Today's the day! Flight is tonight and I couldn't sleep at all for the excitement!
Since I have loads of time off due from work after many many hours of hard work I have arranged a longer trip than normal. I have almost 3 weeks with 15 full days fishing time available to me. The first period of the holiday is based in Walvis, staying at The Courtyard Hotel with the last 4 days based in Swakopmund staying at the apartment "An Der Welle" with Nels again which hopefully will round off the holiday nicely.
Terence e-mailed a couple of days ago; they had some big ones (up to 130kg) last week so here's to cracking my PB!!
Whoops, just noticed that my An Der Welle booking contract show's me having nowhere to stay on my last night.... Fired off an e-mail pronto, let's hope they can extend by 1 night :P
14/11/08
Well after an un-eventful journey and a few beers in The Courtyard bar and the Raft with Soren Holte I am ready to fish, things are looking good, Soren had 4 fish yesterday and has had 8 already on his trip! Things start slowly and in the morning I have just a small Kob (2kg) with Soren bagging a very small Gully Shark (3kg). Without much further ado we move on for Bronzies, they have been taking Sandsharks freely and the good news is that Soren caught loads earlier in the week so we already have bait!
We wait some 40 minutes or so and bang Soren gets a good take and after a good fight has a nice 105kg Female Bronzie on the bank. Man that boy pulls them hard! Life's hard for me as Terence has imposed the 'No beer until you have one on the bank' rule..... Anyhow I didn't have much longer to wait and after a fresh bait was re-cast I was in. Immediately I notice the difference in tackle from last time I was here, Terence has splashed the cash on some Diawa Salists (50H) and the drags are as smooth as smooth can be.
My fish screams off to the left (usually a good sign in this area) and takes some 300+ yards of line before turning and I get back line. After half an hour or so I can see my fish on the surface and the tide has turned and is flooding in now, that helps here as the 'lip' can be awkward at low tide. Another 10 minutes of pulling and the shark comes over the last breaker and within a few minutes we have her in shallow water for Terence to do his stuff!
My fish turns out to be the same size and weight as Sorens and again is a female Bronzie (105kg). We take some shots and I finally get my beer :)
By now the tide is really on the up and we decide that a move is in order to further around the bay, so it's up sticks and get moving and in 15 minutes we are fishing again about 3/4 of mile from where we were initially, almost instantly I hook but lose a small bronzie, probably in the 55-65kg range judging from the size of it but it turns on the crest of a wave a sheds the hooks..... Soren's getting takes galore and contrives to miss 4 in a row before hooking and landing a nice Gully shark of 28kg.
Action slows and we make a decision to move again this time to try and find some fresh bait for the following day to no avail.......
15/11/08
We have some company today in the form of George and Dave, two Scottish lads who are working on the oil rig refurbishment in Walvis Bay. Things didn't really go to plan and only Soren had a reasonable day with a Bronzie of 85kg, a cow shark of 20kg and a Gully Shark of 18kg. Dave did manage a Gully Shark of 15kg also but for George and myself it was a blank day and too boot it was just about the coldest day I have ever experienced on the beach :(
16/11/08
Our first day fishing as a group, Peter and Steve had arrived yesterday and for Steve this is his first taste of fishing Namibia style! It was a long time coming but finally I nail a Sand Shark, I had been fishing here for in excess of 50 days and never caught one!! I also get a Cow Shark of 30kg, both at Mile 14. The day was interesting to say the least with 8 different species being caught - Shyshark, Short Spined Spiny Dogfish, Steenbras, Gully Shark, Kob, Catfish, Sand Shark and Cow Shark - that's the most variety I have ever seen in the same day! Unfortunately no Bronzies showed though :(
17/11/08
Today we venture south of Walvis Bay in the direction of Luderitz and are joined also by Soren's father Knud. We stumble across a nice bay with deep water close in and take our chances. Takes came quickly with me having the first, which I missed and Knud landing the first fish. Shortly after my rod goes again and I soon have a bronzie on the bank, my smallest ever in Namibia of just 45kg! We continue to have fast and furious action for a while and by the end of the day the count was, Soren (1), Knud (4), Peter (2), Steve (2) and me (2), my second fish as a nicely conditioned female of 75kg. We topped off by driving back across the sand dunes for good measure, a trip that was too say the least adventurous and somewhat dangerous at times too with Terence coming as close as he would like to rolling the car over..... "Peter - That's not good!!"......
18/11/08
Fishing is slow for most of the day but after yesterday's good day none of us seem to mind. Eventually we decide to see out the low tide at mile 17 and some action does begin finally. I miss a take but in honesty I think it was more likely a Gully or Cow Shark. Suddenly Peter and Soren are in and after some 10 minutes more Steve joins in the action too. It all gets a bit crazy for a while but soon all 3 anglers are off to my right and I am alone now standing up to my knees in water watching them all play bronzies. Soren's is the first to be landed and as Peter get's his in also I finally get a take. My fish rips line off quickly but equally as quickly runs back into the shore. Terence is beckoning me to join the others and I quickly have my fish banked. Steve's also submits and suddenly we have 4 sharks all on the beach and the 'Grand Slam' is achieved. I have seen as many as 3 on the bank before now but in my experience 4 is a novelty and for it to be all of the anglers in the group makes it all the better. I can't wait to get this one enlarged and sent to The Courtyard for the picture board!
