Marlin, Sail, Tiger Sharks and all

A rather overdue newsletter, so we'll make it a jumbo one for the festive season, especially for those who are enjoying a white Christmas somewhere but might prefer a blue one on the sparkling azure waters of the Indian ocean!
The kaskazi, the north-east monsoon, started to blow firmly almost a month ago, and we enjoyed quite a bit of rain on the garden, not so enjoyable while backing up into a line squall with a big fish on the end!

There have been a lot of sailfish in Malindi waters, ranging from Casuarina/Leopard reef area right up to Ngomeni, and further north around Kiwaiyu.

Back to beginning of December, the news was:-
An easterly wind made the fish shy at Mtwapa for the annual Eye-Go-Fishing tournament, held from the Aquamarine restaurant to raise funds for the Kwale Eye Centre last Sunday.

But one hungry sailfish was enough for Karl Jennings who hooked it on 8kg line, fishing on Kamara with Dave Williamson and Tony Alport, and duly tagged it to win the individual prize for the Dave Parry Memorial trophy.
With a 12kg wahoo added by Dave, this made them the winning team, ahead of Chris Barnes on Kusi, with John Peters, Chris Young and James Adcock in Samvuke taking third place. The latter team had a fine rainbow runner of 9.5 kgs, which would tie the Kenya record.

At the Driftwood Club in Malindi nine teams from CADSAS had eventually arrived from Zimbabwe and fished four days concentrating on sailfish. Twenty-six sail on the first day looked promising, and as the fishermen got their eye in the total rose to thirty-four on the second day for the nine boats.

An off day was devoted to a good party, perhaps too good as scores fell and only fourteen sail were hooked on the fourth and last day, as the fish started to get more difficult and water conditions deteriorated, although plenty of fish were around but not coming up.

However, with 96 sail in total and an average of two and a half per boat day, it was great fun for all concerned and there were plenty of stories of the ones that got away! Alleycat was top boat, with Tina close behind and Tarka and Snowgoose third equal.

Clueless, the new 42' Riviera, went on a two day jaunt to see what was happening on the 1000 fathom line, generally assumed to be the limit of the continental shelf. A long trip, and they were rewarded with a blue marlin, tagged at an estimated 170 kgs, two broadbill fished at night and a sailfish - the latter probably lost and looking for all it's friends at Malindi! The boat later went up to Kiwaiyu where they had some excellent sailfishing, with up to ten a day being caught, while in that same area Tarka tagged a black marlin.

From Watamu, Castle Lager has had a bit of sailfish action up off Mambrui, and they also released a black marlin around 90 kgs, while the boats from Hemingways have also been chasing the sailfish north of Malindi.
Richard Webb, on White Bear with Graeme Warner when they tagged five sail, went out on B's Nest to catch a sail on fly; then in the same boat tried a overnight trip to the North Kenya Banks, where he tagged two broadbill. Simba, on the Banks, released a tiger shark they estimated at 500 kgs, so these monster sharks are still around for those that want exercise!
Coming competitions will be the Mtwapa Open Boat/Xmas Hamper on Sunday 11th December, and the Watamu SFC Xmas Tournament, on December 28th/29th. With anything up to a hundred boats in the harbour over the Christmas holidays the latter should have a big entry, and with the mantis prawns at last having moved away, perhaps the Rips will be alive with striped marlin!

December usually brings the change in the seasons as the north-east wind, the kaskazi, starts to blow, and this year is no exception.

The wind seems more set now, although rain and thunderstorms swing the winds around, but when the morning off shore breeze, the umande, blows fishermen know that the sailfish should settle down and start taking the baits.
Fishing for sail has been difficult in the past week, although the captains report they are around in large numbers, but at the beginning of the week the boats could not catch them at all!

As the weather settled, things improved and by Thursday last week, B's Nest tagged five sail and Tina four, Ol Jogi three with Eclare and Snowgoose and Simba getting a couple each. Next day was similar, but Castle Lager, coming up from Watamu, had four sailfish, scoring well in such professional company.
Saturday saw the wind more settled in the NE, and Tina tallied eight sail with Neptune and Simba five and on Sunday the boats scored up to four sail each, so as conditions stabilise we can expect the scores to rise, as mid December is often the peak time.

The kaskazi also brings in the marlin season, and we can expect news of striped marlin catches soon from Shimoni and the Pemba Channel area if the skippers are not too busy fishing! At Lamu, Tarka, which went up on a four day safari, tagged a 70 kg black marlin on a trolled spinning rod - many fixed spool spinning reels are not up to this sort of catch! They also released 30 sail, while Clueless, fishing with them had 24 sail with Batian Craig skippering. Eight of these were on fly tackle, six of them in one day, with everyone on board having a successful try on the long wands! Great fishing!

Clueless caught one broadbill during the night outside the North Kenya Bank, while Tarka spent a night on the broadbill grounds off the Watamu Rips, but they did not get a single strike. Will this fishing improve?

A few years back, boats were getting a dozen strikes in the night, with catches of up to eleven broadbill. These were mostly small fish so perhaps our waters are a breeding ground. But the international fleet of longliners moved in, as broadbill is a high priced delicacy in restaurants in the USA and Europe, and now we do not catch the fish.

In South Africa some years ago, there was a flourishing sport fishing industry for broadbill swordfish off Hout Bay near Capetown, till the government licensed a fleet of long liners, and two years later all the fish were gone. No sport fishery, no long liners, no fish! Will man ever learn?

In the last few days, Tina tagged a black marlin off Malindi, and Alleycat released another near the Banks. The latter boat has been having some good days fishing with Peter Hofmann, releasing ten giant trevally one day, ranging from 20 to 40 kgs, and two tiger sharks the next day of 250 and 160 kgs. Ol Jogi also had a big tiger shark estimated around 270 kgs, so with five GT's as well, a busy day and still plenty of fishing around the Banks area for those who want a change from the sailfish.

