture branches, employment creation and a sound ecological balance consistent with the development objectives of the national government; (e) the need to protect the ecosystem as a whole, including species which are not targeted for exploitation; (f) the need to preserve marine biodiversity; (g) the need to minimise marine pollution; (h) the need to achieve to the extent practicable a broad and accountable participation in the decision-making processes provided for in this Act; (i) any relevant obligation of the national government or the Republic in terms of any international agreement or applicable rule of international law; and (j) the need to restructure the fishing industry to address historical imbalances and to achieve equity within all branches of the fishing industry.” That’s pretty unequivocal in any language, and praiseworthy intentions indeed. Then once one takes a brief retrospective glance at what has gone before in fisheries management over the past few years, how can one not doubt the sincerity of the ministers in charge of fisheries, and of those in their departments whose job it is (or was) to “achieve optimum utilisation and ecologically sustainable development”, or “conserve marine living resources for both present and future generations”. Let’s look at the Miss Lucy. As mentioned in Gary’s letter, the recreational bag limit is one per person per day, whereas there’s no restriction on commercial catches. Recreational anglers don’t have a problem with a one-fish bag limit, but what does concern us is the implications of an unlimited commercial bag. As a result, this fish — without any doubt whatsoever — will eventually be overfished to the extent that fisheries authorities will be forced to impose, firstly, a commercial catch limit, then finally a complete ban. Why wait until the horse has bolted? If fisheries management authorities already acknowledge that this species is “threatened” by imposing a 30cm size and one-fish limit, one is forced to ask why there is still a free-for-all amongst commercial linefishermen. And the same goes for all bottomfish with recreational bag limits, yet free, unrestricted commercial access. If the reason for permitting unlimited access to this vulnerable resource is purely political — the erstwhile Minister of DAFF left us with very little doubt of her motives — then the time is surely right for new DAFF Minister Senzeni Zokwana and his deputy, Bheki Cele, to sweep clean and work for the sake of a better future for our fishery, especially bottomfish. We see it everyday when catches of bottomfish are brought in by recreational, charter and commercial boats, the fish barely make their minimum size mark. What longterm hope has this resource if this is allowed to continue? How long would it take for a targeted bottomfish species to go from “threatened” to “endangered” to “critical”? We call on our new ministers to impose a one-law-fits-all restriction, thereby conserving this resource “for both present and future generations”. Happy reading and good catches.

Dave Rorke

POSTBOX

SHOULD ALL REEF FISH BE DECOMMERCIALISED? Dear Dave This picture of a catch of Miss Lucy taken very recently in the Cape gives rise to a rather contentious factor at the heart of resource management, and deserves attention at the highest level. The question is ... what is right in this photo? As we all know, recreational anglers are only allowed to catch one Miss Lucy per person per day, which recreational anglers all support and respect. However, commercial anglers have an unlimited bag limit. It is only fair that recreational anglers ask whether the commercial dispensation on Miss Lucy is fair and equitable. This photograph was taken recently in the Cape when a fisherman was boasting about “his” catch at a local pub and was apparently also prepared to sell the fish to anyone who was interested. When confronted by responsible recreational anglers, the said fisherman was quick to say that he had got them from a commercial. Irrespective of what the truth is, the said fisherman did bear the brunt of some harsh words. I am of the opinion that all reef fish along our coast should be decommercialised. GARY THOMPSON In my private capacity <gary.thompson@kpmg.co.za> There is no logic whatsoever in DAFF claiming to “manage” a resource by introducing strict bag limits on recreational catches, yet allowing unlimited commercial catches — especially reef fish. Where there’s money to be made, the last thing on the commercial linefisherman’s mind is the state of the resource or indeed its future. John Rance, BDSAA’s Environmental Officer, says: “It’s always been my view that you can’t run a commercial fishing enterprise on reef species

(which are largely resident), especially those which take a long time to become sexually mature, live for a long period and which congregate for spawning, making them easy targets. When they’re overfished, they take a long time, if ever, to breed back, and as their numbers reduce, so increases the number of their prey which then prey on the erstwhile predator’s fry ... “If any commercial exploitation is necessary for whatever reason, it has to be done according to well-researched population data, limited catches and a very strong compliance effort. We have none of that. “But there’s another more important reason not to have regulations such as those for Miss Lucy, which protect the species for the commercial gain of others, not for environmental reasons. (See ‘Should deep sea clubs enforce regulations?’, SKI-BOAT November/December 2007.) “In that article I wrote: ‘The dilemma comes when regulations are clearly not for conservation purposes, but deprive one section of users so the resource conserved by them can commercially enrich another ... Ultimately, we have to persuade the authorities to introduce regulations which are equitable, morally defensible, support conservation and which contribute to the objectives and principles of the Marine Living Resources Act. Compliance will then be assured by fishermen themselves.’ “My personal view is the following: • Our associations and clubs are not obligated to enforce any Marine Living Resources Act regulations, unless there is an requirement to do so, like in a launch site “Record of Decision”; • In some cases we can choose which of the regulations we wish to enforce and/or what penalties to impose; • Where possible, we should choose to enforce or impose more severe sanctions for those regulations which, in our opinion, are morally defensible and which are made in the interests of conservation and/or in the interests of recreational angling; • We should make a distinction between “Environmental Crimes” and “Commercial Transgressions”. Environmental Crimes should attract more severe sanctions. • Unless we are specifically instructed to do so, such as in a launch site licence, we should not actively enforce MCM legislation made for commercial (as distinct from environmental) reasons. • We should not worsen matters for our members by actively enforcing inequitable, morally indefensible, misguided regulations which may be

Letters to the Editor imposed by the regulatory authorities; • We do not have the law enforcement officers’ moral dilemma of selective enforcement.” Which brings us back to the question of why, in the interests of managing a marine resource, there are two sets of laws, one for recreational fishermen and another for commercials? As was made very clear by the recently sideways-shifted former fisheries minister, the reasons are purely political. — DR.

Mariè van Rensburg with a 5.5kg snoek — enjoying west coast bounty with her husband, Briers. WEST COAST — BEST COAST! Dear Dave I have recently permanently settled here in Port Owen on the west coast, in the mouth of the Berg River — I have had a home here now for 24 years. Needless to say, I’ve been spending my time properly exploring the fishing opportunities of the area. Being an estuary, poaching with nets had reached epidemic levels, mainly for harders (mullet), but everything else in the river was also being caught. Baby elf/shad were being landed by the ton. The authorities finally clamped down and two years ago confiscated seven dingies, along with four tons of elf and harder. Since then there have been other arrests and the nets found and destroyed. This has resulted in an explosion in fish numbers. I must have caught around 1 000 small shad/elf from in front of my house in the marina from February to April. The smallest was 36cm and the largest 42cm. We kept a few for the pan and released the rest. Two gentlemen in particular, have risked their lives by putting up cameras SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 9

with movement sensors, and when a boat comes past at night, the lights come on and cameras take photographs. Their names are supposedly on a “hit list”. The good news is that large numbers of leervis/garrick have also been caught. I have spoken to Johan Smal and he is of the opinion that these garrick are most probably from the South African east coast batch, rather than the Angolan west coast group. Scientists may be interested in following this up, now that these fish have made a reappearance for the first time in more than 20 years. Another interesting observation has been the return of fish into Saldanha harbour. Huge quantities of yellowtail have been caught inside the harbour and up into the Langebaan Lagoon. Kob, white steenbras and white stumpnose, as well as blacktail, have also been caught in large numbers off the beaches, particularly between the iron ore terminal and Langebaan. A friend of mine, who has lived in Saldanha for 50 years, is convinced that this sudden change is directly linked to the closing of a fish processing plant. Whilst I agree we shoudn’t underestimate the impact of pollution from the plant, I would suspect that the antipoaching team in the Berg River may also be contributing to this positive change. An informed scientific study may produce interesting results, both of the effect of the anti-poaching and the pollution issues. All in all, the fishing here has improved significantly over the past two years. However, if my observations are correct, and the increase in harder, elf and now leervis is a result of better management by the authorities of one estuary — they may be active in others that I don’t know of — and it has the knock-on effect that we are seeing out in the ocean, then this action is long overdue. Assuming that they swim south rather than north, South Africa’s south and east coasts should enjoy a bumper season this year, or at least not later than next year. BRIERS VAN RENSBURG <marie1963@telkomsa.net> WHAT A BONANZA! Dear Dave I’ve just returned from the 2014 Guinjata Bonanza, and what a week we had. When I heard Magwana might not be able to compete in the event due to a crew member not being able to make it, I offered to join Mark Warner’s team because I was already going to be in Guinjata, as ground crew for Lyn Adams. So I joined the Magwana team, organised shirts and just before we left they invited my son, Michael (9), to join us as part of the team. After the first three days we didn’t have much to show, and on the fourth 10 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

WE HAVE A WINNER!

HAUN Koekemoer (13) was the lucky boy whose name came out of the hat and was declared this year’s Bell/SKI-BOAT Reel Kids winner. Shaun is a Grade 8 pupil at Port Natal School in Durban where he excels at rugby, hockey and cricket. Although rugby is his first love, fishing is a close second. His dad, Sean, says Shaun has been fishing almost since he came out of his mother’s womb, and caught his first 5kg spotted grunter at the age of two, with plenty of bigger fish following afterwards. Shaun’s “Reel Kids” story of his 50.5kg yellowfin tuna catch off Richards Bay appeared in the July/August issue of SKI-BOAT. That’s quite a fish! Bell Equipment went all out to make Shaun feel special when he went to collect his prize of two Shimano rods and reels from Gary Heath, the Bell Equipment sales rep for the Zululand area, and Shaun could not stop grinning. Our sincere thanks to Bell for their continued support of junior anglers through this competition. If you would like to be our next “Reel Kid”, write a 500 word stor y

Mark Warner, Mandy Webster and Richard Warner, with Michael (front) and the beautiful 37kg wahoo. day — on an upside-down sea — we battled a bit at first because there was no livebait to be found. Michael wasn’t feeling great, but he wasn’t alone — the sea was really ugly. Despite that he caught a 7kg tuna early on. It was impossible to drift, so we decided to keep pulling surface lures and deep-running Rapalas. During the morning we had forgotten to set the rachets on our reels at one time or another, and at the 12 o’clock call Mark noticed a rod screaming off — most the line had gone! Mark took the rod and once he got the fish to the boat he yelled for a second gaff, and both Mark and his son Richard pulled the fish onto the boat. We stood there and stared at the big wahoo in disbelief. It was only after a few seconds that we realised we would be in the running for first prize. We covered the fish with wet towels and got the rods out to catch another. A short while later we had a double strike and Richard and Michael both landed small tunas. Later, when we

about what you love most about fishing or about a special fish or trip, and email it to <sheena@mags.co.za> along with a good quality picture and your contact details.

took the big wahoo to the scales it weighed in at 37kg. On day five no fish were caught — it was the longest day of our lives! There had been no real gameplan — we just went to Guinjata to have fun, stuck to the basics, worked as a team and were rewarded with the top prize. For those who are superstitious, perhaps there were some pointers to what fate had in store for us: Richard had a dream we won the boat, a gecko landed some droppings on Mark the day after we arrived, Mark cooked eggs and one had a double yolk, we had a lizard on the boat for two days (it had come from Johannesburg), some crows landed in front of our chalet looking for scraps of food. Yes, for the superstitious, all the boxes were ticked. I don’t know if I believe in any of that. I believe that life gives back what you put in — if you give nothing you will get nothing back. Give of your time and effort — and you will be rewarded. MANDY WEBSTER <mandy@aprprint.co.za>

SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND? Write to: The Editor SKI-BOAT PO Box 20545 Durban North 4016 Fax: (031) 572-7891 E-mail: angler@mags.co.za

COMPETITIONS

14 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

by Erwin Bursik

2014 Guinjata Mercury Z-Craft Bonanza SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 â&#x20AC;¢ 15

“T

HE higher the mountain the better the view,” they say. Too true, especially following an almost two-day 1 100km tow and the final summit up the sandy “Hillus Horribilus” to the Moçambique resort of Guinjata Bay. The view of the bay, the point and the calm blue water is just reward for intense pretrip planning plus the trials and tribulations — both those dreaded and actually endured — at the border post and along the 700-odd kilometres up along the Moçambican coast. It’s the view that makes it all worthwhile. John Frankiskos and I, together with our wives, had towed Mr Ski-Boat to Guinjata Bay for the 2014 Guinjata Mercur y Z-Craft Bonanza and were delighted to arrive at Lyn Adams’s Cassa Thalassa after a trouble-free journey, only marginally lighter in the wallet. Indeed, the plan was starting to come together very nicely. Reflecting on this adventure, which the Swahili refer to as a safari, one’s mind is somewhat clouded by the amount of preparation, planning, scheming and uncertainty that we skiboaters endure to catch a few fish. However, as we all know, it’s the road travelled on land and sea, the camaraderie and, yes, the fish — be they big or small —

Team Magwana, skippered by Mark Warner, were the 2014 winners of the Kingcat 200 powered by Mercury.

which combine to make such a safari a really enjoyable event. Indeed, that’s why we all return to Guinjata year after year. Note that I have not referred to the prizes on offer during this bonanza (although they are magnificent) as I truly believe that, to most of the fiftyodd teams which attended this year’s event, the prizes are really insignificant in the overall experience. Don’t get me wrong, we all have a competitive streak in our nature. Prizes, especially the Z-Craft F200 Kingcat powered by twin Mercury

115hp Optimax engines, are very exciting. Further more, one would be lying if one said the teams participating don’t eye the superb rig on display with a fervent desire to tow her back to South Africa at the end of the week. As Guinjata Sports Fishing Club’s chairman, Jan Hofmeyer, and tournament director Brett Padoa said at the sponsors’ evening on the Saturday night prior to the competition, the magnificent array of prizes so readily sponsored by so many companies and individuals adds a tremendous status to the competition and incentive to those setting out to sea to tr y their luck. Participating anglers fully acknowledge and appreciate this generosity. So they ventured out, hoping that during the week luck would turn their way, enabling them to return with some of the bounty on offer. One of these teams, Magwana, was filled with hope but didn’t necessarily see themselves winning the magnificent Z-Craft F200 powered by Mercury. Yet all it took was one fish — an unbelievably large wahoo of 37kg — to clinch victory for Mark Warner and his crew. I suppose I’m getting a tad ahead of myself, because after the skippers’ briefing there were still five days of testing fishing ahead of us. And indeed, I Left (from top to bottom): In second position was Lawwerskaai with 1 017.4 points; Queen Pine was a close third with 1 013.4 points; in fourth place, accumulating 764.8 points, was Umfana Ghiti. All were congratulated by Guinjata chairman Jan Hofmeyer. SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 17

The top team, with 2 001.9 points, was Gone Fishin’. Thanks to the superb effort of the Bartho brothers — Daryl and Brett — and Brett Challenor, they won a buggy which was presented to Brett by Thinus de Beer of US Truck Sales, Empangeni.

believe the fishing tested every gameplan conceived. In order for your team to feature on the leaderboard, your plan had to include an element of hunting a big fish, as well as the traditional targeting of the many species of gamefish prevalent on this section of the Moçambican coast. The serious contenders for the top ten positions in this competition have to precisely target the fish that will allow them to amass the points required to achieve the desired results. Yes, the prizes are really great, but the real status comes from placing in the top ten. It is this achievement that proves the diverse angling capabilities of those teams that do well, as opposed to those who just rely on Lady Luck putting her hand on one’s shoulder during the event and saying, as happened this year, “Mark, with this fish you will win the boat!” Take Gone Fishin’, for instance. Dar yl and Brett Bartho and Brett Challenor have taken the practice of species hunting to the highest level. Not only do they fish extremely hard, but they also prepare exceptionally well, all of which, as with most sports, allows them to stay at the top. However, there are a number of other teams that work just as hard, prepare just as well and who fish with the sole purpose of trying to beat Gone Fishin’. The jubilation of Lawwerskaai when they knew that they had beaten Queen Pine into second spot was one of

the highlights of this year’s prizegiving. I know I’m bragging, but I was thrilled that Mr SkiBoat was also among the top ten. My son-in-law, Bradley Kuhn, grandson, Nicholas, and mate, John Frankiskos, worked their butts off to get us into ninth position. The sweetness of success is infinitely more long lasting than the great prizes we won. The determination to do even better next year has already started to burn deep. Fishing during this year’s event was not that easy. With the detailed weather predictions one gets these days, we all expected the Wednesday to be blown out — and a southwesterly wind of 30 knots did just that. It also left a nasty sea for the competitors to rock ’n’ roll in on the Thursday. Furthermore, a reverse current of green water that was on the cold side had been pushing for some while, so the blue water species of gamefish such as billfish, dorado and wahoo were hard

