Gordon’s Bay resident, Samaarah Ibrahim, is a fisherwoman of note, and does she have a tale to tell.
The 15-year-old is a junior member of the Gordon’s Bay Boat Angling Club and has been fishing since she was a little girl as father, Nishaad, has always been into fishing and got her hooked on it.
Samaarah recalls what happened on October 24 when she caught a Southern Bluefin tuna.
“My dad and two friends, Ockie and Davie, and I left the harbour around 4.30am on our boat, Monish, and went out to the deep which is 40 nautical miles off Cape Point, to fish, hoping to break a pending Western Province junior record and a pending all Africa, South Africa junior record.
“I never expected to break this record as we went out that day, intending to break the 3kg line class record for Longfin tuna, which I did manage to hook but lost it after an hour and a half.
“The day was going very slow as there weren’t many fish being caught, and as the first rod went off I was the first to take it.
“It took me around an hour to land the fish as I caught it on 15kg line with a Williamson deep diver.
“It came as a big surprise to all of us that it had been a Southern Bluefin tuna, because we normally do not catch this species of fish in our waters.
“Ever since I was a young girl my passion has always been fishing. I remember the first time catching a fish, I was only four years old.
“When I was around 10 years old, I caught my first Yellowfin tuna, and it was then that I knew I had to keep doing this as one of my hobbies.
“I am now very passionate about this sport and wish to receive my skipper’s licence next year and hopefully continue to break many more records.”