South Sea Safaris Fishing Charters

Welcome to the website of South Sea Safaris. We have added a local fishing report at the bottom of this page to give our overseas and upcountry visitors and idea of what is happening on the local scene. We'll tell it like it is, no frills, when it's good we'll tell you, and when it's bad, we'll tell you that too. Please have a look and e-mail your comments to us.

South Sea Fishing Safaris caters for local as well as visiting international anglers and freedivers. Join us on one of our customized craft, from the custom built 11 meter sportfishing cruiser to our new 9 meter sportfisher and an 8.6 meter ski-boat suitable for smaller groups. Operating from Gordons Bay and Struisbaai, all boats are fully seaworthy and safety certified. We have self-catering or fully catered accommodation at both venues. The choice is yours.

NOTE - Pictures are thumbnails for quick downloads. Please click on thumbnails to see full size picture and text.

We have taken delivery of our new 9 meter catamaran, "Tyler", named after our trusty jack russel boat dog, is bigger and better than the old 8 meter cat, Le Boat. Tyler is a 9meter butt-cat powered by twin 200 hp Suzuki four strokes. She is extremely fast and very comfortable. During her maiden fishing tournament she took top honours with an 86kg yellowfin tuna caught by Gareth Beaumont. We have now run about 60 trips and she performs superbly. The "new" Lynx is not so new anymore and is now fast approaching three years old. We have just installed two new Suzuki 250hp motors and she should be good to go for a few more years. We have kept one of the older motors as a back-up in case of problems and should anything unforseen occur we could reasonable expect to get either boat back on the water within a day. Below is a list of notable achievements over the last few years:

LYNX - 1st Prize, Gordons Bay Offshore Classic 2003 - 1st Marlin landed at Gordons Bay Feb 2004 (97kg Striped Marlin) - 1st Prize, Hout Bay Tuna Derby 2004 - Top Boat, Gordons Bay Offshore Classic 2005 - Top Boat, Gordons Bay Offshore Classic 2006.

TYLER - 1st Prize Gordons Bay Offshore Classic 2007 - 2nd Place, Two Oceans Marlin Tournament Struisbaai 2009.

If rock & surf or fly-fishing is your forte, allow us to take you to some of the best fishing spots around the coast and some of the most productive inland waters. We provide good quality tackle, and apart from specialist fly-fishing equipment, everything will be supplied. Fishing is to IGFA standards and records can be claimed.

On the underwater side of things, we offer blue-water hunting off Cape Point and reef diving trips up the Cape Coast. These trips can be arranged for any period of time. Have a look at our rates page for and idea of what is on offer. The South African record yellowfin tuna was broken many times by spearfishermen in the last couple of seasons and I have no doubt it will be broken again soon. During the week of 10 May 2006, we speared two fish of over 90kg. The current record stands at 95kg. Our biggest this season was 91kg. Incidentally, the biggest one caught off one of our boats this season also stands at 97kg. This was until quite recently the biggest yellowfin ever landed at Gordons Bay. It has recently been overtaken by a fish of 101kg. Our 100kg fish is still eluding us, but it must only be a matter of time. Some lucky angler will be the first to boat a 100kg fish on board "Lynx". Our ladies spearfishing record yellowfin of 66kg also still stands. This is only 2kg short of the current ladies world record.

We will arrange all bookings, collect you at Cape Town International Airport, arrange transfers and/or car hire and ensure you are accompanied to our guest house/holiday apartment or any other accommodation you may choose.

Join us for a day, a week, or a month, we offer a truly memorable local fishing adventure.

Hope you have all had a great festive season and caught or speared some good fish.
2009 is upon us and we are into the second month. Most folks are back at their desks, (not us) teh heh, and memories of fishing are exactly that, memories. Things are starting to happen in our stomping grounds off Cape Point and there have been reports of longfin tuna in the canyon area. Yellowfin are still not around, but it is a bit early. A bit of news in is that of a magnificent black marlin of 295kg taken off cape point last week. This is the biggest black marlin caught in our waters, ever!

The development on Ilha do Fogo in Mocambique has forged ahead and shortly there will be a runway on the island. The developers have asked me to start bringing in some groups and within a couple of months it will be worth a visit. But I will keep you all informed as to when and how. The initial prices they have quoted seem to be very reasonable

The season has not been a great one, and it seems that whenever I do these reports nowadays, the scenario is the same. Bad weather and plenty of wind. I am in Struisbaai as I write and the westerly is rattling the windows. Nonetheless, the Cape is the place we know and love and we have caught some really good fish in the last while. More of that later.