Jigging produced great fish onboard Mr Ski-Boat (right) including amberjacks for Bradley and Nicholas Kuhn and a great yellowfin tuna for Nicholas.

to come by. Even more surprising, the king mackerel, which are the core species of this area and the prime multiplying factor on the species side of the competition, were as scarce as hen’s teeth. In the final analysis, it was the jiggers who were working the entire water column who produced most of the fish. Fish such as GTs, the lesser kingfish species, cobia and amberjack thus formed the basis of the points. When it came to big fish — boatwinning size — it was a big great barracuda of 22.5kg caught on day one by Karl Engelbrecht fishing aboard Double Up which gave the leaderboard its top contender. Weigh-in on day two was full of suspense, because waiting patiently at the back of the queue was Peter March’s men on Umfana Ghiti who were standing guard over a large black bin with the tail of a big GT protruding from it. There were a few good fish, including another great barracuda and a GT which eclipsed the previous day’s leader. When it finally came to the scales,

The fish that nearly made it and the one that did! Miles March (left) with his 34.8kg GT and Mark Warner (right) with the winning wahoo of 37kg. Miles March’s GT weighed in at 34.8kg and most of us thought that would be the winning fish. Umfana Ghiti were top of the leaderboard and ecstatic. That night there was much deliberation about what — if anything — could possibly beat Miles’s GT. The blowout day allowed plenty of evaluation of the status quo. In most minds it was only another bigger GT or a yellowfin tuna that could possibly beat the big GT. Most anglers agreed it was very unlikely to be a wahoo, as the South African record stood at 36kg and nobody had seen or heard of a wahoo bigger than 30kg being caught off Guinjata. So that settled it — it had to be a GT or yellowfin. When Mark Warner’s men aboard Magwana joined the weigh-in queue on the Thursday (day four), the level of excitement rose noticeably, with the pundits estimating the big wahoo’s size. Would it, could it beat 34.8kg? When weighed, the scale had the final word — 37kg of wahoo. Unbelievable — and unbeatable! Dagga Boys, amongst a number of the bigger boats in the camp, did not agree that it was unbeatable and on the last day they set out for “the mountain”,

some 50km straight out to sea off Guinjata Point. They planned to catch a yellowfin tuna big enough to wipe the wahoo from the leaderboard. It was a good idea, but it failed and the long range runners couldn’t play a “kyk weer” of the 2011 Guinjata Bonanza when two big yellowfin of 50.7kg and 52.9kg rewrote the records of what Guinjata can produce. Need I say it? The 37kg wahoo stayed at the top and received not only the Z-Craft F200 powered by Mercury on an LA Axle trailer, but also all the accolades during the official handover at the final prizegiving. As I mentioned earlier, the gees and tenacity of the species hunters which forms the backbone of the Guinjata Bonanza was in evidence, right until the closing of the weigh-in on the last day of the comp. Gone Fishin’ had accumulated such a big lead that they needn’t even have launched on the last day. However, there were many other boats tussling for the remaining nine spots in the top ten. It is so pleasing to see the fanatical dedication in this tussle, and what really came to the fore was the good sportsmanship and banter in the weigh-in queue as these top runners compared catches that were lined up for all to see

The author receiving a commemorative framed montage from Fiona Hoffman. It’s inscribed: “In recognition of your contribution to the Guinjata Bonanza from its inception” — an honour he greatly appreciates. Photo by Sarel Greyling.

and admire. The top species prize this year was a fantastic R140 000 4x4 buggy, sponsored by US Trucks of Richards Bay. Complications regarding getting the vehicle to Guinjata deprived the Gone Fishin’ team of basking in the glory of the handover at the prizegiving, but the applause they received after being formally announced as the winners well and truly made up for it. They truly are “the champions”. I would personally hate to see this facet of the Guinjata Bonanza ever being dropped. After all, that was the seed at the heart of this very enjoyable competition’s inception. In fact, I would like to see this aspect receiving even more prominence than it already does. The fact that I am closely associated with the organising committee of this event enables me to see the incredible effort they put into assembling the enormous array of prizes, as well as fighting the logistical battle to ensure everything gets to Guinjata Bay to allow for the successful running of the event. Given that Guinjata is 1 000km away from Gauteng and in Moçambique, this is no easy task. Their dedication and hard work can only be described as outstanding. Jan Hofmeyer, Brett Padoa and your small band of committee members, take a bow for a job well planned and fantastically executed. My only disappointment was that more South African ski-boaters did not enter this year’s competition. Yes, I know it’s in Moçambique and it’s a long tow — I did it too, and it was worth it. Even all the stories about corrupt cops and other hassles did not put me off or make me reconsider returning to Guinjata for the 2015 Bonanza. Come on, guys, seriously consider marking early June 2015 in your fishing diaries — this is an event not to be missed. Finally, the sponsors of the event also need to be lauded for going out on a limb in these tough economic times to provide the tremendous array of prizes for us to win. Please take note of the names of these sponsors on the opposite page, and make sure you support them in turn. See you all at the 2015 Guinjata Bonanza. SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 21

TOP FIVE FISH 1. 37kg Wahoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mark Warner, Magwana 2. 34.8kg Giant kingfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Miles March, Umfana Ghiti 3. 23.7kg Yellowfin tuna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wilem Burger, Lady Jane 4. 23kg Great barracuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tyler Loomes, The Loaders 5. 22.8kg Giant kingfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Herman Wolf, Wolfie TOP FIVE ANGLERS 1. Brad Arthur, Queen Pine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181.2 points 2. Daryl Bartho, Gone Fishin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154.0 points 3. Brett Bartho, Gone Fishin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119.3 points 4. Tyler Loomes, The Loaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105.0 points 5. Brett Challenor, Gone Fishin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84.8 points TOP TEN BOATS 1. Gone Fishin’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 001.9 points 2. Lawwerskaai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 017.4 points 3. Queen Pine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 013.4 points 4. Umfana Ghiti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .764.8 points 5. Wolfie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .574.8 points 6. Bob Marlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449.5 points 7. Gloria da Manha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418.5 points 8. The Loaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351.8 points 9. Mr Ski-Boat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293.5 points 10. The Bear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208.0 points TOP LADY ANGLERS 1. Ilouise Moolman, Chuckie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44.6 points 2. Lynette Adams, Ski-Boat Gauteng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40.1 points TOP JUNIOR ANGLERS 1. Michael Webster, Magwana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13.0 points 2. Branden Swanepoel, Ski-Boat Gauteng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.1 points

22 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

24 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

TACTICS

by Daryl Bartho

A distinct advantage

S I write this article I’m sitting here reflecting back on what was possibly the best five days of light tackle jigging my team and I have ever had. The reverse current and green water experienced during the 2014 Guinjata Bonanza definitely gave the guys getting “jiggy with it” a distinct advantage over the anglers who stuck to the conventional bait or trolling methods. As we do every year, we arrived at Guinjata armed with 120 individually wrapped mackerel as well as 30 bonnies, silkies, cigar scads and redeye sardines. Half the fun of fishing a species format bonanza like the one at Guinjata is the fun we have preparing for it. In addition to the bait, we had every colour, shape and size of Halco lure to add to our arsenal. Pulling lures allows you to cover good ground, trolling up to eight rods in a spread. If you find the tuna or bonnies, you are able to rack up some good weight and points in a short period of time, settling the nerves somewhat. Since the 2006 Guinjata competition we looked at being more competitive when it came to species fishing by learning a few new techniques. At the time they were pretty new.

TRYING NEW TECHNIQUES We started with dropshot, and that then progressed to medium- and light jigging

with pencil jigs. The results were astonishing, and the rush of getting pressed on light tackle while experimenting with different techniques had us hungry to learn more. In 2008 the Guinjata Species Bonanza was won by Ken Leach and his crew on Green Mamba. The fishing was tough that year and they also experienced a reverse current, but Ken and his crew managed to find the fish in the slightly deeper water and brought some decent size amberjack to the weigh-in. They had successfully found fish on jig while everyone else battled to find fish inshore. The day after the competition saw us heading to the area where Ken was fishing to try taming a few ambers. We snuck back to a reef we had marked while trolling the day before, just minutes before lines-up on the final day of the competition, and the action started. The reading on the fishfinder was crazy and I remember thinking to myself that this was going to be the jackpot. I will never forget that morning, fishing our “honey pot” with my two brothers. We got a proper hiding from the ambers and I think we landed a total of three amberjack, having been reefed by another 15 fish. We hit the beach so excited, even though we had lost about 15 jigs. On our drive back to SA the next day we discussed how we were going

to stop our bullish opponents from reefing us ever y time. When you haven’t fished much on jig you always seem to have too little drag on when you hook these brutes. However, there is a fine line between having too much drag and too little — both can end with tears. Since then we have had countless hours of pleasure finding new reefs with good numbers of amberjack and kingfish. The secret to fishing these areas is to know what current they work on and to have an idea where the fish might be if the current is from another direction or strength. The rule of thumb is to always fish the currentfacing side of a pinnacle or reef structure. Baitfish and the larger pelagic fish normally sit upcurrent of structure, and species such as the kingfish and amberjack love good structure with loads of baitfish. GETTING IT RIGHT The first step is finding these hotspots for your target species. Plan your drift so that you have sufficient time for everyone to get their jigs to the bottom at the right time. There is nothing more frustrating than somebody putting you in the bush with a 300g jig and a heavy stick when there is virtually no showing on the screen. The skipper is responsible for this and it is his job to put the crew on the SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 25

Tropical yellowtail and GTs are just two of the species that can be caught while jigging. These were about to be released. fish. Sometimes the skipper can even hold the boat in gear with one motor to keep the anglers on the fish. He also needs to keep an eye on the sonar readings. Over the years, with the help of Lowrance, we have managed to distinguish what fish the screen is displaying. Many anglers see their screens lit up with readings on the finder and immediately assume that these are pelagic fish. Diving has taught me a great deal when it comes to filtering what I see on the finder. There are often large shoals of unicorn fish, fusiliers, etc., and it can sometimes be misleading. Really dense showings that are “high rise plumes” are often kingfish showings. I have sometimes had them so thick that the finder mistakes the density of the shoal for the actual seabed so that it reads 5m instead of 45m. The real beauty of jigging is being able to see the fish on the sounder screen and then, with the use of high tech braided lines and limited resistance/drag, being able to drop right into the middle of these fish, work the jig and experience the strike.

MATCHING TACKLE When it comes to the action of the jig, one of the most important factors is how well suited the jig is to the tackle you are using it with. People often overlook how important it is to match the correct rod and reel and, furthermore, the correct sized jig for the rod. In most cases, the rod is of more importance and determines the action of the jig. I have seen some pretty interesting jig styles and believe that there is no set rule when it comes to the speed, jerk or retrieve of a jig. However, I have seen some anglers on a boat, all using the same type of jig and all using the same boring, slow and uniform technique resulting in very few hookups. Vary it up a bit, and if you find one particular colour or type of jig is getting most of the action, then change. The key to jigging success, in my opinion, is to change the style of your retrieve a bit. Try to imagine the movements a squid/cuttlefish or small baitfish will be making when trying to flee from danger — in this case a hungry fish. Their movements normally display panic in this situation, and the more

haphazard you can make it the better. Brett and I generally use a technique of three very fast upward “strikes”, followed by two slower ones. While “striking” the rod, try not retrieve with your reel — only on the downward motion of your rod tip should you wind in the little amount of slack line. By doing this your jig will have a very jerky action in the water and the skirt of the squid jig, or tail of the whiptail jig, will add to the action. We accelerate this action for bucktail jigs and found the faster the action, the hotter the bite. If your jig is too heavy for your rod, your rod tip will simply bend too much on each upward stroke and the action will be less jerky. One of my favourite medium/light jigging combos is the Trevala 6’0” Medium Heavy rod with a Stradic 8 000 spooled with 40 lb braid. DOWN TO THE LINE We have definitely found that using thinner braided lines and lighter fluorocarbon leader results in a much higher strike rate. The only downside to this is that you lose a lot of the bigger fish, like GTs.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 27

A close-up of the Bartho’s leader showing the loop protector and nail knot.

Two rigged jigs — one6 oz and one 2 oz. The Barthos have found that the best way to rig them is to attach the jig to the power swivel with a small, strong split ring. Their assist hooks then join to the bottom of the swivel and the leader is attached to the top. We normally use 30-40 lb fluorocarbon leader on these setups, but you can go up to 60 lb. From the braided line we make a Bimini Twist and join the leader with a 10 loop Yucatan knot. Our leaders are generally about 1.5m long if we are jigging. We have found the 2-4oz Squiddies and the Halco Whiptail jigs work best on these outfits. They are the perfect weight for the tip action, and the beauty of jigging with the Trevala Medium Heavy and a Stradic 8 000 is that you can jig all day without getting too tired. DEALING WITH BIGGER QUARRY I would advise that you always have a few heavier jigging outfits on the boat in case there are a few good GTs around. You will be able to target most tuna and other kingfish species with the Trevala Medium Heavy and a Stradic/Sustain. This year we found ourselves a bit undergunned when it came to landing the bigger GTs. I guess part of the problem was the very prominent structure (a 10m south-facing wall) where

the fish were congregating, which meant you had very little time to stop the fish from time of strike until he cut you off on the wall. After getting smashed up a few times we decided to use the heavier gear and, by doing so, we landed a few GTs between 15kg and 23kg. The heavier tackle allowed us to have a bit more stopping power on the bigger fish, but it meant our arms got very tired! FINDING THE FISH The GTs, as I mentioned, were sitting on the outskirts of the big plumes of other kingies and were very close to the wall. We managed to catch large numbers of green jobfish on the jigs every day as well, but we found these on the sides of the main structure, a little further away from the wall and a bit deeper. While we were targeting the green jobfish we caught quite a few tropical yellowtails. We have found most of our amberjack marks in 60-80m of water. The structure is not often as sheer as that which the GTs like, but you will often SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 29

On the bigger bucktail jigs the Barthos often have a stinger hook which they attach to the leader eye. The multi strand wire on the stinger hook on the Halco Whiptail jigs helps reduce bite offs from ’cuda.

These are some of the Barthos’ favourite jigs for targeting amberjacks which find pencil jigs irresistible.

upside down like this. Our assist hook/s then attach to the bottom loop of the swivel so that if another fish smashes the jig while it’s hanging out of the mouth of your fish, the split ring should open before it tears out of the fish’s mouth. Always make sure that the hook you are using has a wide enough gape so that the hook doesn’t get stuck around your jig while you’re jigging, resulting in many on-offs without an actual hook up. We will sometimes add a small squid to the assist hook for the larger pencil jigs to give the jig some added action. Brett and I use thinner gauge hooks like VMC Livebait hooks because they seem to penetrate the mouth of the fish easier and the hookup ratio is much better. Just be careful not to apply too

much drag pressure because that will open up the smaller hooks.

find loads of soldier bream and other bottomfish hanging out in the same area. CHOOSING AND RIGGING JIGS The Squiddies, Whiptail Jigs and bucktail jigs work wonders for all your kingfish species, and green- and rosy jobfish cannot leave them alone. When we target amberjack we tend to use larger pencil jigs. Brett’s favourite is the green/silver Williamson Benthos 300g. He uses a ver y fast retrieve on his Trevala XXHeavy with a Torsa 40 reel spooled with 100 lb braid. Rigging the jigs correctly is hugely important and also affects the action of the jig. For Squiddies we use a No. 2 power swivel attached to a split ring that attaches to the “tentacle” side of the Squiddie — it looks like it is rigged

30 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

RELEASING YOUR CATCH I’m happy to see more and more competitions moving towards a catch-andrelease system for most kingfish and amberjack species, because it is vital that we protect and manage our resource as best as we possibly can. All these fish release well, and fish like the GTs can grow to weights in excess of 50kg. Taking a good photo of your trophy fish and knowing that you have released it to possibly grow even bigger makes the catch even more memorable. If we all release these fish back into the ocean, we will have endless days of fun targeting them well into the future.

