THE WINTER LONGFIN TUNA HAVE ARRIVED!!!

The Long-Fin Tuna are here!

We left Simonstown, False Bay just before sunrise and we were off to an early start! On our way to Cape Point, we were blessed with a breath-taking sunrise from the east as we cruised comfortably doing 24 knots in anticipation of what the day had to offer! Our guests from New Zealand had got in contact with us and made it clear that they wanted to catch Tuna, so we we’re decided to head towards an area known as “THE CANYON”, approximately 20 nautical miles off Cape Point, where currents meet and nutrient rich waters are found.

Shortly after putting lines in the water we were on! With bending rods and screaming reels, we we’re off to an exciting start! The first fish we landed was a Long-Fin Tuna, weighing in at around 18/20 kg’s and before we knew it we had 10 Long-Fin Tuna on-board Destiny. Shortly after the chaos, the fish went off the bite, so we decided to head back home to avoid running in the dark. We we’re slowly approaching the tip of Cape Point, when our Skipper spotted some “working” birds, deciding to make a quick stop to see if anything was chasing the bait fish from which the birds were feed upon. We started trolling two Rapala’s and a Snake Spinner at 5 knots and boom, just like that we we’re once again on with fish, except this time it was a mixed shoal of Yellowtail and Katonkel.

Our guests we’re over the moon with excitement, having landed so many fish and different species to go along with it! It was a day to remember and we are super excited that the Tuna are here! Check out some of the photos from the trip below - We hope you enjoy!

A typical day out...

Yellowfin Tuna fishing - Offshore

On a typical full-day offshore fishing charter we ask our guests to meet us at the Simonstown public jetty, where our boat "Destiny" will be tied up and waiting for a 6:30 to 7:00 am departure. Because of the distance which we travel to the tuna grounds, approximately 20-40 miles off Cape Point (37 to 75 km) it is best to get the earliest start possible, maximizing our chances of catching! On these offshore fishing charters we mainly target the tuna species, Yellowfin Tuna, Long-fin Tuna, Big Eye Tuna and Skip Jack Tuna. Quite frequently we will have Blue Sharks and Mako Sharks lurking in our chum line (bait/pilchard - which we cut into pieces and throw into the water at a steady pace to lure the tuna to our boat), but we do not fish for sharks - If anything, these sharks will eat up all our bait/chum and will cause us to move to a different position. 

The odd Yellowtail and Dorado (mahi-mahi) are not uncommon out in the tuna grounds, so we come prepared for anything! Because these tuna are much larger than other fish, we use bigger hooks, bigger rods and reels and provide our guests with a two-piece harness which assists in landing these monsters and they can put up an extremely strong fight. One can expect to fight a tuna anything from 15 minutes to 2 hours, this all depends on the size of the fish and your skill level.  

One can also expect to see hundreds of pelagic sea birds, dolphins, whales, sharks and much more, so it is advised that our guests bring their cameras to catch these breathtaking moments!

If you have any questions regarding any trips please feel free to leave a comment or contact us directly through our contact page - We look forward to hearing from you!

Full-day Offshore Fishing Charter - Tuna Fishing

Lets talk about...

Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point!

During our Inshore Fishing Trips to Cape Point we mainly target game fish, this includes the Yellowtail fish. Simonstown is a mere 30 minute boat ride from the famous fishing grounds of Cape Point - Our most popular method for catching Yellowtail is what we call "trolling" where we drag our lures behind the boat, while searching for shoals of bait fish on the surface. Sometimes they Yellowtail prefer it when we stop and cast spinners at them - This all depends on the day as each day stems different results from different methods! 

Yellowtail fish:

The Cape Yellowtail (Giant Yellowtail) or Latin name "Seriola Lalandi" migrate towards the east coast of Southern Africa, following the annual Sardine Run. These fish are found in large shoals, in depths of up to 100 meters and feed off smaller fish like Sardines, Squid and Anchovy. Just like the Cape Snoek, Yellowtail is an important commercial line-fish species down here in the Western Cape. Females can reach up to 1.2 meters where males can reach up to 900 centimeters, but as it stands now there is no real legal size limit. 

