Read the 2006/7 newsletter here.
Fishing Report 15th March - 31st March 2007
Thu 15th March - Pat collected some guests from the very lovely
Funzi Keys Resort at 7am for a full day's fishing. It takes us
30-40 minutes to run round from our base in Shimoni to the resort,
which is why the start time is a little later than usual from
Shimoni itself. Pat decided to try fishing right across the channel
and because the water in the usual area to the NW of Pemba Island
was rather dirty he carried on to the north bank. This is a relatively
shallow area extending up to 12 nautical miles to the north of
the island and sometimes it can produce some good wahoo and trevally.
They found only one wahoo and half a dozen dorado but just as
they were deciding to come back a black marlin appeared on the
centre rigger. They hooked up and after a good fight the marlin
was brought to boatside for tagging, estimated at 180-lb. On
the way back they added a few more dorado but didn't raise any
more billfish.
Fri 16th March - Both boats were booked today for a Danish/Swedish
family, The Danes fishing on "Broadbill" and the
Swedes on "Kamara II". We decided to try fishing
south towards the Tanzania border where there is an off-shore
reef, called Kitugamwe. There was not a great deal moving there
but then the wind was blowing from the SW, which is never good
here. Later in the morning the wind swung around in to the
NE so we both decided that it would be worth going out. We
came across 3 or 4 floating logs or nets accompanied by lots
of dorado, rainbow runner and small wahoo. Both boats caught
quite a few fish around these logs until the fish started to
get wise to us. We did see a couple of sailfish free jumping
but none raised and no marlin seen. Overall the Danes won the
day catching just a few more dorado than the Swedes.
17th - 19th March - There were no boats fishing out from Shimoni,
the weather was very calm and hot but what breeze there was
was in the south.
20th - 31st March - "Shuwari" from next door was
out on 20th and managed to find a striped marlin that got left
behind by the main migration. She was out again on 21st but
no flags flying on her return and I heard no reports on the
radio. A small mako shark was released on 22nd, and a sailfish
by "White Otter" the following day. There was no
fishing between 26th and 31st March.
The monsoon has firmly set in the SE and we have started receiving
some rain, thankfully mostly in the early morning so that the
days have been nice and sunny. However it does make for some
rather hot and steamy conditions and temperatures were making
it in to the upper 30's but now cooler at around 28 or 29.
The rain has not yet been in too great an amount, just right
really to allow the grass a chance to grow and lock in the
top soil.
Now the maintenance jobs get under way and crews will start
to go off on their annual leave. We are already taking bookings
for next season and it is always a good idea to try and reserve
your boats as early as possible, particularly during the billfish
season. News updates will be uploaded to the site as and when
there is some news to give you.
Fishing Report 4th to 15th March 2007
Sun 4th March - "Broadbill" had a good day tagging
5 sailfish, a really good effort with the anglers being novices.
On Sea Adventures boats of course we like the anglers to hook
their own fish, preferring to teach novices how to do it rather
than do it for them. We believe that if the crew hook the fish
then you can not truly claim to have caught it. The only marlin
landed today were by the private boat "Buccaneer" who
boated 2 with Hamisi (Big) driving the boat since "Kamara
II" was not out today. Of the other boats only "Shuwari" tagged
a sail, and Otter and Jasiri returned empty handed.
Mon 5th March - Since the fishing is still running hot in
the Pemba Channel and we don't have much in the way of charters
we decided to go out fishing ourselves, that is Pat, Chris
and myself on "Kamara II". There were not so many
fish around today and the conditions not quite as good as yesterday
but still we caught. And any day that you catch a marlin is
a good day in my book. Chris, my son who is helping me on the
boat this season hooked up with a stripey on 30-lb line. We
had seen this fish tailing and it had come in following the
lures but seemed reluctant to take. Finally it did take a small
blue and white lure with a strip in it run far back behind
the rest of the spread. Strange thing was that this marlin
never jumped and normally I find that if they don't jump he
is not properly hooked. But, there was nothing wrong with the
hook up, it took out a lot of line and after 15-min Chris had
it to the boat where I tagged and released it. The other boats
had a good day, too with "Shuwari" tagging a black
marlin that they estimated at around 280-lb on 50 that gave
them some worrying moments. Apparently the reel broke during
the fight, not sure what type of reel it was, and they had
to cut the line and blood-knot it on to another rod and reel
to continue the fight. They also had a sailfish, "Jasiri" had
3 sails and "White Otter" a stripey and 2 sail.
So as you can see the fishing is still pretty awesome!
