Competitions at Malindi, Kilifi, and Watamu

The Billfish Tournament went ahead this last weekend. We had nine boats entered; Alley Cat, Clueless, Eclare, Neptune, Ol Jogi, Sea Horse, Seyyida, Snow Goose and Tarka.

The competition was won by the boat “Tarka”, fished by Callum Looman, Paul Worthington and Greg Forster. They caught 1 Black Marlin twenty minutes before lines out. It weighed 116kg which gave them 380 points.

Second place went to the boat “Snow Goose” fished by a Dutch team, Mr Tomasson, Mr Dreunen & Alfred the skipper with 1 striped Marlin est 55kg (tagged) giving them 300 points. The boat “Clueless” came third fished by Rob Duff, Thomas Wright and Adam Ogden. They also got 1 Sailfish (tagged). Fourth place was won by "Neptune" fished by Angus Paul and Sean Wembridge with 1 Sailfish (tagged).

Paul Worthington was awarded the prize for Top Angler.

There were 2 “Hard Luck” stories both by "Sea Horse" who lost 1 Marlin on Saturday estimated at 150kg and one on Sunday estimated at 400kg.

Both the Auction and the prize giving were held at the Malindi Sea Fishing Club. The meal for the Sunday evening was prepared by Agneta De Mare and enjoyed by all.

I would like to give a big thank you to our sponsors, VFS International, East African Air Safari Express and The Driftwood for their support and input into this Tournament.

The Kilifi Classic at Kilifi the following weekend, recorded 17 sailfish, but for only the second time in it's history no marlin were caught.

This report is from the Chairman, Benjie Bowles:-

We have completed the 15th Kilifi International Classic which went well and everyone enjoyed the weekend. This was once again sponsored by Alastair Russell of DHL Worldwide Express who generously donated shs 100,000 and shirts and caps. This is now the 4th year they have sponsored us which is greatly appreciated. There were numerous other subsidiary sponsors who donated a great variety of prizes for this event.

17 sail were caught and tagged and for the first time in the history of this tournament, there were no marlin caught!

Here are the results: As usual boats were "streamed" into Professional and Amateur categories.

Overall winner
TARKA fished by B. Craig, P. Worthington and Callum Loomen with 812 points. 4 sail tagged

1st Professional boat ( 4th overall)
KIPAPA fished by Snoo Colvile, S. Allison and T. Allison with 426 points with 2 sail tagged

2nd Professional boat (5th overall)
CLUELESS fished by J. Baker, J.Baker and D.Clark with 425 points with 2 sail and 1 GT tagged

3rd Professional boat (8th overall)
SEAHORSE fished by Anne Taylor, N. Taylor,and P.Ready with 99 points

3rd Amateur boat (6th overall)
COLD SHOULDER fished by B. Bowles. R. Minns and C.Church with 408 points with 2 sail tagged

2nd Amateur boat ( 3rd overall)
INSTEDDA fished by I.Moosa, U. Moosa and Karitha, with 600 points, with 3 sail tagged

1st Amateur boat (2nd overall)
NOVITA fished by C. Borsato, A. Buckoke and Safari, with 671 points with 3 sail tagged

A number of individual prizes were awarded.

The Weetabix Plate and shs 10000 donated by Salim Manji went to Novita, being the highest placed boatfishing out of kilifi on both days.

The David partridge Memorial trophy donated by his Daughter Belle Nanton and Rupert Partridge and shs 5000 also went to Novita for being the highest placed Amateur Kenya resident team.

A prize of £100 donated by a regular overseas angler, Phil Revett, was awarded to Paul Worthington fishing on Tarka.

A days free fishing on Kipapa,donated by Howard and Sue Lawrence-Brown, for the highest placed boat (7th overall) under 24 ft went to Bob And Veronica Hammond.

Prizes of Yamaha oils from Captain Andy's went to Tanga Tanga, Sijui and Cold Shoulder for being the 3 best placed boats powered by outboards.

P. Worthington, A. Buckoke and U. Moosa shared the prize for the most tagged billfish, 3 sail each, by an individual.

A. Buckoke also got the prize for the heaviest non-billfish, being a felusi of 11.6 kgs.

A case of wine donated Chris Wilson of Kilifi Plantations Ltd for the widest ratio between fish and fisherman went to Peter Brainch.

