With weekly updates provided by Captain Andy's written by David Slater, as well as daily updates during competitions, here you will find all you need to know about whats happening on the Kenyan Coast.
2018/19 Season
20th April 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The fishing season is drawing to a close but there is still fun to be had on our creeks and inland waters . Summary of the season below:
The official fishing season finishes at the end of April for record purposes, although boats can continue to fish all year, depending on the weather. The seas are still calm, but most of the boats are being taken out of service for their annual overhaul, and skippers relax for their holidays. Some boats resume in early July, with many delaying till August or September.
It has been an average season, starting well in July with Black Marlin and Sailfish around the Watamu banks, continuing into August and September. Whales were around, with boats taking tourists to see the Humpback Whales
which showed up most days.
Yellowfin Tuna were around in September, although October is usually the best month, especially if it rains, and some good catches were made, but fewer Marlin were seen. Wahoo were also caught and the end of the month saw the Malindi Festival , the first big competition of the season, taking place. Sailfish appeared for this tourney, with eleven boats catching twelve Sail.
Sailfish appeared at Lamu and Kiwaiyu in October generally peaking in November, and good catches were made there by both visiting boats and local anglers.
The north-east wind started to blow well in late November bringing Sailfish to Malindi waters, and Marlin started to be caught along all along the coast. The Christmas holidays brought down plenty of anglers, including overseas anglers with small boats and made for a good Xmas tournament at Watamu.
The Marlin run continued well into January and February, with some very big fish being caught, and happily, released. Plenty of Marlin were also caught in the Shimoni/ Diani area.
Marlin were caught mainly on the first day of the Delamere Trophy at Kilifi as rough weather upset the fishing the second day. But the good fishing persisted for the Watamu Festival, won by an impressive Blue Marlin of 288kgs.
The Friends of Kenya tourney found boats venturing far out as the inshore waters were cold - from seventy miles out, four marlin formed the winning catch!
The wind continued to swing and Marlin continued to be caught, but as the wind firmed up into the south in April, the fish seem to have moved on, and with no clients the season seems to have ended.So this will be the last article till we resume in August, hoping for a good season and plenty of anglers!
Photo courtesy of Alia Moller
13th April 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The south-east wind, the kusi, is blowing firmly now, and not many billfish are being reported, although there are plenty of small fish around, mainly Dorado and Tuna, with some good sized specimens of the former being caught.
Shuwari, at Diani, took Dale Mckintlock from New Zealand out last week, who caught a 123kg Blue Marlin, which came in dead, lassoed round the tail, and had to be pumped up from 300 meters deep, two hours of hard work! On the same boat Tony Venturini of Base Titanium, took his wife Kerry out to catch five big Dorado up to 15kgs, while he released a Blue estimated at 160kgs. The line was whisked from the crewman’s hand by the Marlin strike as he was setting the lure out!
At Malindi, Eclare caught two Sailfish from eight raised, and another Sail the next day, while Neptune and Snowgoose both found a Sail and a good mixed bag with Dorado and Tuna.
Alleycat, at Watamu, also found a Sailfish, together with plenty of Dorado and Tuna. Not many trips being made, although some anglers may be down for the Easter holiday soon.
The fishing community in particular will be sad to hear of the passing of Jeni Slater last month after a short illness. Jeni was a licensed fishing captain, very proud of her RYA certificate, and probably the first lady skipper with this in Kenya. She still holds, after nearly fifty years, the ladies record on 24kg line for Black Marlin with her fish of 173 kgs, and was a noted wildlife artist concentrating on fishing scenes. With an amazing fund of stories, she kept many amused both on boats and in the bar, and will be sorely missed by all her family and friends.
Photo of Jeni Slater and her record Marlin
6th April 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The wind has been blowing from the south-east for a couple of days now, although it can still vacillate – but this is usually the signal to the billfish to move on along their annual migration routes. They seem to head south, then presumably out to the deep sea areas where they spawn, as very small baby fish are not normally found off our shores.
But the last week has been productive. White Mischief went from Watamu up to Lamu by night, catching a small Broadbill Swordfish in the dark, then at first light they put out marlin lures, heading north along the outer drop-offs. They soon hooked into a Blue around 100kgs, which fell off, then another much bigger fish which also fell off, followed by a Black Marlin which also escaped! Luck then changed, and they released a Blue Marlin, followed by a Striped Marlin, to arrive at Peponi with good stories. Dan took the boat out next day into the deep water, where crewman Peter hooked, caught and released a Blue Marlin estimated at 280kgs, while skipper Nils in Little Toot came home with a huge Yellowfin Tuna of 93kgs as well as some smaller ones. Fishing home next day, Andy found a Black Marlin and a Sail, so the coveted fantasy slam of all three species of Marlin, plus a Swordfish and a Sailfish was scored over the trip. Great fishing, showing once again the Kenya is one of the best game fish areas in the world!
Tarka had a good week, with two Black Marlin and two Sail one day with Callum Scott, and a Blue Marlin and three Sail a couple of days later, while Callum Looman found a Black Marlin on another boat. Tarka‘s score for the season is now up to sixty-one, leading the pack.
Alleycat had a Blue and a Black Marlin, losing a couple more during the week, while What it Takes, cruising home from Watamu after a fishing holiday found a small Marlin off Mida then a big Blue, both of which jumped off, but were then rewarded with a Blue of around 150kgs, duly caught and released by Jameel Khan - a nice end to their trip.
Tega, at Malindi, earlier boated a deep-drop daytime Broadbill which died on the line, weighing 99.5kgs. It had been tagged two years ago from Alleycat, estimated at 70kgs, and was caught again in the same area off Haggard Mountains!
30th March 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The wind is still swinging around from day to day, but it has not had a hard blow from the south yet, which is the signal for the billfish to depart on their annual journey, and although there has not been a lot of trips some great catches have been recorded.
Sean Darnborough, bringing his small dinghy Nakawaka down from accompanying Alleycat on a week’s trip to Kiwaiyu, released two Blue and a Striped Marlin as he fished back to Watamu. An amazing catch as normally one is not concentrating on the hot spots as one travels long distances and this would be a fantastic catch even if fishing a hot area all day in such a small boat.
Alleycat had had a fun holiday at Kiwaiyu, chasing small game fish on light casting tackle, catching a huge range of species, ranging from Sailfish to Tuna, Wahoo, Dorado and Kingfish, and even catching the rare Bonefish. These were found in Mida creek years ago, but I have not heard of any there recently.
Eclare, from Malindi, has also been up at Lamu, releasing a couple of Striped Marlin from three strikes and missing a pair of Blue Marlin. However, on their way home to Malindi they had a fantastic catch en route, releasing three Blue Marlin from six strikes and as well as a Mako Shark, plus boating three big Wahoo as well- incredible fishing.
Kenya is so lucky to have such an amazing asset in the quality of our big game fishing – an asset insufficiently advertised in international circles and tourist conferences.
Tarka has been doing well recently, winning the Malindi Billfish tournament with three daytime Broadbill Swordfish, caught with the deep drop method with baits lowered to and the fish striking in almost 600 metres of water - really hard work for the anglers hauling up monsters to the boat. The fish are then photographed and released, presumably finding their way home to where they had come from ! This boat is regularly the top scorer on Marlin, and has passed the fifty mark this year, which has only been an average year as some years their score has topped the hundred figure.
