PROTEAS STRIKE GOLD IN KENYA

Fishing the South Coast Blue Marlin Open

By Mariette Hendriksz and Gavin van der Merwe

THE long and winding road to obtaining Protea Colours takes different turns for every individual,but the end destination is equally exciting,emotional,and overwhelming for all.

The golden phone call from Chris Schorn,the SADSAA President,after the team selection meeting of the national selectors,is certainly one that each of the Protea Team members selected for the South Coast Blue Marlin Open Tournament in Kenya,will cherish as a super special milestone.

It was the first Protea cap for all four of us — Gavin van der Merwe (Captain),Clinton Good,Wessel Grimbeek and Mariëtte Hendriksz.No doubt that fact raised eyebrows among some of our peers,but we grabbed the golden opportunity with both hands and made it count! We had a lot to prove — not to ourselves,as we were confident in our abilities and aware of our shortcomings — but to the selectors and other anglers,to show they made the right choice in selecting us…four new caps.

The day our team was announced was only 42 days before the start of the tournament,so we had our jobs cut out to arrange flights,accommodation,charter boats for practice days,visas,vaccinations,clothing,and a capping ceremony and send-off function.

In preparation for our first meeting, we studied the tournament rules and scoring system of the South Coast Blue Marlin Open tournament.The selectors managed to put together a diverse team who had experience with gamefish, sailfish,striped marlin,black marlin, blue marlin,spearfish and broadbill swordfish,as all these species were worth points,with the billfish being the main target group.

Blue marlin was not the predominant target species,but rather the jackpot species,being worth the most points by a considerable margin.The line class was open up to 80lb which allowed anglers to use light tackle for the gamefish and sailfish which we thought would account for the bulk of the catches.At the same time we had to keep in mind that although they would be less common at that time of year (mid-March),the blue marlin are always around and would be the game changer in terms of scoring maximum points.

We had to prepare for the “bread and butter”fishing to keep the scoreboard ticking,combined with the more conventional,focused marlin fishing which resulted in us taking along quite a diverse range of tackle to give us the best chance of success.

We had a splendid sendoff evening at East Rand Boating Club that was well attended by our friends,family,and fellow anglers from all over the country,as well as SADSAA and SASSAC delegates, and at 10pm that night we headed for the airport to start our adventure...

When we arrived at Ukunda Airport just outside Diani,Kenya,we were welcomed on the airstrip by the secretary and treasurer of Diani Sport Fishing Club with a cameraman to record the occasion and snacks and drinks to enjoy.We were treated like,and felt,like royalty.The Kenyans truly stunned us with their overwhelming hospitality and attention to detail.

Diani Beach is a hidden gem,ideal for both fishing and family holidays, with breathtakingly beautiful beaches and reefs.It is not commercialised but boasts incredible infrastructure for such a small town,from a modern hospital to shopping centres and plenty of entertainment.The highlight for us,of course,was the lovely Diani Sport Fishing Club situated right on the pristine beach front.

We were blessed with great accommodation that really felt like home as we had the place to ourselves.We even had the South African flag set up permanently to mark our turf,as if tackle being stacked all over the couches and dining room table wasn’t enough.

Our approach to the tournament was to start off by learning from the local guys.We didn’t take any of our tackle with on our first practice day and only about half on the second day to try some ideas.We then combined what worked for the locals and blended it with our own gameplan after getting a good feel of the ways and means of Diani.

We used a blend of heavy and light tackle which we managed to run effectively at the same time,even when another competing angler told us that wasn’t possible.From the third practice day we took all our own gear and ran our own spread.

Our first practice day was booked with Diani Sport Fishing club’s Chairman,Raymond Matiba from Shuwari Sportfishing Charters,on his 33ft Bertram, Shuwari.

That day we noticed loads of dead, fresh squid floating on the surface in the main fishing grounds.This is where we raised the majority of the fish,but just weren’t committing to the lures. The fish had such a vast array of dead food available to them,that getting a fish in feeding mode and enticing a bite on lures with a boat moving at 6-7 knots was extremely difficult.The fish we managed to get were mostly in areas away from all the dead squid.

