TWO DAYS AT THE CAPE

Peter Knott relives a couple of memorable days’ tuna chasing out of Cape Jervis.

In March of 2023 Trevor Parham and his son Ollie invited me to go tuna fishing out from Cape Jervis.

This was something I’d always wanted to do with my boat, but the issues of parking at the Victor Harbour ramp and the drive to Victor on poor roads always put me off. Ollie had been having some recent success, so it was too good an opportunity to miss.

We arrived just on dawn at Cape Jervis. Winds were light to start with, but freshening later, and already there were a dozen trailers in the carpark. We launched Trevor’s boat, a 5m Classic Craft, and headed out towards Kangaroo Island. We had only travelled two kilometres when we could plainly see a school of tuna busting up in front of us. Then we could observe still more schools of tuna, all feeding on baitfish. Ollie is not so keen on catching tuna by trolling. He prefers to stop the motor and let the boat drift in towards the school while casting metal lures, which is certainly an exciting way to catch them.

We were able to concentrate on a school of tuna where there was no other boat to worry about, and soon we were in the middle of leaping tuna and baitfish. We were using yellow and silver Lazer lures and I hooked up immediately.

I was using a Daiwa Saltist rod fitted with a Penn Spinfisher reel and 30-pound braid, and this outfit certainly worked nicely. Trevor then hooked up as well, so we had to cope with two very determined fish near the boat. Ollie was able to gaff Trevor’s fish first, a lovely tuna of 10kg, before my fish finally came within range, and a tuna of 12kg joined Trevor’s in the icebox. By this time the school had disappeared, but it didn’t take long before another school surfaced a kilometre away. Once again, Ollie expertly managed to manoeuvre the boat and cut the engine to enable us to drift into the mayhem of feeding tuna. Ollie hooked up to a larger fish that took quite a while to bring to the boat, but he was able to land a tuna in the 17kg range – a really nice fish.

The action quietened down for about an hour. Maybe it was the number of boats circling the schools, but while we were having lunch, I tossed out a lure just for something to do and hooked up immediately. Unfortunately, the tuna threw the hooks after a short fight. Ollie sighted a school soon afterward, and again we drifted into a feeding frenzy. Ollie and I hooked up, but Ollie’s fish spat the hooks. I had my tuna circling below the boat, when suddenly it seemed to gather its strength and power towards the bottom. Then I realised that another creature was also interested in my tuna. Shark! Whatever species of shark it was took not only my fish, but my lure as well.

Bluefin of this size are lightning fast and great to eat

By this stage the wind had freshened and that, combined with an increasing swell, made fishing uncomfortable so we called it a day with three tuna. However, the excitement level was well worth it on its own.

Fast forward to March 2024. This year the tuna news wasn’t good. Tuna were very hard to find for many crews, and so once again I deferred on trailing my boat down south. Then, good friend Daryl Higginson phoned me with an offer to join five others on a charter out of Cape Jervis, skippered by Gary.

Daryl, Tony Velliaris, Chad Ellis, Zeke Ebsary, Ron Layley and I met at Cape Jervis ramp on March 20, just before dawn. It’s good when you know everyone on a charter, as it makes the day so more comfortable. The wind was blowing 20 knots and gusting to 23 knots from the south, with lots of white water. There was no way would I have gone out in my boat! But Gary told us that the wind would go around to the south-east and moderate, with the added advantage of there being little boat traffic. Sure enough, there were no other trailers in the car park so we had the tuna to ourselves.

Gary’s boat is a 9.7m Clayton Gallant, so it was able to handle the conditions really well. We travelled about a kilometre offshore and proceeded north towards Rapid Bay, trolling with three lures – a deep diver, a shallow diver and a skirt. After only ten minutes the shallow diver was nailed by a tuna. Ron grabbed the rod and Gary told us to wind in the other two lures. While Daryl was winding the deep diver in, he hooked up to another tuna. A double hook up!

Both fish were landed, both about 12kg, making two happy anglers. Then it was Tony’s turn, but unfortunately the tuna spat the hooks. Gary turned the boat and headed back towards the Cape. Nothing happened until we turned back towards Rapid Bay, when the deep diver was hit. Tony grabbed the rod and once again the tuna got off. Tony was feeling very jinxed at this stage, so when another tuna hit the skirt lure, Chad took the rod. After a good fight he landed a 17kg fish, the biggest so far.

Another hit on the deep diver gave me my chance. These fish are such a pleasure to catch, with the way they fight and then the beautiful blue and silver colours they display. Gary gaffed my fish, which was in the 10-12kg range. The tuna weren’t busting on the surface, so it was blind trolling,

but Gary could see them on his sounder, and this is where local knowledge of where to troll proved invaluable.

Zeke had patiently waited for his chance to catch a fish and, after dropping a tuna, he managed to land a nice fish in the 15kg range. Finally, Tony got lucky and landed a tuna, much to his relief. A point of interest was that all our fish were caught when the boat was heading north. We didn’t have a single hit when Gary trolled south back towards Cape Jervis.

A charter boat is permitted to catch one tuna each for a crew of six, so we headed out to a spot of Gary’s to try for gummy sharks. Everyone on board was already very happy with a tuna each, and our day was only several hours old. When we reached his spot, Gary realised the tide was too strong, so he steered the boat towards American River on Kangaroo Island. The weather had moderated although still a tad uncomfortable, so an hour or two in calm water was a bonus.

We swapped our tuna gear for lighter rods and tried to catch some whiting. A few came on board and then our berley attracted a school of trevally, which gave us some fun for a while. Gary moved spots and a few more whiting and slimy mackerel were caught until he thought that the tide had slowed sufficiently to be able to fish back in the middle of Backstairs Passage.

We were now equipped with heavier rods and reels to try for gummy sharks. Our first baits were hit by nice sized snapper up to 5kg, but of course they had to be returned to the water. I baited my line with fresh mackerel and something slammed my bait as it reached the bottom. This was an impressive hit and it didn’t feel like a snapper. I managed to bring a nice gummy shark of about 10kg to the surface after quite a battle, where it was gaffed in the jaw by Gary. Ron then fought another large fish, and the time taken had us believing the fish was a stingray until a much larger gummy shark appeared. This shark was easily bigger than 15kg, and it took some subduing when it came over the side. Zeke then battled another large gummy shark, and we ended up with four sharks and lost another three over several hours, all mixed in with more snapper and one massive stingray.

We then returned to Cape Jervis. It had been a really exciting day, and we ended up with some very big tuna and shark fillets, as well as a few whiting and trevally to take home. Gary very kindly filleted the tuna and sharks for us back at the ramp.

The cost of $300 each was well worth it, both in regards to the fun factor, and then the many meals of tuna and shark that were to come. That Gary knew exactly where to go to find fish was a huge bonus, as was having people on board who, being friends, were always happy to share spots on the boat and share the catch at the end of the day.

So, which day would you choose? A day spotting tuna schools and casting metal lures or a day on a charter where trolling was the way to go. Each has its positives and, to be honest, I would be happy to do either again, or more likely a combination of the two.