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Fishing report 4th - 15th March 2008
Although the northeast monsoon wind has finally given way
to the southerlies there were still some good fishing during
the first half of March. And Kamara II has ended the season
at the top of the log together with Neptune from Malindi.
Tue 4th March 2008 - strong winds from the SW all day, which
is seldom good for fishing here and few billfish were seen
with only Shuwari striking lucky with a sail. As is usual at
this time of the year there are lots of dorado, which help
to keep away the z's.
Wed 5th March 2008 - Much calmer today but still SW winds
and large numbers of skipjack tunas in centre channel but seemingly
impossible to catch. Shuwari had a double from sail in the
afternoon releasing both but no other billfish were seen.
Thu 6th March 2008 - Charlie McCrow and Lindsay Brown set
off on Kamara II in the early morning on what has become their
annual extended combo. Last year they had a very successful
trip with a super slam made up of a broadbill, 2 striped marlin,
a blue marlin and 2 sails. With calm SW winds it looked unlikely
with most hope pegged on to the night fishing. Lindsay released
a sail in the morning and we did have a rather half- hearted
strike from a stripey in the middle of the day but very few
other billfish were seen by any of the 3 boats out. The night
was beautiful, very dark which most of us have found to be
the best and very calm too. In fact it must rate as the calmest
night that I have fished on Kamara II since I have had her.
The first strike came at 11:30pm with a broadbill successfully
released by Charlie and then further successes followed throughout
the rest of the night. In all we released 4 broadbill out of
6 strikes not a bad success rate even if I say so myself. The
following day was again very calm and although we did see a
stripey finning and missed a few sail at the end we didn't
manage to add to our tally.
Sat 8th March 2008 - the wind was back in to the NE again
and with the current now back to running fast north the rips
were showing better than they have all season. There were 4
boats out with only White Otter not scoring but Broadbill,
Kamara II, and Shuwari all released a sail. Broadbill was unlucky
not to get a marlin when a stripey took off a good run and
then came off.
Sun 9th March 2008 - Broadbill fished by Helmut Harms and
Alwin Bernau from Germany took 3 sails with White Otter 1 and
Shuwari missing out. Helmut and Alwin were due to come in early
February but had had to cancel due to the election problems
in Kenya but had sufficient confidence in Kenya to return this
month. Thank you both for your support.
Mon 10th March 2008 - Helmut and Alwin fishing their last
day on Kamara II had a great finish to their trip. They released
a sail each during the morning and then had a double header
from striped marlin at 3pm both on 30-lb line and both fish
were brought to boatside for tagging. When you have two marlin
on, particularly when they both go in opposite directions the
helm is fairly helpless in not being able to follow either
effectively so plenty of patience and cool heads required.
Well done, a great effort! Broadbill and Shuwari both released
sail but Jasiri missed out and in addition everyone had plenty
of dorado.
Tue 11th March 2008 - The wind has again reverted to the south
and this I fear spells the end of the billfish season. There
will always be the occasional marlin and sail but to be honest
one does need some good fortune. In previous years we have
had some very good fish in April and the dorados will continue
for a while yet. Fishing will probably shift to closer to the
reefs looking for GT's, kingfish and other smaller gamefish.
Today only Shuwari got a sail and on Kamara II we missed one
and had about 11 dorado.
Wed 12th March 2008 - Of the 3 boats out only Shuwari got
a sail but now the sea is flat calm with hardly a breath of
wind.
Thu 13th March 2008 - only Shuwari out no billfish.
Fri 14th March 2008 - Only Shuwari out and today she released
a sail.
Sat 15th March 2008 - No boats out.
Bookings are coming in for next season and already much of
February has gone so if you are interested in a slot during
the billfish season drop us a line as soon as you can to avoid
disappointment.
Fishing Report February 24th - March 3rd 2008
The great fishing has continued from where we left off with
the last update, as follows:
Sunday 24th February - a large tropical storm over Madagascar
was yet again playing havoc with our seas and the channel was
rather rough and the fish keeping their heads down. Jan Muller
together with his buddies Wickus and Adriaan were out on Broadbill
and only saw 1 stripey. Shuwari was also out but didn't fare
any better. The sea was calmer than on Saturday and a wonderful
colour so we are at least being lucky in that regard as I understand
that further north the sea has been a horrible green colour.
Monday 25th February - Kamara II was the only boat out today
and the sea was quite calm with a big swell and the wind in
the NE. Altogether we saw 7 marlin tagging 3 nice stripies
as well as a sail. Neither Wickus or Adriaan had done any billfishing
so it was very much beginner's luck when they had a double
header of striped marlin landing both. Shortly after Adriaan
got his 2nd and Wickus got the sail - not bad for only your
second day out!
Tuesday 26th February - the good fishing continued with loads
of sailfish being raised almost every hour with pack attack
after pack attack. As anyone who has fished for sails will
know they can be very finicky and difficult to hook. I always
say that sails are more difficult to hook than a marlin but
obviously don't have quite the fighting capabilities of the
marlin. Wickus caught his 2nd marlin, a stripey on 30-lb and
the group also landed 7 sails, a really good effort. There
were also about 9 dorados as well so plenty of action altogether
raising 4 marlin and 18 sails.
