This week saw the start of the 2012 Tuna Nationals, hosted by False Yacht Club.
The 7 teams that arrived from 7 different provinces around the country fished on Tuesday which was the first day of the tournament.
The fishing was reasonable with a good class of Longfin coming to the scales, the only Yellowfin that was weighed unfortunately didn’t make the 20kg minimum weight, it tipped the scale at + - 19 kgs !
Although the fishing was not as productive as previous years after Day 1 there were some good signs, a couple of the teams even reported seeing a good class of Yellowfin in the chum line late in the afternoon .........” Tomorrow is another day”
The 7 eager teams left Simonstown Yacht basin in just about perfect conditions on Wednesday, Day 2 of the comp. Fishing was once again “sluggish” to say the least with just a couple of Longfin being called in at the 11a.m “call-up“ !
However, there was an angler “ fighting fish “ !
On the boat “Whitchcraft “ which had the Border team on board, a Yellowfin had been hooked and the fight was going into the second hour of battle !
Clearly it was a good fish, and the battle would continue for many hours to come.
Fishing on 10kg line which is the specified line class in the Tuna Nationals , with a fighting drag of between 3.5 – 4 kgs the fight becomes more than just a muscle fight , it is a battle of focus , concentration and stamina like no other angling practised anywhere around the world today .
At 15h55 , five minutes before the initial “lines up” call Frank Scholtz , on the rod , presented his leaderman Gary Thompson with a magnificent Yellowfin Tuna (Thunnus Albacores) !
6 HOURS after the “hook up” all that remained was to get the fish onboard and back to the False Bay Yacht club where a growing crowd was already gathering at the scales.
The fish tipped the scales at 106.80kgs (234.96 lbs.)
A new I.G.F.A. WORLD RECORD for a Yellowfin Tuna caught on 10kg line.
Congratulations go out to Dave Edgar, the skipper of “Whitchcraft” and team Border, Frank Scholtz (Cpt), Kevin Bourke and Gary Thompson !
Needless to say this magnificent specimen rocketed the Border team to the top of the leaderboard, and a step closer to that prestigious Gold Medal !
Good luck to all the teams for the remaining days of fishing !
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