The major tournaments of the season are all over now, but some clubs feature an Easter competition, fished mainly by their members if the weather permits.
Photo Courtesy of Alleycat
Photo Courtesy of Tega
Photo Courtesy of White Mischief
Photos Courtesy of Sean Darnborough
23rd March 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The annual change in the wind, from north-east to south-east, is beginning now – this is the signal for the billfish to move on, but there are still plenty of fish around.
The ‘Friends of Kenya’ tourney is held annually, with main sponsors Hemingways and fished from that resort in Watamu. It is unique in that one can fish for two whole days and a night, giving an opportunity for adventurous skippers to search far and wide, and at the end of the first day Simba looked ahead with two Blue Marlin, some 50 miles out from Watamu. Next day they had added a Broadbill in the night and another Blue Marlin by day, and appeared certain winners – but nothing is certain in angling, and when Unreel came home within radio range from seventy miles offshore, they had released four Blue Marlin and a Sail to sweep first prize for anglers Russell Brumby, Richie Moller and Royjan Taylor.
The Simba team, James, Richard and Mtawali came second, while Elusive, fished by Gina, Callum and Dale Scott were third with a Black Marlin and four Broadbill. Great fishing and much enjoyed by teams of tired anglers!
The Mike Dunford Memorial Tournament is fished annually from The Tamarind in Mombasa. It is the last major competition of the season, and this year it was won by the team on Tarka, from a field of thirty boats, a great turnout. In the professional stream, Tarka caught two Blue Marlin to clinch the prize ahead of Nala, with a Black Marlin, while Furaha took third place.
In the amateur stream, Jodhari came first, catching two Blue and one Striped Marlin with Geraldine also claiming the Ladies prize with her Marlin. Second was Tin Tin Tu and third went to Manoli. The Open Boat class went to Bingo, fished by Muhsin who won both the Marlin prize and the Best Angler award for his Marlin.
A very good competition with a total catch of eight Marlin and eight Sailfish, plus many mixed bags of Tuna, Dorado and other small fish – great fun for all.
Recently What it Takes released a Blue Marlin at Mombasa, while missing another couple of good strikes, while further north at Malindi, Snowgoose from the Kingfisher fleet, released a Blue Marlin. Eclare went up to Lamu and found two Striped Marlin, also losing two Blues. Elusive from Watamu, fishing at Malindi, released a Black and a Sail, plus two Broadbill, good fishing all round.
Photo Courtesy of Elusive
Photos Courtesy of Simba
16th March 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Watamu Festival went well with good conditions for anglers, and was won by Albatross, fished by Andrew Ndolo and Anderson, with Ndolo landing a fantastic Blue Marlin which tipped the scales at 288kgs, almost the biggest fish ever to win a Kenya tournament. This tournament runs simultaneously with the Kenya Marlin Championships, with anglers opting to join the latter in which an accumulating sum is carried forward from previous years when no qualifying fish, which has to weigh more than 400 lbs, has been caught. Unfortunately the angler had not entered or his fish would have claimed this prize, but it won the tournament – with a great range of prizes!
Second came Seastorm, fished by Dickie Evans, David Jones and Mark Hazell, with a Blue Marlin and a Sailfish tagged, while Alleycat, with Tom and Adam Cunningham and Pete Darnborough was third, also with a Blue Marlin tagged and a couple of Wahoo. Adam fought a very big Marlin which eventually fell off the hook, which would have won the Championship and he was awarded the hard luck prize!
Jasiri, with Peter Hoffman on the rods was fifth with another Blue Marlin released, with the Ladies prize going to Selina on Instedda for her tagged Sailfish.
The previous week saw the Kilifi Classic from Kilifi, with 26 boats entered.
Sponsored by Capt Andy’s and EABL, with a Yamaha 9.9 engine as the top prize, the winner in the professional stream was Tarka, fished by Richie Moller, Phil Revett and Callum. They tagged one Blue Marlin and four Sail, ahead of Contagious, fished by David Darnborough and Darryl Ruaka, which released a Blue Marlin and a Sail. Albatross came third releasing a Striped Marlin with anglers Gina and Rene Faber and Malise Graham.
In the amateur stream, No Way fished by Alex and Nick Haller and Andrew Paul, came first with a tagged Black Marlin, followed by Swaleh Ahmed and Mohamed with a Blue Marlin released in Nguru. A tournament much enjoyed by all, with fantastic prizes.
At Watamu, Alleycat released a huge Blue Marlin estimated about 240kgs, while Elusive in the Malindi Festival, did well with a Blue Marlin and a Sail, and two Broadbill Swordfish on the second day. More news of this tournament and the Friends of Kenya tournament next week when I have received full details. So some good fishing and big fish coming in.
Photo Courtesy of Imraan Moosa
2nd March 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The weather continues good along the coast and big catches are being recorded in the angling world.
Alleycat, fished by Tom Cunningham from Nairobi went up to Manda and had a fantastic days fishing. Having released a Blue Marlin estimated about 230kgs and a couple of Sailfish, which most would regard as a pretty good day anyway, Tom then hooked into a giant Yellowfin Tuna which was boated and on the scales at harbour turned them to their maximum of 121 kgs - and the fish must have weighed more! This figure is about twenty kgs bigger than the existing record here for the species so what a catch! Sadly the fish cannot be claimed for a record due to the scale, but it indicates the quality of game fishing that we are lucky to have here in Kenya.
Shuwari, at Diani, with regular angler Fred Conrad, released three Broadbill Swordfish from four strikes, and had a Sailfish and a mixed bag as well, while in the same boat Ache Tatsammer from Japan, found two Sail and a nice Dorado. Seyyid Sheikh , a regular angler, also had two Sailfish and caught a big bag of Dorado close to a patch of Bonito bait close to the reef, so good fishing there.
The Watamu SFC is holding their annual Festival this weekend, combined with the Marlin Championship, where boats enter separately for a cumulative prize to weigh a Marlin over 400lbs – last year no one claimed the prize so the balance is carried to this year.
At Kiwaiyu, George Moorehead in a small dinghy has been having fun casting at Tuna with a light spinning rod, while they saw a pack of ten Sailfish feeding right next to the boat, but didn’t manage to hook up on these.
At Watamu, Elusive took the de Bruyn family from South Africa out, and both brothers Bryce and Travis caught their first Marlin, one a Black and one a Blue, as well as a Sailfish each, so a great trip for them!
Also first catches for Eugene and Celia from South Africa on What it Takes at Mombasa, with a Blue Marlin and a Sailfish, I expect all these anglers will be keen to return.
The Kilifi Classic last week, I heard casually, was won by Tarka but no results from the organizers have reached me yet!
23rd February 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
Good catches continue all along the coast, as the weather remains nice with winds not too strong and seas calm. Blue Marlin are the main catch, with some Striped Marlin in southern areas, and some Sailfish everywhere.
Watamu sees Marlin flags daily, as local boats and the Malindi fleet, plus other boats from further south, are coming to fish the tournaments. Alleycat reported two Blue Marlin last week, then yesterday the boat came in with two blue flags and a Sailfish to improve that score. Tarka with angler Phil, had a Blue Marlin which died on the line, and the dead fish had to be pumped up from over four hundred meters of water – two and a half hours of hard work, with the fish weighing in at 198 kgs. They also released a smaller Blue.