Wednesday 27th February - Siegbert Riesling and his son,
Michael fished on Kamara II continued with the good action
raising 4 marlin and 14 sails. We ended up with 1 stripey and
6 sails 9 dorado and a whoop, the only other boat out, Shuwari
got 1 stripey and 1 sail.
Thursday 28th February - Again only Kamara II was out, not
so many sail today and we didn't raise any until 3pm when we
had a pack attack that took virtually every line out. We ended
up with 1 stripey and 4 sails 6 dorado and 1 bonito for the
day. It was still very calm with a big swell but the wind was
mostly coming from the NE in contrast to the internet weather
forecasts, which said that we ought to be having southerly
winds. We are not complaining!
Friday 29th February - Broadbill was out alone, not so many
fish seen quite a few free jumping sails but still they did
get 2 sailfish plus 7 dorado and a bonito.
Saturday 1st March - Only White Otter and Shuwari out today
with the latter picking up 3 sails but Otter failed to score.
There were a few pack attacks hit so the fish are still there.
Sunday 2nd March - Only Kamara II out with my old friend Raymond
Matiba and his 2 young boys, Brian & Martin. Ray and I
have covered many miles fishing together to Latham Is, Zanzibar,
Pemba and Malindi mostly in my first boat, Kamara so it was
really great to get back out there together. Ray tagged a beautiful
stripey on 30-lb line that we estimated at 80-kg, a really
nice fat fish. We had 1 other marlin strike and also had a
pack attack from sails finally hooking 2, one of which I got
on 20 very fortuitously because when I got the fish to the
boat we could see that the 20-lb line had become tangled in
a bird's nest around the swivel. A miracle why it never broke!
The youngest, Martin fought a sailfish on 30 right up near
to the boat before the hook pulled. We also had 2 whoop, 4
dorado and a skipjack.
Monday 3rd March - A drastic change in the weather with strong
SW all morning swinging to SE in the afternoon. There was an
electrical storm to the south last night and rain showers were
around during the day. Shimoni could certainly do with some
rain as the grounds are starting to look like a desert and
our rainwater storage tanks are getting very low. Broadbill
alone was out, they did have a double header from sail landing
1 of them as well as 3 dorado and a wahoo.
The forecast is for southerly winds all week but then to swing
back to the NE at the weekend, let's hope the fish stick around.
Typically the conditions will become doldrum like, very hot
and calm and there usually are some fish so watch this space.
Fishing news February 1st - 23rd, 2008
There has been some outstanding fishing in the Pemba Channel
during recent weeks, perhaps fewer marlin than might be expected
but incredible action nonetheless. We are very grateful to
all of those who decided to still come and to trust us when
we told them that the Kenya coast is as a safe a travel destination
as anywhere. The extreme contrasts between the outlook portrayed
by CNN, Sky, BBC etc and the reality on the ground was quite
a shock to most. There has been no trouble anywhere in Kenya
for the last three weeks and even before that it was isolated
to certain locations within the rift valley and Western Kenya.
Even problems that occurred within Nairobi in early January
were restricted to the slums, my wife has been in Nairobi since
6th January driving herself freely all over the city. And the
Coast has been very normal all along with only small demonstrations
around new year's eve. In fact the coastal members of parliament
have said that the Kenya Coast will become a role model for
the rest of the country where everyone, of whatever tribe can
live in harmony with one another. But, what about the fishing
?
Friday 1st February - Only Shuwari and Clueless were out with
just 2 sailfish on the former; Clueless raised 2 striped marlin,
had 1 on for a run before it fell off and Shuwari rose at least
1 in the afternoon.
Saturday 2nd February - Clueless tagged a stripey as well
as 2 sailfish out of a double header and Shuwari also had a
sailfish. Kamara II found a stripey finning that had already
been tagged with the tag showing clearly on its shoulder. Needless
to say it was not interested in the offerings. Fairly calm
in the morning becoming a bit choppier in the afternoon with
good NE wind and sunny.
Sunday 3rd February - During this week there was a huge amount
of bait showing mostly along the coast to the north of Shimoni
extending out to more than 300m depth water. Most of this was
small bonitos and a few schools of skipjack tuna and Broadbill
tried live baiting for 3 hours without success. Broadbill tagged
a stripey for Hugo Erfmann of the Redcliff Zambezi Lodge in
Zambia and they also saw quite a few sails, too. Clueless tagged
a small black marlin on a live bait and missed a 2nd on a lure,
but also added 2 sails later. Jasiri tagged a sail but White
Otter and Shuwari missed out although the latter did have a
quadruple strike from striped marlin on lures in the afternoon
but missed the lot. In the morning there were rain storms all
around and looked very unsettled but cleared up a bit in the
afternoon.
Monday 4th February - It was much clearer today with quite
big swell and the rips were showing well. Kamara II tagged
a stripey for Koos Steyn from Zambia plus a sail for Hugo and
we had one other marlin strike. In the morning we had put on
4 live bonitos and trolled them for 3 hours without a hit,
rather surprising given the quantity of baitfish. 3 hours is
right on the limit for Kamara II to keep her livies alive really
having too much speed. Clueless had gone back north to Watamu,
but White Otter and Shuwari had a sail each and Jasiri nothing.