PLACES

Advertorial

Zongoene Lodge is the perfect springboard N the shores of Moçambique, where the Limpopo River bends to meet the Indian Ocean, lies an unspoilt paradise. The beautiful Zongoene Lodge is situated 36km from Chicumbane in the province of Gaza, and once you arrive you’ll enjoy the comfortable, friendly and romantic atmosphere with picturesque views of the gardens and swimming pool. Inspired by the Portuguese culture and finished off with Moçambican flair, the chalets boast en-suite bathrooms, kitchenettes, air-conditioning, mosquito nets and personalised bath amenities. The units are fully equipped with all the necessary utensils, including cutlery and crockery. When you’re tired of catering for yourself you can enjoy exquisite gourmet dinners served by candlelight in the restaurant or opt for casual dining at the bar. The wide variety of South African and local wines offered at the restaurant perfectly complements the array of fresh seafood dishes served. After dinner you can indulge in a speciality coffee or exotic cocktail and listen to the sounds of the Moçambican coastline as the tropical night sets in. Each morning breakfast is served on the spectacular terrace. Guests can choose from a continental breakfast of homemade muffins, fresh croissants, a selection of cheeses, cold meats and fresh fruit with yoghurt, or the hot menu which offers a selection of eggs to order, gourmet omelettes and sausages.

32 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

Zongoene Lodge offers a host of activities for guests to choose from to combat any tendency towards boredom. Feel free to relax alongside one of the swimming pools while sipping a tall cocktail or, if you prefer more action, drift around the estuary in a canoe, explore the coastal forests on a quad bike or treat yourself to an exhilarating deep sea fishing trip or whale-watching adventure. Fishing charters are available on request and anglers can decide whether to explore the tidal estuary’s fishing opportunities, the surf and reefs or the open waters of the Indian Ocean. Avid bird watchers will be impressed by the array of birdlife in this vast ecosystem. After a long day on the beach, or when the weather’s not great, there’s indoor entertainment in the conference centre which is fitted with a television and DVD player, board games, darts, a pool table and table tennis. If you are in search of an idyllic wedding venue or a place to host your next team building conference, look no further. Zongoene Lodge’s venues are each unique and offer guests state-ofthe-art conferencing equipment. Zongoene’s expert function coordinator will help you plan every detail of your event and advise you along the way. Follow the haunting cr y of the African fish eagle to a paradise nestled between the Limpopo River, Indian Ocean and indigenous tropical forests — and there you will find Zongoene Lodge.

Please take note that a 4x4 vehicle is essential during the rainy season and travellers are advised to travel this road by daylight only. For further information visit <www.zongoene.com>, email <info@ zongoene.com> or phone 015 291 2181.

BOAT PROFILE

by Heinrich Kleyn

Mystique 22 by Natal Caravans & Marine

T’S been quite a while since I last did a boat test, so when Bill Harrison from Natal Caravans & Marine phoned to tell me about an old boat they’d been tweaking to make her suitable for offshore fishing — the Mystique 22 — I jumped at the opportunity to test her. A new aspect to this test was that we would also video it with the help of Kuluma TV, an online magazine. This way SKI-BOAT readers can read the review and then go online to <www. kulumaTV.com> and watch the video clip on the performance of the boat, or they can contact the dealer and get a copy of the review on CD. This is a new concept that we think will work very well to help any potential buyers get a better idea of the boat and make up their minds.

SPECIFICATIONS Length – 6.6m Beam – 2.5m Draft – 0.45m Fuel – 150 litres Hull weight – 930kg Recommended power – 2x90 - 2x115hp Buoyancy – Foam-filled

waterskiing. Now Natal Caravans and Don have made a few changes to the boat and have fitted two outboards. I was also concerned because there were five of us onboard and I wasn’t sure how she would handle all that weight out at sea, but as it turned out, I needn’t have worried.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS When I arrived at the Natal Rod and Reel Club the boat was ready and waiting on her trailer. “Nice boat,” I thought, although I was a little concerned about the height of the boat’s bow which seemed a bit low. Don Jarratt of Angler Boats made the changes to the Mystique 22, and anyone who owns an Angler craft will know that Don’s boats are always of the highest quality, so that was already a big plus. The Mystique was originally built to accommodate an inboard engine and was mainly used for wakeboarding and

MOTORS AND PERFORMANCE The Mystique 22ft test boat was fitted with two 100hp 4-stroke Yamaha engines. These motors have been tested before and rank among the best-performing and most fuel-efficient 4strokes on the market. Two 100hp 4-strokes might sound a bit small for a 22ft boat, but that was certainly not the case. From a standing position the pull-away was pure power, even with five people on board. Indeed, there was also more than enough power to push this boat through the surf if you chose to launch from the beach.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 37

deck has been designed in such a way that it would run out the sides at the back of the boat.

When it comes to bigger boats I really do prefer monohulls — they are just so much smoother and faster than catamaran hulls. Out of the hole the Mystique 22 gets onto the plane very quickly, and overall the two 100hp motors have more than enough grunt to power this 22ft craft. The turns were ver y smooth, and because she’s a monohull they were very sharp and tight. In fact, you get so close to the water while turning that it might feel like you’re close to rolling over, but stability is assured by the craft’s very wide stern. Even with five of us aboard she was still very stable and showed no signs of broaching when running with the swells. Running into the swells she did not pound and cut through the waves with ease. My concerns about the bow of the boat being low in comparison to a normal offshore craft were soon put to rest while I was playing with her. Not once

did a drop of water come over the front and we had a lovely, dry ride. This is largely due to the hull’s design which deflects the water sideways, away from the boat. Even while playing and turn-

ing at high speed, no water or spray came over the front. However, if you do get water over the bow — and that’s a big if — the

LAYOUT The Mystique 22 has a huge splashwell at the stern between the engines and the back seat. Remember, this craft used to have an inboard engine inside the hull, so now that the engines are fitted on the back, there’s a large space below and behind the back seat. On both sides of the boat there are comfortable seats with storage space underneath. There is also space on the deck where you can fit a drinks table if you and the family or friends want to go for a sundowner cruise. This table is stowed under the seats when not needed. The skipper has a special moveable seat that can be flipped down so that he’s positioned lower, out of the wind, or it can be flipped up so that he has a higher viewpoint. In the middle of the deck there’s a hatch in the f loor which can be used as a fish hatch or, if you want to go skiing, you can store all the skis and ropes and towels there. There’s certainly plenty of body space and storage space on this dr y and stable boat. On the left of the boat, underneath the port-side front windscreen there’s a huge dry hatch. This hatch’s door also acts as door through the windscreen, allowing access to the bow area, either separately — opening below the windscreen — or fully, together with the centre section of the windscreen. In the bow there are seats on both sides with storage space underneath. There’s also an anchor hatch with a tied-down anchor, as well as fold-up telescopic steps which you can use to climb on the boat from the bow if you need to. CONCLUSION This boat was designed for the family man who likes to entertain his family and friends on the water, but who also loves to fish. It’s a great combination which gives you the best of both worlds. She’s a dry, stable, top quality boat, and her wet deck makes her ideal for all-purpose use, either out at sea or on the dam. I would definitely recommend the Mystique 22 to someone who perhaps lives upcountry but comes down to the coast every now and then. If you’d like a more visual impression of the lovely dry ride and good handling of this 22ft monohull, visit <www.kulumaTV.com> and draw your own conclusions, then call Bill for a closer look.

38 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

FEATURE

by Francois van der Merwe

N the past two years I’ve heard more and more how our fishing brethren have returned empty-handed after a challenging day on the water. With the cost of fuel going up and up, and with our hectic lifestyles, we get to spend less and less time trying to stretch some line and getting an adrenaline rush on the water. Being employed by one of the fastest growing marine electronic brands in South Africa, I get astounded with new technology and the weapons at our disposal to bring home that elusive one. I am actively involved and enjoy chatting to my compatriots about what they are doing, how they are doing it and the results of their endeavours, so I hear how much more planning it takes to get to sea nowadays. Gone are the days when we just hooked up our boat, got some bait out of the freezer and drove off happily towards our favourite launch site to bring home some supper. Besides having a good sonar system with an HD ultrabright sunlight-viewable display — boasting functions like WiFi, Bluetooth and even 2D sonar, plus a whole range of inter-

connectivity between music systems/iPods and even the latest in engine diagnostics — the latest in sonar logging and charts just blew my mind away yet again. To quote a skipper at the recent Nissan SADSAA Billfish tournament, pinnacles and thermoclines almost mean more to him nowadays than the fish targets. With such a high strike rate I always take note of where vessels are catching fish. Navionics, a supplier of charts in various forms — from the older Compact flash to the latest in Micro-SD cards — currently supplies almost every brand in South Africa with electronic charts. They have just released sonar logging, and it’s amazing stuff indeed! I was gobsmacked when I saw not only the latest 3D imaging, but also the ability to pan and even rotate whilst in 3D view. Figure 1 (below, left) is a 3D representation of Bassas da India, a pinnacle off Moçambique between Africa and Madagascar. Not only can one see the underwater area, but one can even confirm one’s surroundings by just enabling functions like picture overlay (Figure 1B, below).

Figure 1.

Figure 1B. SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 41

Figure 2: an example of Durban with picture overlay enabled. Not so many years ago a nautical chart would be many years old before it was updated. Unfortunately, being at the bottom of Africa and being such a comparitively small fraternity of fishermen, we were never high up on the food chain when it came to charting and updating. Our market was just too small in the big scale of things. Some suppliers got their charts from Bathometric charts like Google World. The problem with this was that at specific coordinates the depths were never the same as what the chart actually

showed them to be. After all, when you split your screen to view a chart and fishfinder you should see the same information on both views — right? Well, this was hardly ever the case until now with the latest from Navionics: the depth is the same as what you see on the fishfinder, and this is repeated on the charts! With the latest software and the latest generation displays, whilst fishing you actually take depth logs, and this information is saved on your MSD card from Navionics. Navionics provides free updates on your chart for the first year, and this period can be extended with a small additional payment after that period expires. Basically, with a GPS and a fish sonar working in tandem you actually take logs for them, and when you upgrade your chart — as mentioned, you can do this for free as many times as you want in the first year — not only do you download the latest chart of the area you purchased, but they also take your logs and use this to generate a new updated chart that is available to be downloaded a week later with your actual depth logs represented. This means the more you fish a specific reef, the more realistic/actual the chart is to what is actually below you. This two-way symbiotic relationship really works well, especially in areas where there are no charts or the charts are very dated. You can then almost redraw this area for yourself. Figure 3 shows an example of how a non-charted area is redrawn with this technology.

Figure 3: Navionics SonarCharts TM is a new high definition bathymetry map layer which reveals incredible seabed detail not available on existing cartography. This is created by integrating hydrographic office charts with data from Navionics proprietary surveys and sonar logs provided by Navionics Community users who record their sonar logs and upload them on <www.navionics.com> where updated charts can be downloaded.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 43

Why do we need such accurate charts? Well, the people that are bringing home supper every night are the ones that add this to their arsenal of tricks. If you look at the screen shot below in figure 4, you will notice that off a pinnacle the predators are looking at a bait ball.

Figure 6.

sonar logging, to mention just a few. This chart covers most of our South African waters. It is a very popular chart amongst our inshore and offshore anglers who concentrate on fishing from craft ranging from jetskis to large inboard-powered sportfishers in our area. Figure 4: fish on a ledge below bait. Thermoclines also tend to come closer to the surface when the current flows over a pinnacle. This causes nutrientrich cold water to come up from the depths which results in the accumulation of small baitfish, which again results in the aggregation of predacious fish species. Figure 5A and 5B show the correlation of charts to Chirp sounder, resulting in a broadbill being caught in daylight hours off Kenya.

NAVIONICS+ These are downloadable charts for any area you are planning to venture in (see figure 7, overleaf). The charts are very large and can be divided in seventeen regions of the world atlas. These charts are not suited to our smaller coastal vessels (14ft - 21ft) we tend to have in South Africa, but more for vessels travelling in vast areas around the globe.These charts can have multiple chart areas downloaded and upgraded to new areas as the vessel travels from one chart area to another. These downloadable charts have nautical charts, SonarChartsTM, community edits, free updates for one year and sonar logging. NAVIONICS GOLD (XL9) For our area this consists of the chart of South Africa and the Middle East (Area 30XG) (figure 8). Figure 8

Figure 5A and 5B.

Different types of charts and functions PLATINUM 3D CHART (6P035XL Africa SE/Madagascar) These charts (figure 6) show 3D and have all the functions available from Navionics â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 3D viewing, navigational charts, SonarChartsTM, aerial picture overlay, free updates and even

This chart offers unbeatable coverage preprogrammed in one chip and has the best detail with paper-like chart quality detail. They have user-selectable safety contours, wreck database, tides and currents, spot soundings, port plans and services, to mention just a few. They have community edits and the freshest data, but no SonarChartsTM. DOWNLOADABLE NAVIONICS GOLD (XL9) This is the entry-level series of charts for our areas and has SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ 45

Figure 7

Figure 7 shows the Navionics+ option, very large charts that and can be divided in seventeen regions of the world atlas. similar characteristics to a Gold chart. These charts come empty but are encrypted. You go to the Navionics website and choose the small area chart you would like to download, and the cost due to the encryption is free. We have two cuts for our coastline — 036 and 037 — but 037S2 is by far the most popular area (see figures 9 & 10).

Figure 10

Figure 9

ADVANTAGES OF DOWNLOADING CHARTS When you download a chart you can always enlarge the chart to cover a larger area at a nominal cost. This means you can look at various weather functions like surface water temperature and with your chart plugged into your PC plot your course accordingly. CONCLUSION I does not matter the size of your vessel or even the brand of chartplotter, the distance you fish from land, or even the area you fish, Navionics now has a solution for you in any area in South Africa. Stretch some lines and catch some monsters from the deep — and travel safe. For further information please contact MDM Marine Services on (021) 671 6751.

46 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 â&#x20AC;¢ 47

Ahoy! OWNERS of boats, 4x4s, motorbikes and caravans, stand a chance to WIN a fun-filled cruise for two on board the MSC Opera from Durban to Portuguese Island, Mozambique, valued at R15 000. You could be sleeping in style in a superior ocean view cabin, enjoying complimentary meals and entertainment. Let Club Marine Insurance provide you with a comparative insurance quote and you could be winning on more than just your insurance premium. Competition closes 31st December 2014. www.clubmarinesa.com clubmarineinsurance info@clubmarinesa.com 0861 819 219 011 591 3500 TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. Competition closes on 31st December 2014. The prize is valid in February 2015 on select cruises only. 2. The prize includes a four-night cruise for two people to Maputo and Portuguese Island, Mozambique. 3. The prize includes accommodation, meals, entertainment, gala cocktail party and dinner. 4. The prize excludes transport to Durban, onboard drinks, spa treatments, items of a personal nature, port and baggage charges. 5. Entrants must be owners of either a boat, 4x4, caravan or motorbike. 6. All entrants will receive a free quotation and their entry will be placed into the draw (one entry per person). 7. The adjudicatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision on the audited draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 8. The winner will be notified prior to public announcement and Club Marine Insurance reserves the right to publish a photograph and details of the winner. 9. This prize is not transferable, it cannot be exchanged for cash and is subject to availability. 10. By entering this competition entrants agree to abide by the rules and conditions of the competition. 11. Staff, affiliates and media partners of Club Marine Insurance are prohibited from entering this competition. 12. Club Marine Insurance reserves the right to withdraw or cancel this competition if, in their opinion, it is subject to misuse of any description. Club Marine Insurance is an authorised financial services provider, FSP 4430 and a FAIS accredited insurance brokerage.