OFFSHORE
The October tuna season was not. We had practically no fish in October and I think the weather only gave us about three or four sea days anyway. Some of you will remember you were on the list to get out there, but no fish and bum weather scuttled our plans. November was better and when the fish did pitch up, we did quite well. The striking thing was the average size of the tuna. We had a few days out there where all our fish were between 60 and 90kg. The biggest we landed was a fish of 97, then one of 95 and a few of over 90. Many were in the 80's. Then came December, and when December came, the tuna went. Simple as that. Again, we had very few sea days, and when we did get out we caught next to bugger-all. Apologies to those of you who came out with us and had poor fishing days. We really try hard not to let them happen, but that's fishing. Our total tally for yellowfin so far this season is about 70 fish. Compare that to tallies of 120 to 150 a couple of years back, and it is dismal. BUT, before you all cry "The fish are gone!" All is not doom and gloom.

We have had very different water conditions in the last two years and particularly so in this season. There was a very strong thermocline most all the time and more schools of baitfish than I have ever seen. We saw miles and miles of yellowfin tuna feeding upon these baitfish (Mackerel, sardine, anchovy, squid, prawns, you name it) and try as we might, they would not eat our offerings. (I don't think we can blame them. Why would they want to eat the plastic lures and frozen bait we give them when they can pick and choose for their own fresh menu?) So, being the eternally optimistic fisherman, we hope the autumn season will be a cracker. We are already getting some reports of yellowfin (only a few mind you) in the canyon and quite a bit of longfin up in the west.

INSHORE AND FALSE BAY
We only did a few bay trips, but were well rewarded for our efforts. The cob season has been a good one and the most remarkable one we caught was a fish of 18kg caught by Dr Louis Benade, a regular client and good friend from Canada. Hopefully his fishing holiday was a memorable one. The cape salmon did not really make an appearance in False Bay, but certainly made up for their no show by literally pitching up in their thousands at Hangklip and Betty's Bay. We do not fish there, but friends of ours who do had a bumper season and to the best of my knowledge, are still getting good fish when the weather comes out of the Southeast. The yellowtail season has been ok, with most of the fish being around Cape Point and to a lesser extent inside the bay. We have had a few good days with some classy fish up to 10kg.

STRUISBAAI - CAPE AGULHAS
Once again we find ourselves in Struisbaai for the month of February and possibly March. We brought "Tyler" around by sea about 10 days ago and although the fishing here is a bit quiet as well, we have had one or two remarkable catches. The highlight thus far has been a striped marlin of about 120kg that we released last Friday during the annual "Two Oceans Marlin Tournament" run by the local deep sea angling club. Ion William (also one of our regulars) and a group of friends fished the tournament with us and managed a respectable 2nd place in the competition. Pipped only by the fact that the winners released a small black marlin (black marlin get more points than striped marlin). We have no doubt that the stripey we released was a potential SA record. It was certainly the biggest stripey I have seen. Still, 2nd out of 25boats is not bad. We fished for two and a half days, the boats recorded about 30 strikes and four marlin were released. Not quite as good as last year, but good nevertheless. I suspect it will be a long time before we have another comp like last year. We lost a very nice black marlin (est. 200 to 250kg) after a fight lasting 45 minutes. The fish was about 100m from the boat and fairly deep when it simply let go of the hook. Puzzling to all of us, and very disappointing for Bruce Henderson, the angler on the rod. Our stripey was caught by Manfred (his surname eludes me) aka "Flash Gordon" for reasons that best remain with the anglers who were at the competition.

The other remarkable catch was a yellowtail of 23kg caught by Ion himself. It is most certainly our biggest yellowtail to date and the fact that he caught it on a 10ft spinning rod in 8 meters of water makes it even more special. Usually these brutes simply smash your tackle in the shallow water.

That is about it for now. We are planning a couple of trips to the Alphard Banks and 45's this month. Both are offshore reefs and the fishing down there has been much better than here. Red Steenbras up to 35kg and good yellowtail are being landed on a daily basis. The Alphards and 45's are two of the few places left along our coast that give me butterflies in the stomach every time we go there. One just never knows what fish to expect there. If you are keen to have a go at these fish, or at a marlin. Please drop me or Gareth a line. Till we hear from you again, tight lines, happy fishing and God Bless.

Pictures of the latest catches are above.

Last, but not least, we are sending out regular reports and fishing updates to our friends and customers, both in South Africa and internationally. If you would like me to add you to our mailing list, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Please come back and check our regular updates.