Game time! After waking up to good seas, we decided to move around the area a little in search of pinnacles that we could fish on, and simply try to understand a small section of this underwater paradise.
We put out two rappies and steamed around. In less than three minutes both rods took off with yellowtail. Before those fish could be brought to the boat and released, the ocean around us changed colour from electric blue to yellow, as the tightly packed fish schooled past. It was literally drop for drop with whatever you could throw at them.
Young yellowtail in the 2—4kg size were clearly hungry and grabbed at anything. We could have stayed there and plugged away at them all day, but that was not why we went to Vema. Although the area looked much flatter, the fishfinder showed lots of fish holding in the area.
The top half were smaller fish, and the big boys were down below on the floor. We started working vertical jigs on the bottom and soon the first better fish started coming out in the 18—20kg size range.
After a quick photo they were back in the water. The boat was clearly not rigged for fishing, but no one cared; the fish were keeping us all busy. After a while our arms felt like they where falling off, so we took a unanimous decision to go on the troll and look for shallow pinnacles.
We found some bumps shooting from 50m to 25m and put in a net hoping to catch a crayfish for dinner. While we waited, we took the opportunity to jump in for a quick spearfish. To my surprise, two wahoo swam past me. I tried to chase them down and politely herded them to David who was waiting with sniper-like precision and bagged us some sashimi to go with the three crayfish we netted.
A couple of young yellowfin which came by put the cherry on top for the day. Back on board we put out the parachute for the night as Vema is notorious for cutting anchors loose.
We woke up to calm flat seas, with under 5 knots of wind. What more can one ask for on an adventure trip nm out to sea? In the morning when we looked at our drift from the night, we had done an almost perfectly circular drift.
The current on Vema is next level and something I have never experienced before — strong and irregular, changing direction all the time. Before we had even switched on the motor and moved up to the fishing area we wanted to target for the day, the jigs where already vas. We saw a handful of small tail darting erratically in and out under the hull which seemed very peculiar, but we soon realised what their problem was. A dark shadow came after them — a marlin of around lb — simply herding them under the boat trying to get his breakfast.
I caught my first five finger fish that morning. The fishing was so good that David whipped out his fly-rod. While steaming around we saw a long rope on the surface that seemed to disappear into the depths.
We guessed it was an old anchorage, so we tied up for the evening in about 40m of water. She held strong and saved us the effort of having to put in a parachute for the evening. The morning greeted us with rain, knot winds and a massive ground swell. Through the night we had swung around and now lay in 80m of water.
Due to the bad weather we decided to spend the day on anchor, on that same spot. This turned out to be the most ridiculous day of fishing. The sheer quantity of fish we caught was unfathomable. Drop your jig, flip over, one jig, vas, reel up, release and repeat — literally all day long. With the fish being so wild, I tried every thing in my tackle box, from drop shots, spinners and buck tail, to just a skirt over a bear hook, it all worked. It was amazing to fish with such confidence that you just knew you were going to catch no matter what you did.
Kyle and I were having a small competition to win a limo ride to see who could catch the most fish in ten minutes. We went drop for drop, neck and neck with each other, eventually only dropping our jig m so that we could catch faster than the other one. It was down to the wire, fish for fish even, until one of us dropped a fish while lifting it over the side, then the winner was crowned. We had some turtles come and visit us during the day and even caught a small wreck fish of about 10kg. That night some maasbanker came up under the lights of the boat.
I caught a few and dropped big livebaits through the night in the hope of catching my monster. It ended in sad stories as his line got zigzagged thought the reef until the fish eventually fouled and parted the line.
Waking to good seas with no swell, we worked around the shallow areas. Everyone had had their fill from the previous day and both gear and men where worn down.
This was to be the most enjoyable day of the trip for me. We caught a couple of wahoo on the troll in the morning while moving up to the area, followed by a good few yellowtail in the 20kg size range on jig.
I suited up and jumped in for a spearfish, once again seeing the odd wahoo, schools of free swimming yellowfin and big eye tuna, and five finger fish distributed through the height of the water column. After a couple of drifts we located a series of big rocks that we could see from the surface. These boulders rose 10—15m from the surroundings and really held the fish.
The current was very strong, and dropping down to 20m on a single breath proved challenging. I saw yellowtail that I believe to be the new world record, pushing what I estimate were 50—60kg. One fish in particular I saw a few times; I recognised him by a small mark on his lower jaw.
An absolute bus, he knew how to keep his distance and effortlessly swam into the current as I tried with all my will to move into a spearfish-able position. It was not to be. I had many opportunities on yellowtail that would have been 20—30kg in size, but after seing that giant I could think of nothing else. Once I was back to the boat, Mike wanted to scuba dive on the pinnacles we had found and was looking for a dive buddy.
He would then hold his coronation and preside over the tourists and scientists who visit or move there. But wait. The Kingdom if Mount Vema is still underwater! That won't stop King Peter though—his country claims it can ship things to you, plan dance-based networking events, and also hold the Miss Mount Vema Beauty Pageant.
There is also a unit currency called golle, and his majesty King Peter is featured on the bills. Vema also has its own bank and own credit card company the GolleCard , and you can even view a PDF file of the non-existent kingdom's fiscal projections—hosted on a Tripod.
So what's the point of the made-up Kingdom of Mount Vema? It is most likely the front for a scam, similar to the classic Nigerian Prince emails you occasionally get in your Spam folder. Ruling an underwater nation could have its benefits, like helping to launder money through the golle currency by way of instructing unsuspecting people to transfer funds from their real bank accounts, or by establishing the faux country as a tax haven.
Whatever the scam is, King Peter won't be building anything on that seamount anytime soon.
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