LIFESTYLES

Special offer

SAVE 40% ON A FABULOUS CRUISE RUISE to Portuguese Island and Maputo aboard the MSC Opera with SKI-BOAT magazine and Club Marine Insurance and save 40%. Take advantage of this special for the cruise departing on 2nd February 2015 and you could be soaking up the sun on the soft, white beaches of Portuguese Island or enjoying the bustle of Maputo. When you cruise aboard the MSC Opera there’s something to entertain you every minute of the day or night, and all the facilities one would expect on the world’s best liners including a spa, two swimming pools, nine restaurants a theatre and a casino. Start the day with a hearty breakfast on deck, then try your hand at one of the activities or just sit back and relax with a cappuccino and watch the waves pass you by. After lunch, leave the kids at the crèche and enjoy a short siesta, or take in a movie in your cabin. As the sun sets, sample the delectable Italian cuisine, followed by a show, then visit the disco and dance till the early hours. Have a look at the itinerary and book soon...

DAY 1 Depart Durban. Make sure you’re on deck at 2pm for the sail-away party as she casts off, en route to Portuguese Island. DAY 2 Portuguese Island. Enjoy a fun-filled expedition day on the pristine beaches of Portuguese Island. Tonight’s Tropical Party on deck is a highlight of the cruise. DAY 3 Maputo. A large, lively cosmopolitan port town, Maputo’s former Portuguese colonial heritage is married with vibrant African culture. Take a city tour or book an excursion to secluded beaches outside the city. Many guests take a stroll round the colorful mercado or covered market, where stalls are piled high with exotic fruit and vegetables, carvings and traditional

leather goods. Shop for a holiday souvenir or just spoil yourself at a typical Moçambican restaurant. DAY 4 At sea. Spend the day lounging around the pool in a deck chair or enjoying the dozens of daily activities. With three meals daily, plus a midnight buffet, gala dinner, cocktail parties, tea and pastries served at various intervals you certainly won’t go hungry. DAY 5 Durban. Your early morning arrival in Durban signals the end of an exciting fun-filled holiday. ALL THE NITTY GRITTY Cruise: OP 28 Departure date: 2 February 2015 Itinerary: Durban, Portuguese Island, Maputo, Durban Inside cabin from R3 920 Outside cabin from R4 520 Balcony cabin from R5 540 Mandatory charges R860 Included in your fare: Accommodation in category selected with twicedaily service; all meals, range of entertainment, use of fully-equipped gym, kids’ clubs, all games and daily activities. Terms & conditions: These rates apply to new bookings only. Prices are subject to availability, per person based on two people sharing, but remain subject to foreign exchange and fuel cost fluctuations. Prices exclude mandatory port, insurance and service charges. Single supplement applies. E&OE BOOK NOW To take advantage of this special offer, book online at <www.msccruises.co.za> by 31st October 2014 — and make sure you use the promo code SBOAT.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 49

HISTORY

In the July/August issue of SKI-BOAT we explored the evolution of the uniquely South African ski-boat since the 1940s. The Eastern Cape’s Butt Cat played a very prominent role right from the start — and is still going strong — but sportfishing from small motorised boats in its earliest form was traced back to Durban’s south beaches. However, with development ongoing in Natal, Eastern Cape and the Western Province, boat building pioneers were also having their say. Johan Smal takes up the story. EFORE the advent of the catamaran in KZN waters, one of the most basic of ski-boats plying the waters of Natal was Dave Olufsen’s very popular 13’6” SkiVee which he began building in 1968. The Ski-Vee still holds its own today, though more refined than Dave’s original paddleski-based craft. As popular as ever, the design was subsequently modernised by Ryan Hansen, of Durban Yamaha, to include higher gunnels, bowrails and even a windscreen ahead of a canvas-topped centre console, and

longer in production since Kei Marine ceased operation, still plies the waters of the Eastern Cape to this day. As rugged as they came, the Scorpion boasted a substantial open cabin which provided protection from the elements, making those longer runs to the copper grounds easier for the Border boys. Indeed, Paddy Hart’s The basic 12’6” Olufsen Ski-Vee (above) — this one for sale recently on OLX — and a more refined and larger version, the Ski-Vee 500 Sport by Ryan Hansen, tested in 2009 by Kevin Smith for SKIBOAT magazine. available in a range of sizes from 13ft 6in to 16ft 6in (5m). As ski-boating came of age throughout the country, things were happening south of the Natal border as well, with boats evolving to suit the varying conditions along South Africa’s lengthy coastline. BACK TO THE EASTERN CAPE A longtime favourite on the Border was Paddy Hart’s 21ft and 24ft Scorpion deep-vee (right), a craft that though no

Part 3

50 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

Scorpion is rightfuly acknowledged as having played a major part in the evolution of the ski-boat in South Africa. Kei Marine was also swept along by the trend towards catamaran ski-boats and produced the popular Wildcat, in 16ft and 18ft models. SUPERCAT MARINE Another household name in the boating

by Johan Smal world, Supercat Marine, was established by Dennis Schultz in Port Alfred in 1983. Their first fishing boat, a 6.2m completely foam-filled GRP catamaran, the Supercat 620 Sportsman, was sold to the late Bill Johnson and is still operational today. The other models that that followed included the 4.3m Witblitz, a 5.2m Supercat and the 7.8m striker catamaran called the Magnum 780. The latter was very successful but the design was sold to Two Oceans Marine around 1992. Some interesting design features introduced by Dennis were that in the 520 model he used moulded flotation bulkheads which generated not only the required areas for bottles, but also integrated airtight flotation compartments, thereby creating a dual flotation system. Both the 520 and 620 models were built with curved transoms which ne-

Dennis Schultz’s Supercat 620 was the first boat out of the moulds at Supercat Marine, Port Alfred, in 1983. The pictures show the boat in her various construction stages, culminating in Dennis taking one of the factory’s first 620s for a “test flight”. Never mind the sea conditions off Port Alfred — Dennis’s confidence in his boats saw him through everytime.

gated the flat turning characteristics of catamarans by generating an inward “lean” of the hulls in tight turns, unlike existing cats of the time. Having built more than 1 000 planing hulls between 1983 and 2006, Supercat evolved into building displacement catamarans which will be dealt with in more detail in the next part of this series covering sportfishers.

board-powered fishing craft, many of which have been tested by SKI-BOAT over the years. Just as the ski-boat has evolved, so the end product from the Lee brothers’ factory has become more and more refined, moving with the times and on a par with their South African conterparts. GECAT GOES TO GREAT HEIGHTS Suitably designed for both Cape and

Capt’n Dan — Danie Steyn’s 9m Lee Cat fitted with twin 250hp Suzukis.

LEE CAT Also situated in Port Alfred, Lee Cat is another manufacturer which made an important contribution to the evolution of ski-boating in South Africa. The core of Lee Cat’s business is big commercial craft up to 75ft, but the Lee brothers’ passion is in the 8-9m out-

Natal sea conditions — and anything in-between — the germination of the GeCat began in 1962 when Errol Plowes fished with his late father, Howard, on their ski-boat outings in Natal waters. It wasn’t until 2000 that Errol — now located in the Eastern Cape —

began building his dreamboat, a 9m catamaran. As he was lifting the hull from the mould, a Durban ski-boat fisherman, Greg Holwill, made him an offer for his boat which he instantly declined. However, true to the saying that ever ything has its price, he simply couldn’t resist the final offer and reluctantly parted with his very first boat. Constructed of GRP with superstrong corrugated dual panel GRP bulkheads foamed in between, a first for South Africa boat building, she was fitted with twin 115hp, 2-stroke Yamaha outboard motors. The very week she arrived in Durban from the Eastern Cape, Errol received another two orders for similar craft which cemented the formation of Gecat Marine in St Francis Bay, partnered by George van Reenen. Finally, during a slack period, Errol took possession of his own boat, by now no. 29 out of the mould. Today Errol still heads up Gecat Marine — George having retired in the interim — and they manufacture models in four sizes, from 6.5m to 10.7m. Constructed with a variety of cabins and deck layouts, these craft are used in both industrial and gamefishing applications and are exported to Australia, Seychelles and many African countries. A GeCat has the unique distinction of operating at the highest altitude in

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 53

GeCat 21ft 6in Walkaround.

Africa, this being their 35ft (10.7m) “Custom Built” model located on the Katse Dam in Lesotho. To get there she was towed over the challenging 3 090m high Mafika Lisiu Pass where Errol Plowes fittingly coined the phrase, “Gecat — going to new heights”. The 35ft Custom Built GeCat is used in many different applications, including in the diamond industry on the west coast of Southern Africa, oyster farming in Namibia, PortNet Diver Services, whale and shark ecotourism, as well as in commercial, recreational fishing and ferry applications. ONWARDS TO THE WESTERN CAPE Hentiecat flying over ski-ramp! Well-known Knysna resident Hentie van Rooyen — who built the celebrated Hentie’s Botel, complete with its own private boatyard — ventured onto the boating scene in the late 1940s with his 12ft and 14ft 6in monohulls. Constructed of wood and marine ply they were fitted with 35hp engines,

A Hentiecat around 1960 (left to right): Barry Barnard, Prof. Chris Barnard, Hentie van Rooyen and Dr Andries van Zyl, with Andries and Grootboom (front) and the day’s catch. (Below) The last boat built by Hentie van Rooyen in 1964. mainly the distinctive red-and-white Johnson, but sometimes also Mercury. He built his first 16ft cat in 1959, purposely designed to face the notoriously turbulent waters of the Knysna heads. This craft was powered by 2x15hp Johnsons, as Hentie strongly believed that cats did not need big motors. He also designed and built the first slalom-ski in South Africa, and Hentie and his wife, Rita, were the country’s first official waterski instructors. One of their claims to fame is that they coached Springbok skier Deirdre Barnard, daughter of the legendary pioneering heart surgeon, Professor Chris Barnard. During 1960’s 50th anniversary of South Africa’s Act of Union celebrations,

Hentie demonstrated his fearless boating and reputable boat building skills by successfully jumping the ski-ramp — which he constructed in the lagoon — with his Hentiecat. He also built himself a 28ft cabin-cat called Barmaid.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 55

His ski-boats became very popular in the Cape, but sadly Hentie ceased boat building in 1964 when he sold his businesses. A 20’ WOODEN CATAMARAN – TRITON – by James Edwards Back in 1983 Ski-Scene — with Dave Rorke at the helm — carried a special feature by James Edwards, the owner of Lucky Bean Marine Boatyard, also located in Knysna. James was asked by John Johnson to build him a new wooden skiboat. This request came at a time when fibreglass had already become firmly entrenched in the boat building industry as the most suitable and preferred construction method. James had to take a step backwards and reassess the main factors which had steadily diminished the popularity of wood over time. These consisted mainly of increase in weight due to soaking, wood-rot and high maintenance requirements. After extensive research he decided to use a technique developed by the Americans called Epoxy Saturation of Wood (ESW). It consisted of a tough, flexible and water-resistent substance being applied to the wood surfaces in liquid form — and which set like Perspex. By preventing water ingress it takes care of the downsides when wood is used as mentioned above. “The Triton embodies all that we have discovered about wood. The full design is not revolutionar y but is extremely effective with a properly designed tunnel and a low wetted surface area aft, resulting in an almost unnoticeable step-up into the plane and very low fuel consumption. Having ver y fine hulls forward, the ride is smooth enough to negate the necessity to stand,” James added. “The overall effect is evocative of a luxury motorcar at speed on a bumpy road,” concluded James. “The dash is wood-panelled, the instruments all face the driver so that parallax is avoided, and four fishermen can sit beside each other in dry and conversational comfort.” Indeed, the craft that was launched from Lucky Bean’s boatyard was a masterpiece, evocative of the wood-panelled craft plying the waterways of Venice, yet twin-hulled and built to challenge the seas beyond the Knysna Heads. CAPE TOWN — NEW IDEAS In the Cape, the traditional “bay boats” were the standard for sea-going craft among local inshore fishermen until the early 1950s. When news of the successful Durban and Zululand ski-boats reached local Cape anglers, they were (reluctantly) enthusiastic but uncertain if the unpredictable weather, cold water and huge swells would make ski-boat angling a viable proposition in Cape waters, especially beyond Cape Point. It was agreed that these conditions

The James Edwards-designed Triton, an all-wood catamaran from Lucky Bean Marine Boatyard , Knysna — “... evocative of a luxury motorcar at speed “. would present a serious problem and it was accepted that ski-boating would be restricted to particular months when it was usual to expect windless days. With eagerness strengthened by regular visits to Durban, Bonita and Hottie were ordered for their unknown Cape Town owners in the early 1950s. They were constructed in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth respectively, almost entirely to Natal specifications. Initially, extensive use of these craft was prevented by bad weather as anticipated, but by March 1952 they were frequently at sea, making noteworthy catches. Large hauls of especially yellowtail were taken very close to shore, encouraging more anglers to join the ski-boating ranks. In 1958 Trevor Beaumont acquired Ski-B, a 16ft craft with a fully fibreglassed hull. She was built by Lawrence, a fibreglass boat and kayak manufacturer, and fitted with twin 18hp Johnson outboard motors, complete with remote controls and steering fitted forward. She was also equipped with a full-size fighting chair, outriggers and all the specialised equipment for big game fishing, including a livebait hold with a self-bailer. In 1961 Brian Grobler acquired what was considered to be the first true ski-

boat in False Bay, built by Boris Jameson in Johannesburg, the first Mercury outboard distributor in South Africa. She was an 18ft marine-ply monohull with a fibreglass skin and was powered by a 40hp Johnson motor and a 9hp Johnson auxiliary, sporting many improved operational and safety features. The bow was also modified to give her more height and was flared to cope with the big seas of the Cape. Brian was also the first angler to take a giant False Bay bluefin tuna from a ski-boat using rod and reel. By 1967 there were allegedly only five “genuine Natal-type ski-boats” operating in False Bay. One of these boats — one of the first catamarans in Cape waters — belonged to Arthur Goulden who initiated the formation of the Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club at Rumbly Bay. Based on their particular successes, the owners of the traditional bakkies and other bay boats finally realised that twin-engined, wet-deck ski-boats had the leading edge on them, both in terms of manoeuvrability and safety. CAPE CRAFT TAKES THE LEAD Andy Roper’s first boat was built by Bob Scott in 1968. Constructed in Bob’s garage she was a deep-vee wood-

The Cape’s first ski-boat, Brian Grobler’s 18ft marine-ply monohull with a fibreglass skin, built by Boris Jameson in Johannesburg in 1961 SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 57

Gwaza, Andrew van Zyl’s 25ft Cape Craft fitted with twin 150hp Suzuki motors. en craft based on the imported Hartley design marketed by Boating Centre, located in Buitengracht Street in Cape Town. She was a 17-footer, fitted with a 25hp Evinrude motor, and was used for crayfishing. A year later, following the demise of this craft during an incident at sea,Andy built another one, this time flying solo. Shortly after launching this particular craft, orders started to pile up, so he was joined by Bob Scott and they established a company called “Roper and Scott Craft”. A short time later the name was changed to “Cape Craft”, specialising in small fishing boats for the booming commercial market. With an increase in demand for larger craft, the 18ft version, fitted with 60hp motors, was born. Her all–wood construction remained the norm for Cape Craft until the first fibreglass hull, based on the 16ft Hartley design — which became a good seller to sportfishermen — was moulded in 1974. In 1976 Andy decided to design his own boat which was an 18ft 6in wooden construction. Once built and a mould taken, production commenced — and this particular fibreglass boat eventually became the Cape fisher-

man’s choice. Preferring their trusty wooden constructions, Cape fishermen were initially reluctant to switch to these new “plastic boats”, as they were called, but fibreglass construction soon became accepted as the norm by the boat building industry in the Cape. During 1981 Andy added the 25ft Cape Craft to his fleet. She was based on his 18ft design and especially designed for tuna fishermen operating beyond Cape Point. Again the successes of this craft lead to a 28ft design in 1990 which took the commercial small-scale linefishing market by storm. With her sturdy construction, higher bows that could handle larger swells, high gunnels enhancing catch-effort ergonomics, and the superior load-carrying capacity, this craft remains the most popular choice for operating in the unforgiving waters of the Cape to this day. ROBCRAFT Around 1975 Stan Roberts initiated the design and construction of the deep-vee mono Robcraft which was built at his factory, Stanrob Marine, located in Woodstock. Being an advanced con-

cept purposely designed for Cape Point offshore gamefishing at the time, he drew on the expertise of Jannie Veldsman’s Golnix in the field of GRP moulded designs. The first versions, 18ft and 20ft craft — of which the open cabin version proved to be popular at the time — were fitted with outboard engines ranging from 90–120hp. The 24ft version provided more flexibility for the choosy owner and was offered in open, cabin or flybridge versions. Power was provided by either twin outboard motors ranging between 120hp and 140hp, or the traditional sterndrive engine, either petrol or diesel powered. Jannie built the first 24ft craft for himself and used it as a demo model. In 1976 Bob Busby purchased the second unit. Fitted with twin sterndrive 120hp Volvo petrol engines, she set him back R13 000. The Robcraft was well-built, sturdy and strong, by some actually referred to as “overbuilt, bulletproof and heavy”, but she was at home in most sea conditions. Bob recalls that during a competition he overheard Frank Wittwen, who was the skipper of the famed Ovenstone’s boat Marauder at the time, saying,“Those guys go out in any weather.” The popular Robcraft, though not built in any great number, came to an abrupt end when the business was shut down in the mid-1990s following a devastating fire at the factory, but those that were towed from the works are allegedly all still running today. In the next issue of SKI-BOAT, Johan Smal will conclude his overview of the evolution of the ski-boat in the Western Cape, before turning his attention to the larger sportfisher.