Tuesday 5th February - Broadbill again live baited for 3 hours
in the morning without success but got 1 sailfish . Jasiri
tagged a nice black marlin they estimated at 300 plus a sail.
Otter managed 3 sails but Shuwari nothing.
Wednesday 6th February - Neither of our boats were out today
and seemed that very little was seen but Jasiri did get 1 stripey
and Shuwari a sail but Otter nothing.
Thursday 7th February - Again neither of our boats out and
only sails were caught but Shuwari lost a stripey on 30 when
the line popped and missed a double header and finished up
with 2 sails, White Otter 1 and Jasiri 3. Shuwari and White
Otter then came in to refuel and head back out night fishing
with only the former having any strikes, two both on for a
while before coming unhooked.
Friday 8th February - A change in the weather today very overcast
and rough so very lucky the guys chose last night to go out
not tonight. Kamara II tagged 1 sail and lost another but was
in by lunchtime. Otter and Jasiri got nothing but Shuwari were
lucky to get both a blue and a stripey.
Saturday 9th February - Neither of our boats out, looked as
though still probably very rough out there. Pandora, a 27-ft
boat with twin outboards was the only boat to get a marlin
to go with a sailfish, White Otter and Shuwari had a sailfish
each but Jasiri nothing.
Sunday 10th February - Broadbill was out with a party from
South Africa led by Jonina Fourie and Leon du Toit who did
a Pemba Safari with Pat on Broadbill back in February 2004,
it is always nice to welcome people back at Sea Adventures.
The weather was still very rough although the sea appeared
to flatten out a bit in the late afternoon. Returning for something
like the 15th year running John Carr-Hartley and party arrived
midday so Kamara II didn't start heading out until 1pm. It
was pretty rough and wet going out in to the wind but worth
it when we got there. We managed to release 2 sails but lost
2 more and missed about 7 others in the short time that we
were out. Broadbill, Otter and Shuwari had a sail each, Jasiri
2 and Pandora again got the only marlin plus a sail.
Monday 11th February - Again overcast and choppy but not as
rough as the previous days. Broadbill tagged a sail for the
Fourie party and Kamara II had 3 but also had a strike from
a marlin that didn't hook up and raised about 9 other sails.
Of the other boats Otter had a stripey and a sail and Shuwari
a stripey and 2 sails.
Tuesday 12th February - Still rough but at least sunny, which
is more chearing. It appears the the current is moving south
rather than the more usual north. What appears to have happened
is that the East African Current that normally flows north
along the EA coast has been pushed out away from the coast
by the south flowing Somali Current. This is not such a bad
thing because the Somali Current is much richer in nutrients
as a result of the upwellings of Somalia. Kamara II with the
Fourie party had 2 sail but missed about another 6 and were
also unlucky to lose 2 marlin that simply came unhooked after
all the jumping was over, which is not very common. There are
also a lot of small dorado around now so that most days you
catch quite a few. Broadbill with John's group tagged 3 sails
out of 8 and also missed a stripey that failed to hook up.
White Otter boated a 208-lb black marlin that had become tail
wrapped plus a sail, Jasiri had 3 sail and Shuwari 6.
Wednesday 13th February - Much calmer and sunny although during
the night there had been a strong squall with southerly winds.
Clive Evans from Botswana tagged a beautiful blue marlin estimated
at 160-lb from Broadbill and John Carr-Hartley unfortunately
lost a similar sized black marlin on 30 in the afternoon. Kamara
II had 2 sails, Otter 3, Shuwari 2 and Jasiri 1.
Thursday 14th February - Kamara II and Broadbill had 2 sails
each, but Shuwari and Otter each got small blue marlin so there
appears to be a run of these fish passing through again. Where's
their mama? Shuwari also had 2 sails and Jasiri 1.
Friday 15th February - Jonina and party took 4 sails today
from Broadbill with Kamara II getting a stripey and 3 sails.
The stripey was caught by Clive on 30 but John was unlucky
to lose one earlier that appeared to be solidly hooked only
to fall off. Jasiri also tagged a stripey but Otter and Shuwari
had 2 sails each.
Saturday 16th February - A very different day with the wind
blowing from ESE at 4-6 knots in the afternoon and few billfish
were seen. There were no billfish caught by any of the 4 boats
out.
Sunday 17th February - The wind was back in to the NE today,
still quite calm and sunny and the current still going very
slowly south. Today was also a change of guard with Carlos
Rivero returning from Holland for his 4th visit, I think and
bringing his 16yr old son, Gabriel for his first billfishing
trip, and what a trip it would prove to be. They each caught
a sailfish on Broadbill and had 2 strikes from marlin that
didn't hook up. Hotho Vestergaard from Denmark who came for
the first time last season was back again and tagged a sailfish
also. We saw a good size black marlin (300+) finning but it
was just not interested in what we had to offer. Shuwari got
nothing today.
Monday 18th February - It was sunny but a big swell and a
strong northerly wind. There is a category 4 tropical storm
over Madagascar that is affecting our own weather. Only White
Otter succeeded in getting a sail and apparently they lost
a marlin that popped the line but neither of our boats caught
any billfish.