Finding the fish:

Yellowtail prefer the warmer areas of the cold Atlantic waters of the Cape - An ideal temperature would be between 16 to 19 degrees Celsius, although we have caught Yellowtail in waters as cold as 13/14 degrees Celsius! As Yellowtail is a highly migratory fish, they usually follow the warmer waters, which are usually a result of particular winds blowing. In our case the Southwesterly winds bring the warmer waters to our coast line and with that usually the fish follow! 

We like to depart from Simonstown, False Bay as early as possible - Usually we ask our guests to be at the public jetty by first light, because In our experience, game fish generally like to feed best at first light (morning) or last light (evening)! The first thing we do when we arrive at our desired fishing spot is we start looking for certain birds, in this case "Common Terns" otherwise known to the local fisherman as "Sterretjies", which usually feed on the bait fish that are getting chased to the surface of the water by the schools of Yellowtail! Most of the fishing action takes place near these birds, so its vital that we keep an eye out for any bird activity during the course of our trips!

Be sure to drop us an email, share or leave a comment and we will gladly get back to you! :)

Yellowtail Fishing - Cape Point

Cape Point Fishing Charter!

Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point

Today, our group of guests from the U.K joined us for a day of deep sea fishing off Cape Point, South Africa! We ran a Half-Day Inshore Fishing Charter to the famous fishing waters off Cape Point (for our group of 6) in search of some game-fish! There were plenty commercial fishing boats off Buffels Bay trying for Cape Snoek, but we were determined to try for some Yellowtail fish first - It was a wise decision indeed! When we arrived at the tip of Cape Point there weren't any other fishing boats around, but the water temperature was 16 degrees Celsius and there was plenty of bird life so we quickly got our lines in the water! 

Not even 15 minutes had past and we already had our first strike on the back-lines! One of our guests, who we had already prepped on how to operate the rod and reel, quickly jumped up first to grab the screaming reel! He landed the first 5 kg Yellowtail and shortly after our next guest was battling a fish of his own! Before you knew it, we had 6 Yellowtail fish and the guests were happy to start heading back to Simonstown with their catch for supper - Well done to our team today on their catch, it was great having you guys! :)

Feel free to leave comments, tag friends, share or email us with any questions or inquiries - We would love to hear from you! :)  

Yellowtail fishing off Cape Point!

Game Fishing Off Cape Point!

Yellowtail Fishing!

We headed off for a Half-Day Fishing Charter towards Cape Point from Simonstown at 6:00 am this morning in search of Yellowtail, Katonkel and possibly Cape Snoek! There were a couple of commercial boats on anchor sitting off Buffels Bay trying for some Snoek, but we didn't see anything coming up so decided to push on towards the point. When we arrived our guests took some photos of Cape Point and the South Western Tip of Africa, Cape of Good Hope as we were setting our lines for a days fishing. 

We had 15 degree water temperature and plenty of birds working in our area. We started off catching 1 or 2 Katonkel, but shortly after the birds seemed to disperse so we upped our lines and made our way to a well known reef called "Rocky Bank" about 3 or 4 miles south/south west of Cape Point. When we arrived there, there weren't a lot of birds working like earlier but the boats were all huddled up close to each other so we knew that something must have happened. We stuck it out and slowly the fish started to bite! 

First the one rod would go off (rapala) and then another rod (feather) and before we knew it we were having triple hook-ups! Each of our guests took turns pulling fish until we had a nice amount for then to take home. We had almost no wind the entire morning and zero swell. It was a pleasant Inshore Fishing Trip for all involved! :) 

Monster Yellowtail for the birthday boy!

Charl, the birthday boy and a couple of his friends joined us today on a Half-Day Inshore Fishing Charter off Cape Point, South Africa! We departed from Simonstown around 6:30 am and we were off to an early start. Mostly all Game fish are known to bite better during first light (early morning) or last light (late afternoon), well that's what we have experienced with over 20 years of sea-experience in the False Bay area and surrounds!

