Written by David Slater “Honeylulu”
September continues to be a very quiet month in the fishing business, with fewer trips than I remember for very many years, but this is good news for the fish and on those days when a boat gets amongst them there have been good catches.
Adrian Paul got away from his desk and took Snark for a test run after her overhaul down to the Banks where they soon had a marlin jumping on a Rappala – it was only a month ago that Adrian remarked in his newsletter that in twelve years he had never had a marlin on a Rappala! It did shake the hooks free however, but an hour later another black marlin again hooked itself on a Rappala! This time, with Abubakar on the rod, the marlin was fought to the boat and duly released, a healthy fish around 100kgs. The lure was in fact a Halco lure, similar to the Rappala and regarded by some anglers as superior, but if one insists on catching marlin on these triple hook lures one should replace the hooks on the bought lure with stronger ones. A good day already but on returning to the Banks, they found the wahoo running and caught nine in an hour before going home. More test runs are planned!
Con Jooste continue his run of sailfish on fly with another two successful days, Eclare finding plenty of sail finning in the Che Shale area and raising several to the teasers. It’s good to hear these fish are there, but it is usually later in October before they start to come up in quantity to provide the sport for which Malindi is famous. This bodes well for the Herbie Paul International tournament at the end of that month over the holiday.
The Watamu boats were all away this week for the Latham island tournament, but the fishing there was quiet this year, with tuna and wahoo on the first day, but billfish action warmed up the second day, with Natasha catching two striped marlin to win top honours and Simba, from Watamu, in second place with one striped marlin, while third went to Joint Venture. Natasha, a 35ft Cabo Express was formerly based at Watamu, but was sold and now stays in Dar-es-salaam. Black Widow and Unreel found a broadbill each on the night run back from Tanzania to compensate for not being on the podium in the tournament.
Alleycat did not make this trip, so was busy here with trips catching wahoo, a spinner shark and tuna with Kevin Ibrahim and a mixed bag of two wahoo, two kingfish, two yellowfin and a barracuda with Geoff Jones, while another trip yielded nine wahoo, and Castle Lager recorded a sailfish released on a couple of trips.
Reading that a minister was releasing billions of shillings for the fishing industry, one can’t imagine much of this trickling down to the sport fishing business. but tourism does need help, increasing the numbers of visitors, and both infrastructure and security seriously need improvement. Writing in the dark again with power off, as it was last week also when I wrote, and having to shift the article from one laptop to another as the battery fades is hardly my vision for 2030 !
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!