Tuesday 19th February - Overcast and rough but more fish about
today. Hotho released a striped marlin on 30 from Broadbill
and his fishing companion, Layland Barker caught a very nice
sail estimated at 90-lb (41- kg). Kamara II had a double header
from striped marlin but unfortunately the one jumped off, I
think the hook was in the side of the face. This was on a new
lure made by Harry Hope in England that he sent me out to try
and today was the first trial! The other one unfortunately
became tail wrapped and had to be boated, but still a first
marlin for Gabriel. White Otter had 2 sails.
Wednesday 20th February - Calm and sunny, big swell with light
NE winds. Carlos tagged a stripey from Kamara II to go with
3 sails, all good size ones 28-32 kg (61-70 lb) that he and
Gabriel got with about 9 others evading the angler's efforts.
Broadbill had just the one sail having gone to the same place
that they found fish yesterday only to find that they had moved.
White Otter had a black and 2 sails and Shuwari a stripey and
2 sail.
Thursday 21st February - Much the same conditions, sunny,
calm with big swell but loads of sailfish around today. It
is interesting that this month most of these sails are out
in the deep water rather than close in to shore. Gabriel caught
his 2nd marlin, a stripey on 30 to go with the 5 sails they
also recorded. On Kamara II, Hotho and Layland also took 5
sails including a nice one estimated at 35-kg (77-lb) caught
by Hotho. White Otter had 3 sail and Shuwari 1.
Friday 22nd February - Today the sea looked perfect, real
marlin sea and they didn't disappoint. Carlos and Gabriel needed
to be in early so as to be able to get to the airport to catch
the flight home to Holland, were fishing on Kamara II. The
day started with a bang at 7:30am we had a pack attack from
sail and took 3 of them. Shortly afterwards we hit a nice blue
marlin of about 200-lb (90-kg) on 30 but unfortunately we lost
that when the line popped. By 9am we had 6 sails and nobody
else had seen any yet! We finished up with 8 sails before we
had to be in but lost 3 others that were on and missed 7 on
the strike. Hotho and Layland on Broadbill may have started
slowly but made up for lost time tagging 2 striped marlin and
8 sailfish, an incredible day. They had an added bonus in sighting
a pod of killer whales with a huge male and 4 females heading
north. This is very unusual in the Pemba Channel and only the
2nd time that Pat has seen them here. I am yet to have that
privilege and I was very jealous! Shuwari had 3 sails today.
Saturday 23rd February - A complete change in the weather,
overcast and strong winds making for choppy seas. But, still
Kamara II saw 5 marlin all finning and most completely switched
off not interested in looking at the spread. Even the sails
were not interested much a clear indication that the fish don't
like what they see but hopefully tomorrow will see an improvement.
But, we still managed a stripey that we saw finning and came
racing in to the teaser very aggressive before pouncing on
the short rigger and Hotho hooked up and brought him to boatside
where he did most of his performing on the leader very nearly
coming in the boat at one point. White Otter had a sail and
Shuwari nothing.
With so many fish still here there should still be some good
fishing in March and we have plenty of free space if you can
get away for a few days. Drop us an email on <hemphill@bigame.com
or ring us on one of the numbers shown at the base of each
page.
Fishing news 19th to 31st January 2008
19th January - we didn't have any boats out White Otter had
a black marlin and a sailfish, Shuwari 2 sail and Jasiri nix.
20th January - we have been having some rather unseasonal
weather associated with a cyclone in the usual areas off Madagascar,
huge rain storms, thunder and lightning and variable winds
none of which point to good fishing. Wind was actually out
of the west for much of the day but amazing things do happen.
Jens- Martin from Denmark got a nice striped marlin on a 30-lb
line estimated at 140-lb fishing on Broadbill. What made this
fish particularly interesting was that it already had another
hook, trace and length of 30-lb line trailing from its mouth
when it took Jen-Martin's bait. The broken bit of line was
white so definitely not one of ours! Sussi Nielsen also had
a nice sailfish the same day from Broadbill. Shuwari also had
a stripey and a sail so for once the fish seemed to take little
notice of the weather.
21st January - No boats out!
22nd January - Only Shuwari was out but only caught 1 sail.
23rd January - Only Kamara II out with the young Danish pair
of Jens-Martin and Thomas but although we had some strikes
from some sails and the sea was much improved we saw no marlin
and caught no billfish. It was still quite calm but some nice
rips and the wind was in the correct direction but very few
flying fish. Eligio Battaia's "Inca" arrived down
from Mombasa with another Danish charter. Thank you guys for
still coming to Kenya in difficult times when many others were
cancelling.
24th January - Only Inca out today but no billfish landed.
25th January - Shuwari had a sail and Inca missed out, not
much moving conditions still very variable.
26th January - Both of our boats were out with the Ager brothers,
Marc and Richard with colleagues Aidan Romanis and Leith Bray
from South Africa and Zimbabwe. Broadbill had a stripey estimated
at 140-lb on 30 for Leith an experience tiger fisherman but
the first time he had done this type of fishing. Richard took
a sail as well and then on Kamara II Marc started off his account
with a stripey of similar size to Leith's but on 50 having
taken a Murray Brothers #14 lure on the tag line. Aidan fishing
with Marc today also caught his first sail as well. A nice
start! We had some additional excitement on Kamara II in the
afternoon when a mako shark came scything in from the side
and grabbed the bowling pin on the end of my transom daisy
chain teaser snapping the longline cord never to be seen again!