Bob Busby’s 24ft Robcraft, Osprey — driven by twin Volvo sterndrives (above) — and Erwin Bursik’s outboard-driven 21-footer, Sea Lord II (main picture).

58 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

COMPETITIONS

Mallards/Mercury Shelly Beach Festival 2014

by Erwin Bursik, photos by Erwin Bursik and JFK Photography

64 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

OING once, going twice, going thrice at 30.5kg, 30.6kg and 30.7kg ... and the hammer fell. Simon Colley’s magnificent king mackerel of 30.7kg entitled him to walk off with the Mallards 630 centre console Cobra Cat, powered by twin Mercury 115hp four-stroke outboard motors. Just 100 grams — as someone said, the weight of the patty in your hamburger — separated the top three fish weighed in during Shelly Beach SkiBoat Club’s annual Mallards/Mercury Ski-Boat Festival held in the first week of July 2014. When two ’cuda of identical weight vied for top honours at the 2014 Durban Ski-Boat Club Festival, people said the chance of this ever happening again was nigh on impossible. What would the pundits say to three fish — a ’cuda, a yellowfin tuna and another ’cuda — being weighed on separate days exactly 100 grams apart? Probably exactly what Shelly Beach’s weighmaster and tournament director Dick Pratt said when the digital scale flashed up the final 30.70kg: “I don’t bloody well believe it.” Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club is celebrating its 40th birthday this year — that’s 40 years of promoting the spirit of offshore ski-boating and fishing on the lower KwaZulu-Natal coast. It’s quite appropriate, therefore, that this year’s festival was hosted from the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club’s club house at the Sonny Evans small craft harbour. What a bumper event it turned out to be! There was a great turnout of participating teams — 73 in total — an abundance of good quality gamefish, especially tuna, incredibly good weather for early July and even the “taxman” of Protea Reef curbed his appetite for fresh tuna sushi. All those aspects worked together to ensure that this year’s Mallards/Mercury Festival was arguably the best and most enjoyable of the 16 festival competitions the club has hosted. Early July of each year is the chosen date for this festival. Why? Well, firstly, as it’s the start of the midyear school holidays, a large number of the club’s upcountry members are bound to be at their coastal holiday homes over this period and thus have the opportunity to take part in their club’s event. Secondly, with the onset of winter and cooling down of the offshore current, Protea Reef, which is directly off Shelly Beach, comes alive with yellowfin tuna in the 10kg to 20kg class, as well as a fair proportion which reach the 30kg class. Thirdly, the big “croc” ’cuda, although scarce, tend to be caught off the southern KZN coast at this time of year before the really cold water sends

66 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

them back on their migration route to Moçambique. The only negative at this time of year is the timing of the annual sardine run. There are many theories on whether the appearance of these baitfish is good or bad for local offshore fishing. This year no sardines arrived before or during the festival, so the early winter gamefishing from Secombe in the south to Durban in the north was not influenced in any way by the sardine factor. The club’s decision to allow craft to be launched anywhere from Durban to Port Edward over the last number of years has certainly increased the number of participants and has reduced the pressure on the Shelly Beach launch site. As all fish have to be weighed at Shelly Beach before the official closing of the scales each day, it has proved feasible to widen the scope of areas to fish, but still centre the exposure of the catches and the hype attached to this aspect at the competition’s centre of operations — this year the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club. Under the ver y attractive “Moroccan style” marquee, cleverly sited just to the north of the actual club house, the major prize — the Mallards 630 centre console Cobra Cat with a pair of Mercury 115hp four stroke motors — was

floated in the club’s swimming pool. This incredible display of the first prize f loating on crystal-blue water, beautifully illuminated by underwater lighting is by far the best display of any prize craft I have ever seen. Not only did it give everyone a 360° view of this rig, but it also provided a majestic focal point to the entire area. On the final night, when the formidable array of prizes that this festival is renowned for had been positioned for the prize-giving, it gave the entire area a distinct “wow factor” that all who attended remarked on. As mentioned earlier, the fishing this year was excellent. From day one in ideal weather conditions the fish were brought to the scales in previously unprecedented numbers. Tuna made up the bulk of the catches, but a few ’cuda and other species were also presented. As this is by and large a single fish tournament, there are no prizes for bulk catches. The leaderboard soon began to fill up, and Jessica Jarvis (left), who has her Natal colours for gamefishing and was fishing in an all-ladies team, Jessica Jarvis with her 28.4kg yellowfin tuna.

was the first to weigh a really good yellowfin tuna of 28.4kg, taken aboard Mesteph. Her position at the top of the leaderboard was short lived, however. Just before the scales closed, Franc van der Merwe brought in an extremely good ’cuda (king mackerel) of 30.5kg, caught off BlueTooth. His team had been fishing in an area south of Port Edward known as Red Sands. After the first day’s catch it became apparent that any fish weighing less than 20kg would not be eligible for a prize in the top 15. Though the weather was still great, not quite as many fish were brought to the scales on the second day, and those which were presented tended to be the bigger fish. Among these were Adrian de la Hunt’s 29.3kg yellowfin tuna, caught from Game On. A doyen of the area, Dolf Wucherpfennig, who was fishing with his son and grandson on their boat Stingray, caused much excitement when he presented his big yellowfin tuna caught off Protea Reef. It weighed 30.6kg which meant it pipped Franc’s big ’cuda by 100 grams and moved into first place. However, with two days fishing still remaining, his position was but a target for the 72 other teams to aim for. The third day of fishing saw equally as good conditions as the previous two days and produced equally as good fishing with a number of good fish being weighed in. Two other big ’cuda weighing 29.1kg and 28.9kg, caught by Mark Moir on Mansize and James Slabbert on Buka Mina, caused great excitement when they were presented to the weighmaster. Although they were not SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 67

The overjoyed winners of the Mallards/Mercury 2014 Ski-Boat Festival, Simon Colley and Roy Jackson, received their prize from Mike Barnes of Mallards and Aaron Ledsham of Mercury.

Because each fish can only win one prize, Juley du Plessis (left), fishing on Mesteph, was named the top lady angler thanks to her 17.3kg yellowfin.

Team Mesteph — Michelle Gets, Faith Lategan, Charles du Plessis and Juley du Plessis — with their “prize-winning tuna”, Jessica Travis.

The top junior angler was Luke Nielson fishing on Humdinger, who landed a 21.5kg yellowfin tuna.

weigh-in gantry. There was total silence as this great box lay waiting to be opened. Finally it was, and out jumped Jessica Jarvis to the total surprise of all of us who were there to witness the “big fish”. Guess who drank the Jager strafdop that evening? For Simon the words “the longest day” must have taken on a new meaning, for it was only as the bell struck 4pm on Saturday 5th July and the scales closed that he knew the beautiful Mallards 630 Cobra Cat, powered by twin Mercury 115hp outboards, was indeed his. That evening at the final prize-giving Simon again had to wait as numerous other prizewinners were awarded their spoils. There were eight species’ prizes (note: each fish could only win one prize), then three junior prizes and three ladies’ prizes. Only then did they work backwards from the 15th-placed 22.8kg yellowfin to the second-placed 30.6kg yellowfin tuna which earned Dolf a magnificent Lowrance HDS10 fishfinder/GPS, among other prizes. Then and only then was it Simon’s moment of glory as he and his fellow crew member boarded his new Mallards 630 Centre Console Cobra Cat

with twin 115hp Mercury four-stroke motors which was handed over by Mallards Boating’s MD Mike Barnes and Mercury’s Aaron Ledsham. This prize, worth all of R600 000, included a galvanised trailer ready for the journey to Simon’s home in Amanzimtoti. A successful tournament of this size and nature is testament to the hard work of Commodore Anton Gets, tournament director Dick Pratt and their entire tournament committee. From the concept of bringing the competition home to club premises, which everyone agreed was the best thing to happen to the tournament, to the festive “decorating” of the venue and floating the boat, it was one hell of an event and certainly one to be repeated. Both Anton and Dick deliberately spent a lot of time heaping praise and gratitude on all the companies and individuals who had contributed towards the magnificent array of prizes. And so ended the 2014 Mallards/ Mercury Festival under the banner of the Shelly Beach Ski-Boat Club, with assurances from all concerned that next year’s festival will be at the same place, at the same time of year — and hopefully with all the same participating teams in attendance.

quite good enough to change the two top positions, in the final analysis these fish put the anglers into fifth and sixth positions respectively. It was on this day that Simon Colley, fishing with Roy Jackson aboard Thunderchild off Umkomaas, landed a beautiful king mackerel, a croc of note. When Simon arrived at the weigh-in the crowd went silent, watching carefully as it was hung on the scales. Would it, could it beat Dolf’s 30.6kg yellowfin? Yes, it did ... by just 100g! Team Thunderchild was overjoyed, but there was still a day of fishing to go. Even though a strong southwesterly had been predicted for late that morning, there was still plenty of time for one of the other teams to hook and land a fish that could knock Thunderchild from the top of the leader board. While Simon was sweating it out a rumour spread like wild fire that a very big yellowfin tuna had been loaded on Charles du Plessis’s boat, Mesteph. Did we have a new winner? Half-an-hour before the weigh-in closed the ladies’ team, dressed in their team colours, arrived on the back of a bakkie with their huge fish box. It took Charles and three of the ladies to manhandle the obviously very heavy box onto the 68 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

Grateful thanks to all our SPONSORS for their outstanding support! A B D CONSTRUCTION ACE PLANT HIRE AUTOZONE BATES PORT SHEPSTONE BATTERY CENTRE MANABA BATTERY-TEC BAY VIEW LODGE BEARING MAN BRANDHOUSE BUILDERS WAREHOUSE MARGATE BUSHTEC ADVENTURE CALTEX PORT EDWARD C P MOLDT JEWELLERS COUNTY AUTO COYOTES SPORTS BAR DGB EDWARD SNELL & CO EMERALD COVE HOLIDAY RESORT EXPRESS REFRIGERATION FIREQUIP GETSEA SKIPPERS TRAINING GLASFIT GRANT THOMPSON'S FISH MOUNTS

GRIPPLE SA H.I.P PRODUCTS HALEWOOD INTERNATIONAL INJECT-A-MOULD JEFFS PALM RESORT - GUINJATA LIQUOR CITY LOWRANCE LUCKYS MALLARDS BOATING MARGATE CONSTRUCTION MARGATE PANEL BEATERS MARTINS ELECTRONICS MERCURY MARINE MIDAS MIDAS SUPER AUTO MARGATE MUST BYT FISHING CHARTERS NATAL PORTLAND CEMENT NATAL POWER BOATS NATIONAL DRILLING PALMER STEEL FABRICATIONS PANAROTTIS PIZZA PARADISE BEACH LODGE PARTNERS HAIR & BEAUTY

PAYMASTER PAWN SHOP PETER NOTHARD PG GLASS POWERFLOW EXHAUSTS PRINTCO PULSATOR LURES RENASA INSURANCE S.A. OLYMPIC HEALTH WORLD SAB CASTLE LAGER SADEC TRADE SKI-BOAT MAGAZINE SOUTH COAST BUSINESS MACHINES SOUTH COAST FEVER SPAR - PORT EDWARD SPEEDYS MARGATE SUPAQUICK SUPER CAR CARE SHELLY BEACH THE TACKLE BOX UGU SOUTH COAST TOURISM UMZIMKULU MARINA VANGUARD INSURANCE VINIMARK WURTH SA ISANDO

MOTOR SCENE

Advertorial

Suzuki launches the new DF30A

BEHIND YOU ALL THE WAY Recreational warranty on outboards increased to 3 years

UZUKI pride themselves on the fact that their comprehensive factory backed warranty will bring you complete peace of mind and confidence in your new Suzuki, and to show just how confident they are, from 1st July Suzuki will increase the recreational warranty on outboards to three years. Suzuki products undergo rigorous factory testing to ensure that the final product is outstanding and that the operation and functionality of the many systems are no less than perfect. Additionally, every new Suzuki motor receives a full and comprehensive pre-delivery service by your Suzuki dealer to ensure that everything works. With an owner-transferable warranty on all Suzuki motors, you also have complete peace of mind when it

comes to buying a used Suzuki. If you buy your Suzuki 4-stroke outboard in South Africa and register it for leisure use in South Africa, then your 4stroke outboard is covered for three years on the standard warranty, giving you three years’ peace of mind. For 2-stroke outboards the warranty is one year. Four-stroke outboards registered for commercial use in South Africa carry a warranty of one year (unlimited hours), while 2-stroke outboards are covered with a six month warranty for commercial use. The Suzuki warranty is subject to regular Authorised Suzuki Dealer servicing in accordance with the schedule published in the owner’s manual. Warranty terms and conditions are available from all Suzuki dealers and are detailed in the warranty policy and service information booklet. SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 71

from a conventional sliding action to a rolling action, thus reducing friction in the rocker arm operation. OFFSET CRANKSHAFT By positioning the crankshaft slightly off centre of the cylinder, lateral pressure is reduced against the cylinder wall as the piston moves up and down. The result is a smoother piston movement, which improves operating efficiency.