Instedda tagged a Blue Marlin, while Albatross released a Black Marlin of about 90kgs, while Elusive tagged a Blue Marlin and a Sail for Kris and friends from Belgium, and another day George from Nairobi also had a Blue Marlin. A few days later, Tom Cunningham released a Blue and missed another. Sand Dollar released a nice Blue Marlin with angler Jamie Excel, estimated about 150kgs, while Seastorm, from Hemingways has had a busy week, with a team from Wildfly in South Africa making films, tagging a Blue and a Sail, while missing a couple of strikes of Broadbill on a night trip. Chris and Christian Inns released a big Blue estimated at 230 kgs, after a four and a half hour struggle on 24kg line, a good catch, while Albatross released a Black Marlin for Dermot Mahony.
Snowgoose released two Blues with the bigger estimated at 180kgs, and both Neptune and Eclare found a Blue Marlin.
At Diani, Jasmin, wife of skipper Gitau Matiba, released a Blue Marlin on White Dove around 140kgs, while Shuwari found a Striped Marlin, for Tina Colls-Vagnholm, her first. Jesse Green also released a Stripey, her third from this boat. They were also catching big dorado on live baits - fun fishing!
At Manda Island, No Way with Alex Haller and Bryan Matiba, caught a monstrous Yellowfin Tuna of 95kgs, a size not seen much in our waters – it sounds more impressive at ‘over 200 pounds!’
The Captain Andy's Kilifi Classic is fished this weekend, followed next weekend by the Watamu festival with the Friends of Kenya two days later, and the Malindi Billfish the next weekend. A feast for anglers!
Photos Courtesy of Bryan Matiba
16th February 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The current which had been running in a southerly direction has turned north again, bringing cleaner blue water which has made for good fishing in most areas. The very strong winds have also modified and calmer seas make fishing easier so future prospects look good.
From Shimoni, White Otter with Tom Mason from South Africa, found three Blue Marlin in three days up to 180kgs – Tom has fished in many areas but these are his first Blue Marlin. Simba, also at the Pemba Channel Fishing Club, with Mark Smith from UK, has caught five Striped and a Blue Marlin plus seven Sailfish in eight days and with blue water and the current north it should continue active there.
Shuwari at Diani, fishing with Sergey, found a Striped and a Blue Marlin, two Broadbill and four Sailfish in five days, together with plenty of Dorado and Wahoo.
At Mtwapa, the Mtwapa Cup competition resulted in a win for No Way, with two Sailfish fished by the Haller family, while Sashimi came second with one Sail and FlyCatcher third with a mixed bag.
Further north has also seen plenty of billfish, Instedda from Watamu having totalled three Blue Marlin, a Broadbill and a couple of Sail in four trips, while Alleycat had two Blue and one Black Marlin plus a couple of Sailfish in the week. White Mischief released a Blue Marlin and a Sail while Elusive with angler Andrei, found a Blue and a Black Marlin and six Sail. Guy Standing, in the same boat, released a Blue Marlin and on a half day with his grandchildren, found nine Yellowfin, a Dorado and a Barracuda, good fun for the youngsters!
Malindi boats have done well, Tega weighing a Broadbill Swordfish, caught during the day with the long drop technique, of 110kgs - a good sized one for this species. They also had a Blue Marlin estimated at 100kgs and a Wahoo. Eclare did well with two Blue Marlin released, up to 180kgs, while Snowgoose found both a Black and a Blue Marlin and Neptune released a Blue Marlin the previous day.
The Kilifi Classic will be fished over the weekend of Feb 23rd and 24th. With a Yamaha 9.9 hp engine the top prize, given by Captain Andy’s, and a very good range of prizes from many sponsors, this is one of most popular tournaments of the season and a great social occasion – not to be missed!
Photos Courtesy of Tega
Photos Courtesy of White Mischief
9th February 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
With the current running south, this can spoil the fishing, but one benefit seems to be that the size of the Blue Marlin being caught is impressive, with many fish over 140kgs on the skipper’s estimates, as most of the fish are released.
Malindi boats have been doing well, with Eclare finding a Blue and a Black Marlin and a Sailfish as well, for a coveted grand slam, while Neptune had two Blue Marlin in the 200kg range and a Sail. Snow Goose released a Blue Marlin estimated at 140kgs, and another the previous day about 180kgs. Tega on Sunday lost a Black Marlin on the way out, but released a Blue estimated at 230kgs as well as a Striped Marlin, and on Monday released a Black Marlin for Mr Markus, his first marlin.
From Watamu, Alleycat released a Mako Shark of 140gs – not many of these sharks are seen these days, but they are ferocious fighters and the only shark rated as a game fish to rival marlin. They also released a Blue Marlin and three Sailfish this last week. Seastorm tagged a Sailfish for regular angler Peter Quinney, but although they saw many Sailfish finning in the Haggard Mountains area at the far south of the Rips they would not take a bait..
Further south at Diani, experienced angler Maksym Shylkov from the Ukraine, who has caught many Blue Marlin in the Cape Verde Islands, went out in Shuwari to find other species, and was successful in catching his first Sailfish, Striped Marlin and Broadbill Swordfish, but the Black Marlin eluded him – but he will return to try for that!
White Otter finished off Mr Mike’s holiday with two Blue Marlin, estimated at 125 and 230 kgs, so he has had a successful time. Simba tagged a Sailfish but with dirty water running south at Shimoni fish were hard to find.
At Mtwapa Bagera found a Blue Marlin estimated at over 180kgs, while Bahari Kuu had two Striped Marlin and Suli Suli caught a Black Marlin. Interesting to see all the different species of marlin being seen.
February is usually the peak month for marlin, with the fish getting bigger as the month ends and March can see some huge fish being caught, so now is the time to try for that monster!
Photos Courtesy of Tega
2nd February 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Delamere Trophy was fished from Kilifi last weekend, and plenty of Marlin were caught on the first day. Sunday, the second day, saw rough water from a strong overnight wind, and the fish were hard to find.
Overall winner was Tarka, fished by Gordon, Thomas and Cameron Elder with a total of two Blue and one Black Marlin, with the latter angler taking the prize for the most billfish.
Second in the large boat stream was the team on Delta, Snoo Colville, Gina and Rene Faber, with a total of two Blue Marlin. Snoo hooked and fought another huge Blue Marlin, but this fish died on the line and was too heavy to bring in, so help was needed from the other anglers which sadly disqualified the catch from scoring. On the scales it weighed 289.3 kgs, thought perhaps to be the biggest Marlin ever landed at Kilifi, and it did give her the Chairman’s prize!
Elusive, with anglers Rojyan Taylor, Doug Rundgren and Tom Dames, came third with a Blue Marlin, and fourth was Alleycat, fished by J. and R. Francis and Sean Darnborough, also with a Blue Marlin.
In the small boat stream, Jon Cavanagh and Anne Taylor in Minerva came first with a Blue Marlin, and second was Blue Marlin, fished by Sean Garstin, Charles Rogers and Pan Sokhi. Leading Lady Angler was Gina Faber in the large boats, and Anne Taylor in the small boats.
At Shimoni, White Otter with angler Mr Mike caught a Black Marlin estimated at 160kgs, his biggest fish to date, but with green water and the current reversed running south conditions were poor for fishing. Diani also reported dirty green water and poor fishing.
