I have been a avid Angler from very young thanks to my grandfather who starting taking us fishing from the age of four. I could spend the entire day standing on the rocks with my rod in hand and not get bored at all.
I struggled to advance to catching bigger fish from the shore but I was fearful of deep-sea fishing as I've heard horror stories of people feeling ill on the ocean and having to toughen it out the entire day until the boat returns to shore.
After moving to Mozambique the opportunity to go deep-sea fishing came up again and I decided to take it. It was on a Jetski and it sounded like so much fun that I could not resist.
It did not take long for us to go on with a some tuna and I had to work a multiplier reel for the first time! Hearing that reel screaming gave me a jolt of adrenaline and with alot of guidance from Mark I landed my very first tuna!
As we proceed to troll some lures along the wild Mozambican coastline we entered a area that Mark called sailfish alley. He was busy explaining to me that certain times of year you are very likely to catch a bill fish in that section of water. I was fascinated but I did not in a million years think that it would be the day they snatch up both our lures! 😱
The next thing I knew both reels screamed and rods bent properly. Arial displays took place with two massive sailfish launching themselves into the air in every direction. I think my eyes must've been as big as sourcers as I pleaded with Mark that I no longer thought that this was a good idea!
I held onto that fishing rod for dear life as the chaos ensued around us. Marks fish managed to get himself unhooked but mine was still going crazy. It was a hard fight and my arms and hands burned so badly. I moaned my way through it and after what felt like eternity of pulling dead weight the fish came in tail wrapped and exhausted.
We moved quickly to remove the lure from his mouth and pulled him next to the ski to revive him for more than half an hour before realizing that the fight was just to much for this poor creature to endure. My heart was shattered that I was responsible for this creatures death. Yes I know people eat them but to me it was not the outcome I would have chosen 😞
We headed back to shore with the massive fish in the footwell of the jetski.
Getting back to the beach was just as much of a headache as the maritime police came to measure our fish and asked us for our licenses. We handed over our paperwork but they wanted a billfish license that we did not have 😑
Lucky for us we had video footage of what went down and we came to a very fortunate arrangement with the Maritimo.
They would only charge me for the license fee and I donate the fish to the local clinic as food or keep the fish and pay a 75000 metical fine.
Of course I took the first option as the fish would go to a good cause and it wouldn't cost me a fortune. 🙏
Until today hooking a sailfish gives me some anxiety for the fish so I'm never on the Angler's side. We have since then hooked a couple more but have successfully and safely released them. As much as I love fishing and love eating fish I have caught myself I would much rather see these majestic creatures wild and hook free.
This particular fish weighed just over 52kgs and knowing it would feed people who really needed it gave me the ability to smile for the photo.
It was hectic but I have been hooked on deep-sea fishing from that day forth taking every opportunity to learn all the tricks from Mark who is a angling Ledgend in his own right and also co-owner of Extreme Fishing Africa .
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