UZUKI has announced the addition of yet another new lightweight, fuel-efficient outboard motor to its range — the DF30A. These new models punch well above their weight in terms of delivering high-end specifications and performance from small portable units. This new model has been eagerly anticipated by many markets throughout the world, and at just 71kg it will be the lightest in its class. This is a phenomenal achievement considering the level of specification that this new outboard offers boaters. BATTERY-LESS FUEL INJECTION The new DF30A is based on a totally new in-line three-cylinder block with a displacement of 490cm3. The engine also benefits from Suzuki’s revolutionar y new generation battery-less electronic fuel injection system which helps to deliver quicker starts, smoother operation and better acceleration in any conditions. EASY START RECOIL In addition to the fuel injection system helping to deliver quicker and easier starts, the new DF30A also features a very light recoil starter that requires less pull strength, making it much easier to use. LEAN BURN CONTROL SYSTEM The battery-less electronic fuel injection system also allows these versatile little engines to benefit from Suzuki’s Lean Burn fuel control system. This intelligent fuel management system predicts fuel needs by monitoring engine performance and operating conditions to deliver a leaner fuel/air mixture to the engine. The result is a remarkable improvement in fuel economy over the outboard’s wide operating rev range. This means that both fuel consumption and emissions are reduced, without affecting the superb performance of the engine. These engine efficiencies are further enhanced by the introduction of roller rocker arms, an offset crankshaft and direct intake and cover ventilation. ROLLER ROCKER ARMS The DF30A models are the first outboards in their respective classes to utilise a roller with internal bearings on the cam slipper surface for both intake and exhaust valves. The roller changes the contact between the camshaft and rocker arm 72 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

DIRECT INTAKE These new models also benefit from a newly designed engine cover. However, this is not just for aesthetic purposes as the new cover provides the direct intake system with a smoother, cooler f low of air, which boosts the operating efficiency of the engine. This is made possible by the fact that the rotating flywheel helps vent warm air from the recoil cover, inner air intake and the outside of the engine cover, reducing temperatures in the engine cover. This, together with a newly designed air cleaner, allows much higher power output from a relatively small displacement. FRESHWATER FLUSH PORT Ease of use and maintenance was always at the forefront of the Suzuki engineers’ minds when it came to designing this new model. So, to help protect the engine from the damage caused by salt, sand and dirt that can build up in its cooling system, the DF30A is equipped with an easy to access freshwater flush port to make flushing the cooling system as easy and convenient as possible. Not only are these outboards easy to use, but the fact that they are so compact and lightweight means that they are easy to transport and store as well. In short, these are extremely versatile outboards that benefit from a high level of specification, which will help boaters to optimise performance and fuel economy. The DF30A will be available in all the popular configurations, to cover the wide variety of boats and installations used by customers. • For more information, please visit <www.suzuki.co.za> or contact Tanja Maes at <tanjam@suzukiauto.co.za>.

Geoffrey Wanvig, SADSAA President SELECTED NATIONAL TEAMS UR most sincere congratulations are extended to the following anglers who have been selected for teams and have thus been awarded their Protea colours in our sport. • 55th Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament: Phillip Marx (Capt), Andrew Bowie, Dave Martin, Eric Visser. • Puerto Rica International Billfish Tournament: Dave Martin (Capt), Handor Swart, Eric Visser.

ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICERS’ MEETING Another milestone was achieved in the history of SADSAA on 31st May 2014 when our Environmental Officer, Mark Beyl, held the first meeting for all of the Provincial Environmental Officers who could attend. He invited Bruce Mann of ORI, a well-known scientist and an expert in marine biology, as a guest speaker to present a talk on Marine Protected Areas, and to give practical guidance to our coastal Environmental Officers. The presentation by Bruce on this contentious subject was extremely well received, and he generously agreed to allow SADSAA to place his Power Point presentation on our website.

DEVELOPMENT It is good to see that provinces and clubs are actively involved with the promotion and execution of development courses, and for this I must thank all members who are actively involved for their efforts and the experience that they generously share with those who want to develop further in our sport. The Development Coaching Day, sponsored by SADSAA during the 2014 Junior Nationals in St Francis Bay, was a huge success. This is part of the ongoing development plan within SADSAA and should be seen as part of SADSAA’s LTADP where juniors from competing provinces, who are not familiar with local knowledge, may learn and better their skills. My thanks to the two coaches, John Lueff from Border and Martin Gierz from Eastern Province, who presented this excellent course. 2014/2015 SADSAA COMMITTEE In closing I would like to thank all those members who were prepared to give up their time to serve our sport and made themselves available for election. I also take this opportunity to congratulate those members below who were successful in being elected at our AGM in June 2014 and who will serve on the SADSAA committee for the 2014/2015 period.

President: Geoff Wanvig Vice President: Phillip Marx Treasurer: Erwin Bursik Secretary: Mearl Buyskes National Tournaments Officer: Dick Pratt International Tournaments Officer: Dick Pratt Safety Officer: Stan Walter Deputy Safety Officer (Inland): Karl Krause Deputy Safety Officer (Coastal): Anton Gets Environmental Officer: Mark Beyl Public Relations: Hymie Steyn Development Officer: John Lueff Selectors: Mike Buyskes,Anton Gets,Ted Horn, Chris Jacobs, Lappies Labuschagne, Phillip Marx, Tim Scholtz, and Barry Turk. Alternate Selectors: Lynette Adams and Dave Martin. Action Committee: Geoff Wanvig (President) Phillip Marx (Vice President) Mearl Buyskes (Secretary) Erwin Bursik (Treasurer) Dave Oostingh Andrew Bowie John Raubenheimer Finance Committee: Erwin Bursik (Treasurer) Andrew Bowie John Raubenheimer

2014/15 TOURNAMENT CALENDAR UPDATES SADSAA Billfish Classic I must sadly announce that due to financial constraints and a lack of sufficient sponsorship, SADSAA has taken the decision that they will no longer continue hosting this tournament. • Bottomfish Interprovincial 2014 Hosted by Western Province from Kleinbaai in September. • Bottomfish National 2014 Hosted by Natal from Durban from 23rd to 28th September. • Sailfish Interprovincial 2014 Hosted by Northern Gauteng from 6th to 10th October. • Tuna Interprovincial 2014 Hosted by Western Province from 21st to 25th October.

• Bi Nationals — Heavy Tackle and Light Tackle Billfish Nationals 2015 Hosted by Mpumalanga from Sodwana Bay during the third week of November. • Bottomfish Nationals 2015 Hosted by Border in June/July. • Tuna Nationals 2015 Hosted by Western Province from Hout Bay, 11th-16th May. • Gamefish Nationals 2015 Hosted by Zululand from Richards Bay from 1st to 5th June. • Junior Nationals 2015 Hosted by Zululand from Shelly Beach from 20th to 24th July.

SADSAA CONTACTS: Office phone: (012) 996-9007 • Website: www.sadsaa.com 74 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

BACK TO BASICS

by Paul Borcherds

Part 3:Taking it up a level ...

N the July/August 2014 issue of SKI-BOAT we showed you how to tie three old favourite knots, the Uni Knot, the Uni-to-Uni Knot, the Gryp Knot and the High Memory Knot. In this issue we’ll show you how to tie the Rapala Knot and the non-slip end loop. RAPALA KNOT THE Rapala Knot forms a non-slip loop at the end of a line, making a loop connection to a fly or hard-bodied lure. The loop will give the lure a lively action when retrieved from a cast or trolled behind a boat. The Rapala Knot is named after the lure company that popularised it as a

76 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

means of connecting their lures to monofilament lines. The original Rapala Knot only had one turn around the main line with the tag end, and one pass through the overhand knot. Flyfishing legend Lefty Kreh tested it and found that it was not particularly strong, so he added additional turns around the main line which strengthened it considerably. This was the basis for his Non-Slip Mono Loop. Many years later Rapala modified the description to add these extra turns, as well as the final tuck under the tag end. This non-slip loop will retain high knot strength in monofilament up to 150 lb test strength and fluorocarbon

up to 100 lb test strength. However, it will lose some knot strength when connecting superlines/braid to hard-bodied lures. TYING THE RAPALA KNOT 1. In this demonstration 130 lb Sufix Zippy Shock Leader is used to connect a Rapala X-Rap via a Rapala knot. 80 lb to 130 lb leader material is generally the norm to use for trolling hard-bodied lures from 10cm to 30cm. Fishing with stickbaits and poppers for giant kingfish may require you to go up to 150 lb or even 200 lb due to the fish’s tendency to cut the leader on the reef. 2. To start, make a simple overhand

10.

11.

12.

13.

ond” loop, the one closest to the wraps. 10. Once this is done, pull on the lure and the standing line to close the wraps and twists. 11. Now pull on the lure and the tag end. Do not worry if the whole knot pops around, this only means that you have now seated the tag end properly. 12. Pull the lure and the standing line again. If it hasn’t already done so, the knot will pop around, seating the knot on the standing line. 13. Trim the tag end. The end result is a 100% non-slip loop connecting mono- or fluorocarbon to hard-bodied lures.

3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

knot. Give yourself enough tag end to work with, anything from 20cm to 40cm depending on the line diameter. Pass the tag end through the ring on the bib of the lure. Next, push the tag through the overhand knot loop. Pull on the tag end to close the loop slightly. This will also slide the loop closer to the the ring on the bib. This is important to ensure that once the knot is seated the loop is not larger than the bib of the lure. Once the loop is smaller, wrap the tag end around the standing line. Make two more wraps around the standing line — three wraps in total

around the standing line. 8. Bring the tag back and pass the tag end through the middle of the main or first loop. 9. Once through the first or main loop, pass the tag again through the “sec-

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 77

NON-SLIP END LOOP (WITH KNOT TYING TOOL) In the previous issue I demonstrated the Gryp Knot or Hangman’s Noose, tied using the knot-tying tool. The tool also has another function and this is to tie a neat non-slip loop to connect snap swivels to monofilament or fluorocarbon end traces. A number of years ago, while fishing in Kenya, I watched the deck hands making this loop using the Nail Knot with Loop, as described in Geoff Wilson’s Complete Book of Fishing Knots & Rigs. However strong this non-slip loop was, it had two flaws and difficulties. Firstly, it was difficult to make, especially in smaller diameter lines; and, secondly, it still slipped right up to the swivel or loop when extreme pressure was exerted on the leader. To overcome this and make it easy for anyone to perfect it, I started playing around with the tool and came up with the following knot. This 100% non-slip knot can also be made with fluorocarbon which is otherwise very difficult to seat. The knot can be made with this tool in monofilament line test classes up to 200 lb, as well as in fluorocarbon up to 150 lb line test classes. TYING THE NON-SLIP END LOOP (WITH KNOT TYING TOOL) 1. Determine how long you need the trace end leader to be and cut off this section. Generally, it will be anything from 1m to 3m long. In this illustration I used 1.3m of 130 lb Sufix Zippy Shock leader. The extra 30cm will give you enough tag to work with. 2. Take the tag, fold it into a loop and push the tag through, making an overhand knot. 3. This loop will essentially form a chafe-resistant barrier between the snap swivel and mono- or fluorocarbon line, something similar to the Flemish Eye. 4. Push the tag end through the loop a second time. 5. Push the tag end through the loop a third time. 6. Close the loop slightly by pulling on the tag end. 7. Hook the loop over one end of the thumb pad slot on the knot-tying tool. 8. With your left thumb hold the loop securely on the tool. With your right hand pull both tag and standing lines through the slot at the tip of the tool. 9. Whilst holding the loop securely on the thumb pad slot, pull both tag and standing lines down in the tip slot at 90 degrees to the tip. 10. Wrap the tag and standing lines around the tip of the tool. 11. Make a second wrap over the tip, 78 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

moving away from the tip towards your left hand. 12. Make a third wrap. You should have three neat parallel wraps over the tip at this stage. 13. This part can be a bit tricky because sometimes the tag end is now closest to the tip and other times the standing line is. In this illustration the tag end is closest to the tip. Place the index finger of your left hand on the wraps on the tool tip to ensure they do not come undone. Now push the tag end through the slot on the tool tip from behind, as shown. 14. Pull the tag through whilst still securing the wraps on the tip with your left index finger. 15. Next, push the standing line through the slot on the tip as shown and pull through. 16. Whilst still holding the wraps on the tip and the loop on the thumb slot, pull slightly on both tag and standing lines to close any loose line that may have formed. Do not pull the wraps off the tip yet. 17. Once all loose line is secured, firmly grip the tag and standing line. With one quick, assertive motion, pull against the loop that’s on the thumb slot. The wraps will slide off the tip of the tool. 18. The next step is to release the loop on the thumb slot and place it over the tip of the tool and slide it down, as shown. To secure the knot, turn the tool around. It is important to do this to ensure that the sharp end on the slot side does not nick the line once pressure is applied on the tag end and standing line. Grip the standing line and firmly pull against the tool to seat the standing line. 19. To seat the tag end grip it with a pair of pliers and pull against the tool. Both tag end and standing line should now be securely seated. 20. Trim the tag end and you have a 100% non-slip loop knot. 21. You may now attach your snap swivel to the chafe-protected loop on the left.

BUY YOUR OWN KNOT TYING TOOL • If you would like to purchase the knot tying tool contact Paul Borcherds on 082 652 5659 or send him a message via his Facebook page.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 â&#x20AC;¢ 79

MARKETPLACE

Advertorial

Penn’s new reels are ready for war

HE all new Penn Fathom lever drag family of reels are designed to withstand South Africa’s harsh fishing environment. Available in both single speed and two-speed, these robust reels are constructed with a full metal body and side plates. Penn wanted to design a series of reels with the smoothest feel in the market, and this has been achieved with the oversized stainless-steel main and pinion gear, ensuring the reel can withstand pressure from the biggest fish and will provide a smooth gear feel throughout the battle. Adding to the smoothness of this reel are the five stainless-steel ballbearings which are perfectly placed through the reel to ensure smooth castability and handling at all times. The Fathom lever drag reels also boast Penn’s “Dura Drag”, which is the same drag system used in the Penn

80 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

Internationals. This drag system has an oversized drag surface, allowing for very big drags — and the smoothest drag out there. So, whether you’re targeting sharks from the shore, dogtooth tuna off the boat, or just general gamefish, the Fathom reels allow smooth, consistent drag with all line classes. The Quick Shift two-speed mechanism allows hassle-free changing of speeds in any fishing conditions, while the double-dog ratchet anti-reverse system gives the angler confidence that the reel will not slip under any circumstance. These reels also boast Penn’s Line Capacity Rings which allow the angler to see how much line he has left on the reel, or how close the fish is to the boat, ensuring a more confident and pleasurable fishing experience. To round them off, these reels feature the Switchblade harness lugs which allow anglers to utilise standup

harnesses on the boat, or shoulder harnesses when fishing off the beach. That’s always a handy tool to have when you’re targeting big fish. The single speed 40 HS was specifically designed for South Africa’s rockand-surf fishermen, sailfishermen and the competition offshore and inshore anglers. It boasts a 7.1:1 gear ratio with an incredible 60 inches per turn to make sure you have constant pressure on the line and are able to retrieve as quickly as possible when the fish turns towards the boat or shore. These reels will be available in stores from September 2014 and come in the following sizes: • Single speed — 25N, 30, 40HS • Two-speed — 30, 40N 60 For further information talk to your nearest tackle dealer or contact Pure Fishing on 0861 527 336 or visit <www.purefishing.co.za>.

ÂŠ Angler Publications

Over 300 boats available to choose from.

2014 RANGE

RIVIERA 40 Twin Volvo Penta 430hp motors, long range fuel tanks, autopilot, Lowrance: HDS10 and 12 Touch, generator, underwater light, dive compressor, dive kits, livebait well, 3.2m tender 15hp motor.

RIVIERA 3350

RIVIERA 37

38 Open Flybridge

2004. Twin Cummins 330hp motors, 950-litres fuel, 2007. Twin diesel Volvo 370hp, 1400-litres fuel, water 380-litres, generator 7kva, fridge, autopilot, outriggers, fishfinder, livebait tank in transom, stainless steel rod holders, teak cockpit floor and VHF radio, Schaeffer outriggers, hydraulic steering, sidesteps, bow thruster, fighting chair. rocket launcher, rod holders, air conditioner.

Price: R3 500 000 (Ref 919BW)

Price: POA

Price: R2 560 000 (Ref 956)

Available 10 January 2015

43 Open Flybridge

53 Enclosed Flybridge

63 Enclosed Flybridge

SEA CAT

TRITON

BOSTON WHALER 255 2012. 2 x 200hp Verado motors, 567-litres fuel, hydraulic steering, live well, fighting chair, outriggers - no poles and kit, Raymarine VHF radio, autopilot, fishfinder. Sleeps two.

Fishing cat. 2 x 150hp Mercury Optimax engines, Garmin 5012 sonar/map, Ritchie compass, Humminbird 717X sonar, autopilot, windlass, outrig- 200-litres fuel, Lowrance HDS 10 GPS, fishfinder, gers, downriggers, 2 x livebait wells, gunnel and radar, small custom cabin, stainless steel T-top. bazooka rod holders, T-top, sunbed, trailer.

