 THE FLYING FIN — In pursuit of a 100kg dream fish — by Erwin Bursik and Ryan Nienaber
DEEP, deep down in the misty blue water the first bit of colour is seen. It’s been a long, hard fight and the angler is almost as physically vanquished as the monster slowly circling deep below the craft. The sight of a silver and yellow body, long sickle yellow fins and dark indigo-black head gives an injection of adrenaline that revives the angler enough to pull the mighty yellowfin tuna to the surface.
There can’t be many experiences out at sea that are better than this. A really big yellowfin tuna displays size, colour and power as it comes into sight, an awesome mental photograph — it cannot be captured by any other means — that will be imprinted on the angler’s mind forever.
Thunnus albacares, the yellowfin tuna, is a trophy fish that all who fish our offshore waters dream of catching. The waters off the Cape peninsula are privileged to host this magnificent fishery. In fact, the yellowfin tuna in the Cape is the only South African fishery that can really be descibed as “worldclass”. Few destinations worldwide are able to produce the quantity, quality and size of the fish regularly taken off Cape Town.
Whilst yellowfin tuna are caught right up the eastern seaboard of South Africa, on average they tend to be a much smaller class of fish. Indeed, a miniscule number of really big fish in the 60-90kg category are taken off the Eastern Cape and Richards Bay.
A big yellowfin tuna — a real trophy fish — is above the magical 70kg (150 lb) mark. For the lucky few it’s the 200 lb fish that is the ultimate prize for a tuna angler.
The “tuna boys” of Cape Town are so brazen that the latest benchmark weight required to enter the hallowed Hall of Fame in that area is a 100kg yellowfin tuna (220.5 lb). The 100kg club cannot have more than about 20 members who can boast of having caught a yellowfin tuna exceeding this weight.
The current South African Deep Sea Angling Association All Tackle record of 115.65kg is for a fish caught by Matthew Hare off Cape Point in November 2003.
During the past decade there has been a dramatic change not only in the method of targeting these really big tuna, but also in the manner in which these fish are handled after capture. This is to ensure that the valuable meat harvested is maintained in pristine condition to delight those fortunate enough to eat this internationally renowned gastronomic treat.
Ryan Nienaber’s passion is targeting these mighty fish off Cape Point where he has landed two fish over the 100kg benchmark — the 108.66kg All African and South African Record on 36kg line, and the SA Spearfishing record 105.5kg. He has kindly agreed to share with SKI-BOAT readers his knowledge of the pursuit and capture of yellowfin.
Read the full story in the January/February 2010 issue of SKI-BOAT.
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