When last I wrote I said that the NE wind was starting and hopefully the marlin will too. Well, they have not in big numbers yet but 2 or 3 are being seen now. On 30th November Broadbill rose and hooked a striped marlin on a small brown & clear octopus normally put out for tuna. (more…)

Kamara II is just back from a 4 day Pemba safari with Louis Barnard and Tommy Stephens from Swaziland and Broadbill is over there now with Svend Christensen and Emil Sorensen from Denmark. The wind is perfect although not strong yet and the rips are not showing as well as we would like. There are still loads of small yellowfin tunas together with skipjack and frigate mackerels plus already a few dead squids are appearing on the surface. This is all in the area to the NW of Pemba Is on the plateau, by far the best fishing grounds for marlin in the Pemba Channel.

On the 1st day, Monday 5th we rose 4 marlin, 3 stripes and a black but were unlucky not to hook up with any. 1 of the stripes just came in for a look and the other 2 belted a couple of lures without seemingly wanting to actually grab hold of them. The black marlin was a nice fish about 250-300 lb that came up on a senior pink & white moldcraft hooker, took nicely and was just taking off across the surface in a series of Greyhound leaps. It then turned back towards the boat and the hook was thrown, most likely the marlin had got his bill in to the bite of the hook when he swatted the lure. On Tuesday we raised 3 marlin, all
stripes but again were unable to get either Louis or Tommy that elusive first marlin. Broadbill also joined us that day and raised just 1 but failed to get a take. We both had a good number of small tunas and Broadbill had a couple of dorado. Wednesday was Kamara II’s day hooking up with our first marlin at 8.45am on a green medium Williamson witch doctor lure on 50-lb line. This fish put on a magnificent display and gave Louis a good workout before he finally brought it top boatside after 30 minutes for tagging and releasing estimated at 140-lb. Not long afterwards we rose another on a strip bait on 30-lb line and it was Tommy’s turn to get worked over. This fish really went, greyhounding across the ocean with us chasing after it to prevent the fish from getting too far away from us. Tommy had the fish up near the boat quite quickly and we were backing down with the fish all lit up swimming directly away from us but we then realized we had a problem. The marlin had become wrapped in the 130-lb leader around the tail and there was no leader to hold. Tommy had the double on to the reel but the fish was still very strong and unfortunately pulled away on a last bid for freedom. I say unfortunately because I knew that unless we could get to him soon he would for sure die of lack of oxygen. Sadly this was to prove to be the case and after nearly an hour we had to boat the marlin. We later weighed this fish off the mast of local outrigger canoe, which caused a stir amongst the hordes of children that had paddled out to greet us. Of course in Africa no fish is wasted and that marlin would have fed many hungary mouths. We saw 2 other marlin and a sailfish that we didn’t get and Broadbill also saw a few.

I am often asked how many marlin a year do die and we have to boat, and also why do they die? Firstly, how many – 1 or 2 at the most. This marlin will have died of asphyxiation since after such a powerful fight it will have built up so much lactic acid in its muscles creating what is called an ‘oxygen debt’. This oxygen debt must be paid back urgently, which means swimming slowly forwards so that water is driven through the mouth and over the gills. A marlin like a tuna must actively pump water through the gills and cannot wait passively for it to happen. In this case the leader being around the tail meant that the fish was unable to swim forward without a struggle compounding the situation. Finally the fish dies and the angler must plane it up. This is a very good reason why the captain must manoeuvre the boat on a fish to keep the boat as close to the fish as possible and to try to bring the fish to boatside before it can get too exhausted. Hence it is important to keep the fight short and to do all we can to ensure the successful release of the billfish.

Today was our last day and we only saw 1 marlin that came in fast after the teasers looking at everything in great hurry before snatching at a lure and rushing off with it but without a successful hook-up. The luck today was with Broadbill and Svend who was desperate to catch a marlin after many years of trying. He started off this morning with a black marlin of about 170-180 lb that he caught on 80-lb line. They later tagged a stripey and a sail producing the season’s first GRAND SLAM, which is 3 different billfish species in one day. They saw another 2 marlin finning plus another sail that would not take.

So, the marlin are definitely here and with all the food near Pemba there should be plenty to hold them here. Its looking very good !

Broadbill was on their last day of their Pemba safari and Kamara II was fishing out of Shimoni with Mark Lempriere from Guernsey. There was a nice rip on the edge of the drop off outside Shimoni with a dramatic colour change that we followed as far as Funzi without success before heading across to Pemba Is. to join Broadbill. White Otter was also out from the club next door. (more…)

Kush Haria, aged just 11-yr fishing with his father, Paresh from Nairobi received an early Christmas present when at 8 O’clock in the morning a small blue marlin rose to the small lure trolled shot gun. They were fishing on Kamara II with Simon and the two Hamisi’s when the fish struck. (more…)