Now Extended: Two Oceans Tuna Derby in Hout Bay

Just announced: Competition extended by almost a week due to weather. More chance to catch monster tuna, win a new boat and R450k total prizes. Here’s the latest on this year’s Two Oceans Tuna Derby in Hout Bay

Update: 9 November 2018

After the first three days of the Two Oceans Tuna Derby in Hout Bay declared blowouts due to extremely windy conditions – out at sea where the tuna is, even if the weather seems good in the bay – Atlantic Boat Club has announced an extension of the tuna derby possibly until 14 November.

That’s four extra days of fishing. And it seems welcome too. Unable to head out to where the tuna is for three days, the anglers have been amusing themselves with some recreational bottom fishing while they wait for the weather to clear.

With the extension, they can hopefully get back to serious tuna fishing soon. See all the details on the Two Oceans Tuna Derby below …

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A grand prize of a brand-new boat with trailer. Loads of tuna activity in the region. And every reason to get excited for the Two Oceans Tuna Derby in Hout Bay from 5 November.

There’s a been a lot of really good tuna activity in the water this year. And Cape Town’s other big tuna comp delivered a few monster fish that surprised even the pros – just a week or so before. So there’s every reason to believe this year’s Hout Bay tuna competition will deliver big ones.

Here’s what you should know.

BIG PRIZES

There are over R450k’s worth of prizes up for grabs this year. The grand prize is a brand-new ski-boat, and loads of smaller cash prizes for big catches, angler and boat performance. There’s even a biggest tuna Calcutta, for those who want to wager an extra R1000 on their catches.

LARGE FISHING GROUNDS

You’re allowed to fish anywhere around Cape Town. You can even depart from any harbour between Cape Town and Gordon’s Bay. As long as you come and weigh in your fish at the Atlantic Boat Club at the Hout Bay harbour.

The comp runs 5–10 November and fishing starts around 5am and lines-up is around 3pm (2pm on Saturday 10 November). And, if you’ve hooked on at the last minute, you get 1 hour extra fighting time to still qualify for the day.

TWO OCEANS TUNA DERBY FISH RULES

This is a tuna-only competition. And four species are expected in the area. The minimum weight for yellowfin, bigeye and bluefin tuna is 20kg. For longfin tuna, it’s 10kg. But, we’re expecting them to be a lot bigger than that.

One man who will be fishing the Two Oceans Tuna Derby is Marius Coetzee, who recently captained the national Protea squad to the FIPS-M World Champs. He was incidentally the 2017 winner of Cape Town’s other big tuna comp, the Rumbly Bay Tuna Derby. “I won that one with a 68kg tuna in 2017. At this year’s comp, I see the winner hooked a massive 94kg yellowfin, so the fish are big this time around,” Marius says.

That said, you’re fishing with a max line of 37kg and each boat is only allowed to weigh in two yellowfin, bigeye or bluefin tuna per day. And you’re only allowed one longfin. Plus: you’re encouraged to catch and release – there are some special prizes for releases.

TWO OCEANS TUNA DERBY

This is an open competition. It’s hosted by the Atlantic Boat Club in Hout Bay, 5–10 November 2018. And the entry fee is R1750 per angler.

Juniors (U16) are also very welcome. They pay only R500 to fish. But note: They are not eligible for the grand prize draw.

TWO OCEANS TUNA DERBY HOUT BAY

Hosts: Atlantic Boat Club | Hout Bay
Dates: 5–10 November 2018 (possible extension until 14 November 2018)
Contact: tunaderby@atlanticboatclub.co.za | +27 (0)21 790 2930

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See all the fishing competitions in March and fishing competitions in April as well as the complete list of all big fishing competitions in South Africa.

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