2004 Newsletter

Traditionally there has been no fishing from April to about the middle of July, boats are laid up and skippers and crew go on their annual leave. It is also the time of the year when the major maintenance work is carried out, engines overhauled and boats repainted. But, the reason for not fishing has very little to do with actual availability of game fish. May is typically the wettest month of the year and June the windiest but the longline fleets have always recorded their best tuna catches at this time of the year.

Having just arrived with a new boat that required very little maintenance work I was very keen to do some recce-ing throughout this period to see what was there. Once a week we went out towards Pemba to see what we could find and we were not disappointed. We found there to be plenty of yellowfin tuna and strangely enough it was about the only time of the year when we saw schools of skipjack tuna. We had some good catches of tuna, the biggest 35.8-kg and the conditions were not bad at all. We found that with the extra power of Kamara II that we could more easily counter the very strong current and her great sea keeping capabilities made the sea seem pretty calm. I am also of the opinion that due to the mostly overcast and sometimes choppy conditions the tuna were taking far more readily than they did later in the year when it became calmer and hotter. In early July we rose our first marlin, a small black that unfortunately did not hook up but on that day we saw two marlin. The middle part of July was quite stormy and we did not venture out then. It was also fun to see humpbacks on almost every trip out, a great treat.

In late July early August we noted that the big tuna had moved from centre channel to the offshore reefs of Kitugamwe and Shundo on the Tanzania border to take advantage of the masses of mantis shrimps. During early August Kamara II was chartered to fish the Dornier family for Charlie Babault out of the Mnemba Island Resort, which is on a small island to the northeast of Zanzibar. The crew and Simon took the boat down there catching some big yellowfin on the way along the Leven Bank before dropping anchor. The island is stunning and the resort very exclusive and there is excellent fishing within only a few miles of the anchorage. There were schools of big tuna along the Leven Bank and around Mnemba Island as well as humpback whales as just an added attraction. On our return journey the crew and Simon spent a night at Ras Nungwi before heading back to Pemba Island to meet Charlie Babault in Wete. Having only weighed anchor at 7am we hooked up with a nice black marlin on a Williamson lure on 50-lb line. It was a lovely fish that performed beautifully and after 45 minutes Hamisi brought it to the boat but unfortunately we were unable to revive it. We weighed it using the boom of one of Philip Mason's yachts at Pemba Afloat in the Njao Gap, Pemba and it weighed in at 160-kg, Hamisi's biggest marlin. We also had a small dog-tooth tuna of 10.5-kg the evening before on the Leven Bank. Having picked Charlie up in Wete we remained at Najao for a few days. There were not too many tuna near the island but there were packs of wahoo up near the lighthouse producing multiple strikes time after time. The biggest that we caught was 23.5-kg right in on the dropoff off the Manta Reef Lodge.

By September the sea had become much calmer and the weather drier and sunnier and the tuna appeared to become harder to catch. We had our first striped marlin of the season in late September and another one in early October. October was when we were introduced to a new method of catching tuna by a party from Japan using heavy duty spinning rods and popping plugs and jigs. The boat is allowed to drift down on the fish and the popper cast in to the school, then aggressively worked back towards the boat. These poppers were huge and throws out all the theories of matching your lures to the fish's prey. One member of the party, Mr. Hamazaki was particularly good and seemed to get a strike on almost every cast. The other method involved deep jigging in 300-ft of water with long lead jigs and this method was particularly effective when the tuna schools were not showing on the surface. He caught the biggest tuna of the trip, a lovely fish of 69.6-kg jigging. The group also had a kingfish (narrow-barred mackerel) of 25-kg jigging and a 25-kg wahoo, this time trolling. We have invested in two of these outfits, one for each of the two big boats so we shall be trying it out ourselves.