Bagera at Mtwapa caught a Blue Marlin, but the seas were rough, while further north from Malindi, Neptune caught two Blue Marlin from four strikes and Snowgoose found two Sail on a short day, with Eclare scoring a Black and two Blue Marlin and a Sail in the previous five days. Tega had a daytime Swordfish, and a Blue Marlin the previous day, plus some big Dorado of 20 kgs.
At Watamu, Alleycat scored five Blues and a Sail in the week, Seastorm with John Lyle had a Blue Marlin and a Sail in the Haggard Mountains area, while Elusive had two Blues and six Sail. Tarka, with the Elder family had three Blues, three Blacks and a Stripey, including their Delamere Trophy score.
Photo Courtesy of Mnarani Fishing Club, Kilifi
Photo Courtesy of Tega
26th January 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Marlin fishing has been excellent last week, with fish plentiful in the Rips, and also good action in the Pemba Channel at Shimoni. Weather conditions good for fishing, obviously, with strong winds in the afternoons bringing the fish up and anglers hope it will continue this way!
Tarka, out from Watamu has had a very busy week, having released two Black, two Striped and four Blue Marlin, as well as four Sailfish during the week, while Alleycat has released three Stripeys, a Blue and a Sail during the week. Interesting to note that all three Marlin are being caught, as well as Sailfish and Broadbill Swordfish for those who are trying for these at night so there is a good chance of the fabled fantasy slam of all five Billfish in a trip.
Elusive, also from Watamu with regular angler Phil Revett, caught and released a nice Blue Marlin, and Alan McKittrick found two Sailfish on a short day, while Seastorm, from Hemingways, had a Stripey on the line for some time before it shook the hook, coming home with a nice Dorado.
Malindi boats have also been fishing the Rips, doing well with Billfish. Eclare did well last Friday, releasing three Blue Marlin, and following this up the next day with a Blue and a Striped Marlin. Both Snowgoose and Neptune found Blue Marlin, the latter a nice fish estimated at 150kgs, while all three boats had a further half dozen Marlin between them in the previous few days. Tega went one from one strike with Blue Marlin, and a Sail as well from the only strike they had.
Simba was fishing from the Pemba Channel Fishing Club with Jeremy Block, using fly tackle with a 10kg tippet, and they caught a Striped Marlin the first day, then two Stripeys the next day. Good fishing, as the Striped Marlin is a much stronger fighter than a Sailfish, as well as weighing two to three times as much. The same boat caught a Striped Marlin on conventional tackle on their journey north going home.
White Otter, fishing with veteran angler Mike, who has been coming here for fifteen years, caught three Stripeys from the four strikes he had, with his total score now approaching 200 Billfish – quite an achievement!
At Diani the water was reported green and dirty, but Shuwari, which went out for a couple of hours to charge the batteries, caught a nice 26kg Wahoo with Issa Bockle.
Photo Courtesy of Elusive
Photo Courtesy of Tega
19th January 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Diani Classic was fished last weekend out from Nomads at Diani, and resulted in an easy win for local boat Shuwari, fished by Bryan Matiba and his cousins, Tai, Leo and Taru Mwanto. On the first day they were in the lead with three Sailfish released and four Dorado, and this was followed by releasing a Blue and a Striped Marlin the second day to clinch first place.
Instedda came second with a Blue Marlin, estimated at 160 kgs, and a Sail released, plus a nice 22kg Wahoo with anglers Harm and Selina Lutjeboer, John Buckle, Imran Khan and Kai. Harm caught the biggest fish, while Selina took the Ladies prize. Third was Furaha, fished by Tony Venturi and Sehzan Khan with three Sail released, while No Way won the small boat prize and Josh Vickers took the junior Angler prize. Several other Sail were caught and some Marlin lost by the thirteen boats entered.
The week before the tournament, Shuwari had a Stripey and a Sail, the first billfish for Tony from Base Titanium. On an overnight trip, the same boat caught a Striped Marlin for Dr Hakim, and another day saw Neville Shernas from Base Titanium, landing a 172kg Black Marlin which had swallowed the hook, a problem with using live bait.
From Mombasa, What it Takes caught two Sail from two strikes with 17-year-old skipper Jameel Khan – they also lost a Blue and saw some other Marlin.
At Mtwapa Tin Tin Tu found a Sailfish for first time angler Jamie Jennings, while Bahari Kuu, Smuggler and Bagera also found Sailfish.
Fishing has remained good on the Rips further north, from Watamu and Malindi. Alleycat has had a very good week releasing two Black and six Striped Marlin, while a Blue Marlin which died on the line was boated. They also released five Sailfish, and weighed in a very big Wahoo, at 31kgs, and some Dorado. Tarka also has done well, with a ten-day tally of four Black and four Striped Marlin, two Broadbill and five Sail, while Seastorm found a Striped Marlin and some Wahoo.
From Malindi Snowgoose found a Stripey and a Sailfish, with Neptune scoring a Striped Marlin last Friday. Neptune found a Stripey and Eclare released two Blue Marlin the next day, all in the Rips, so this area has been very productive in the last week.
12th January 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The New Year has seen the Marlin fishing in the Rips off Watamu/Malindi running hot, with good catches of both Striped and Blue marlin as well as some Sailfish. The weather continues calm, though there have been some windy nights, with moderate seas but good fishing conditions.
From Watamu, Alleycat has had a good week with catches of four Striped Marlin, two Blue Marlin and two Sail all released, and they boated a good 21kg Dorado as well. Tarka finished the old year with three Striped Marlin on the last day of the year, and came in more recently with flags for a Marlin and a Sailfish on a short day, but we have not had a recent report from the boat – they must be leading the Marlin race by a comfortable margin but it is early days with the main marlin season over the next three months.
Instedda also has been doing well, after their victory in the Xmas competition, with a Blue Marlin and three Sail on Jan 2nd, and a Blue and a Striped Marlin on the 4th, as well as a huge 32kg Wahoo. Seastorm, from Hemingways, fished four days for Rodney Kyle, Christian and Samantha Bain, finding a Blue and a Striped Marlin their first day, followed by two disappointing days with no fish seen. But a Striped Marlin the last day, put them back on track, three Marlin in four days is good fishing! Your scribe, many years ago, had a client who had tried for 17 years before he landed his first Marlin!
From Malindi, Tega last Thursday found a Striped Marlin from their only strike, while on Friday they released both a Stripey and a Blue Marlin from the only strikes they had, a good catch percentage!. Neptune had a grand slam, two Marlin and a Sailfish for a good start to the year, all these fish being caught in the Rips so if the weather holds good we can expect exciting fishing in the area, which usually peaks in February and March with the bigger fish arriving then.
The Diani Classic is being fished this weekend, with a Yamaha 9.9 hp outboard from Captain Andy’s among the great range of prizes, and the following Monday and Tuesday will feature a boat show at the Diani Shopping Centre, with the latest range of boats, engines and tackle on display from Captain Andy’s.
Photo Courtesy of Instedda
5th January 2019
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Xmas Competition at Watamu, sponsored by Captain Andy’s, was won by Instedda, fished by Harm Lutjeboer, sons Luuk and Leon, Imran Moosa and Kaai.