After the last few days we are running low on bait and Sandsharks are the order of the day, We fish in the area around Mile 11 and after some waiting I get another, after years of waiting I have it cracked ;) However none more are forthcoming..... We drive back at low tide to Mile 8 and on the way we spot lots of Sandsharks in a small bay at mile 9 and after a hectic half hour with the spikes we now have 10 in the box, happy days!! Mile 8 doesn't look promising, to the right of the reef if full of weed so we decide to fish to the left of the reef. I don't ever recall fishing here before so my hopes aren't high. It didn't take long, maybe half an hour but bang my rod is off and I quickly hit into a Bronzie that veers right towards the reef, that would be a disaster if the tide was high but since it wasn't I needed only to worry about the gully at the back of the reef. If the shark gets through there then I would be sure to lose it. Luckily for me it simply turns back to the left and the battle proper begins. Some 20 minutes after I hook it we unfortunately pick up Soren's line and after that we just take it carefully to avoid burning through the line or cutting off against the other trace. Finally after 50 minutes she is ready and Terence does the honours for me. It's only once the fish is out of the water that I realise I have something special on my hands, it's a big fish but also it is heavily pregnant, more so than any shark I have ever seen. Terence tags and measures the fish and after some contemplation confirms I have a personal best of 150kg!! It took 6 trips but finally I achieve my target. No more fish arrive and we head back to the hotel, Soren flies home tomorrow and I have my PB to celebrate.
20/11/08
The weather until today has been pretty poor, something I expect since I normally come out of season but for the others it's been a shock, but today it's looking up and is nice and hot! Fishing is slow though and not much happens for a long time. Finally Peter get's a take and banks a PB Gully Shark of 34kg, followed by me getting one of 30kg. Only Bronzie of the day follows also to Peter, with one of 85kg.
21/11/08
Things remain slow but I should bear in mind that as we have bait we are spending almost all day fishing for Bronzies and a take very cast is unrealistic. We head up to Christmas Bay (Mile 32ish) and after a long soak my rod is away, I manage to grab it out of the spike in time and off we go. Conditions are different here and there's a heavy current behind the back breakers, my fish gets into the fast water and sets off. Apparently Terence remarks to the others, "Now watch the little man work....." with a smile on his face. The fish has several long runs but after 1 hour and 15 minutes I have it beaten and another Bronzie is on the bank of 85kg. It's amazing how much difference that bl**dy current makes.....We move later to Mile 8, left of the reef again and Peter lands one of 135kg and Steve a male of 100kg, so all in all a good day
22/11/08
23/11/08
After yesterdays sport we decide to head back to the same area and I have a day I will never forget for all the wrong reasons. Steve gets 4 Bronzies and Peter 2 I think but the luck is not going my way, I hook and lose 6, all either biting through the traces or cutting the line against unseen snags. The sea was very rough yesterday and Terence thinks that some sand has washed off the sandstone at the bottom of the sea and that was likely to have been the issue. Whatever, I am very disappointed since I have never really had a proper 'hiding' in this fashion :(
24/11/08
Another trip south, make the most of it while we can.... A slow day this time though and I only get one right at the end of the day of 90kg, a fish that really made me sweat after getting out towards the area where I had problems yesterday but this time my luck holds out and I bank her moments after Peter lands a slightly bigger one. We get a nice 2up picture.
25/11/08
The tides are now wrong for more action south so we head off to Mile 17 for a spell but without any joy at all. Then move up to Mile 32. NOt expecting much and am happly sitting on a sandy bank holding the rod, decide to stand up and as I do the rod is pretty much pulled out of my hands and the battle commences. The tides were pulling hard out in the deep water and this fish made me sweat. Finally after a long battle we have him and at 110kg this is my personal best male Bronzie!!
I follow this up later in the day with another of 75kg and Peter and Steve both lose fish.
26/11/08
Peter and Steve's last day of fishing and our last night at the Courtyard. I don't remember much about this day now but I didn't catch anything, we then had a nice meal and a few too many drinks at the bar for our own good. The next day I move on to my other accomodation in Swakopmund and the guys fly home. Spent the next few days just chilling out in Swakopmund, even went Crayfish diving with Terence - and caught one - which was a new one on me. Damn that sea is flipping cold!! All too soon it is time to go home, we did manage a couple more days fishing but without any joy, water conditions had changed and they had switched off.
My thanks once more to Terence, Berne and all the crew at the Courtyard for such a pleasant stay again. Hopefully it won't be too long before I am able to get back again.
Last updated: 19/04/09