Fly fishing from a deserted Zululand beach at 03h40 am seems a bit crazy but there we were, casting out the pitch black, 4/0 Sempers into the darkness and retrieving them again slowly and steadily. The fish had proven very skittish during our stay as the water was quite calm and clear and the better fish seemed to disappear at the first sign of daylight.

This made a rather rude 03h00am semi-awakening necessary. Half an hour later finds you sleepwalking in total darkness as you are afraid any light will alert your intended quarry, with only the sound of the shore break to guide you.

I was fortunate that a huge dumper had woken me up quite unceremoniously and I was all concentration and shivering with anticipation when around 04h18 am I felt that elusive tug on the other end. Soon my recently acquired 10 weight was creaking into the cork.

This was the moment I had dreamed about and the rod proved equal to the task, in fact it was clear that it was actually meant for much bigger prey. I managed to subdue the beautiful Greenspot/Brassy Kingfish of approximately 4kg’s after it gave a good account of itself quickly and released it after a short photo session. I was fortunate enough to take a 2kg Greenspot five minutes later as well as a stunning Bluefin Kingfish of about 3kg two days later at roughly the same time.

On another occasion at approximately 16h20, darkness had swallowed us and I could barely see my fishing buddy a few meters away. I was starting to become impatient as nothing was happening and I found myself retrieving too fast for the conditions. I forced myself to slow down and concentrate and on the very next cast something took the fly quite gently and I gave a sharp strip strike. I was into my backing in an instant and I could feel the raw power of the fish as it headed for the rocky reef which juts out into the bay. I was prepared and had tightened my drag up in anticipation of such an event, and I applied additional pressure by palming the reel as I forced it towards the beach. I soon had the beautiful 85 cm and approximately 12kg GT in the shore break and on the beach and returned it quickly after the short photo session.

On my very next cast I hooked into something which felt very heavy but also very sluggish .I knew immediately that I had hooked into another Loggerhead turtle. The only option here was to straight stick it and hope the hook bends opens or the leader breaks. As per the previous two occasions the hapless animal eventually landed up in the shallows and we were able to remove the barbless hook easily as it hardly penetrated a millimeter into the hard shell.

Perhaps the best example of fly fishing at night occurred at Kosi Bay in March 2007. We had flogged the sea to froth with almost nothing to show for the day and I decided to take a nap and to go fishing again at about 11h00pm. At 12h00 the tide was pushing strongly and the spit in the mouth seemed to be working nicely, I slipped a popping head onto my leader and tied a pitch black size 2/0 Semper to the end. I then slipped the back end of the popping head over the eye of the hook and secured it with a tooth pick. There was no wind to ruffle the water and I approached the water slowly and cautiously, staying a few meters away from the sandbank. I was using an intermediate line which worked quite well as it did not drag the popping head and fly under. I started fishing it with a fairly slow but jerky retrieve so as to cause some commotion in the hope that this would attract something .At 12h15 my line tightened up and I struck to feel a solid resistance. The fish was very powerful and it was shaking its head occasionally, the line was so tight it was making a weird singing sound in the guides as I applied maximum pressure. The fish turned the corner and made an attempt to reach the sea but I managed to turn it and slide it onto the shallow sandbank after a few minutes. I was amazed to see the biggest Bigeye kingfish I had ever seen. It turned out to be 74cm fork length and would have weighed in the region of the South African record which would be in excess of 8 kilograms. From the size of its eyes it was clearly evident that it was a nocturnal hunter par excellence. At approximately 2am I latched onto another big fish in the mouth on my 12 weight which kept me busy for at least 10 minutes and came off as I was about to drag it into the shallows. I rue the fact that my buddy and I were hesitant to turn our caplamps on so we will never know what I hooked.

Night fishing in freshwater is nothing new to me as I had taken a lot of trout both Brown and Rainbow in total darkness as well as Small and Largemouth yellowfish and Black Bass. But when darkness fell at the coast I used to either pack up my fly fishing tackle and leave or haul out the bait fishing outfit in the old days. I have since realized that darkness was an ally that one cannot do without on our coast. Most of the big GT’s landed here have been taken after dark and the majority of my best fish in the last two years have either been taken before first light or after dark.

Scout the lay of the land in daylight and expend your efforts where you saw the biggest concentrations of baitfish during the day Bays such as the one’s at Sodwana , Bhanga Nek ,Rocktail and Kosi always hold a lot of baitfish and are the best spots to try.

There is no need to change anything when it comes to tackle and leader setups but this is the time the big boys come out to play and you will not find me with anything less than a 12 weight and leader in the 50 pound plus breaking strain range on most occasions.

Flies need to be dark and big to present a decent profile or they need something like a popping head attached to attract the fish. A black Semper or Whistler tied on a 6/0 to 8/0 Trey Coombs hook is my fly of choice but a large Profile fly or Slammer will be as good.

In quieter water such as the main lake system at Kosi the Red Knight which is a half and half Clouser Minnow has proven very effective.

Speed of retrieve is the next and probably most important factor to consider .We have found that the underarm, milk the cow retrieve still works well but you need to slow it down to a walk. Imagine a baitfish that is swimming along very slowly or just hanging around feeling safe and secure in the darkness. He will not be expecting anything and the Kingie want’s to suck him in at a leisurely pace.

A waterproof caplamp is also an indispensable item, but please remember not to shine any light near the sea. The light is meant only for emergencies and should be used out of sight and if required to land a fish or to take a photograph.

From our experience which I admit is somewhat limited and also from discussions with other anglers who do the night shift it seems that the Kingfish family such as GT’s ,Bluefins and Bigeyes and even Greenspots hunt actively in low light and even total darkness.

Of the other species Skipjack and Bastard Mullet as well as River Snapper and Speckled Snapper are also very active after dark. We have not experimented with the smaller species such as Bonefish but from rock and surf experience I would venture a guess that they would be more inclined to venture into the shallows after dark and we are planning to fish for them more actively in future.

Plan your nocturnal excursions to coincide with a high or pushing tide falling after dark and before sunrise. That way you will not be required to venture out onto the ledges which are extremely dangerous and especially so after dark.

I for one limit my wading after dark as I am prone to sudden panic attacks when I see a dark shape coming at me as has happened on numerous occasions with Loggerhead turtles. They come into extremely shallow water seemingly to feed as soon as darkness sets in.

It is also advisable to hire a helper to watch over your vehicle while you are fishing, we have not experienced any break inns during numerous visits but this can probably be attributed more to luck than any other reason.

We have a lot to learn and there are a few ideas we still want to test at night but it has been proven beyond doubt that fly fishing the salt can be very effective after dark and before first light, the only negative aspects being that it will take a serious toll on your biorhythms and cut in on your braai time, the photographs will also be of lesser quality. But the memories will be seared into your brain for eternity.