Tue 6th March - Neither of our boats were out today so it
was another frustrating day of listening to the radio! "Jasiri" was
out night fishing last night in the channel and although they
came in without any flags I understand that they did have a
strike from seemingly a very big fish, presumably a broadbill
that spooled the 50-lb line. They had to terminate their night
early as one engine broke down and so they crept back home
at 2am. During the day "Shuwari" came in with 1 stripey
and 3 sail, and "White Otter" with a single sailfish.
Wed 7th March - Not much action today, only White Otter and
Shuwari out and only the latter getting a sailfish.
Thu 8th March - Only two boats out today, "White Otter" and "Shuwari" and
only the latter picking up a sailfish that they tagged. However
I heard reports on the radio that they had lost an estimated
280-300 lb black marlin that fell off after a few minutes.
The wind was still blowing from the north but the forecasts
suggest that today is the last day.
Fri 9th March - Pat was out today with Mike Wilder and friends
on "Broadbill" and managed to pick up 2 sailfish
and lose a striped marlin that seemed to be on nicely only
to come off. They had a few other sailies rise to the lures
only to slink back in to the depths. "White Otter" also
had 2 sailfish and missed a stripey that they saw tailing and
came in just to knock an outrigger down. "Shuwari" saw
a few sails and at least 1 marlin but only managed some dorado
and a wahoo. Mike and co got about 6 dorados and their seem
to be a lot of them about.
For once the forecast was correct and the wind has seemingly
swung in to the south, actually coming from the SW, which normally
is a disaster for fishing in the Pemba Channel. The sea was
flat calm as is rather common at this time of the year.
Sat 10th March
The NE monsoon or kaskazi as we know it in East Africa seems
to have come to an end and the wind has swung round to the
south. In the morning heading out there was a strong SW blowing
making the sea pretty choppy, particularly the first bit going
out over the shallow water. Some of the guests fishing today
were struggling so that one by one the boats were forced to
head for home leaving only "Kamara II" and "Buccaneer" out
in the middle. In fact once the tide changed the wind died
away, swung to the SE and the sea became very calm much more
typical of mid March.
"Shuwari" did raise 3 striped marlin, none of which
took, before they had to go home. No other marlin were seen
but quite a few sail and "Kamara II" tagged 2. "Buccaneer" tried
their luck at live baiting but a small shark chopped the tail
off of their lone live skipjack bait. "Broadbill" fishing
guests out of Funzi Keys and "White Otter" both had
to terminate their fishing very early on.
Sun 11th March
The full Shimoni charter fleet were out today plus "Membe
II" a private boat that has recently changed hands. "Membe" is
a very old boat dating back to the late 1950's but still in
great condition. She first belonged to Douglas Hind who was
a farmer up near Mount Kenya but who also had a house in Shimoni.
When Pat started the Pemba Channel Fishing Club in late 1962
Dougie was already fishing with "Membe II" in the
Pemba Channel and was very successful, always setting the bench
mark in those early days. As Pat says on the days that he managed
to beat Dougie he was really chuffed because it was no mean
feat. Dougie was also the first person to land a marlin over
400-lb here and to catch 4 marlin in one day.
Today was mirror calm and extremely hot but there were quite
a few sail and a marlin seen as well as lots of dorado. The
only marlin raised was by "Kamara II" fishing out
of Funzi Keys, the fish came in fast from way back took a standard
size super chugger on the centre rigger 30 but managed to get
its bill in to the bite of the hook so that on the first jump
the hook was thrown. "Broadbill" was the only boat
to actually catch a sailfish, duly tagged and released.
Mon 12th March
Only "Kamara II" and "Shuwari" out today
and again very calm and hot all day with the breeze swinging
round the compass. On "Kamara II" we did raise a
few sails but none would actually just coming up on, usually
the biggest lure and then just fading away. "Shuwari" did
get lucky with a double header of sail both of which were tagged
and released.
Tue 13th March
Only "Shuwari" out today, again very calm, hot and
humid. They appeared to be fishing south at Kitugamwe where
it would appear that there are a lot of wahoo and dorado but
no billfish were taken. There was some rain up in the hills
behind so perhaps soon we will receive some and we really need
it. The ground is very dry and the grass all brown and not
much of it so lets hope that when it does come it is not too
much that will just wash away all the top soil. We need just
enough to allow the grass to grow and seal the ground.
Wed 14th March
Yet again only "Shuwari out today fishing south at Kitugamwe
Reef catching some more wahoo and one nice giant trevally,
or karambezi as it is known locally. They were flying a white
flag that should indicate a fish in excess of 20-kg.
