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Fishing Tackle
Namibia – extreme fishing for monster sharks off the beach
28 April 2009
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Since my return from Namibia, a lot of people have been approaching me and asking what the fishing really was like; the reply that has sprung to mind the most has often contained the first line, “Its just not normal……..”. I mean, how else do you explain sitting on a beach in Western Africa, trying to hold onto a 14’ beachcaster, whilst a shark that may well weigh more than you tries its best to rip every yard of line from a boat fishing-sized multiplier? Awesome is a word that is used far too much by many people, me included, but that is the most apt word I can find to describe the fishing out in Namibia; frightening also comes high up on the list!
I first heard about shark fishing from the beach about five years ago when some anglers I was talking to proceeded to show me some photos of huge bronze whaler (copper) sharks that they had caught in Namibia; up until then I had never even heard of the place. From that moment, I vowed that someday I would have to have a go. But could it really be true and was it possible to take big sharks off an innocuous looking beach on another continent, far from home? In a word, yes, and it is easily done if you hook up with the right people and take on board the fishing advice that is dispensed by the outstanding guides.
I will forever be in debt to Steve and MolaMola for giving me the opportunity to experience what must be the greatest shore fishing in the world; sure, you can go off bonefishing on the Florida flats or pay through the nose to troll up and down for a few days on some exotic ocean, but if you want to be hooked up to a steam train from a beach, do this! You will get all the help you need, but once that shark is hooked, its down to you; you can not follow the fish in a boat or sit in a fighting chair. This has to be the ultimate angling challenge and you will catch sharks, for there are loads o them out there. Chances are that you will catch a fish that weighs more than you; can that be entirely normal? It all gets even more worrying when you are fighting a shark and there are four other ones of 200lb plus swimming around in front of you, looking for food!
My flight left Heathrow on a typical wet and windy UK winter’s day in November; ten hours later we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jumping onto a connecting flight, we then flew for another couple of hours up to Namibia. Try to sleep if you can, but my whole body was shaking with adrenalin from the first instance and I was not even near the beach yet!! I had a feeling that I may just pass out from the excitement.
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To cut a long story short, Terence our guide picked us up from our extremely comfortable hotel in Walvis Bay at lunchtime and then proceeded north in his 4by4 to a suitable beach and the all essential colour in the water he was looking for. Soon enough we were standing on a beach in Africa with the Atlantic rolling in before our eyes; we had to catch the bait. Bang, 40lb smoothound to the right of me, bang, 60lb spotted gully shark to my left, bang, 30lb gully to me; help!! We caught a few smaller ones for bait and then Terence kindly informed us we were off for the real stuff, sharks. All I could hear on the drive to the sharks was a pounding in my ears as my body pumped an unnatural amount of adrenalin through my shaking body. I always get excited about fishing, but I had just seen the biggest fish I had ever seen landed from a beach and that was not even the serious stuff! Surely it could not get better than this.
Another piece of innocent beach and the real business of the day; out came the slightly heavier rods and the big reels. The Namibians are anglers after my own heart, in that they like to keep things as simple and uncluttered as possible. Forget all those long, complicated techno-rigs that we like to chuck off a beach, or delicate little baits that are blasted to the horizon with finely tuned palm-sized multipliers. All their fishing is done wearing a butt pad and the reel “down the butt”; big, thick, comfortable grips on the rods point to what may happen, but nothing on earth can prepare you for that first shark.
Converted Daiwa boat reels are full to the brim with quality 40 and 60lb mono and your guide can do all baiting up and casting for you if required; it is similar to our fishing, but casting big baits down the butt of a 14’ rod with fast running, big reels calls for a huge amount of skill and know-how. Do as you like, for your guide is there to help, but rest assured that fighting fish is down to you; by all means ask for any advice and guidance, but there is no skipper to set the hook or back a boat up. Remember those points as you first shark goes on a personal mission to empty your reel of 400yds plus of line!!
