Strong winds keep the fish down
More boats have been going out this week, but with strong winds making for rough seas many do short days, mornings only, which keeps the score down, particularly for marlin which tend to come up better in the afternoon. Only two marlin were caught last week, Ol Jogi tagging a black estimated at 120kgs caught by Martin Taylor at the beginning of the week and Tarka finding one of 108kgs a few days later, but sailfish and mixed bags of wahoo, yellowfin and kingfish have been the norm.
Mid-September is the time when the winds should moderate and the seas calm down, after which the billfish tended to move away from the Banks, but this seems delayed this year, no doubt due to an El Nino, a La Nina or some other vagary in the weather! Seastorm had a couple of sail for a Russian team, and White Bear had found the wahoo the previous day catching seven as well as a couple of sail, while Ol Jogi had to be content with a pair of sharks along with eight yellowfin and a wahoo. On the Banks, the sail, the wahoo and the tuna are usually in different areas and come up at different times, so one’s bag largely depends on where one fishes at particular times – this is where the skippers skills are important! Contagious and Castle Lager are both large catamarans run by South African teams and both have been catching a single sailfish on most of their outings, while skipper Rob Hellier in his Unreel, who knows these waters better than most, also just found that one sailfish, but also a shark and a giant trevally, with all these fish being released. Earlier in the week, Neptune from Malindi was fishing the Banks in search of marlin but had no luck with these but did catch five sail and lose several more, but a few days later with the winds increasing, they found a single sail plus a couple of wahoo, two kingfish and half a dozen yellowfin.
The previous day Tina also found four sail, a giant trevally and a couple of dogtooth tuna, the latter rare in our waters although these are targeted further south in Tanzania, where some world records have been caught, recently by deep jigging. Interesting to note the Kenya record is a fish of 86.9 kgs, caught at Shimoni, while specimens over 100 kgs have been caught in Mauritius, very impressive fish! Neptune tried off Malindi and found some bigger yellowfin, two of 24kgs, but when they were due to go further north to Ziwaiyu, where fishing has been good at this time in recent years, the waters proved too rough so that trip will have to wait.
The Malindi October Festival, now named the Herbie Paul International, will be fished on Sat/Sun 23rd&24th October. Kindly sponsored by MH Joinery Products, PLC, of UK, there will be an impressive array of prizes and a good entry is expected, so this will be a good chance to meet up with old fishing friends.
The light line tournament, the Churchill Trophy will be on the Friday 22nd October, and with the sailfish expected to have turned on by then this is always a popular fixture both with overseas fishermen and upcountry anglers, so book now!
SAILFISH & TUNA AROUND DESPITE VARIABLE WEATHER !
While the weather has been variable with some windy days, it has been dry till this morning when howling winds and sleeting rain made it seem more like July than September! But despite not many boat trips during the week, quite a few sailfish have been caught and schools of small tuna have been showing in the Mambrui area.
Adam Ogden in his Black Widow took a test run around the Banks with the crew fishing, and released four sailfish as well as catching four yellowfin for a satisfying start to the season, while Ol Jogi tagged three sail with Peter Voss fishing. Other days saw catches of tuna, kingfish, wahoo and the occasional giant trevally which kept anglers busy. Alleycat reported a couple of sail and some nice kingfish as well as a giant trevally in a couple of recent trips while Unreel scored six yellowfin and three wahoo, a fairly typical catch at the moment to keep the Harrison family busy on the rods!
Malindi boats have been trying north, as there are yellowfin off Mambrui and this is a shorter run for them, but on windy days the seas there are rough and the wind churns up the layers of silt from the river to discolour the water and discourage the fish. Snowgoose had a good day ending with 18 yellowfin off Malindi, while next day Guido van der Steen from Belgium had a busy day in Neptune with five sail, a giant trevally, a wahoo, a kingfish and several baitfish for plenty of action.
Billy Lynch from Nairobi tagged a sailfish on fly on Snowgoose, successfully hooking the one fish that came up to the teasers to start his season – he had 47 sail and two striped marlin on fly last season, an amazing total. Another day three boats chased yellowfin off Mambrui on a windy day when the fish were moving very fast, but Snowgoose found one of 28 kgs and the other boats had fish just under 20 kgs, but encouraging to see some big tuna starting to come in as late September and October are usually the best month for these.
The Latham Island tournament will be held in a couple of weeks time – this is Tanzania’s most prestigious competition and as there are not many charter boats available in Dar-es-Salaam half a dozen Kenya boats will be on their way down for this event. Last year, only tuna were caught and Kenya boats swept the board, so let’s hope billfish will be around this year for good variety for this two day event.
Written by David Slater
Wet windy and end of season
With Easter over and most of the holiday makers gone home, there will be fewer boats going out now, as business slows in inclement weather, with southerly winds, heavy rainstorms and rough seas.
White Mischief was out on Monday after Easter, and young Danny Thomas caught a 222kg blue marlin, on 36kg stand-up tackle, a magnificent achievement for the young man. Also on board was visiting Shimoni skipper Simon Hemphill, who himself tagged a striped marlin, no doubt impressed with the waters off Watamu! The same day the anglers on Alleycat had a black marlin about 270 kgs, and another estimated at over 110 kgs, so there was still plenty of marlin action then.