In November, Kamara II spent much of the month further north in Malindi firstly for the African Billfish Cup (ABC) at the beginning of the month and then for the CADSAS group from Zimbabwe towards the end of the month. The ABC is run by our Dutch agents, Red Sea Fishing and we had some good fishing for sailfish and tiger sharks. We had 9 sailfish and 2 tiger sharks over the 9 day trip including the journey there and back. On the one day that we decided to fish for sharks we released two tigers of 150 and 300-kg but had 5 other strikes from big tigers including one double header. After the ABC we fished the Norman Matthews / John de Villiers Tournament and we plan to be in Malindi at the same time next year so if you are interested in fishing this tournament please get in touch with me. After the tournament we had to race back to Shimoni to be ready for a group from Johannesburg led by Hugo Buys who would be staying at Betty's Camp and fishing with us. The middle of November was very hot and calm and the fishing was not particularly good but we had one sailfish together with some wahoo, kingfish, barracuda and a good sized giant trevally. On one day fishing off Kitugamwe we had an estimated 150-kg black marlin take a CD-14 rapala in just 80-ft of water and for a few minutes we all had a wonderful sight of a very angry marlin. Then for Kamara II it was back to Malindi for the CADSAS tournament whilst Broadbill went off to Pemba with Pieter Harris and his wife for 5 days. Pieter tagged a small black marlin off Mesale Island on their way to the south of Pemba as well as a selection of smaller game fish such as wahoo, dorado, kingfish and trevallies. Kamara II had fewer sailfish on this second trip but more variety together with some big wahoo, the biggest a beaut of 30-kg. the best day was actually the rest day when we fished out of Ngomeni with the Agar brothers, Richard and Marc when we released three sails.

The day after returning from Malindi Kamara II was out again this time with Patrick and Lene Goldbaek from Denmark on an extended combo trip. On that morning there was heavy rain cutting visibility right down but right in the middle of the rain Patrick hooked a 30-kg sailfish, which was released after a short fight on 30-lb line. The rest of the day was a little disappointing with the water now green after the rain. In the late evening we headed out to the east coast of Pemba Island where we began slow trolling for broadbill with artifials and lightsticks once it became dark. We had a strike at only 7.30pm from what appeared to be a very good fish but unfortunately the 50-lb line popped after only 30 minutes and apart from a single bigeye trevally we had no further strikes that night. In the early morning we decided to give drifting for sharks a shot along the Pemba escarpment but nothing happened and when one of the rew spotted a marlin tailing nearby we hurriedly pulled up the baits and set the lures out. The water was by now a beautiful azure blue and at around 9am the northeast began to blow. We watched another boat drop a marlin next to us, then had a single strike that did not connect before raising three together. It was the most incredible sight watching these beautiful fish come in to the spread with their landing lights on and appearing to shiver with excitement. From my position at the helm I remember watching them come in after the teazers, then as they snatched at them I found myself running back and forth from one side to the other trying to keep the teazers away from them. That is why I go fishing! It is the most fantastic sight, to feel my own adrenaline rush but at the same time to sense the incredible burst of adrenaline that the fish is experiencing as it desperately tries to catch this prey that keeps trying to evade his attempts. We hooked up on all three, the first on one of Roddy Hays' Legend Lures on 50-lb. Unfortunately the one fish came off after 5 minutes but we tagged the two including a great 5:1 for Lene on 30-lb line, not bad for her first marlin. These extended combo trips are hard work but good fun and they really give you a realistic possibility of joining the elite club of anglers that have caught a grand slam.

As so often happens the kaskazi or northeast wind blew hard for about a week at the end of November, beginning of December before reverting back to very calm seas with a breeze swinging through all points of the compass. During this time we took both of the big boats to the Tanga Competition, Broadbill fished by Pat and my brother mike's son, Sam and his girlfriend Deanne, and Kamara II fished by Hatim Karimjee, Charlie Acworth and Geoff Faulkner. Deanne caught the only billfish of the competition on the first day to give broadbill a good lead and then on the second day they caught enough tunny to maintain their first place. Kamara II decided to go all out for a big fish, which unfortunately didn't happen but sam and Deanne cleaned up on almost every prize going.

In the middle of December regular visitor Koos Pretorius from South Africa together with his brother Isaac and friends Barry Venter and Clare Moseley from British Columbia, Canada took Kamara II for an 8-day live aboard safari to Pemba. The kaskazi returned with a vengeance at the same time and the first few days were rough but the marlin were happy and the fishing good. Over the 8 days we had 10 striped marlin and 3 sailfish or 1.625 billfish per day and a hook-up rate in excess of 70% a very pleasing result on artificials. Over the same period Helgardt Muller from Johannesburg was trying his luck at catching a marlin on fly from Broadbill. Helgardt fished 5 days, cast a fly to 12 striped marlin and hooked up with 3 fighting one for 2 hours and another for 2.5 hours. Koos and his party also had some good success with light fly rods fishing up the creek in the late evening for small trevallies.