The three of us were standing there, baits out perhaps 60yds, with pelicans wandering around on the beach, seals sunbathing or playing in the surf, and the odd dolphin cruising majestically past. Steve and Dave looked perfectly calm, but I was having trouble standing up with the excitement and I had not even had a “bronzy” bite yet. But within perhaps 30 mins of hitting the beach, my rod tip slams over and I am politely informed to set the hook fast; they are into conservation over there in a big way and want to shallow hook sharks for easy return. Hence the fast strike. I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life as an unseen bronzy went for a long, powerful run against a very tight drag. There quite literally is nothing that any angler can do except let the fish get this initial run over and done with; all we can do is to hang on and hope the shark starts to slow before the reel empties!!!
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As to what position you adopt to fight these fish, there is no real right or wrong way, but do realise that you may well be playing a shark (or is that the shark playing you?) for well over an hour; I tried in vain to “abuse” my first couple of sharks, but you quickly realise the futility in this and humbly go to your guide to ask for help, advice, and words of solace as your body starts to stiffen up that evening from the use of muscles you never knew you had! I really thought that I may be able to show these fish a thing or two, but more and more I began to realise that sharking from the beach has nothing to do with brute strength; it is all a matter of technique. You could do worse than watch a few of the locals when they are into sharks and see how they conserve their energy when the fish runs and then commence battle on the first inkling of a turning or tiring fish.
My first shark became something of a blur, but I did manage to observe from my own personal battle that both Steve and Dave had hooked up as well; perhaps 45mins later this “thing” appeared in front of me that seemed to be attached to my line, only it looked far too big!! Surely my shark was still out there somewhere, taunting me and chastising me for ever thinking I could use bully-boy tactics like we do off the rocks back home! But no, the monster in front of me was inching closer and closer with each turn I made on the reel, so it had to be my fish; “help” was the first thing that swam before my eyes as the fish tore off again, but steady pressure soon (after maybe an hour in total!!) allowed Terence to gaff the fish in the dorsal fin and then gently use the breakers to beach the fish. I tried to stand up but found my legs strangely like jelly; the biggest fish I had ever seen was now safely on the beach, and the other two were still into their sharks. I defy anybody to tell me that fishing can ever get any better than this. What’s more, all the sharks are safely returned and weights are estimated by your guide; they are not in the habit of giving you exaggerated weights, for the fish are that big there would be no point anyway!
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Well I can’t go on like this forever because it just makes me want to be back out there!! My first bronzy was about 180lbs and I was lucky enough to beach one a few days later of around 290lbs after a fight of 1.5hrs!!!!! Yes, nearly 300lbs of fish!!!! By far the biggest thing I had ever caught, let alone seen, and all the better and more challenging due to it all being from the shore, another bonus is that all the fishing is daytime stuff. All of us had loads of bronzies (lots over 200lbs) and also snapped a few off, as well as lots of gully sharks and smoothounds to 60lbs. They have a fish out there called a kob, very like our own bass, only somewhat larger!!! If you really manage to drag yourself away from the sharks, and its hard, believe me, you have a good chance of 20lb plus kob, or maybe even up to 50lb plus!!!!! But I went there for the sharks and both fulfilled a dream and had the absolute trip of a lifetime.
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Anglers have different desires and different goals, but if you have any dreams of catching big fish from the shore, you quite simply have to go out to Namibia and experience this; it will blow your mind. They are hugely geared up for fishing out there and our money goes a long, long way. By all means drink lots of the cheap beer, but I personally was so knackered most days from the sheer physical nature of the actual fishing that I was often in the land of nod by 11pm!!! How many times have you been exhausted, not from fishing late nights, but from actually fighting fish??
Would I go back? Stupid question really, for I really believe that out there lies the ultimate challenge and if you are any sort of angler you can not fail to both enjoy and appreciate your Namibian experience. Speak to Steve and he will sort everything out and provide you with all relevant information and lots of different options; it is so feasible to do this kind of thing and you can leave all your rods and reels at home! Everything out there is first class and I so want to go back as soon as possible that it hurts!