We arrived at Cape Point around 7:00 am, but to our surprise the water had gone cold over night due to the strong wind that had been blowing - We had 13 degree water, which is generally too cold for Yellowtail and other game fish which we target. There was also no sign of bird life (usually Common Terns and Cape Gannets) which are a massive aid when it comes to hunting these game fish, but we were determined to give our guests, especially the birthday boy the best experience possible, so we went in search of warmer water!

Using his knowledge and experience, our skipper, Alan decided to head South East of Cape Point to a well known fishing area called "Rocky Bank" - Four miles from Cape Point we started seeing signs of bird life and the water temperature was 2 degrees warmer. We hooked our fish, a Katonkel around 7:00 am and Charl was the first one to grab the screaming rod! Not long after, his friend was onto a fish of his own, this time a Yellowtail!

Before we knew it, the boys had each landed themselves 4 or 5 fish and could not smiling from ear to ear! The biggest Yellowtail was close to 7kgs and both boys were super proud of their new personal bests! Our boats policy allows our guests to keep their catch, which they did - Well done to them on their catch and enjoy tonight's supper! :)

On the left the birthday boy, Charl and his friend both smiling from ear to ear holding their Yellowtail Fish!

The Pilot Whale!

Today's Pelagic Bird Watching Charter was nothing but spectacular - Our skipper, guide and 5 bird enthusiasts headed in a South West direction off Cape Point in search of the magnificent Pelagic Birds! At the tip of Cape Point itself the bird life was phenomenal - there were several large groups of birds including Common Terns, Cape Gannets, White-Chin Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters all feeding off massive bait balls of anchovy, which were being chased to the surface by Yellowtail and Katonkel fish.  We were off to a great start! 

Much to everyone's amazement, we started seeing thousands of Pintado Petrels about 25 nautical miles off Cape Point - This was highly unusual for this time of the year as they usually migrate north by mid August. Soon after we had four species of Albatross greet us including the Southern Royal Albatross, Black-browed Albatross, Shy Albatross and the Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross. Everyone managed to get some amazing pictures throughout the morning and it was time to start making our way back, but just to add the cherry on-top we were greeted by a group of Pilot Whales which started to follow us home!  

Pilot Whales are interestingly the second largest dolphin in the ocean after the famous "Orca Whale" otherwise known as a "Killer-Whale" and belong to the family of "delphinidae". 

These intelligent mammals received the name "Pilot Whale" from the belief that the pod will always follow a single leader, which is why there is speculation of these mass stranding's that occur from time to time. The pilot whale diet consists of fish, octopus, squid and shrimp and are known to dive up to 500 meters while searching for food. They also known as "Long-finned Pilot Whales", (you can see why in the picture below) and calve between April and September and are found practically everywhere around the world!

Bird Guide: Vince Ward

FULL HANDS AND FULL ON SMILES!

Our guests today, Mark and Sharon, joined us on a Half-Day Inshore Charter to Cape Point - We departed from Simonstown at first light and made our way past Boulders Beach, home to thousands of African Penguins, formerly known as "Jackass Penguins". As we arrived at Cape Point we put our lines in the water and before the line was even properly set we had our first strike with a Yellowtail on a Rapala. After Mark landed the first fish, it was on! We continued to pull fish one after another (Katonkel and Yellowtail) until it was time to head back. On our return home we came across a group of Humpack Whales doing there thing in the distance. We managed to get a few pictures to end off the great day! Well done to Mark and Sharon on their catch! :)

EXPLOSIVE DAY OF FISHING!