There was over an inch of rain here last night and it was
raining all the way between Mombasa and Shimoni when I returned
late morning, although not very heavy.
Fishing News 23rd February - 3rd March 2007
Fri 23rd February - 3 boats out, Broadbill, Kamara II and
Shuwari all of whom came back in with flags. Chris Barnes from
Mombasa on Kamara II tagged a striped marlin on 30-lb line,
Shuwari had a great day with a black marlin & 3 striped
marlin all released and Broadbill 2 sailfish.
Sat 24th February - 4 boats out Broadbill, Kamara II, Shuwari & the
private boat Buccaneer. Mark Hilderbrand tagged a sail on Broadbill
and Marc and Richard Ager up from South Africa and Zimbabwe
had a great day with Marc catching his first striped marlin
on Kamara II as well as catching 4 sailfish between them. Shuwari
also had a stripey and a sail and Buccaneer missed out today.
There were a lot of fish seen especially sailfish all out in
the deep water.
Sun 25th February - Today the weather was rather strange no
doubt influenced by the series of tropical storms pounding
Madagascar and Mozambique and the wind was swinging through
most points of the compass during the day. A few fish were
seen but it required some good fortune to locate that hungary
one. We are seeing an increase in the number of small dorado
that are typical of March. On Kamara II we had our chances
but were not able to capitalize but White Otter was luckier
releasing a stripey as did Shuwari and Jasiri had a sail.
Mon 26th February - The Ager brothers moved over to fish with
Pat on Broadbill since Simon had to travel to do his duty on
the board of the marine & fisheries research institute.
Poor Richard just didn't seem to have the luck and lost 2 striped
marlin that were seemingly on plus 2 sail. All fishermen know
that these times come and that even though you do everything
right it just doesn't work out but then it does turn around
if you have the patience. Shuwari the only other boat out had
2 sails.
Tue 27th February - The weather was still playing up and the
morning was very calm turning quite rough in the afternoon.
There was a big thunderstorm down on the border but no rain
came up our way. Both Shuwari & Buccaneer had a sail but
Broadbill had chances but again missed out on the billfish.
Wed 28th February - As luck tends to run in fishing when Broadbill
hooked up with a marlin it was Marc on the rod for his 2nd
one. Jasiri tagged 2 striped marlin & 2 sail and Shuwari
missed out today. During the early hours of the morning there
was a spectacular electrical storm down to the SW over the
Usambara Mountains that is more typical of the daily storms
over Lake Victoria. When the boats were setting off it was
dark and gloomy but cleared during the day and the fish came
up to play, usually a fairly good sign that things are improving.
Thu 1st March - Richard & Marc fished their final day
on Kamara II with Simon and finally Richard's luck turned around.
He lost another marlin at the start of the day when the eye
of the hook broke soon after the strike but fortunately his
run of bad luck was to turn around. He tagged a nice stripey
soon after this of about 130-lb on 30 and then hooked up in
to another one in the afternoon that very nearly stripped the
30-lb reel. Sadly this fish had become wrapped in the leader
and died deep so Richard had to work very hard indeed to bring
this fish up in quite rough seas and it weighed in at 149-lb
just missing out on a 5:1. To bring a dead fish up we use a
technique known as 'planing' in which the boat draws away from
the fish in to the current creating an angle in the line then
backing down to retrieve as much line as possible. It requires
a great deal of patience and a lot of pressure has to be applied.
In the meantime Marc had lost a stripey that also had almost
emptied the 30-lb reel and unfortunately the line bust. When
a marlin takes out a lot of line at speed the drag actually
has to be reduced because of friction on the line and as the
spool diameter reduces so the effective drag is increasing.
On the way home Marc caught a very active black marlin of about
175-lb on 50 that we tagged to end a very satisfactory day.
Jasiri & Shuwari also released a striped marlin each and
White Otter a sail. The conditions were great today, beautiful
water and perfect NE wind.
Fri 2nd March - none of our boats were out but Shuwari had
a stripey and 2 sail and White Otter nil.
Sat 3rd March - Shuwari tagged 2 striped marlin and White
Otter nothing but lost a black of about 200-lb.
Sun 4th March - as this is being written Broadbill has tagged
a stripey.
As you can see the great fishing is still continuing here
in the Pemba Channel but unfortunately the charters have dried
up. Early March traditionally is the time for big black marlin
and calmer seas but the first week particularly is generally
still hot for stripes.
