Deep Sea Fishing at Cape Vidal - Couta / King Mackerel Chaos - Part 1

Cape Vidal in iSimangaliso always delivers, but the ocean doesn't always cooperate. A cyclone tracking between Mozambique and Madagascar pinned the boats on the beach for the first two days of the trip, so the first proper launch only came on day three.

📍 Cape Vidal, KZN, South Africa

Once out the back, the rewards stacked up fast. Couta on the dropper, sharks shadowing baits all the way to the boat, hits and runs at every depth. A few fish make it home, more end up as tax for the men in grey suits. The Japan-line dead-bait setup pulls weight up high, the live mackerel and cigar mackerel work the lower water column, and the slow drift south off the point keeps the lines hot from Vegetations all the way back.

Day two changes the script. The surf has settled, the tractor push-launch sends the boat cleanly through the line, and live bait is everywhere. Mackerel, mozzies, cigar mackerel — the bait well fills before fishing even starts. The crew works varying depths, and the gaff comes out more than once.

Going back through the shorebreak is its own event. Cape Vidal beach launches and landings will get the heart rate up no matter how many times you've done them. The trip closes out with a moodier day of glassy grey water and one more run at the fish.

Part 1 of two. Part 2 picks up where the couta count keeps climbing.

Chapters:
0:00 Hook shots and a shark cut loose
0:30 Cape Vidal after the cyclone
2:10 Day three: first launch finally on the water
2:55 First fish on, colour up at the boat
4:40 Couta in the hatch, sharks circling
6:20 Back through the shorebreak
7:10 Tractor push-launch on a calmer morning
8:00 Loading the live well: mackerel and cigars
8:40 Game plan: drift south from Vegetations point
10:15 Gaff comes out, another fish to the boat
11:20 Moody weather, one more drift home

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