From then on to the middle of January the marlin fishing was about as good as it can get and Kamara II in particular seemed to be making just the right marlin mating calls. Some of the best days included on 28th December when Peter Kern, the owner of Betty's Camp tagged 4 striped marlin out of 6 strikes on Kamara II, then on 3rd January Gilles Perrain and Laurence Boisson from France tagged 4 stripes and a sailfish out of 6 billfish strikes. Then 2 days later Kamara II was at it again, this time with Marilyn Mazy, Laurence and Christian Binazzi tagged 4 more marlin from 5 marlin strikes. At one stage Christian had a marlin on a 50-lb line a few hundred metres behind the boat and Laurence had another one a few hundred metres directly ahead of the boat but on 20-lb line. Laurence showed tremendous patience and calmness to stay with her fish without popping the line and both fish were tagged. On the 8th January Gilles, Laurence and Christian tagged 5 striped marlin out of 8 strikes on Kamara II. On their day off on 6th Kamara II was fished by Patrick Petriconis also from France and recorded 2 striped marlin and 2 sailfish, and Patrick also had 2 marlin on 8th fishing from Kamara. Broadbill also had some good days starting on 2nd January Daniel Martinet from France tagged a wonderful 190-lb striped marlin on 30-lb, which had it been weighed in would have easily beaten the existing Kenya record. On the 7th Marilyn, Laurence and Christian this time on Broadbill tagged a triple strike of striped marlin. On the 9th Gilles tagged an estimated 250-lb black marlin from Broadbill to confirm him as the top angler of the group with 1 black marlin, 5 striped marlin and 1 sailfish in 6 days fishing. Marilyn had 5 striped marlin, Laurence 4 plus a sailfish and Christian 4. There were 5 anglers in the group and they took a total of 21 marlin and 2 sailfish in the 6 days fishing both boats.

The fishing dropped off a bit after the middle of January and the weather becoming rather strange with thunder storms and then towards the end of the month very rough conditions all related to cyclones off Madagascar. Helgardt Muller returned to give it another shot at catching a marlin on fly as part of a 6-day safari to Pemba with Broadbill. They did raise a few marlin but only one of them actually took the fly only to break the tippet on the strike. Helgardt's fishing companion did catch his first stripey on conventional gear as well as a 17-kg dog-tooth tuna and a 30.5-kg giant trevally. The fishing picked up a little between 17th and 29th January but perhaps the catch of note was a 21-kg dorado caught by a Belgian angler staying at the very exclusive Funzi Keys resort. This is one of the biggest dorado seen in Shimoni and there were a few around this size caught in January and February. Albertus van Brakel and friends fished 6 days and had 3 good days with all of the party catching their first marlin.

In February there were a lot of striped marlin seen mostly finning on the surface but very few of them seemingly interested in looking at anything we could offer them. Linda and Chris Gardener returned from the UK to do another safari to Pemba with Pat on Broadbill and both of them caught a marlin but saw 27. Over the same period fishing on Kamara II were locals Edmund Hemsted and Johnno Beakbane and on their first day we saw 9 marlin tailing that would not come in to the spread. The following day was better and we tagged 3 marlin with another the following day. Other locals, Sigi Engelhard and friends tagged 3 striped marlin a day later on Kamara II. The weather was very changeable, rough one day and then flat calm with thunder storms the next. The last thing one expects to get in February is rain but in 2004 we did. Although the fishing was not good in February marlin were still being seen tailing and feeding on the acres of dead squid. Over the past few years it has become common to see dead squid on the surface in the Pemba Channel but in February 2004 there were more than ever before with rip lines just full of dead squid. The dorado and marlin were gorging themselves on this easy food supply. It appears that the area to the northwest of Pemba might be a spawning ground for these squids and after spawning the adults die. This strange weather often with southerly winds went on for so long that many of us were beginning to think that the northeast monsoon had come to a premature end. Pat tells us of 1969 when the northeast wind only blew for 2 weeks of the season and the boats were watching butterflies and making up jokes since there weren't any fish.

But in the last week of February the wind swung back in to the northeast and the fishing picked up accordingly. It was wonderful that Ted Holmes, the original owner of Broadbill and renowned Pemba Channel charter skipper in the 1970's returned to Shimoni with his son Andrew and nephew Edwin. On their first day out Edwin caught his first marlin and a couple of days later Andrew had his first both from Broadbill. At the same time, Michael Newton was on a return trip to Funzi Keys Resort and he had a marlin on Kamara II to begin his trip on a high note.

