Adventure: Deep sea fishing
Added perks of deep-sea fishing off Plettenberg Bay are the lovely view of the Garden Route coastline and a chance of spotting whales.
Hook, line and sinker
My friend JP advises me not to take seasick tablets the night before our deep-sea fishing outing, and makes me a few strawberry jam and ham sandwiches instead. “If you get sick, the jam takes away the worst of the taste,” he explains.
JP, another friend, Scott, and two local residents, Rodger and Michelle, join us on the trip run by Plett Fishing Charters. It’s a proper five-hour deep-sea fishing expedition, with everything from rods to bait provided.
Shortly after sunrise we leave from Plett’s Central Beach.
Our boat cuts through the swell, and within minutes we see a whale, only 100 m away. “Just look at that monster!” skipper Graeme Pollard shouts. We go about 5 km offshore. Everyone chatters excitedly about what we might catch – hake, red roman, kabeljou, geelbek... gigantic fish like those that get featured on the cover of Tight Lines?
Eric, the helper on board, gives a reality check: “Fishing is like mining; sometimes you go home empty-handed.”
But then he boasts of an earlier catch: “That geelbek was as big as me,” he says with his arms stretched out like a cricket umpire signalling a wide.
Eric helps me to bait my hooks with sardines and cast my line.
I just have to wait… as soon as something strikes, I jerk the line and begin reeling in like mad.
After a few misses, I manage to boat a modest kabeljou. I’m sweating. I begin to feel seasick...or maybe it’s JP’s sandwiches.The hours fly by. A flock of gulls badgers us with “kleeeuw- kleeeuw” calls.
JP, Scott and Michelle catch some hake and kabeljou, and Rodger bags a red roman.
On the way back we see a pair of whales displaying off Keurboomstrand.
Graeme says the water was a bit cold this morning for fishing, but we don’t mind. Just being on the open sea was wonderful.
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Fast facts
Where? The Osprey leaves from Central Beach in Plettenberg Bay.
When? Speak to Graeme.
Cost: R600 per person (minimum of four people).
Contact: 083 324 6331; www.deepseafishing.co.za
(Note: Prices accurate in February 2010)
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