Woman reels in record 100kg tuna

16 November 2015 - 02:22 By Farren Collins

An angler who landed a massive yellow-fin tuna has set South African and all-African women's records. Mariette Hendrikse caught the 100kg giant at the recent Billfish 1500 fishing competition at Sodwana, in Kwazulu-Natal.The biggest tuna she had caught before weighed only 12kg.The financial consultant from Carletonville, on the West Rand in Gauteng, took three hours to pull the fish out of the water.She earned the catch-of-the-week accolade for her efforts."I couldn't believe my eyes. It's a dream fish," she said."It was extremely difficult. Tuna is a very strong fighter."A leader line got wrapped around the tuna's sickle during the catch, causing it to turn and drown.Hendrikse said she would make sure that her catch was not wasted."We're going to be eating tuna for a long time."Event organiser Blyde Pretorius said the tuna was the biggest fish caught at the event."It was definitely the highlight of the week, and especially for Mariette because it was also a day before her birthday."The Billfish 1500 tournament is the biggest deep-sea fishing event in South Africa. Anglers aim to tag and release about six billfish species. Billfish are a group of predatory fish characterised by prominent bills, including marlin and sailfish.Seventy boats competed in the competition this year, with boat Chunga, from Meyerton, winning the event. In second place was the boat Bill Rider from Bela-Bela, and third-placed Dejay from JohannesburgThe week-long competition finished on Friday...

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