The Banks was yielding good scores of wahoo as well as some sailfish , and the Ocean Sports Family competition was fished Easter Saturday with the boats crowded with young anglers trying their luck. Albatross, with the Taylor and Nicholas families aboard took the first place, with Joey Taylor winning the girl’s prize with her sailfish and the skipper’s prize going to JJ Nicholas, whose daughter Kiella won the lady’s prize with her wahoo. Runner up was Blue Eyes crewed by the Parkinson family, with the biggest of their half a dozen wahoo giving Fritz Strahamner the men’s prize, while another big wahoo on Happy Striker won the boy’s prize for 10 year old Alex. A fun day for all involved and much enjoyed by all the anglers, young and old.
Before Easter White Bear released a blue and a striped marlin for Donovan and David Starr, followed next day by a sail and four wahoo for Peter and Paul Cooper, who scored next day with another sail and seven wahoo for three good days. On the Sunday, Gary Vincent Lemke had ten wahoo on B’s Nest, while Naz Khan and sons had four wahoo on White Bear. Blue Eyes then released three sail, missing out on the wahoo – these often are found on opposite ends of the Banks!
Malindi boats have been busy before Easter but the news was delayed last week by the attachment of a 4Mb picture of a marlin which baffled the email system! As reported, skipper Angus Paul on Neptune hit his 100th marlin of the season, when Perez Vanneste from Belgium and Hardus from South Africa released a blue marlin of 140 kgs and a stripey, as well as two sailfish.
Philip and Nick Matthias are regulars at Malindi who usually come early in the season when the waters are much rougher, but they were still rewarded with a black marlin of 87 kgs, six wahoo, 6 yellowfin and other small fish for a good day on Tina. Next day they repeated the feat, but the stripey was one of three on the strike, but the other two fell off! Snark had a blue and a stripey, while Eclare released a 120kg black and two striped marlin and Snowgoose had two blue marlin, one of 138 kgs which came in injured and a small one released – a good day for the fleet.
The Dunford Memorial tournament at the Tamarind was won by Lode van Houtte and Robert Jessop on Kipapa with two striped marlin, six wahoo and thirteen dorado. The same boat later caught a striped marlin for David Hammond, his first which was tagged and released.
From Manda Bay, Ed Ghaui caught his first stripey on a flyrod fishing in Shakina while Kerry Roberts also caught her first stripey, on conventional tackle on a trip to Kiunga.
So ends another season, probably the best for marlin ever, so let’s hope next season is at least as good.
Bigger marlin appearing as weather holds
The good run of marlin continues as the wind stays in the east, and although rain is forecast none has appeared yet in the Malindi/Watamu area. As we near the end of March fewer boats are going out but with Easter soon tourists will increase and will want to try their luck if the fishing holds.
Catch of the week was a 354 kg blue marlin caught on Eclare, which died during the six hour fight and had to be hauled up from the depths, but what a nice fish. Neptune also had a big blue the same day which got wrapped in the line and came in dead, weighing 180 kgs, while up near Lamu Clueless released a blue estimated around 360 kgs. The second half of March has always been the time for a run of the biggest marlin, but the wind seems to have started blowing from the south today, so time may be limited.
The Penn Challenge with eleven teams from Belgium and Holland finished their four days and good catches were reported by all, with Jan Maas and Frans van Bechel having the best day on Snark, with two black marlin and sixteen sailfish which helped them to top position overall, with Snark the leading boat. Other good days included a black marlin released on Tina and estimated at 200 kgs, and three stripeys on Neptune, so a thrilled bunch of anglers that we can expect back next year.
Another group, this time from Poland, started four days in four boats very successfully with Snowgoose catching eleven sailfish and Tina eight the first day, while on the third day Neptune had three stripeys and three other boats two stripeys, so another very satisfied group of anglers.
Watamu boats have been busy, Bamara having a busy day with Dickie Evans tagging a black marlin of 100 kgs and a sail, as well as catching ten yellowfin and a selection of bottom fish, while Tega tagged another black of 90 kgs. Jasiri had a good overnight trip, with five broadbill, a mako shark and a sail being released by George Allen and his crew, and B’s Nest tagging five broadbill and a stripey on another night trip.
Chinook released both a blue and a black marlin, and Alleycat released a big blue and a stripey. Castle Lager has been active, with a broadbill on a night trip and a good day for Dave Young and friends when they were fighting both a black and a blue marlin at the same time. One came off, the other broke the line, but they still caught a striped marlin for a very exciting day leaving the team itching for the morrow!
Tarka found four broadbill and two stripeys on an overnight trip, and then had a mixed bag day, with two sail, two yellowfin over 20 kgs and a shark – skipper Callum Looman had earlier passed the hundred marlin mark for the season for the second consecutive year, while skipper Angus Paul on Neptune has just reached this mark also, congratulations to them both.
KASA, the Kenya Association of Sea Anglers, hold their annual Dinner at Ocean Sports Resort on Saturday, April 3rd. KASA represents all sea anglers, from clubs and hotels to charter companies and individual anglers, and keeps angling record details and publishes it’s own annual magazine with all the records and various angling articles. A raffle with many valuable prizes will be drawn, and all are welcome.
On the morning of Apr 3rd, an informal family fishing tournament will be held out from Ocean Sports, from where details are available. Children especially encouraged!