The team had a massive lead after the first day when they caught a Blue and a Striped Marlin and two Sailfish , all caught by Harm who won the Top Angler award, and followed this the second day with another Sail plus a 20.5kg Dorado, the latter fish getting the Junior Angler prize for 10 year old Leon. Their total of 480 points put them well ahead of second placed boat, No Way, fished by Nick and Alex Haller and Martyn Matiba with a Blue Marlin caught by Nick. No Way, a 23ft Yamaha, also won the Small Boat prize.
28 boats took part, with ten of these small boats (23ft and under), with all the latter equipped with Yamaha engines. The weather was fine and calm, with four Marlin and sixteen Sail caught the first day, and seven Marlin and five Sail on the second day.
Third placed boat was Unreel, fished by Pete Baldwin, Ben Youngs, David Sharples and skipper Rob Hellier, with two Striped Marlin, caught by David and Rob, and a dorado, and Pussycat was fourth, with Andy Adams catching a Black Marlin and James Taylor two Sail. Oddysey was fifth with a Blue Marlin and a Sail.
The Ladies prize went to Kavita Vohora on Neptune for her Blue Marlin. Karl on Albatross boated a Blue Marlin of 135kgs which died on the line –this loses points over a tagged and released fish, but all the other billfish were released.
A fun competition with plenty of fish and anglers can now look forward to the Diani Samaki Classic over the weekend of 12th/13th January – also sponsored by Capt Andy’s with a top prize of a 9.9 hp Yamaha outboard engine.
At Mtwapa, there were Sailfish around, Nala catching three and Bageera four this week. Previously, the Kilifi Xmas completion was won by Jordan in the big boat category with Cold Shoulder second, while Bingo with a Black Marlin won the small boat category with Minerva second.
Alleycat at Watamu has found seven Sailfish in the last week, and also landed a very big Dorado of 22kgs. These fish are very strong fighters, leaping spectacularly from the water, and there seem to be some big ones around at the moment.
22nd December 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
With the holiday season here now, Sailfish seem plentiful in most areas, with the waters off Malindi running hot and big catches are being recorded, while Marlin are being found by those anglers looking for them.
Unreel moved up from Watamu to stay at Che Shale and released eight Sailfish in the day. This is right opposite where the main concentration of Sail are at the moment, so staying there cuts out the trip from base and the longer time fishing obviously pays off! Last week, skipper Rob Hellier found three Sail on fly tackle for Garry Cullen, so the boat doing well.
Neptune has been beached for repainting, and caught six Sailfish on her first outing and boats are also making good catches of Wahoo and Yellowfin.
At Watamu, Alleycat found a Black Marlin, which was fought and released on stand-up tackle by a 13yr old angler. It took almost two hours, a great achievement for a youngster, On another day, the boat had three Sailfish and a Giant Trevally released, and caught Yellowfin up to 20 kgs. Instedda had three Sail released plus a 15kg Wahoo, with 12yr old Sakira, Saddika and Mohamed Rashid. Seastorm with Ali and friends, tagged four Sail at Ngomeni one day, while a trip near the Boiling Pot produced one Sail, a Wahoo, a Kingfish and several Yellowfin.
Sand Dollar tagged a Blue Marlin for angler Joseph Ottiger, his first Marlin – the boat has been finding Marlin regularly around the Rips.
Calvin du Plessis, skipper of Tega at Malindi, has achieved great distinction in being awarded the prestigious Leading Skipper in the Indian Ocean for numbers of Broadbill Swordfish tagged this last year. This award is made annually by the Billfish Foundation, the international organisation coordinating the tagging programmes. Many congratulations, Calvin.
What it Takes at Mombasa raised three Sailfish, but the fish were difficult and not one stayed hooked but they caught three Wahoo and some Dorado on a short trip the previous day.
The Christmas tournament at Watamu runs on the 28th/29th December and a good entry is expected, as this is perhaps the most popular tournament, with small boats having an advantage as boats are handicapped on their length.
The top prize is a Yamaha 9.9hp four- stroke outboard engine, and there is a Raymarine prize and a great array of other prizes, and a good party always follows the weigh-in.
15th December 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
Reports in of good fishing all along the coast.
Although the north-east wind has not really settled yet into a strong blow, fishing has been good all along the coast. A heavy storm on Wednesday would indicate that the rains are not yet over, but all the signs are that it should develop into a good season for anglers.
Simba, from Watamu, took regular fly-fishing angler Garry Cullen out for three days, and they tagged and released nine Sailfish using 10kg tippet fishing the Malindi/Mambrui area. Commented skipper Mark Allen –‘ it was good to see these numbers of Sail around again, just like old times!’ Instedda, also fishing the same area, released eleven Sail in two days with traditional techniques, so let’s hope this run of Sailfish continues in the area.
Fishing the Rips, Sand Dollar tagged another Marlin with angler Simon Venn, this week a Striped Marlin after their blue last week, while Alleycat has also been chasing Marlin in the Rips. Luck was not with them, however as although they raised three Marlin they all fell off on the strike – but that is how fishing goes! Compensation came with finding Yellowfin Tuna in the southern Rips, with 24 caught in three days. They tagged a Sail, and also had some good Wahoo and Dorado. Tarka had a good week, releasing a Black Marlin around 100kgs, and finding four Sail on a couple of days, with Yellowfin up to 40kgs and some Wahoo.
At Diani, Shuwari did a night trip and ended with a Broadbill each for anglers Richard Glaser and pal Lutz, a first for both of them. Action was good till 9.30pm with plenty of strikes, but then a thunderstorm blew up and put all the fish down, and they saw no more that night!
From Mombasa, What it Takes has been testing after the off season overhaul, while they tagged a Sailfish and found some Yellowfin, Dorado and Wahoo - so now are ready for the holiday season when the boat usually moves to Watamu.
With the holiday season upon us most areas have competitions over Christmas, while one of the most popular tournaments, the Captain Andy’s Watamu Tournament runs over the two days Dec 28th/29th. With a formula handicap based on the boats length, this gives smaller boats a good chance- they have won top prize on several occasions including last year, and there is always a magnificent range of prizes.
Photo Courtesy of Alleycat
Photo Courtesy of Instedda
8th December 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
Good conditions for fishing on the Kenya coast.
The kaskazi, the wind from the north-east, seems to have stabilised, and the effect on the billfish has been very favourable with Marlin being found around the Rips, while the run of Sailfish at Malindi continues to produce good catches daily. The weather remains good with winds firm but not too strong, while there is little sign of rain – good conditions for anglers.
Out from Watamu Alleycat lost a nice Black Marlin estimated at 200kgs, but the next day they caught and released both a Blue and a Striped Marlin around the Rips. Earlier they had a couple of good days chasing Yellowfin, finding seven up to 30kgs. Simon Venn, in Sand Dollar, caught and released a Blue Marlin in the Rips, and more boats will soon be seeking these Marlin as a variation from the Sailfish at Malindi.
Sailfish continue to be caught at Malindi , with Snowgoose finding five and Eclare six at the beginning of the week, while Unreel from Watamu has been fishing around Mambrui and has released thirty Sail in nine days of action. Tega found a Sailfish for eleven year old Brendan, his first, and the next day they tried popping, catching several good Tuna and a Kingfish.
Seastorm, from Hemingways, tagged two Sail for Holiger Egeses, and they had the added thrill of a Black Marlin jumping on the line for ten minutes before the fish was lost. Instedda tagged two Sail with Sara Harazi plus a couple of Wahoo, while Albatross has also caught Sailfish.