By the middle of December we were writing:-
Fishermen traditionally are a race who feel the grass is always greener the other side of the fence, so the search for new areas and different productive waters continues all the time.
While the islands north of Lamu are legendary, it is only in recent years that fishing lodges have become better known up that way, and Manda Bay and Kiwaiyu are now anchorages where local boats motor up to for a holiday, and are well rewarded.

White Mischief, with Capt Andy Thomas, went for a long weekend from his normal Watamu haunts, and fishing from Manda Bay Lodge up to Kiwaiyu and back during the day they tagged eleven sailfish, a good score and fun for friends and family.
The bottom fishing is fantastic as well, with the new style of deep jigging ( new to Kenya anyway) proving very productive for snappers, grouper, amberjack and even yellowfin tuna, of which there can be no sign on the surface where they are normally caught, but they take the heavy lead jigs down at 300 ft or more.

At the other end of the coastline the Hemphills, in their two boats Kamara II and Broadbill, are also venturing further afield to satisfy the wanderlust of the fishing clients, and both boats have been over to Pemba Island on a four day safari.
Kamara had three marlin strikes the first day, with a nice black of around 130 kgs putting up a great display before throwing the lure. The second day they had three stripies up, and the third day Louis Barnard released a nice stripey of 70 kgs on 24 kg line, while later his fishing partner Tommy Stevens had another of 60 kgs on 15 kg line.

Broadbill had joined the fun, and scored a grand slam with a black marlin of 80 kgs, a stripey and a sail; fisher Svend Christiansen had been after a marlin for many years in vain, so was really chuffed to catch two different species in the day! Kamara added a double header of stripeys on the last day, so very good fishing all round.

With the north wind, the kaskazi, now blowing firmly, it is good to see the marlin coming in, as they should in a normal year; but with the pattern over the last four years having been upset by all the mantis prawn shoals this has not been the case.
The sailfish run continues at Malindi, the boats catching half a dozen on the good days - last Thursday proved a good day with Neptune getting six sail, Snark six and Tina five. Tina also had a small black marlin a few days before, and another a couple of days later, while Ol Jogi found a stripey out on the Rips, a forerunner of many more to come, we hope.

Tiger sharks and giant trevally are on the menu at the Watamu Banks, but the Watamu boats have also scored well when they run up to Malindi, as the sail are not far north now; B's nest tagged eight this Wednesday with the Griffiths family from South Africa, while White Bear returned before lunch on Thursday for a short day sporting three tag flags. Let's hope this sort of fishing lasts as a Christmas present for the families about to arrive for the Xmas season.

A week later the Kiwayu action had changed and we continue the White Mischief saga - The boat now fished out from the Kiwaiyu anchorage this weekend, and trying the area where the sail had been the week before produced only tuna and skipjack, so they motored further out to where the continental shelf falls sharply into very deep blue water about eight miles out.

A couple of striped marlin were raised to the lures without a hookup, but then it was third time lucky and Erica Thomas caught her first marlin, a stripey. A heavy strike then ran out a lot of line, but the fish was not seen, keeping very deep even with the swivel on the long leader coming out from the water, but it was still strong and surged away again. After over two hours a blue marlin, estimated around 200 kgs was released by a tired Paulo Parazzi on 24kg stand-up tackle, a fine catch standing up all that time!

Young Danny Thomas then had his turn, and caught his first stripey, for a very successful day, the sort of day fishermen always dream about but it's great when the dreams come true!
Next day, they tagged a sail and raised a stripey, then after missing another stripey William Dyer hooked into another and caught his first marlin, and they finished the day with another sail.

Fishing back to Lamu next day, young Jodie Thomas hooked into and released her first marlin, this time a black estimated at 80 kgs. Pretty fantastic fishing for a weekend - and the figures for the four days off Kiwaiyu over the two weekends will make you all green with envy - 13 sail tagged, one blue around 200kgs, one black estimated at 80 kgs, three stripeys and another eight marlin raised!

There are still huge numbers of sailfish off Malindi, ranging from Casuarina Point all the way up to Ngomeni, but still difficult to hook, and as the week drew on catches fell off.

At the beginning of the week the sail were taking well, B's Nest getting eight one day and six the next, while Ol Jogi tagged six with the Pratt and Collins families. B's Nest found a very small blue marlin of 30 kgs and duly sent on its way to grow up a bit, then next day released a black marlin of about 60 kgs and four sail with Michael Eastham and family.
White Bear caught consistently, with fifteen sail in the week, and B's Nest also saw Garry Cullen and John Lyall both taking a sail on fly tackle.

Castle Lager scored twelve sail in three days fishing earlier, but in the last few days catches have fallen to one or two a day for reasons unknown; but this Thursday the weather was oppressive and thundery which fish don't like, preferring to stay deep unless it actually rains hard, which usually brings them up, but it is wet and cold for the fishermen.
The Banks at Watamu proved productive for Seyyida with a tiger shark, and giant trevally are there for those with downrigging skills and an echo sounder to spot them! But these fish are all in small areas, so we must release them or they will be fished out.

The Malindi boats had a good week, Peter Hofmann on Eclare at the beginning of the week tagging six sail all on light line, and the same boat getting seven sail the next day.
The Pope's Trophy followed - this tournament is in memory of Alistair Paul, and helps to raise funds to help with his children's education.

The Rusty Hookers team on Eclare won with six sail, and Tina, with the Three Muskateers team came second with three sail and some small fish.
Third was Snowgoose, but the Banobas team was handicapped as Sally and Ricky Mann, veteran fishers at Malindi, had car problems and didn't make the start, but a most enjoyable party followed to round off most successful day.