Shuwari also took a stripey and a sail so a good day for everyone.
There were not that many fish seen but those marlin that were
were coming in meaning business.
27th January - Aidan, fishing on Broadbill had a lovely stripey
for his first marlin, a 5:1 fish of 160-lb on 30-lb line that
just took 20 minutes to bring in. On Kamara II Leith took his
2nd striped marlin and Marc a nice sailfish of 30-kg. Only
Jasiri had a sail, Shuwari and Inca missed out. The weather
was fairly calm in the morning becoming rougher as the day
progressed.
28th January - Leith was again the lucky angler taking his
3rd stripey in 3 days, a bit smaller than the other two at
about 115-lb but on 30-lb gear. That was the only billfish
caught by the group but Broadbill did get a nice 12-kg dorado.
Shuwari had a stripey and 2 sail, White Otter and Inca missed
out. The weather was very overcast all day and the sea very
choppy.
29th January - Broadbill scored a stripey and a sail with
Aidan getting the stripey of about 140-lb on 30 as well as
the sailfish. On Kamara II we just had 2 sailies with Richard
getting both of them and very few marlin seen by all boats.
Shuwari had 2 sail, Jasiri and Inca 1 each. Again the conditions
were rough and overcast.
30th January - Not a good day for Kamara II, although we saw
3 marlin including a nice black marlin of around 300+ lb finning.
That fish would swim right through the lines and carry on going
seemingly totally oblivious of the boat. Leith took a sail
on Broadbill but otherwise it was a very frustrating day. Shuwari
also had a sail but Jasiri finished with nought and Inca was
heading back north to Mombasa today. Sunnier but still very
rough.
31st January - Broadbill finished up with 2 sails for Aidan
and Leith, and Richard caught one on Kamara II. The morning
was very calm but picked up a little in the afternoon and seemed
to me that there were more flying fish around today. "Clueless",
Robert Duff's 42' Riviera arrived in for some fishing in the
Pemba Channel picking up 4 sails on his way down out of two
double headers.
What is so great about fishing is that every year is different
and as soon as you get comfortable with a theory either the
fish or the elements will prove you wrong. Everyone that has
fished this area of late will have become accustomed to the
heaps of dead squid on the surface and the weird sunfish seen
wobbling along. Well, it hasn't always been like that and the
sunfish were never seen pre mid-90's. This year, no dead squid
and no sunfish! What is also interesting is that we are seeing
a lot more tiger sharks than we have over the past 10 years
or so, although they are still very small not many over 300-lb.
Getting bait is no easier although up until about a week ago
there were heaps of small bonitos but they appear to have moved
on. What ever February will be an interesting month and perhaps
the main marlin rush will come then, certainly one gets the
feeling that they haven't really arrived yet.
I have just received news of a huge marlin, 421.8-kg caught
off Lamu from Mark Allen's "Simba" but I'm not sure
yet what line or whether black or blue but what a fish!
AVAILABILITY
As a result of cancellations we have space in February, if
you are interested please contact us as soon as possible on
020-2170208.
Fishing report 7th - 14th January 2008 -
Whilst the news since New Year has been dominated by the post
election
troubles we have continued fishing. Everything on
the Kenya Coast has been business as usual, we have been able
to make shopping trips to Mombasa and tourist transfers to
and from the airport have been as normal with no trouble at
all. Unfortunately the travel advisories in Europe have affected
us all and we have received some cancellations this month.
We hope that things will now be able to get back to normal.
Weather - the past week has been much calmer than we normally
expect for January and on some of the days the sea has been
green in colour rather than the more typical azure blue. Today
the sea was still very calm and the wind was rather variable
but the water was nice and blue again.
7th January: we had no boats out today but Jasiri scored a
striped marlin and 2 sails and Shuwari 2 sails also. The numbers
of sails seen at this time in the Pemba Channel is much more
than normal with marlin numbers a bit down. It is interesting
that there have been no dead squids seen yet this year and
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!
8th January: Both our boats out with Uwe Kahlke from Germany
fishing on Broadbill and 3 guys from Kazakhstan fishing a short
day on Kamara II. Uwe was not striking it lucky at all on his
days and again failed to get a billfish today. Kamara II picked
up 2 sailfish but Jasiri had a very good day with a small blue
marlin and 3 sail and Shuwari 4 sail.
9th January: The guys from Kazakhstan scored 2 more sail today
on a short day and Shuwari had 1 sail.
10th January: Jasiri had 2 sail and Shuwari had 1 but neither
of our boats were out today.
11th January: Denis Burger and Suzanne on Kamara II tagged
a 1st sail for Denis. A few marlin were seen and caught, White
Otter on one of her rare days out tagged a small blue & 2
sail, Jasiri a stripey and a sail but Shuwari missed out. The
water was very green and calm right the way across the channel,
perhaps influenced by the intensive rains in Mozambique - Southern
Tanzania.
12th January: Only Jasiri and Shuwari out each tagging a sailfish,
I think one or two marlin were seen but none caught.
13th January: Broadbill with the Kazakhstanis got a sail and
Shuwari had 2 sail. The water was much bluer today apparently
but no rips in evidence.