Elusive ran up to Kiwaiyu and using the ‘bait and switch’ technique with circle hooks, found four Sailfish on several days, and catching Giant Trevally on poppers. Back in Watamu, skipper Callum has targeted Yellowfin with live baits finding plenty averaging twenty kgs.
Ray Matiba from Diani reports Eloise Scarpellini on Shuwari caught the biggest fish by a lady with her Barracuda in the Eye Go Fishing competition, while on White Dove, Mark Heywood, had the biggest fish for a man with his Wahoo. Also on White Dove, Tim Jackson on a night trip caught his first fish, a Broadbill, then followed with a Sailfish on the run home for his second fish ever.
What a catch to start one’s fishing career!
On Shuwari, James Mott took his nine year old son out - both caught Sailfish, his son his first, satisfyingly bigger than Dad’s!
Photos Courtesy of Calvin Du Plessis (Tega)
Photo Courtesy of Imraan Moosa (Instedda)
1st December 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
A week ago the winds started to change and the Sailfish really turned on in the Malindi area. Kiwaiyu also saw the Sailfish around in quantity, but the wind soon changed back, slowing things down, but then went back to the north-east – this variation is normal at this time of year until the wind settles down.
At Malindi the Kingfisher boats had a terrific day last Friday with Neptune and Snowgoose catching eight Sailfish, while Eclare found seven. Tega caught two Sail from two strikes one day, and one Sail from two strikes on a half-day.
Seastorm from Hemingways at Watamu, also spent several days fishing in the Mambrui area, with angler Robert Urthaler tagging seven Sail in three days. Andrew and Libby Mcdonald had six Sail and Michael Reed and Melvin Yardley had two Sail - all these were regular repeat anglers. Koel Klifton and his wife, visiting from South Africa for the snake venom seminar currently being held, also tagged two Sail.
Alleycat had a good week, finding seven Sail both at Mambrui and the Watamu banks, plus good mixed bags of Wahoo, Kingfish, Barracuda and Dorado, and they also released two Striped Marlin, hooked in the Outer Mountains area, a good sign that the Marlin run might be beginning around the Rips. Sand Dollar released two Sailfish, and found four Wahoo and a Dorado.
At Kiwaiyu, Jeremy Block finished ten days of fly fishing releasing twenty-three Sail on his fly tackle, while Cold Shoulder and Privateer, up on safari from Kilifi, found a couple of Sailfish each, and Henry Henley released two Sailfish on fly, along with catching several eating fish. White Mischief finished their trip with twenty-two Sailfish released in total.
The Eye Go Fishing competition, held at Mtwapa to raise funds for the Kwale Eye Centre, ended with Nala in first place with two Sail for Mario and Tony, while Minoli was second and Tin Tin Tan third. Eighteen boats took part, mostly coming from Mombasa. Fish were in short supply with Wahoo and Kingfish around, and a nice 23 kg Yellowfin was weighed.
Simba ran down from Watamu to Shimoni with angler Mark Smith, where they released a Striped Marlin - the first of the season at the Pemba Channel Fishing Club. The Marlin were not around in quantity, but this should change as the NE wind starts to blow.
29th November 2018
Our Chairman Rick Bate and Pam Duff came 2nd in the Malindi Masala Karoga competition which was held last weekend at Malindi Dream Gardens. Rick produced a delicious lamb curry and Pam a wonderful pineapple curry. This was the first time that MSFC had competed having hosted the event back in September. What a great achievement and fantastic result, even more so as they were the only amateur cooks in the competition. Well done to both of them.
24th November 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Sailfish are plentiful around Lamu and Kiwayu and November is the month when visiting anglers converge on this area, especially fly casters. Jeremy Block had one of the best days ever, fishing on Cheza from Manda Bay, when they raised 41 Sailfish, managed to cast at 21 of these fish, hooking up with13 and eventually catching and releasing eight Sail, under IGFA rules on a 10kg tippet fly rod.
This is the best individual effort along the Kenya coast at this sport, and an amazing result for this is a difficult art, very different from normal trolling procedures, as the fish are raised on hookless teasers, and the engines have to be out of gear before the anglers is allowed to cast the fly at the fish.
The previous day the same angler on a small boat, Pretty Fly, hooked into seven Sail from 25 raised and caught two, while the day after, the weather had changed to a dead calm sea, and only one fish was raised and caught.
White Mischief, at Kiwaiyu on a safari from Watamu found six Sailfish by traditional trolling methods, including a first for Yamaha representative, Mr Sakaki, visiting from Japan.
At Watamu, Sean and Callum went out for a few hours in a dinghy casting poppers at Yellowfin Tuna. These fish have been very hard to hook recently and this technique proved very successful as they scored four Tuna with the biggest at 29kgs. A great catch on spinning tackle, but it needs accomplished anglers particularly in playing the fish.
At Kilifi, Anne Taylor and Jon Cavanagh were out in Minerva trolling near the Vipingo Mountains, when Anne hooked into a Marlin which then came off. The long line then went off, probably with the same fish and Jon hooked the fish and fought it for an hour, before it was duly tagged and released, a Blue Marlin estimated at 70kgs – but this was the only fish they saw!
Neptune, from Malindi, caught six Sailfish while Eclare found two, on fly tackle, as well as a 25kg cobia, so fishing improving here.
The previous week, Alleycat took angler Chris Barnes out for a night trip targeting Broadbill, and from two strikes Chris duly caught and released a Swordfish of about 55kgs. This completed the angler’s search to catch all six different species of billfish in the Indian Ocean, a great performance!
17th November 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The wind is still set from the south as we reach mid November and anglers are waiting for the seasonal swing to the north-east wind, the kaskazi, to activate the fish and bring in the Marlin particularly. It continues dry with little sign of the short rains, and seas remain calm.
Alleycat took out Chris Barnes in search of Broadbill, and he successfully caught one from the two strikes he had, a fish estimated at 55kgs. Thus he achieved his ambition, to catch all six different species of billfish in the Indian Ocean, a great performance – well done, Chris.
Tega, from Malindi, took a party of keen anglers jigging and popping and in two days ended up with fifteen different species of fish! Among them seven species of Trevally, and Yellowfin Tuna up to 20kgs. Fun fishing!
Photo Courtesy of Pete Darnborough (Alleycat)
Eclare fishing north of Ngomeni for two days raised about 30 Sailfish from which they caught nine, so it seems this area north to Lamu is still the best bet for Sailfish.
At Lamu, Simba took Monica and Richard out for four days with Sail daily, their best day tagging five. Then with Garry Cullen out from Manda, four Sail were tagged in three days, using fly tackle with a 10 kg tippet but the Sail were hard to hook as the water was green and the fish full of small baitfish.
Hemingways at Watamu had two groups of anglers from South Africa out in two boats for several days. Although a dozen Sailfish were raised, only one was caught, along with Yellowfin and Wahoo. A trip to the North Kenya Banks overnight produced one Broadbill strike, and several good Tuna were caught up to 35kgs. Sean Darnborough and friends found three Yellowfin casting with spinning rods in their dinghy on a afternoon trip, but the Tuna were not taking the usual Halco lures.