Price: R1 399 000 (Ref 950)

Price: R885 000 (Ref 823)

63 Open Flybridge

Price: R619 995 (Ref 906)

Optional Airbeth available @ R250 000.

75 Enclosed Flybridge

3600 IPS Sport Yacht

4400 Sport Yacht

5000 Sport Yacht

Riviera 50 Enclosed Flybridge 5800 Sport Yacht

NEW 445 SUV

NEW 565 SUV

Insured by:

Also available: 50 Enclosed Flybridge and 53 Open Flybridge

Subscribe to

between 1st September 2014 and 1st December 2014 and win

YOUR NEXT YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION ABSOLUTELY FREE! Three lucky subscribers will each win a full year’s subscription to SKI-BOAT magazine, valued at the newsstand price of R186. This means, should you subscribe and win, you will receive your next year’s subscription ABSOLUTELY FREE!

WINNERS:

1 YEAR — 6 ISSUES

R186

Now R160,00

E V SA 4% 1

All about action!

The five lucky subscribers who each win a pair of FISHGILLZ polarised sunglasses, courtesy of ACEyewear, are J Sedgwick of Caledon, L Zachas from Knysna, Kobus Hattingh who hails from Preoria, Andrew Byrne from Amanzimtoti, and S Pogir of Orange Grove. Congratulations!

Yes! Enter my subscription to SKI-BOAT Magazine I save 14% on the newsstand price! 1 Year (6 issues) only R160.00. Save R26.00! New subscriber Existing subscriber

Yes! Please send me .........binder(s) (fill in number required) at R120,00 each, including VAT, packing and postage (SA only) Name .......................................................................................................................................... Address .......................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................Code ............... Telephone ................................................. Home ..................................................Work

All about fishing!

Cell.......................................................Email Address...................................................... Foreign subscriptions:

Airmail • Overseas and African countries add R275 Airmail • Namibia and Swaziland add R175

Subscription to commence with...................................................................................issue Amount enclosed herewith..................................(cheques payable to Angler Publications) OR please debit my No.

VISA CARD

MASTERCARD.................................(expiry date)

...........................(signature) MAIL TO: Angler Publications, PO Box 20545, Durban North 4016 For instant credit card orders, phone (031) 572-2289 or fax (031) 572-7891 or subscribe directly via the web on <http://www.africanangler.com> BANKING DETAILS FOR DIRECT DEPOSITS OR INTERNET PAYMENTS (eft) A/C Name: Angler Publications • Bank: First National Bank • Branch: Durban North • Branch Code: 220426 • A/C Number: 50790026585

Please fax proof of payment and address details to (031) 572-7891 OR email to <safety@mags.co.za>

E-Zine Subscriptions (Electronic Format): www.zinio.com/SkiBoat SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 83

OUR favourite offshore angling magazine, SKI-BOAT, in conjunction with The Kingfisher and the South African Deep Sea Angling Association, is proud to offer all South African skiboaters the unique opportunity to win awards for excellence in angling. All deep sea anglers who achieve laid down prestigious standards of excellence will be entitled to apply for the KINGFISHER AWARD. Upon ratification by a panel of adjudicators, the angler will receive a handsome certificate, suitably inscribed, PLUS a hand-embroidered cloth badge – both confirming the catch achievement.

Complementing this section is the second award category: 2) Kingfisher Award - Outstanding Catch To satisfy the requirements for this award, anglers can catch any recognised fish and the weight of that fish must equal or exceed certain laid down fish weight:line class ratios. Awards will be made in the following ratio categories: 3:1 – Bronze Award 5:1 – Silver Award 7:1 – Silver Award 10:1 – Gold Award. Applies to IGFA line class 1kg , 2kg, 4kg, 6kg, 10kg, 15kg, 24kg, 37kg and 60kg. Certificates Certificates will carry all the information about the catch (fish, weight, line class and ratio), the successful angler's name and the date on which the catch was made. Digital emailed photographs should be high-resolution.

RELEASED BILLFISH AND GT (Ignobilis) KINGFISH With the strong trend towards releasing these and other fish, we have decided to amend the Kingfisher Award rules to provide for acknowledgement of all released fish. All we need is a photo of the fish being released or prior to release (e.g. GT held on boat) and the approximate weight of the fish which should fall in line with the stipulated weights set out below.

SPECIES Gamefish: Barracuda Dorado Kingfish (Ignobilis) Garrick (Leervis) King Mackerel (’Cuda) Black Marlin Blue Marlin Striped Marlin

NOMINATED WEIGHT 20kg 15kg 20kg 15kg 24kg 225kg 150kg 75kg

SPECIES Gamefish: Prodigal Son Sailfish (Pacific) Spearfish (Longbill) Spearfish (Shortbill) Tuna (Big Eye) Tuna (Longfin) Tuna (Yellowfin) Wahoo

RULES: 1) There is no restriction on the number of awards which can be applied for. 2) Award-applicants must submit a photograph of the relevant fish with the application form, preferably a photograph of the angler holding the fish. 3) SKI-BOAT reserves the right to use the photograph as it sees fit. 4) Entries must be on the official form which is included in all issues of the magazine. 5) Entries must be received within 45 days of capture. 6) Certificates awarded will be as follows: Meritorious Fish - Gold

Kingfisher Award Application Form I hereby apply for the Kingfisher Award in the category:

Meritorious Fish

Outanding Catch

Tick the appropriate box and supply us with the following information. Please remember to print clearly.

Applicant’s Details: Name: .................................................................................. Address: .............................................................................. .......................................................... Code: ........................ Tel No: ................................................................................. E-mail: ................................................................................. Club (if member): .................................................................................... I, the undersigned, agree to abide by the rules of this award. Signature: .............................................................................

NOMINATED WEIGHT 18kg 35kg 20kg 20kg 30kg 25kg 50kg 20kg

SPECIES Gamefish: Yellowtail Shark (Hammerhead) Shark (Mako) Shark (Thresher) Shark (Tiger) Bottom Fish: Kob (Daga) Musselcracker (Black)

NEW!

The Kingfisher Award will be made for fish caught in two sections: 1) The Kingfisher Award - Meritorious Fish To satisfy the requirements for this award, anglers are required to catch a fish included in the list detailed hereunder, equal to or better than the nominated weight. Tackle used is of no consideration here, the fish's weight being the main criterion. The different eligible fish and their corresponding minimum nominated weights are as in the accompanying list below.

A gold certificate and a hand-embroidered cloth badge will be awarded for this achievement.

NOMINATED WEIGHT 18kg 200kg 80kg 110kg 200kg 30kg 27kg

Outstanding Catch 3: 1 - Bronze; 5: 1 and 7: 1 - Silver; 10:1 - Gold. Cloth embroidered badges will be awarded in all categories. 8)

No witnesses of the catch are required. The award is made in the true spirit of sportsmanship and relies on the integrity of the angler to make a just claim. 9) A selection of award winners’ names will be announced in future issues of SKI-BOAT, along with relevant photographs. 10) Award applicants should allow 30-45 days for processing of applicants. 11) There is no charge for Kingfisher Awards.

Meritorious Fish Species: ....................................................................... Weight: ........................................................................ Date of Capture: .......................................................... Where Caught: ............................................................ Skipper's Name: .......................................................... Outstanding catch Category applied for (tick appropriate box): 3:1

5:1

7:1

10:1

Species: ...................................................................... Weight: ........................................................................ Line class: ................................................................... Date of Capture: ......................................................... Where Caught: ........................................................... Skipper's Name: ..........................................................

JETSKIS

by Heinrich Kleyn

Unveiling the 2014 range of Yamaha Waverunners

S V H O

ATE last year Shaun Lavery from Yamaha SA told me about the new range of Yamaha Waverunners that would be launched in 2014. Apparently Yamaha had made a number of changes to the 2013 models and the new Waverunners would be monsters Eventually I got the call in April to join a couple of Yamaha dealers in KZN and take the new Waverunners for a ride. I couldn’t wait to see what the new jetskis could do on the water. On arrival I was especially happy to see Ryan Hansen and Charles Leydekker from Durban Yamaha. Not only are they good friends of mine, but they represent one of the best dealers in KZN. I knew I would be in for a lot of fun with Ryan around. The Yamaha crew had the brand new Super Vortex High Output (SVHO) Waverunner and the new FX Cruiser on show — which is also a supercharged model, just slightly different to the SVHO model — plus an FX SVHO Waverunner where the only difference was

the seating. Let’s run through the changes that have been made to the 2013 SHO Waverunner models. On the engine side Yamaha has designed a more efficient supercharger with a new, bigger impeller. The air-cooling system is 25% more efficient and they have increased the air intake in the supercharger by approximately 20%. The engine now has forged pistons which are stronger than cast pistons and can handle the increased power. The oil cooler has also seen some changes which have pushed the cooling efficiency up by an incredible 110%. Basically, all this means that the engine produces more power to give you better performance. The new

engine produces approximately 20% more output than the old SHO engine. The impeller size has been increased to about 160mm and has eight blades now instead of six. Yamaha has also changed the screen intake and added a scoop intake system which scoops up the water the second you start going forward. Inside the plate transom the cooling water nipple has been changed from a 10mm dia to a 13mm dia. The ride plate shape has also been changed, and at the back the nozzle’s exit angle has been change from a 5” to a 3”. That adds up to quite a lot of changes, and when you get onto the new Waverunner you’ll feel the differ-

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 87

ence between the 2013 and 2014 models — it’s like day and night. Even when I tested the FZ model and the FX model, where the only difference is in the hull, I could clearly feel the difference. The FZ model was definitely snappier when turning and getting up onto the plane. She literally jumps out the hole. If you’re not used to so much power and you don’t hang on, you could well be left behind. The FX is possibly more of a luxury

88 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

model. Although her pull-away is the same as that of the FZ model, she seems to move through the water with more ease. There are other small differences between the FX and the FZ, like in the turns it felt as though the FZ turns quicker, but then when it comes to stability the FX felt more stable to me than the FZ. On pull-away and top-end there was no difference between the two, and boy, are they fast! This is the first time

I’ve driven so fast on a PWC that I’ve actually scared myself. I took a photo of Charles coming past me and he reminded me of that advert on TV where the dog hangs out the window with his cheeks flapping in the wind. Charles was going so fast that his cheeks were flapping in the wind! Did we have a race? Of course! Charles was on one of the FX Waverunners, Ryan was on the other FX and I was on the FZ. I thought I would win easily, seeing that I’m the slimmest of the three, and I was on the slightly more racy hull. Well, I was wrong. It seems this is one place where extra weight is an advantage because Charles and I seemed to become airborne more than Ryan did. On pull-away Charles and I were a metre or two ahead of Ryan, but he soon caught up to us as his jetski stayed in contact with the water’s surface much better than we could. Although all the engines were the same, Ryan eventually sneaked passed us to claim victory. It really was exhilarating, riding these new 2014 Yamaha Waverunners, so why not visit your nearest dealer and arrange for a test ride on one of them. They’re not only great fun to ride, but they can also be specially kitted out for fishing, and Yamaha really have proved themselves in that arena.

MARKETPLACE

Advertorial

Vetus thinks in complete systems “system” — noun — a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.

IGHT after your fishing-rod, you spend most of your time with a hand on the wheel of your boat. But once your line is in the water, the last thing you want to do is think about your steering. Vetus has engineered a range of steering solutions that support your boating habit in the best way possible — silently, efficiently and without any further worries. For the past 50 years Vetus have been supplying some of the most durable, hard-wearing systems to the boating industry, and their steering solutions have been fitted as OEM equipment since the 1970s. When you choose a steering system, the biggest consideration is driver fatigue. Sizing your hydraulic steering correctly is just as important as your selection of propellers and even engine power. Your engines have been chosen to give the optimum output and efficiency, and your steering should do the same for you. When you jam the throttle levers

onto the dashboard to head out to sea, turn the boat through a difficult surflaunch or head back onto your fish when you hookup a monster, you’ll soon be very aware of how good your steering is. A badly-chosen steering system makes you tired very quickly. With this in mind, Vetus have a range of cylinders and helm pumps to suit engine installations from a single 40hp right up to a couple of 300hp monsters, and they also supply complete kits for retrofitting or replacing cable steering with hydraulics. Your dealer should be able to help you select the right system for your boat, and the Vetus catalogue will show you their wide range of accessories like autopilot pumps, tiebars, hydraulic plumbing and even joystick steering options. Vetus have thought of it all. Let’s take a closer look at a few components of this system ... • VHS1 Steering Oil, designed for our climate, comes in handy litre bottles with an easy-pour spout, so you can store one aboard in case you have to top up. VHS1 Steering Oil is espe-

cially formulated to look after your system and will help ensure that your seals last much longer than before so that refilling your system becomes a rare occurrence. • Helm pumps are designed for either on-dash or throughdash mounting with the smart recessed bezel in stainless steel which sinks your helm down into the dash by almost three inches. The HTPT Tilting Helm lets you adjust your wheel up and down at will. • Vetus cylinders come in frontmount, side-mount and splashwellmount configurations, and they are all covered by a three-year guarantee. Vetus cylinders all have easy-bleed connections and stainless fittings, and your dealer can advise you about fitting them. For further information contact your nearest dealer or phone Vetus-Maxwell SA on (021) 552-4275, or visit <www.vetus.com>.

At VETUS we think in complete systems. Our hydraulic outboard steering system, for example, includes pumps, hoses, cyclinders, steering wheels and hydraulic oil, all designed to complement each other and provide the user with optimal performance. Contact your local VETUS dealer or visit our website for the complete offer. www.vetus.com

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 89

I LOVE FISHING by Michael Webster (8)

N the December 2013 holidays I was lucky enough to spend time at Guinjata, Moçambique, where we stayed at the “white house” owned by our family friend, Lyn Adams. My dad took our boat, Jack II, with us, and when the weather was good my mom, dad and I launched the boat and went fishing. Once we’ve launched, to keep mom out the way dad tells her to steer the boat while dad and I choose which Rapalas, Halcos, lures or baits to set. I have just started letting out the lures. The only thing I struggle with is getting the rod in and out of the rod holder. Being young has its advantages, because you are always the fastest on the boat, so when the reel starts screaming, by the time the “old” people have heard the reel I’m already onto it. Dad just has to help me to get the rod out of the Scotty so that I don’t drop it. While we were at Guinjata I was able to catch my first rockcod while jigging on Lyn’s boat. On one of the days a local club held a social competition and I fished with my dad. I caught my first ’cuda (4.8kg), my first kawakawa (8.5kg) and my first great barracuda (3.5kg) all on 10kg line. I also caught an amberjack while jigging on Paindane and won the junior part of the comp. During our visit I also caught more ’cuda and some small kingfish from the beach, as well as another bigger great barracuda which was about 1.5 metres long. I love all types of fishing and dad and I spend a lot of time carp and bass fishing at home. So far my heaviest carp is 11kg and my heaviest bass is 2.5kg. Whenever I get the opportunity I practise on Jigstar’s simulator so that I can learn how to retrieve a fish. This year I want to learn more about fishing and tying knots and baits so I don’t needs adults’ help when I’m fishing. I want to be the best fisherman in my club — TSC. PS: Michael was the top junior at the 2014 Guinjata Bonanza, and his team won the competition overall. — Ed

92 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

INDUSTRY

by SKI-BOAT reporter

The Durban International Boat and Lifestyle Show 2014

URBAN certainly was the warmest place to be in midJuly during the 11th Durban International Boat and Lifestyle Show. Glorious blue skies heralded three days of balmy sunshine and a wonderful atmosphere which saw 11 000 visitors exploring everything new and wonderful in the world of boating and Durban’s laid-back, yearround outdoor lifestyle. The variety of boats on display was greater than ever, with every interest catered for, from one-man dinghys to island-hopping luxury catamarans, and everything in between. A renewed interest in sailing from all sectors of the community saw the sailing schools doing exceptional business across a variety of course options, with many younger sailing enthusiasts looking to carve out a new career path for themselves. One of the organisers, Barry Meehan

94 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

of Creative Events, issued a vote of thanks to all exhibitors for making this year an exceptional one for the boating industry. “I’d also like to thank most sincerely all members of the media in the sailing, boating and fishing sectors for their continued support of the show and the industry. “A special vote of thanks must also go to the City of Durban for their ongoing support, as well as Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal. A warm welcome to TIKZN’s newly-appointed Executive Manager: Investment Promotion, Kanyi Ntloko-Gasa, who honoured the show by handing out the Best Stand Awards. These went to Clavitech (Best Marquee Stand),Yamaha (Best Outdoor Stand) and Offshore Sailing Academy (Best Stand on the Moorings). The Deltec Floating Trophy for Propelling the Industry Forward went to the CEO of Royal Cape

Catamarans, Ken Bircher, for his unstinting devotion to forwarding the aims and ambitions of the boat-building industry, to the benefit of all concerned. “Finally, thanks are due to the eThekwini Maritime Cluster who came to the show in a big way, showcasing local businesses in the industry, as well as sponsoring a rowing and sailing regatta for maritime students. It is through outreach programmes like yours that our industry is set to grow and prosper,” Barry said. There certainly was something for everyone at the show, whether their interests were sailing, fishing or boating, or if they were there to catch up on the latest in marine technology. Whether you were there or not, we look forward to welcoming you to the next Durban International Boat and Lifestyle Show in July 2015. Make sure you don’t miss it!