14th January: For the Kazakhstanis it was their last day -
actually although they hail from there one is a Russian, one
a Korean, one from Uzbekistan and today they were joined by
a Czech! Uwe Kahlke was also having his last day on Broadbill
so we were all crossing our fingers that today his luck would
change. The day started off pretty quietly, very calm and hot
rather like March but blue water and not much seen. On Kamara
II we dropped a sail at 7:30am then got a nice dorado of 14,5kg.
In mid morning Shuwari lost what they estimated was a 600-lb
black marlin that the client had panicked and pushed the brake
through the gate to maximum with the expected result. No doubt
this fish was feeding on the many skipjack tuna that were schooling
in the area. Around midday Kamara II was heading home because
we were only on a short day when we hooked a very lively small
blue marlin on 30 that did what blues do best, went berserk.
But finally Nikolay Treshchalin, the Czech brought his 1st
marlin to boatside for tagging. Shortly afterwards we dropped
another sail that took a marlin lure jumped and came off and
then found 2 striped marlin finning. One never came in but
the other came in very aggressively and Vladimir Goroknov hooked
up on 30 to catch his 1st marlin, a nice birthday present.
Broadbill was having a very quiet day until the last half hour
when they had a triple header of baby blue marlins, hooking
up with all 3. Unfortunately, one of them just near the boat
went crazy and jumped across one of the others on 30 & cut
the line but they got the 2. So, at last Uwe did get a marlin
to be followed up by a nice 10-kg dorado. Jasiri and Shuwari
missed out today.
Let's hope that now the marlin are starting to come in but
certainly it does look very encouraging.
7th December to 6th January 2008
On the whole the weather has been very pleasant with perfect
northeasterly winds and on the whole lovely blue seas. However
the marlin have not been as plentiful as we might have liked
but always a few there. In fact, perhaps rather surprisingly
sailfish have been somewhat more abundant than the marlin and
what's more out in the deep water, not close in as is more
usual for sailfish.
On 17th Broadbill was fishing out of Funzi Keys and tagged
1 sailfish and also had a 10-kg dorado and lost a marlin. Simba,
visiting from Watamu also had a sailfish and Shuwari 2 sailfish.
It was very rough as a result of a cyclone off Reunion, a long
way to the south but still close enough to make us feel the
effects.
18th December - Again very rough, particularly in the afternoon
and Kamara II skunked with Raymond and Gillian Wood from the
UK although we managed to lose 3 sails and miss 3 more, one
of those frustrating days. Simba was the only boat to find
a marlin that day, in fact getting 2 one of which they estimated
at close to 100-kg, very large for a stripey. In addition they
had a sailfish, all in one hour and Shuwari also had a sail.
On 19th our boats were not out and only Jasiri had a sailfish,
and on 20th Shuwari had a stripey, Jasiri a sail and Simba
2 sails.
21st was a good day for some, Simba had a stripey and 3 sail,
Shuwari a stripey and a sail, Jasiri a sail and White Otter
3 sails. Kamara II had 2 sail that day fishing out of Funzi
Keys and we had a strike from a marlin that didn't hook up
and raised 6 other sails.
22nd December Broadbill was out with Raymond & Gillian
and tagged 2 sails out of 3 plus had a falusi and 2 skipjack
tuna and Jasiri had a stripey and 2 sail. The sea was much
calmer now and easier to fish.
On 23rd Kamara II was out with the Haria family from Nairobi
and tagged 2 sail and also had 3 dorado and a wahoo as well
as a dozen bonito. We raised 5 other sail but no marlin that
day. Shuwari had 2 sail and Jasiri 1 sail that day.
On 24th Broadbill had 1 sail out of 3 plus a kingfish, 5 dorado,
2 skipjack and 9 bonito. Shuwari had 3 sail that day.
25th being Christmas Day had no fishing.
On 26th Kamara II had an excellent day with Bill Godbout and
his 2 sons, James and Billy from the US with a black marlin
estimated at around 170-lb on 30 plus 3 sails and 1 dorado.
We saw 3 other marlin that day plus 6 other sail. The intention
had been to do an extended combo but it was really too rough
to stay out all night with comfort so we decided to cut out
the night and instead return to Shimoni and come out again
in the morning. Broadbill was also out with Raymond and Gillian
and were unlucky not to find a co-operative billfish. Instead
they 2 dorado, a wahoo and 9 bonito. Jasiri had 4 sail and
Shuwari 2 sail.
On 27th December the Godbout family were again fishing on
Kamara II and we tagged a stripey and a sailfish, saw 1 other
marlin and 4 sails. The huge 78-ft Water Wheels from Mozambique
had arrived in the area and took a stripey and a sail that
day.
On 28th the Godbouts had a sail on Broadbill this time but
lost a marlin and rose 2 sail. Shuwari had a marlin and a sail
and Jasiri a sail.
29th December - Raymond and Gillian had decided to give it
one last chance and it paid off at last fishing with Pat on
Broadbill. They each caught a striped marlin and a sailfish.
Jasiri also had a good day with a small blue marlin and 3 sail.
Kamara II with the Haria family were unable to get a billfish
but raised 3 marlin and 3 sails that day.
