This time, a very different journey through. The sea was very calm, the tide was lower, and we took our time to drive through the Doodsakker, taking lots of camera and gopro/camera footage on the way.
The dunes stretch up very high on one side, at some spots stunted plants grow closer to the ocean, and tracks lead down from the dunes. Gemsbuck! These very large and majestic animals are desert dwellers, almost never drinking water, they get all their hydration rom dew and the vegetation they eat. They roam the desert in small herds.
As we rounded a bend, we saw some heading back up the dune! I took some video of this and will post soon as I’ve put it all together.
Further along we saw the huge skeleton of a whale high up on a dune.. amazing to think how it ended up that high
Further along we came across seals attacking schools of mullet in very shallow water, an amazing sight.
Shawn stopped and netted some as bait for the next stop
We also saw many dolphins cruising the shallows, as well as thousands of birds, such as pelicans and flamingos along he way. The water was almost still as a lake, and thick fog came and went in waves.
We exited the Doodsakker and headed further down the coast. Stopped and set up mulloway lines at a good spot.
Check the size of this gutter
We fished for a few hours, no bites. Packed up and moved to another area further north. Shawn asked if any of us wanted to catch a shark. Yes I did!
Remember that hammerhead I mentioned earlier, the ones sitting in the bait box? Nice and ripe by now. He cut the sides off the head, put and 18/0 circle through the mouth, and dropped it around 150m offshore.
About 30 min later, line goes slack. I wind in furiously, it stays slack. About 40m away from me, in the gutter, a big shark realises something is wrong… and takes off!
The big multiplier lets out a loooong howl and so it begins.
The rod is 13ft long, and holding it upright my back is soon cactus. So I turn around to face the desert, hold he rod horizontal over my shoulder pointing towards the fish, and let the reel do the work. I walk up the dune pulling hard, stopping as the fish runs, then walk back again to take up slack. Two and a half hours work, my feet burning in the sand, and the guys ferrying beers up and down the high dune.
Eventually it’s in the surf. “Bus bronzie!”, Chris calls out, and we take a few quick photos and measure before release.
It measured 228cm, est weight 190kg