110lb. The fish was leadered, but then,
right on cue, jumped and threw the hook.
This caused much consternation, since
this was Schalk’s first 100-pounder and a
lifetime goal had just been achieved –
without getting a picture! Nevertheless,
Schalk was over the moon with his catch,
which was a good cause for celebration
later at the hotel.
The morning of the fifth day gave us a
short window for casting at rolling fish.
I blew three shots at good fish, but to
be fair, the casts were uptide and the fly
was only coming tight after three or four
strips. The morning calm was soon re-
placed by the “W” and a violent afternoon
thunderstorm coming in from the north.
I was now seriously wondering about this
Nkissithing and it was starting to get to
me. Schalk was doing well and I was back
to not being able to buy a bite. Well, I
thought, at least Schalk has joined the
100lb club.Our final day’s fishing dawned. I
noticed that the “W” was not blowing,
but that would probably change soon, I
thought. Oddly enough, after running the
30 minutes to the usual spot, the “W” was
still not awake, but it was overcast so it
would probably rain. The boat pulled up
to the spot that had yielded Schalk’s 100-
pounder when Arno suddenly exclaimed,
“Poons rolling!” True to word, they were
rolling; not one, not two, but schools of
fish. Arno lined us up and in no time I
heard the all-too-familiar “I’m in, I’m in!”
shouts coming from Schalk. The fish had
a blistering first run, the reel was scream-
ing in protest and line was disappearing
at an alarming rate.When the fish jumped, we realised
this was a big fish. Schalk was in for a
brutal fight for sure. The tug might be the
drug, but the brutality of the fight is the
reality. With the boat in quiet mode,
everybody was praying the fish wouldn’t
throw the hook. Twenty minutes in, Arno
broke the silence: “Don’t worry Schalk,
it’s only been five minutes, another half
an hour to go.” An hour into the fight,
Schalk managed to wrestle the fly line
back onto the reel. After one and a half
hours, Arno leadered an estimated 180lb
monster. A few quick photos had to be
taken whereafter the fish swam off as if
nothing had happened. As we ran back
to the spot (the fish had dragged the boat
about 4km according to the Simrad), my
bleakness had reached a new level, but
damn, my mate had just hooked a 180lb
tarpon – and what a fish!TCFF | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 | 35“THE TUG MIGHT BE THE DRUG, BUT THE
BRUTALITY OF THE FIGHT IS THE REALITY. WITH THE
BOAT IN QUIET MODE, EVERYBODY WAS PRAYING
THE FISH WOULDN’T THROW THE HOOK.”