The only livebait we noticed were relatively small flying fish and sardines, so that took livebait fishing off the table as an option.

Nevertheless,Wessel broke the ice and released a black marlin early on the morning of our first practice day.We had plenty of lazy action from other billfish in the spread,but none would commit.The fishing looked promising, and we were stoked!

Our second practice day was spent on Phil and Linda Caters’ Virpra 1 ,a 34ft Luhrs.

Mariette released a sailfish on light tackle with a circle hook rig and we were pleased that our gameplan was working like a charm so far.We missed another sailfish and saw two striped marlin in the spread but they showed little interest.

Our third and last practice day was once again onboard Shuwari with Captain Raymond.Gavin released a striped marlin that day and we missed another.Unfortunately,the fishing got increasingly difficult as the week progressed,and we started seeing less and less fish.The annual change in season was also in full swing.

Kenya’s fishing seasons are governed by two major winds,the Kusi and Kaskazi.The Kusi,or south-east monsoon,blows from late March until November,while the Kaskazi typically starts mid-December when the winds change to the north-east.In our case, the Kusi started early and,combined with all the dead bait,had a massive impact on the bite.We also had water temperatures in excess of 30°C which no doubt contributed to the non-aggressive way in which the fish were feeding.

After a full day of tackle preparation and fine tuning our gameplan,we attended the opening function at the club where we met up with the other teams for the boat draw and briefing. We were in for very long days of fishing as we started fishing at around 06h00 and had lines up at 16h30 on each of the tournament days.

On Day One of the tournament,we were welcomed onboard B’s Nest ,a 35ft Bertram,with the well-known Captain Ali Al-Harazi in charge.That day Clinton hit the jackpot and released the prized blue marlin we came for.We also filled up our quota of dorado to add some valuable extra points.

On Day Two we were onboard Virpra 1 once again.Mariette released a nice sailfish,and we filled up on our quota of dorado again.Gavin also added a big wahoo to the mix for some welcome extra points which put us top of the leaderboard.

On day three we were onboard Shuwari,and Captain Raymond and the team pulled out all the stops to try and keep us in the lead.By this time it was no secret that we were the favourite team both on and off the water.The Kenyans enjoyed us every bit as much as we enjoyed them.

On the Sunday morning we were greeted by a rather intense rainstorm with thunder and flashing lightning threatening to end the competition prematurely.We persevered,though,and pushed through the intimidating condi-

tions and managed to get a nice bull dorado but no billfish.

We only saw one striped marlin that day day.It felt like the longest day we’d ever spent on the water.Every time the radio made a sound,our anxiety levels increased drastically and we all pricked up our ears.We knew the Azorean team could take us out of first position if they released a blue marlin,since they had released a striped marlin on day two and would get bonus points for a second marlin release of the tournament,which we didn’t have.

Captain Raymond counted us down to 16h00 which marked our victory.It

was a goosebump,tear-filled moment for each of us as we raised the SA flag and took a photo to commemorate the moment.As we walked across the beach to the clubhouse,we were welcomed as the champions with loud cheering and clapping from the other competitors and the audience that had gathered at the clubhouse — another moment that will be burned into our memories forever.The competition was officially closed with a skydiver landing on the beach in front of the clubhouse, holding a Kenyan flag.

As the chairman of the hosting club, Captain Raymond duly announced us as the winners and added that we were his favourites and that he was extremely pleased that we took the gold.It was a humbling,exhilarating moment which filled each of us with so much pride that no words can accurately express what we felt.

As the winners,we earned an entry to the 2024 Offshore World Championships held annually in Costa Rica,along with more awesome prizes which came as a total surprise.We were fishing for a title and possible medals,so with the extra prizes we had to get really creative in packing our luggage to stay within the weight limitations.

None of us could have handpicked a better team even if we’d been given the opportunity — four competent anglers, no egos,strong Christian values,team players and friends for life!

We would like to thank SADSAA, Gauteng,Southern Gauteng and Mpumalanga,our various clubs,friends, family,and supporters that made this an unforgettable experience for each one of us.