Today was one of "those" days where everything seemed to turn out perfectly - With warm water, 16.5 degrees to be exact, there were thousands of Common Terns and Cape Gannets feeding off massive Anchovy Bait Balls as we arrived at Cape Point. To our surprise, there was only one other fishing boat out, but hey, we weren't complaining - Just meant more fish for us! We started troweling our lures as we reached the "washing machine" (a well known area at Cape Point for mixed currents colliding) and it wasn't long after that we had our first strike! We started off landing one's and two's of Katonkel for the first hour and then the Yellowtail decided to play! Our guests from Germany (all six of them) took turns in pulling fish, almost non-stop until we had our allowed limit, sometimes all three rods would go off causing for some real action! Before we knew it, we had a boat full of fish and the sun was setting, so we decided to head back to Simonstown.

On our way back we were greeted by three or four different groups of Southern Right and Humpack Whales - We made sure to keep our legal distance and the guests were able to get some good pictures of these incredible animals doing their thing! Once we got back, we helped our guests fillet one or two of their catch and off they went smiling from ear to ear! As we like to support the locals, we decided to give the remaining fish (20 or more) to the local haven, "Happy Valley Home", a place for the homeless and hungry people in Simonstown and it's surroundings. It was a perfect way to end off such a outstanding day at sea! 

Seal VS Fish?

As you can see in the picture below, our local guest Terry (right), holding whats left of his Yellowtail fish after a long and tiring battle between himself and a Cape Fur Seal - Fortunately, Terry won the tussle and managed to land his fish along with a few more, including a couple of Katonkel. Despite the seals making it more of a challenge, both our guests were happy with their catch and how the day turned out - On our way back to Simonstown, we thought we would get a picture of our guests holding their fish with the culprits (which made our day that much more challenging) in the background ha ha! Well done guys, great catch! :)

(The Cape Fur Seal is the only seal species that breed here in South Africa, however we do occasionally see Elephant Seals and Sub-antarctic Fur Seals popping up along our coast lines. Male "Bull" seals can grow up to 2.5 meters in length and can weigh up to 350kgs max, where the female "Cow" seals are much smaller, growing up to 1.5 meters in length and weighing up to 80kg max.)

SPRING HAD US OFF TO A GREAT START!

Our guests from France joined us today for a Half-day Inshore Fishing Charter to Cape Point - On our route to Cape Point, we had two Humpback Whales pop-up next to us and to our surprise they didn't seem one bit phased by us, in fact they proceeded to follow us in the opposite direction, which was quite something to witness! After a quick stop off for some pictures at one of the smaller Cape Fur Seal colony's near Millers Point, we started seeing a lot of bird-life in the distance which meant business! When we arrived at Cape Point, there were Common Terns going crazy on big shoals of Yellowtail and Katonkel with 14.5 degree water - It wasn't long until we hooked our first fish on a Rapala (backlines), but as the morning went on it seemed that the fish were more interested in us spinning, resulting in a few more pulls! After having pulled a couple of Yellowtail and Katonkel, the guests were happy to be heading back. To end off a superb day at sea we were greeted by another two whales on our route home, this time two Southern Right Whales, which also seemed to be mating/calving!

(Our whale season starts from July and ends at the end of September and one can expect to see plenty Southern Right Whales, Humpack Whales and Bryde's Whales - One of the main reasons why they come into False Bay is to calve as the bay is more protected.)

TAILS UP!

The morning started with one of the most stunning sunrises we've had this year! When we arrived at Cape Point this morning around 7:30am, our tempreture gage was reading a mere 14 degrees which is relatively cold for our game fish, but that didn't stop us from giving it a try! Before we knew it we had large shoals of fish breaking the surface near us, but unfortunately with the water being so cold, the fish weren't really biting properly  - We started off trolling up and down the tip of Cape Point, dragging some of our best lures, resulting in some strikes on the backlines. We ended up landing 7 Yellowtail and 9 Katonkel, making for an awesome day of fishing! :)

A BETTER SIZE YELLOWTAIL!

Fish were very scarce yesterday, good signs of life but didn't want to bite, however on this Inshore Fishing Trip we did manage to land this nice size Yellowtail off Cape Point! 😁🐟🐠