The first week in March was another good one for Kamara II catching billfish on all but one day with one for Ted and Edwin each on the 2nd. The following day Mark Lempriere on a return trip from Gurnsey tagged a stripey and a sail. Mark had another marlin two days later on Broadbill whilst Ted released a stripey and Andrew a sail from Kamara II. The following day Charles Marriott another returnee caught a marlin from Kamara II and Ted a sail from Broadbill on his birthday. Edwin had another marlin the following day on Kamara II their last day and although our charters dried up the marlin fishing continued to be good until 15th when finally the northeast wind petered out.

Kamara II finished off the season with 65 marlin and only one short of her first 100 in just two seasons. The second placed boat was way back on only 31 so over the two years Kamara II has caught 3 times more marlin than any other boat in Kenya. Broadbill has notched up a massive total of 1251 marlin since she was launched in 1971 and is still the number 1 marlin boat in Kenya since Sea Adventures Ltd came in to being.

MARCH 2004
On 2nd March Ted and Edwin both released striped marlin on their first day out on" Kamara II" and the following day Mark Lempriere from Guernsey released a stripey and a sail from "Kamara II". It was to be a good week for "Kamara II" missing out only once in the week when we had to return early because one of the guests was feeling unwell. On 6th Charles Marriott from the UK released a stripey from "Kamara II" and Ted Holmes a sail from "Broadbill". The following day Edwin had a long battle with a stripey on 30 that unfortunately had become wrapped in the leader and arrived at the boat dead. Unfortunately our charters dried up at that point but the NE wind continued to blow until 15th March and the marlin were still there until then. My father and I took " Kamara II" out on 13th and managed to tag one marlin and another boat had 2 marlin the following day. It just goes to show that the first half can be very good indeed.

"Kamara II" has now been pulled from the water for her biannual servicing and repainting but "Broadbill" and "Kamara" will continue to be available. "Kamara II" has finished off the season on 65 marlin with the second placed Kenya boat way back on 31 marlin. It may also be of interest to readers that Sea Adventures successfully released 94.7% of all billfish caught.

FEBRUARY 2004
After the incredible start to the season in December and early January, February 2004 was a largely disappointing month. The sea was sometimes very rough and stormy, other times calm, overcast with thundery showers. Most of this un seasonal weather was caused by the powerful cyclones that were hammering Madagascar in late January and February. The marlin fishing suffered and in the end it was one of the worst February's on record. But, there were some bright moments such as on 3rd February when locals Edmund Hemsted and Johnno Beakbane tagged 3 striped marlin whilst fishing on " Kamara II". The following day Johnno added another and then on 5th another local, Sigi Engelhard and some friends from Germany tagged 3 striped marlin again on " Kamara II". During that same week Chris and Linda Gardener were on their 3rd safari to Pemba Island with Pat on "Broadbill" with Chris catching his first 2 marlin, both stripey's and both on 30-lb line. On 19th February Mr and Mrs van Zon from Holland released their first marlins, both striped on 30-lb line from "Kamara II".

Ted Holmes who was the original owner/skipper of "Broadbill" and who was a former resident of Shimoni until 1978. Ted had not returned to Shimoni since 1983 and son, Andrew had left here aged only 6 years so it was a wonderful reunion for us all and of course Usama who had started working for Ted in 1971. On their first day out on 23rd February Ted's nephew, Edwin caught his first striped marlin from "Broadbill" and 2 days later Andrew had his first. Also on 23rd Michael Newton on a return visit to Funzi Keys Resort tagged a stripey from "Kamara II"

In mid to late February the winds had become very light and from varying directions such that we all thought that the monsoon had come to a premature end but in early March the NE or Kaskazi at is locally know began to blow again and with it returned the marlin.

29th January 2004

Since my last report the fishing has been pretty variable but the marlin are still there and when the conditions settle down fun is had by all. The french group fishing at the beginning of January ended off with no less than 20 striped marlin, 1 black marlin and 2 sail all tagged and released between 5 anglers in 6 days fishing. Gilles Perrain was the top angler with a nice 250-lb black marlin tagged on 50-lb line from" Broadbill" on their last day together with 5 striped marlin and 1 sailfish. Laurence had 4 striped marlin including one on a 20-lb line plus a sailfish. Marilyn ended up with 5 marlin, Christian 4 and Stephan 2.