30th December - Kamara II was fished by my son Chris and his
best friend Sean Flatt from Nairobi and they had a good day,
Sean with a stripey and a sail and Chris with 2 sail. They
also had 2 falusi including a nice one of 13-kg. We had 1 other
marlin strikes and rose 5 more sail. Broadbill had 2 sail including
one that somehow got foul hooked in the dorsal fin, never jumped
and took an hour to land on 30. That day Water Wheels had a
stripey, Shuwari 1 sail and Jasiri 2 sail.
31st December 2007 - Broadbill had just a short day and managed
2 sails and both Shuwari and Water Wheels had a sail each.
2008
2nd January - both our boats were booked through Liberty Africa
with a group staying at the Chale Island Resort. Unfortunately
the young boy fishing on Kamara II was not feeling good so
we had to pack it in early but still managed to tag 2 sail
in the time we were out there. Broadbill had a sail and there
were not so many fish about. Shuwari did find a stripey and
Jasiri had a sail.
3rd January - the sea today although fairly calm was green
in colour all the way across the channel with only a narrow
band of bluish water very close to Pemba Is. Neither of our
boats managed to find much but Jasiri had 1 sail but Shuwari
were lucky to find a pack of 5 finning all of which took, 2
fell off and they got 3.
4th January - the water still very green and loads of weed
quite a long way off shore. Both our boats were booked with
short days but Kamara II was unlucky in losing a stripey that
appeared to be well on only to come unhooked plus 2 sail that
were seemingly well hooked and also fell off. Shuwari had a
stripey but nobody else got anything.
5th January - the sea was beautiful in that it was fairly
calm but the rips were really showing nicely. The colour was
better, not perfect yet and loads of big flying fish. But both
boats had seasick clients and had to turn back early. However
Kamara II was fortunate to get a stripey first before having
to turn for home. Only Shuwari had a sail.
6th January - neither of our boats were out but by the sound
from the radio chatter quite a few marlin seen out there. Shuwari
got a stripey and a sail and Jasiri a sail.
The conditions are starting to look good so hopefully more
marlin will start to come in now. January and February are
always the main marlin months in Shimoni.
THE MARLIN ARE HERE!
The wind is blowing from the North-east as it should, the
water is a wonderful blue colour and the marlin have arrived.
The wind has been blowing off and on since early on in November
but it wasn't until December that it really started to blow
properly.
Broadbill picked up a stripey on 2 December with a visitor
from Moscow but it wasn't really until in to the second week
that they really seemed to show themselves. Jan Soderman from
Sweden fishing on Kamara II was lucky enough to get 5 stripeys
in 3 days fishing. Poor Jan seemed to pick the hard way to
catch his marlin, either wrapped or foul hooked and wrapped.
On 9th he caught one of about 140-lb on 30 that had managed
to get the leader around his body in the early part of the
fight and took 1.5 hr to bring to boatside but was still very
much alive. On 10th he tagged 2, both on 50's this time but
nice fish 135 and 150-lb. On 11th he had 2 more both on 30,
the first of which took 2hr 40m to bring up. The initial run
was about 700m and for a while it seemed as though it might
actually spool us. The fish was hooked in the back behind the
dorsal fin and the trace around the body so that the fish was
circling deep like a big tuna. We had to constantly change
angles and apply a lot of pressure but we were lucky enough
to have a very good and patient angler on the rod so that eventually
we were able to take the leader. One might have expected the
fish to be half dead by that stage but because you are pulling
him from amidships the fish doesn't actually tire as much so
that he was still strong enough to swim away free. The wound
from the hook will heal up very quickly in the sea and in any
case the fish has 100% more chance free than in the boat. The
next two days were a bit slow with some rather sultry weather
due to thunderstorms over the land. But, on 15th Kim Stuart
went out with Pat on Broadbill together with Kim's two young
daughters and a friend of theirs, all 14-17 yrs. The conditions
were the best yet and the marlin were up to play with anything
up to 20 marlin being seen by the 3 boats that were out. Each
one of the 3 girls caught their first marlin and Kim added
a sail to top it off. The same day Shuwari had 2 marlin and
Jasiri 1 and 2 sail so very frustrating for me sitting on shore.
Space is available still between now and New Year and from
4th to 7th January, one boat from 22-25 January inclusive and
as from 23 February. If you are interested please let us know
as soon as possible and it is always dropping us a line even
if you free time is outside of these dates just in case of
a cancellation.
A WONDERFUL NORTH KENYA SAFARI
During November Kamara II moved up to the north to meet up
with Darren Baynton in Malindi to start his 5th safari with
Kamara II. On the way north the crew and Simon dropped a
sail that took a marlin lure but picked up plenty of bait
that was to come in very handy over the next fortnight. Since
Daz's flight did not arrive in Malindi until midday we decided
to just fish a few hours in the afternoon off Malindi and
then start the safari the following day. There were heaps
of sail off Malindi, packs of 30-40 individuals balling up
sardines but listening to the radio sounded if not many were
being caught. However as soon as all the boats left to run
back in to Malindi the sail started taking and we succeeded
in catching 2. On 15th early we set off for Lamu by way of
the North Kenya Banks to see what was out there. I felt that
since the wind was easterly and marlin were being seen daily
in the Pemba Channel that it would be worth having a go on
the NKB. Unfortunately there were no tunas other than one
small school on the outer edge and the water was not really
blue. We did tag a small sail and then worked our way north
to Lamu picking up another sail just as we were clearing
lines 4 miles out.