At Diani Shuwari found Yellowfin, Wahoo and Dorado for Lucy Supkova and her father Milos - both a Black Marlin and a Sail were raised to the baits but the fish were not interested. On another trip, Ola from Norway and friend Raymond found five good Dorado. Fishing with Jeremy Block on fly tackle for Broadbill at night, one fish was raised which seized the teaser line and ran off a lot of line, then dropped it – but did not strike at the fly!
10th November 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
There have not been many trips recently, as clients are still in short supply, but while Sailfish still seems to be best in the Lamu area, some Sail are around off Watamu and Malindi, with the Banks at Watamu producing some Wahoo and Tuna. Marlin are few and far between with the calmer weather, and we wait now for that change in the wind to the north-east monsoon, the kaskazi to bring the Marlin in.
Neptune had a productive trip to Lamu with nineteen Sailfish over five days, seven of these caught on the last day as they ran back to Malindi. November and early December are usually the best months for Sailfish off Malindi so we shall see if catches improve in that area in the coming weeks.
At Watamu, Unreel had a good day with regular angler Phil Revett, finding a Sail, three Wahoo with the biggest at 20kgs, a couple of Kingfish and a Dorado. On a short trip with the Roberts family they also tagged another Sail while out to watch dolphins. The whales seem to have moved on now as they migrate back south. Alleycat found a good Tuna one day, and a couple of Wahoo, but Billfish eluded them.
Photo Courtesy of Calvin Du Plessis (Tega)
Tega, fishing from Malindi, ran down to Watamu to jig along the Banks, where they caught plenty of Trevally, Amberjack and Grouper, as well as a Barracuda, while many fish were lost to Sharks after being hooked. This is a popular method of fishing these days, with the boat drifting and the anglers lowering their jigs and stickbaits to the bottom, then jigging the lures up and down. This can be a productive method of angling, particularly when seas are very calm and surface action is slow. They also had some sailfish strikes outside Malindi en route, so a busy day for them.
At Diani action seems slow with the water a dirty green. Yellowfin Tuna are around but they seem impossible to catch, and skippers hope that the water will clean up and the fish resume feeding on their lures!
3rd November 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
After the heavy rain last week the weather improved, and we now have gentle breezes and calm seas. Lamu is still the hot spot for sailfish with visiting boats doing well. No Way, a Yamaha 23 dinghy fished by the Haller family had a great morning last Monday catching and tagging six sail from the nine they raised, while Tarka released seven sail, having raised about forty in the day! Cheza, from Manda Bay, had five sailfish, so it looks as if this is the place to be at the moment, and we expect these sailfish to move south towards Malindi as the month progresses.
At Watamu, Barney Engels and Sean Darnborough out in their small dinghy caught yellowfin tuna and a kingfish around the Banks, losing a lot to sharks – a huge bull shark, estimated at almost 300 kgs, ate a tuna off the line right at the boat! Luckily, the shark, almost the size of their boat, then swam away! Unreel found a 26kg yellowfin and a 20kg wahoo at the beginning of the week, also on the banks, while Seastorm had a wahoo on a morning trip.
Shuwari from Diani had four wahoo one day, surprising in dirty pea green water, as this species usually likes clean blue water. The heavy rain could have left dirty water as a sheet over cleaner water deeper down, but the area is full of whitebait and sardines, and the sailfish and tuna in the area are full of these and not hungry.
A good story, where a crewman on Luna, fishing off Chale was pulling in a bait to clear weed off it, when a wahoo following leapt up from the water between the engines and straight into the boat. It just grazed an ankle of one of the clients as it slid into the cabin – fortunately, no one was hurt, as a wahoo has razor-like teeth and with an open mouth it is a formidable missile!
The African Billfish Foundation supplies tags to skippers, and they recorded 505 billfish tagged last season. Tags are free to members, while non-members are charged $2 each per tag. Boat owners are urged to become members and support this foundation, as many billfish are just released without tagging, but much useful scientific information is obtained from recovered tags. Some of the fish have travelled a thousand miles or more!
Photo Courtesy of Dany Haller
Photo Courtesy of Barney Engels
27th October 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The wind swung to the east with gentle breezes last weekend, conditions which brought the Sailfish up for the Malindi International Festival, and the eleven boats competing caught twelve sail in total, with many others raised and lost.
Instedda, fished by Ndolo, Imran and Baisa, tagged and released four Sailfish on the second day, out of the seven they raised to give them the top place overall. They also had a Wahoo to total 647.7 points and their win qualifies them for a place in the 2019 World Offshore Championships in Costa Rica.
Second place went to the team on Neptune, Nick and Angie Jooste and skipper Angus Paul, with three Sailfish, to total 532 pts. Third placed was the Tega team, Marcus Hoeppler and skipper Calvin du Plessis who caught a Broadbill Swordfish using the long drop, daytime method of fishing for this species, giving them 500pts, a fish for which Marcus was awarded Top Angler as well as the Herbie Paul Memorial Trophy, for the best angling effort.
Eclare and Snowgoose had two sail each, while Alleycat found a single – while Shantori with Rick Bate and Roger Sylvester was the top private boat and the competition was much enjoyed by all.
Photo Courtesy of Imraan Moosa, Instedda
The two light-line competitions were held before the main tournament, with the Churchill Trophy on Thursday being won by Tarka, with a Sailfish, three Kingfish and a Wahoo. Second was Unreel, which had a Black Marlin hooked on 6kg line, but the line popped after a few jumps while Seyyida was third.The Morson Cup, on Friday, with only Billfish scoring, went to Seyyida, with Bruce Buckland and skipper David Darnborough fishing, with Bruce catching a Sailfish on 4kg line. This was the only billfish, so the remaining boats did not score.
Tarka and Simba have been fishing at Lamu, and finding plenty of Sailfish daily – Tarka’s best score was ten on Tuesday. But the weather turned nasty, rough and windy, keeping the boats in harbour. At Watamu, Seastorm has had a few trips, with four sail and a Bull Shark estimated at 220 kgs, around the Boiling Pot area, and mixed bags. Shuwari, at Diani, found a Sailfish for Tim Rankin and Michael Poulter from Australia, while John Stansfield and friends saw Marlin fall off after a few jumps but caught Wahoo, while the Burgers family from South Africa also had a Sailfish and three Wahoo.
Malindi International Festival Results
22nd October 2018
Yesterday concluded four days of consecutive fishing tournaments hosted by the club. We had eleven boats fishing in the Malindi International Festival over the weekend, the oldest fishing tournament on the coast of Kenya, and a qualifying event for the Offshore World Championship.
With the winds having changed, the Sailfish seemed to be back in our waters, with lots of boats raising them and having bites. Instedda, fished by Ndolo, Imran and Baisa, caught 4 Sailfish on the second day, plus a wahoo, leaving them with top boat of the competition on 647.7 points. This has secured them a place in 2019 Offshore World Championship in Costa Rica, well done to Captain, crew and anglers.
Neptune, Captained by Angus Paul and fished by Nick and Angie Jooste, placed second with 3 Sailfish and several small fish, giving them 532 points over all. Marcus Hoeppler, fishing on Tega captained by Calvin Du Plessis, won top angler for his daytime Broadbill, which he managed to catch in the last few hours of the tournament. This also won him the Herbie Paul Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the fisherman who went through the most effort to catch their fish, and placed the boat third overall.