Anne Taylor won the Ladies prize.

I think the highlight of the weekend was Novita's effort in catching 3 sail on the Sunday in as many hours which pushed them rapidly up the scoreboard. They announced at the auction on Friday that they would not be fishing full days and would go out each morning after a leisurely breakfast! Clever tactics as it turned out to be! There is a moral to this tale somewhere. It certainly proves a point.

The 'Friends of Kenya' Tournament kicked off on Wednesday, with boats starting from Watamu, Malindi and Lamu, and the weigh in was at Hemingways on Thursday at 4.30pm.

. Running for two days and a night, the top boat was Seyyida, which with angling team Lee Frampton, Juma Chondo and skipper Martin Wheeler totalled three blue marlin and seven sailfish, all tagged and released. This won the tournament and gave them first choice at the prize list, where they opted for the three return tickets to London on Kenya Airways, sponsored by Mark Allen and Phil Revett - a fantastic prize!

This competition is unique in that winners have their choice of the prize list, and the second placed team on Tarka, Graham Owen, Chris Deane and Reggie Avery chose two nights for four at Kulalu Camp, a luxury camp on the Galana river near the Sala gate, sponsored by owners Mark and Tina Allen. They scored a blue and a striped marlin, four broadbill swordfish and a sailfish, to record a super grand slam of four species of billfish.

The White Bear team, with Graham Lee, Ashton Hall and skipper Nick Conway on the rods, came third with two stripeys, a broadbill and a sail, and they chose a days fishing on Clueless and vouchers for fishing tackle.

Clueless, Alleycat and Simba followed in order, and all the boats won a prize, which ranged from flights from the coast to the Masai Mara with two nights at Kichwa Tembo with all game drives, donated by Kaskazi Aviation and Conservation Corporation; two nights at Finch Hatton's camp, sponsored by Peter Frank; two nights at Hemingways with a days fishing, and fishing trips on Simba, Alleycat and Tarka sponsored by their owners. What terrific prizes!

The Watamu SFC Festival started two days later over the weekend, but fishing was slow although there were sailfish around. Clueless and Simba ended the day with two sail each, Tasha and Tarka had one each but it was Ol Jogi leading in the frame with a black marlin caught and released by Danny Hill on the Banks, which gave that team a commanding lead going into the second day.

On the Sunday, Simba and Alleycat added a couple of sail each, while Clueless and Instedda had singles, but it was Tarka, with the ladies team on board making the news with the report of a very big black marlin being fought. Skipper Callum Looman, also in the fishing team, had hooked the marlin on a light sailfish bait, with a small hook and 24kg line, and all the boats listened to the radio as the fight went on hour after hour!

Eventually, after nearly five hours, the fish was tiring and very close to the boat; the leader with the swivel came almost out of the water, and the line broke! Very bad luck - an exhausted Callum, and no points!

So Ol Jogi won the tournament with their first day marlin, Simba was second with four sail and Clueless third with three sail. Alleycat came fourth and Tasha and Instedda were equal for fifth place.

This was the last tournament of the season on the north coast; there remains the Kilulu Competition at Mtwapa on Sunday 12th March, the Seaforth Shipping Tournament at the Tamarind on Saturday 18th March and the Kilifi/ Mtwapa Frolic on Easter Sunday, 16th April, the latter weather permitting.

There has been some good fishing up at Malindi, mainly out from Ngomeni, and at Lamu. Eclare went up to Lamu, and over the next few days had four marlin and a big yellowfin of 80 kgs. Neptune also had a black marlin on the NKB, while the boats from Malindi have been catching sailfish as well as tuna and kingfish. But the weather has been rough some days, and the wind blowing strongly at night, with no sign of the monsoon changing yet.

Worrying are reports of Korean longliners close in to Kipini and the Tana Delta, if they are licensed at all they are not allowed into territorial waters. Sports fishing is a big industry here, and the punters are not amused to see these commercial operators catching our fish. This is a question our government will have to address.