Mike Laubscher

The end of the year has come and this was to be my final fishing experience for 2009.

We launched at 07h00 for a 5hr trip off Durban, we had not even got out the harbour mouth when one of the guys started getting sea sick.

I was not the best of sea conditions, but it was not that bad either. We had a 5 second short period swell of around 2.1m (5ft), the bad thing was that the swell was coming from 2 directions and so made the ride very bumpy.

I wanted to do a troll along the backline but the swell was standing up to much and I decided the risk was to high and so headed for deeper waters and trolled along the 20-30m contour. By this time 3 of my 4 guests were really sea sick and hanging over the side of the boat when 2 of the reels ran, but this was not to be as the guys were too weak to fight the fish and they slack lined them and lost them. I was trolling 3 strip baits deep and I am sure it was King Mackerel (Couta).

After this we went to reef no. 1 and whilst 3 guys lay down the 1 guy fished on the bottom where we got Slinger, Rockod and a few other species. I then cut a half fillet from a 3Kg Bonnie and put it on inside out on as a drift bait.

It was not very long before the reel started running and 200m of line was taken, by the take I am sure it was a shark, we then followed it for around an hour and a half over 2 Nautical Miles when we eventually got it in front of the boat, it was a Hammer Head Shark of over 4m long, estimated at well over 200Kg (450lbs) and when I reached over and grabbed the leader it saw me and took off never to be seen again, the light tackle with 19lb line was just not strong enough for this beast.

By this time the other guys had had enough and wanted to go in and so this was the end of my final trip for the year.

Fish Species: Shark
Bait Used:
Tackle Used:
Method Used:
Water Depth:
Water Temperature:
Wind Direction:
Wind Speed:



Do you want to leave a comment? Login or register now to leave a comment.


No comments so far

Mike Laubscher

About The Author: Mike Laubscher

Company: Blue Water Charters - Durban

Area Reporting: Durban. KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Bio: I have been fishing since I was 5 years old in Durban and have fished many places around the world and in South Africa, but Durban is my home waters. I fished competitive for many years and I have been running my own charters since 2008 with 2 companies and 2 boats, fish a variety of styles and target a variety of fish species in both Salt and Fresh water, have many published articles in several magazines on fishing. Love nature and outdoors, Am very conservation minded and have a passion for birds. I am crazy about big Tuna, Marlin Fishing and Game Fishing, and also love light tackle spinning, am a total lure junkie. Represented my province in fly fishing for many years and am also pro staff for Rapala/Shimano. I want to write a book on fishing one day. 3 items left on my fishing bucket list, guess then a new bucket list will be in order. As a writer I have my own quote: \"I love taking people fishing because it releases their inner child, and in doing so keeps my inner child alive.\"

+27762999445
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Fishing Guide Mike Laubscher