Patrick Petriconi also from France had a good day on 6th January fishing with Simon on "Kamara II" with 2 striped marlin and 2 sailfish. He caught 2 more striped marlin two days later fishing from "Kamara".

Charters and the fishing became a bit patchy after 10th and Pat took Helgardt Muller from Johannesburg to Pemba in search of a marlin on fly. This is a very extreme way of fishing and takes a great deal of team work and skill from the angler. If you are interested in taking up this form of fishing it is well worth getting yourself some good expert tuition plus good quality tackle. To be able to cast the fly a sufficiently good distance with a high degree of accuracy takes a lot of practise. The weather turned a bit sour on us and the fish became much harder to find and raise. "Kamara II" did find a first striped marlin for Gitau Matiba on 11th and "Broadbill" caught one for Helgardt's companion Chris on 14th. They did raise a few other marlin but unfortunately only one took the fly only to break the tippet on the strike. It was not only marlin as Chris proved by catching a 17-kg dog-tooth tuna right in the entrance to the Njao Gap over at Pemba on a rapala. He also caught a 31-kg giant trevally on the edge of the reef near the light house. There have also been some very nice dorado with one of 21-kg taken by a Belgian angler staying at the Funzi Keys Resort on a 30-lb line. Henrik Kruger from South Africa had one of 19-kg a few days ago and a visiting boat from Malindi had one of about 20-kg much the same time.

The weather the past week was very rough and the fishing rather poor but I am pleased to note that yesterday the conditions seemed to look up and Albertus van Brakel and Robbie Black from Jo'burg had their first marlin each from "Kamara II". The day before on "Broadbill" Henrik Krueger had caught his first marlin, a stripey and Albert us a Sallie. Herrick caught another stripey on 29th from "Broadbill" so hopefully things are getting back to where they were.

There is a tremendous amount of food fish with small kawaka was on the mainland side and squid on the Pemba side more than enough to hold the marlin in the area. We still have some space for fishing with" Kamara" in February and believe me that boat has not forgotten how to raise marlin! If you are interested please drop us an email at or ring us on one of the numbers below.

Tight Lines!

11th January 2004

SIMON & KAMARA II WIN TAGGING AWARD

For the second year in a row Simon has been awarded the Captain's Award for the most striped marlin tagged in the Indian Ocean from The Billfish Foundation. He first won the same award for 2002 and now for 2003.

20 MARLIN IN 9 DAYS FISHING FOR KAMARA II .........

Since Christmas Day Simon and his Kamara II have been running very hot with 20 striped marlin in 9 days fishing averaging slightly better than 2 marlin each day fished. On three occasions they have tagged and released 4 marlin in a day, twice during the past 3 days. During this week they have tagged 11 marlin and 3 sailfish in the last 4 days fishing.

1st January 2004

Kamara II catches her 50th marlin this season already !

The marlin fishing is still hot with Mr. Hartman and his son, Noels from Holland catching 2 striped marlin on 27th December aboard the " Kamara II". Poor Noels lost 3 other marlin that he had on seemingly hooked only to have the hook fall out after in one case 30 minutes. At one time we had 3 marlin on at one time, which is always very exciting. Also on 27th Pares Hara from Nairobi tagged a striped marlin from Pats' Broadbill. The following day Peter Kern of Betty's Tented Camp was fishing on "Kamara II" and between him and his colleague Isaac they tagged and released 4 striped marlin, a new record for Kamara II. On the Monday 29 it was the turn of David Forester staying at the wonderful Funzi Keys Resort fishing again on "Kamara II" who had a double header from stripey's. Since David was fishing alone Simon jumped at the opportunity to take the second rod and both fish were tagged. A Swedish family also staying at the Funzi Keys were fishing with Pat on Broadbill and released a nice 40-kg sailfish. On 30th Pares Hara returned for another day out this time on Kamara II and tagged a marlin by 8am. Mr Parker staying at Funzi Keys tagged a stripey and a sail from Broadbill the same day.

Kamara II has passed another milestone in that she has now passed the first 50 marlin. There are really lots of marlin out there coming up in two's or three's and very aggressive at times. Already the signs are there for a bumper season with Kamara II having caught 23 marlin already. Come to Shimoni and the Pemba Channel and celebrate the New Year in style with screaming reels and flashes of electric blue before your eyes.

Boats for the next season are being planned so call now on +254 20 - 217 0208 or 217 0222 or +254 722 - 796198 or email us