The week before we had heard incredible stories of huge numbers
of sail from Manda north with one boat recording an amazing
30 in one day. I suspected that Murphy's Law would prevail
and that as soon as we arrived the fish would have moved and
seeing those big numbers off Malindi just reinforced that notion.
In addition just as we reached Lamu we spoke to a boat fishing
out of Manda Bay who told us, "The sail have gone!" The
next day we left Peponi Hotel and fished north to Kiwayu Island
where there were some other boats fishing out of the Munira
Camp and using the northern entrance. This was a good opportunity
to see that entrance as I had heard terrifying stories about
it. The stories were not exaggerated, it is terrifying! But
now I have done it a few times and know what I have to do and
where the huge rock and the sand bank are. There were no sail
until we got close to Kiwayu and then we started to see jumpers
- we ended with 2. We had a good day fishing out of Munira
picking up 7 sails for the day, and then 3 more the next day.
On 19th we decided to move further north to Kui not far from
Kiunga near the border with Somalia and the fishing that day
was outstanding. We ended up with a record for us of 20 sailfish,
just a simply awesome day. On 20th the fish were not so hot
and we just got 10 for the day, but hell that's still a good
catch in my book. On 21st the fishing was a lot slower early
so I decided to head out and see if we couldn't raise a marlin.
We fished out to about 800m of water but although the water
was blue there was no life, no flying fish, friggies or skippies
but we got 3 sails in the afternoon. On 22nd we fish back to
Manda Bay from Kui with just 3 sails and ended the day with
a wonderful dinner at the Manda Bay Resort, which is such a
beautiful spot made even more so by the hosts. After 9 days
at sea Daz decided 23rd would be a slow day at Manda and then
just a transport section round the island to Peponi from where
we could fish back to Malindi the following day. We ended the
safari with 54 sailfish, a pretty impressive tally I think.
The crew and I added another on our return to Shimoni the following
day.
We would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a
great 2008 with very tight lines.
To contact us please email <hemphill@bigame.com> or
telephone us on either +254 - 20 - 2170208, or 2170222
Fishing Report August 1st to November 14th 2007
The early season fishing, in August, was slow, with very
few fish, and not many fishermen either, so
only a total of 12 days fished during the month, but on 29th,
Alan
Clarke, a visitor from UK tagged a very nice Black Marlin estimated
at 250 lbs on
Broadbill.
September was much the same, but with only a total of 4 days
fished, so the boats spent
most of the time on their moorings. However, on 22nd September,
the crew took Kamara
ll out for a short run just to charge the batteries, but as
always, a few lines were trolled to
try and get a nice fish for dinner.
Hamisi spotted a school of skipjack and decided to see if one
of them would strike, but
instead of a "skippy", imagine their surprise when
up came a nice Black Marlin , which
took one of the small lures on a 30 lb outfit.
With only the two of them on the boat, Suleimani took the rod,
while Hamisi had to dash
back and forth, up and down the ladder, winding in spare lines,
steering the boat and
then finally leadering and tagging the fish when it came to
boatside.The fish was safely
released, estimated at 180 lbs. A good fish on light tackle.
A few days later, Frank Nielsen, fishing from Broadbill tagged
the first Sailfish of the
season, a nice 30 kg fish.
October saw a lot of sailfish moving into
their usual area off Funzi, but irritatingly, not in
the least inclined to take a bait, being fully occupied with
countless schools of tiny
sardines. Trying to entice these sails was most frustrating.
They'd sometimes come and
look at a bait, but simply would not take !
October only produced one striped marlin, released on Broadbill,
but near the end of the
month, we went down to Dar es Salaam with both boats, to
fish the Latham Island
tournament. Latham is normally a wonderful place to fish,
but over the last two years it
has been decimated by up to 8 longliners and also by the
local Tanzania fishermen who
use dynamite as well as ring nets. There is not much left
now, and it is very sad to see
such a wonderful place ruined by the greed of man. I doubt
very much that we will be
going there again next year.
November, so far is looking much more hopeful. The sea
is calm and a nice blue colour,
and the N.E. wind is starting to blow a little from that
direction. The Sails are still off Funzi
in huge numbers, but still refusing to take a bait, but
the Marlin are coming in now, and
we have already tagged three stripeys, two from Broadbill,
and one from Kamara ll.
Johan van Wyk up from South Africa was lucky to get two
of them while Jonathan Scharf
from USA got one,while his wife unfortunately lost another,
the same day.
Kamara ll is currently on a 10 day charter
safari to Lamu and beyond, where we hear the
fishing has been incredible. It seems the sails up
there are in a much more aggressive
mood than those down here, and will take whatever is
on offer. Maybe the sardine shoals
are not in that area ? It will be interesting to hear
how they get on. It is a long way to go,
and a very remote area, so only worth it for a week
or more, being around 200 miles from
Shimoni.
Boats are filling up very fast now, for the billfish
season, but we do still have a few empty
spaces in December and January. February is very nearly fully
booked, and March still
has availability, but anyone interested in having a crack
at Marlin should book now, as we
get new enquiries every day.
