Hooked!

Umdloti Beach Skiboat Club's Janine Hunlun is one of only a tiny handful of female kayak anglers. Why? Because it's not an easy sport and Janine loves a challenge.

Having landed, among other highlights, a 32kg giant trevally (GT), a 21kg couta and placing third overall in the club's annual Grand Slam – a year-long competition requiring anglers to catch a prescribed list of species using skill, strategy and knowledge – Janine has more than earned her place in this male-dominated sport.

Very few women participate, she says, because surf launching a craft that cannot duck dive or catch waves is intimidating. "Many people, not only women, but some men too, fear being exposed on the vast open ocean, brimming with wildlife,” she says. "It's early mornings, cold water and the surf launch is tough. Your timing must be spot on, or the surf will give you a hiding." 

Janine's journey began eight years ago when she paddled alongside her husband in a single ski, launching from the sheltered Vetch's Beach at Durban Undersea Club (DUC). "If you can't beat them, join them," she remembers telling herself. Seeing dolphins and other marine life from the best seat in the house left her mesmerised.

She later attempted her first full surf launch, not to fish, but simply to paddle. She mastered launching through the surf and handling an ocean fishing kayak before ever putting out a rod. Although she was severely seasick on that first outing, Janine loved the ocean too much to let a bout of nausea and vomiting put her off.

On only her third or fourth surf launch, she put a line in the water for the first time at Nonoti Beach where, before property development, cattle still roamed the shoreline there. That day she landed her first deep-sea fish: a modest snoek compared with the busses she consistently catches today. "One bite and I was hooked. I bought the ski I'd been borrowing that same day," she says.

Kayak fishing is hard work, she says. "There's a huge amount of preparation and cleaning up to be done. But it's absolutely worth it."

Before a major competition, Janine spends up to two weeks preparing traces, carefully labelling them according to the bait she will use to target different species. She also asks plenty of questions, soaking up every bit of information she can to improve her skills.

"The correct tackle is the key to success. You have to be confident in your hooks, your bait presentation must be on point, so it looks like live bait. You also have to enjoy what you're doing and go out there with the right attitude."

Every fish bites differently, but couta remains her favourite. "It's just the most exciting thing when you hear the reel screaming. They're super-fast, striking the bait and then they're off," she says, describing the adrenaline rush of hooking, fighting and finally getting the fish safely into the kayak's hatch.

Being one of only a few female kayak anglers in KwaZulu-Natal, Janine says the men initially did not quite understand what she was there for. Over time, however, she earned their respect. "Too many people sit on the sidelines because of fear," she says. She encourages more women to give the sport a try but cautions they must love a challenge and not be afraid of getting hurt.

She recalls getting "absolutely smoked" by heavy swell at Blythedale. "The wave hit me in the face, my head hit the back of the kayak, I hit the bank and broke my paddle in half." Rather than giving up, she borrowed another paddle and headed straight back out.

Her angling prowess has since earned her features in Stywe Lyne magazine and an upcoming feature in Go Fish magazine, and not forgetting this magazine too.

Instagram: janineclair