GAMEFISH

Testing new hooks that are ideal for catch-and-release

ATCH-and-release has just been made that little bit easier for gamefishermen with the introduction of a new series of single hooks specially designed to replace treble hooks on lures. This innovation has been a long time coming and is going to make a big difference to those of us who like to release at least a portion of our catch.

96 â&#x20AC;˘ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure every fisherman has experienced the frustration of landing fish hooked by multiple hooks on lures, and has had a hard time removing the hooks from the fish, whether it was going to be released or not. Not only does this do massive damage to the fish, but it is also a dangerous situation for the angler, as the fish thrashes around on deck and there are hooks

flying around everywhere, just looking to injure someone. I have been on board enough boats where we have had an angler attached to a lively fish by the other hooks on the lure to know that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ever want to suffer that fate! For this reason alone single hooks make sense on lures, particularly for anglers fishing in cramped conditions such as off a paddleski or jetski, where

by Craig Thomassen the danger of getting hooked is even greater. The new VMC7266 inline single hooks have been designed to replace treble hooks on lures, and not only do they offer more safety to the angler and ensure that fish are released in good condition, but they also catch fish extremely efficiently. For many years now those of us who are serious about jigging and popping have been using single hooks on our lures. We do this because we get the best results that way. A big single hook gives you a far better hookup as you have a larger hook gape. Once fish are hooked on a single hook they seldom throw the hook. You can also use much bigger singles than trebles, and they are naturally stronger. The same applies with a Rapala trolled behind a boat: a fish hooked on single hooks is far more likely to be landed than one hooked on trebles. In the past many anglers didn’t replace the treble hooks on their Rapala lures because the right hooks simply weren’t available. SHAPE OF HOOK The shape of the hook is crucial when choosing hooks to put onto hard baits. Firstly, you need a wide-gape hook with a short shank to give maximum hook purchase on the strike. The VMC7266 ticks this box with about a 30% increase in gape over most other hooks. Secondly, you want the barb relatively close to the point of the hook, giving

you maximum penetration on hard mouthed fish. Once again this box is ticked with these excellent hooks. Thirdly, you want a good quality steel forged hook that will not open under maximum pressure when you’re fighting big fish. The real kicker with these hooks, though, is the fact that the eye of the hook is in line with the shank. This means that the hook will ride with the point up, or the point down on the lure, as opposed to normal hooks which require two linked split rings to achieve this result, ultimately negating the short shank of the hook. For the past few years there have been some inline single hooks available to replace trebles on lures, but they have been expensive and difficult to source. I have bought some over the internet and been very impressed with the results, but the hooks have ended up costing as much as the lure. With the arrival of the VMC 7266 hooks in our stores, good quality inline hooks are now readily available to everybody at a reasonable price — and that is going to make a big difference to many gamefishermen out there. VMC designed the 7266 series in collaboration with the lure design and development experts at Rapala. They had to meet exacting standards to ensure that the lures would swim just as well when rigged with these hooks as they do with the treble hooks that the lures were originally designed for. The 7266 meets the challenge and is

endorsed by Rapala. In fact, some series of Rapala lures now come ready rigged with VMC7266 hooks. These are already very popular in the USA and Australia, and I am sure they will soon gain popularity here in South Africa. Fishermen are generally fairly resistant to change, but when something is producing good results, then we see a quick buy-in from all anglers who don’t want to be left behind. Williamson Lures is also using these excellent hooks, and some of their range — such as the Williamson Popper Pro and the Williamson Surface Pro lures — come ready rigged with the VMC 7266 hooks as well. I took some of these hooks on a trip to Madagascar where I tested them on stickbaits and poppers, as well as on Rapala Magnums and Williamson Speed Pro trolling lures, and I was ver y impressed with the results. In fact, the owner of the boat that I was fishing off was so impressed that he begged me to leave my hooks behind for him to rig on his lures, which I gladly did. The strike to hookup ratio was excellent and not one fish was lost to hooks being thrown or bent open. Once a fish was hooked we could push the drag settings up with full confidence that there was no way the hook was going to bend, which really helped when trying to tame hard-fighting GTs in foul terrain. It is really great to be able to fish with that sort of confidence when targeting unrelenting gamefish!

The author caught this beautiful GT (opposite) on the new Rapala VMC 7266 single hooks. It’s easy to change the treble hooks on your favourite lure to single hooks, all you need are the hooks, your lure and a pair of pliers.

SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 97

MARKETPLACE

Lowrance unveils outboard pilot OWRANCE has a brand-new launch in the pipeline to be used in conjunction with their High Definition System (HDS) series. Outboard Pilot is an easy-to-use autopilot system which allows fingertip steering of the outboard engine, giving anglers an “extra hand” for their fishing activities. Featuring integrated control from any Lowrance HDS Gen2 or HDS Gen2 Touch, the Outboard Pilot can be installed with hydraulic or cable-steer outboard systems, all with commands coming directly from the HDS display. Designed for single outboard set-ups on boats 30ft (9m) or less in length, the Lowrance Outboard Pilot can steer your boat to a selected heading, waypoint or along a route, as well as execute a selected turn pattern. Additionally, users can create routes from saved trails with the touch of a button, so anglers can retrace previous tracks from a fishing area back to the dock. “The Outboard Pilot is a game-changer for our inland and coastal Lowrance customers,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO, Navico. “It’s like giving anglers an extra pair of hands when they are needed most and the HDS SmartSteer interface simplifies installation and saves considerable dash space.” The Outboard Pilot is easy to install and configure, right out of the box, featuring all the

required parts for a do-it-yourself solution. Other key features that simplify the Outboard Pilot installation include: Virtual Rudder Feedback (VRF) that eliminates the need for a rudder position sensor, as well as plug-andsocket connections with no complex terminal wiring and a straightforward first-time installation guide. The complete system includes a Point-1 GPS antenna with heading sensor for extremely accurate and rapid boat position and heading updates, at any speed, as well as a dash-mountable Auto/Standby button that changes the autopilot from STBY to AUTO mode with one press. The Lowrance Outboard Pilot will be available later this year and is offered in hydraulic or cable-steer versions. Both packs include the NAC-1 Autopilot Computer, Point-1 Heading and GPS Sensors and either the HELM-1 or PUMP-1 drive units. For more information call Lowrance South Africa on (031) 368 6649, visit <www.lowrance. co.za> or speak to your nearest dealer.

XCITING times are ahead for Boating International Cape Town in their new showroom at 21 Montague Drive, Montague Gardens. When you visit their new premises you’ll notice that they’ve introduced an exclusive range of leading brands like Malibu and Axis wakeboard boats, Sea Ray sport cruisers and Cypress Cay pontoon boats. As always, they’ll also be showcasing the ever popular Ace Glider and Sunsport ranges of boats The new shop will boast a much larger and wider range of boating accessories, from wakeboards, skis, wake-surfers and tubes, to life jackets, Lowrance fishfinders, service parts and much more. Boating International’s in-house service

More than just a convenient rest-stop

by Erwin Bursik AUL and Liz Hallowes’s Blue Anchor Inn is more than a midway stopover spot on the Moçambique road north of Maputo. It has in fact become a home-from-home for many South African ski-boaters who travel this road to the fish-rich coastal destinations north of Xai Xai. If you’d been the proverbial fly on the wall on Saturday night, 14th June 2014, you would have been excused for thinking a family party was underway at Blue Anchor Inn. The bar-cumdining area was overflowing with returning Guinjata Bonanza participants who were reliving the events of the prior week and celebrating, having completed the first half of the journey back to Gauteng or KwaZulu-Natal. It was so busy that I barely had a chance to chat with my old friend, Paul, and Liz could only spare me a few minutes as she was spinning to ensure that the mob were all well fed with the sumptious food she always serves. Gone are my days of a nonstop rush from Durban to Guinjata and back again. Now a night stop at Blue Anchor Inn is mandatory. The break lets one unwind after the stressful journey along the Maputo road on the way up. Then, on the return trip, one can leave early and get through Maputo and to the border before most Moçambicans have opened their eyes. Blue Anchor Inn boasts clean, very comfortable chalets where you’re assured of great food and safe parking for your craft — what more do you need? Life is too short to rush the goalie, so break your journey at Blue Anchor Inn on future journeys to Moçambique and you’ll be pleased you did. For further information visit <www.blueanchorinn.com>, contact Paul and Liz on +258 82 325 3050, +258 21 900 559 or email <blueanchorinn@teledata.mz>.

98 • SKI-BOAT September/October 2014

centre will be able to assist you with servicing your outboard or inboard motor, SeaDoo water craft and Can Am ATVs. Boating International are approved Mercury, Mercruiser, Evinrude, and Sea Doo service agents, and no job will be too big or too small for the Boating International team. Boating International Cape Town, will offer every boating enthusiast a one-stop boat shop to cater for all your boating requirements. Stefan and his team look forward meeting you, and assisting in every way possible. For more information contact Stefan on 021 511 0220 or 083 651 5142, or email <stefan@boating international.co.za>.

New home for Boating International, Get a sailor onboard Cape Town

BLUE ANCHOR INN P

Items of Interest

AFETY and efficiency at sea depend on superior communication. That’s why, for decades, professionals have trusted Sailor VHF. Now the feature-rich, rugged, waterproof Sailor 6215 VHF DSC Class D is available, the result of Sailor’s decades of experience as professional maritime VHF pioneers. Waterproof to IPx8 (submersible) and IPx6 (spray), the Sailor 6215 VHF DSC Class D is resilient and can perform under any conditions — and it’s available at a very competitive price. Whether you operate a work boat, fishing vessel, super yacht or ship, you can enjoy reliable DSC communications out on deck or at the helm when you have Sailor onboard. From safety alerts using the robust distress button and direct dial calling, to GPS integration and safety messages, the Sailor 6215 VHF DSC Class D offers a wealth of improved safety features. The large display with red backlight to protect your night vision makes navigating the intuitive menus using robust buttons and wheelknobs a simple operation. It also enhances operational communications and convenience so you can get on with the job at hand. The Sailor 6215 VHF DSC Class D features excellent audio from the built-in 6kw speaker, as well as dual watch, tri watch and scanning, loudhailer with talk-back and foghorn functionality. The Sailor 6215 VHF DSC Class D also boasts the pioneering Sailor replay function, which records the latest incoming messages, making them available for easy playback. This allows you to clarify messages to improve vessel safety and operation by ensuring that messages are not lost, ignored or misunderstood. Installation and operational flexibility is vital, and the Sailor system allows you to add external loudspeakers, handsets or hand microphones using front or back interfaces with ease. Now you can expand your communication options with accessories built to Sailor’s high standards, so you can rely on them inside or outside, even in the harshest conditions. For more information or to locate a dealer near you contact Imtech Marine South Africa on 0861 123 555 or email <info.za@imtechmarine.com>.

A D V E R T I S E R S ’

SMALLS

BOAT FOR SALE

SKIPPERS’TRAINING

OBTAIN your SAMSA skipper’s certificate of competence. Theoretical, practical and surf launch training by an experienced commercial skipper. Phone Kobus on 082 891 3652, (012) 348-9078 or (012) 361-2617, e-mail <skippers@twobar.co.za> or visit their website <www.twobar.co.za>.

SHARE IN HOUSE ONE-SIXTH share in a luxury 4-bedroom beach house for sale. The house is situated just 12km north of Vilanculos on a very private beach and has a sea view. 24 hour security plus a 21ft Butt Cat are included so you can access the great fishing and snorkelling around nearby Bazaruto. Your share buys you 60 days per year. Price: R450 000 Contact: Anton on 082 338 6755

ACE GLIDER 630 (2014 model) with 2 x 150hp Mercury DFI Optimax motors (counter rotating). Only done 61 hours. Includes Merc monitors, hydraulic steering, Lowrance HDS8 transducer (chart is missing), Lowrance Sonic Hub marine audio, Lowrance Broadband 4G, VHF radio & antenna, 29MHz radio & antenna, compressor fridge/freezer, deckwash pump & hose, outrigger U-bases & kit, boat cover, double axle galv b/neck trailer. Price: R749 500 Contact: Warren, Boating International Edenvale on (011) 452-8280 or email <warren@boatinginternational.co.za>.

BOAT FOR SALE

760 BUTT CAT Sportfisher (2014) with 2 x 140hp Suzuki Lean Burn 4-stroke motors (only 5 hours), radar, fishfinder and GPS (Lowrance), 27Mhz radio, Sony front loader and Boss marine speakers, 8 x 25 litre jerry cans, complete safety gear, lifejackets, flares etc — all brand new. Price: R1 100 000 neg Contact: Kobus on 083 660 607

ACE GLIDER 630 (2013 model) with 150hp Mercury EFI 4-strokes, Merc monitors and hydraulic steering. Only done 67 hours. Includes outriggers, Lowrance HDS 9 touchscreen unit, Structure Scan, deckwash system, sound system, plastic clears, boat and motor covers and double-axle trailer. Price: R749 500 Contact: Warren, Boating International Edenvale on (011) 452-8280 or email <warren@boatinginternational.co.za>.

INDEX Aceyewear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Angling Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Atlantic Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Billfish 15 000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Blue Water Boats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Boating International Dbn . . . . . . . . .5 Boating International Jhb . . . . . . . . . .4 Boating World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Boating World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 Bom Bom Fishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Cape Boat Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 Club Marine Insurance . . . . . . . . . . .48 Corrosion Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Durban Yamaha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Electric Reels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Fishtube.TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Gamakatsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Grant Thompson Replicas . . . . . . . . .99 Guinjata Sponsors Thanks . . . . . . . . .23 Halco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Honda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Imtech Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 JFK Photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Jonsson Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 LeeCat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Lowrance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Luckys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Manitou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Matoya Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Maxel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 McCrystal Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 MDM Raymarine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Mr Winch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Natal Caravans & Marine . . . . . . . . . . .2 Natal Powerboats . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 Navigate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Navionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Nissan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Ocean Trading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Penn Reels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 Pulsator Lures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Rapala VMC hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Sarel Greyling Photography . . . . . . .92 Serenade for sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Shelly Beach Sponsors Thanks . . . . .69 Shimano reels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Ski-Port Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 SMD Telecommunications . . . . . . . . .54 Solly’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Southern Power Products . . . . . . . . .24 Supercat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 The Kingfisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 TOPS @ Spar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Turboformance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Twister Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Two Oceans Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Vanguard Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Vetus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Wildfly Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Yamaha F115 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Yamaha Seacat 510 Blast . . . . . . . . .28 Z-Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Zongoene Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 SKI-BOAT September/October 2014 • 99

BUSINESS CLASSIFIEDS

Advertise your business here for just R860! (incl. VAT)

Contact Joan (031) 572 2289 or Lynette (011) 425 2052

to book your space now! Booking DEADLINE for the November/December issue of

is 17 September 2014 104 â&#x20AC;¢ SKI-BOAT September/October 2014