Both Eclare and Snowgoose caught two sailfish and Alleycat caught one. Well done to all boats and a huge thank you to all involved, especially our sponsors who without your support a lot of this would not have been possible. Full report to follow later this week by Captain Andy's and David Slater.
1st Place with 647.7 points
2nd Place with 532 points
3rd Place with 500 points
With the Herbie Paul Memorial Trophy
Malindi Festival starts – but are the Sailfish around?
20th October 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
The Malindi Festival kicked off Thursday, with the Churchill Trophy, a light-line formula competition, followed on Friday with another light-line day, the Morson Cup, and the main two day competition over the Saturday/Sunday weekend. There has been little fishing at Malindi in the last week or two, so we don’t know if the sailfish are around, but there are always some sail to be found in the area, and they will be the main target species. Yellowfin tuna are reported to be plentiful in most areas, but have been very hook-shy and hard to catch recently, but this could change.
At Watamu, Peter Baldwin from Uganda and his pal David Sharpless from UK, spent six days in his Yamaha W23 fishing with light spinning tackle. Perhaps the most notable catch was a 36kg yellowfin, caught by David, eventually boated after a 45 minute fight with the fish stripping off 270 metres of line, a great catch on this light tackle. They had six other yellowfin, averaging 15kgs, and fifteen giant trevally jigging, a kingfish and even one sailfish running from the Rips to the Canyons. Great fun, and they will be back again at Xmas and at Easter.
Unreel found two sail at Watamu, plus a wahoo and a tuna with Jim Ross while Alleycat had a day with tuna and wahoo. The Murray family out in their Lakini, saw Lochy Murray catching a sailfish , estimated at 30 kgs on stand-up tackle, a great catch for an 11 year old.
Neptune and Eclare ran up to Lamu from Malindi, using casting tackle with jigs and poppers , They had a most successful six day trip, with Tarek Sarouni catching his ambition, a giant trevally over 50 kgs. The fish was estimated at between 55 and 60 kgs and was released, otherwise it might have been a Kenya record.
Casting at fish is becoming a popular method of fishing, and can be more effective than the traditional trolling methods, especially when the fish are shy. Tuna especially can be put down by the boat engines, but sneaking up quietly, and then casting poppers and stick-baits at the surface feeding fish can be successful when all else fails! It is also more hands-on for the angler, requiring greater skills than sitting watching lures being trolled!
Morson Cup Results
19th October 2018
Today saw five boats compete in the Morson Cup, our second light line competition of the week, however this time only Billfish counted. Seyyida, captained by Dave Darnborough, raised 8 Sailfish and with Bruce Buckland managing to land the one and only Billfish of the tournament on 4kg line. Although other boats did see Sailfish they didn’t appear to be biting today.
Tomorrow sees the start of the two day Malindi International Festival and we expect a good turn out of boats. Tight lines to all involved.
Churchill Trophy Results
18th October 2018
The Churchill Trophy kicked off today; the first in a series of tournaments running for the next four days at the fishing club. The Churchill is a light line tournament, with anglers being allowed to fish on 10kg line or below. This year saw four boats compete and with the wind having swung to the East it looks like the Billfish, in particular Sailfish, are making an appearance once again. All four boats saw Billfish, with Unreel, captained by Rob Hellier, raising a Black Marlin during the morning on 6kg; sadly after two jumps the line popped. Tarka, captained by Callum Looman, managed to raise 3 Sailfish, all on live bait and 8kg line, catching one but losing the others. She still secured top boat having also caught 3 Kingfish and a Wahoo. Unreel was second with a Barracuda and a Jobfish, Seyyida, third, with 2 Dorado and Eclare fourth with a Wahoo.
Tomorrow is the Morson Cup, light line again but only Billfish count towards points. We look forward to seeing what the boats catch, tight lines to all.
Malindi International Festival start of the tournament season
13th October 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
Next weekend sees four days of fishing as the Malindi International Festival kicks off the tournament season along the coast. A change this year is that two light line competitions will be held, with Thursday 18th October holding the Churchill Trophy, for light lines of 10kg breaking strain and under, on formula, where the weight of the catch is divided by the strength of the line on which the fish is caught. All species of recognised gamefish can score.
Friday 19th is the Morson Trophy, with the same line configuration, but with only billfish scoring points, while Saturday 20th/ Sunday 21st is the main tournament, using any size lines and all species counting. This is the oldest tournament in our fishing calendar, dating back to 1959. Sailfish are generally the main target species, but this year could be different as big yellowfin tuna are around and sail so far have been in short supply.
Photo Courtesy of Angela Habermann
This has always been a popular tournament, with plenty of anglers returning every year, although small private boats are not as plentiful as they were. However, with the weather holding fine and seas not rough, a good entry is expected.
Not many trips have been reported this week, with Alleycat, from Watamu, finding some nice yellowfin, mainly in the Rips. Their best day scored eleven with the biggest weighing in at 40kgs – hard work catching fish like this as yellowfin are one of the hardest fighters in the ocean. Another day with Sean Darnborough, on the same boat had one fish caught on casting tackle, while others were attracted to the Halco lures, similar to the better- known Rappalas, but made in Australia. Seastorm had a day in the Rips, finding 60 kgs of yellowfin and dorado. All boats report plenty of yellowfin around, but very hard to catch.
Callum Looman, skipper of Tarka from Watamu, went down to the Latham Island tournament in Dar-es-Salaam, to skipper a local boat and came second overall.. No Kenya boats were fishing this year.
At Diani, Shuwari has had a few trips, catching one sailfish, with mixed bags of yellowfin, wahoo and dorado – fishing has been slow but picking up recently. Other areas have not sent in reports - whether not going out or not catching anything can only be guessed.
UPDATE FOR OCTOBER COMPETITIONS
9th October 2018
The website has recently been updated for the up and coming competitions (18th-21st October) and you can now find the programme of events, the rules for all three competitions and sign up sheets on both the Homepage and Upcoming Tournament section. If you wish to sign up, please fill in the forms and send to Charles at info@malindiseafishingclub.com
Fishing Quiet Along the Coast
6th October 2018
Written by David Slater for Captain Andy's
There are very few reports of fishing this week, although the weather continues fine after the one day of heavy rain last week, so perhaps the short rains are still ahead of us.
At Watamu Alleycat has had a few trips, with good catches of wahoo, kingfish and some yellowfin. A wahoo of 25kgs and a kingfish of 26kgs one day shows these fish are running to a good size on the Banks, and another day they found a giant trevally and some yellowfin. A black marlin was raised to a live bait, but as is often the case, the fish was not hungry and did not take the bait, and they also had a couple of sail strikes, but no hook-ups. The seas have been calm and billfish especially take better when it is windy with a ruffled surface, but there are not as many billfish around this area as before, which is to be expected as September is behind us. Seastorm from Hemingways has only had one morning trip this week, catching baitfish only.
No Way, the Haller’s small boat from Mtwapa ran up to Lamu and found sailfish on the way, catching two from four strikes. We hope to hear how they fared later as Lamu seems to be the hotspot for sailfish at the moment. October and November are the peak months in this area, and several regulars, particularly fly fishermen, will be fishing there soon, often concentrating on Kiwaiyu.
The Malindi Festival, the first major tournament of the season, is due over the holiday weekend, 20th/21st Oct, although I have not had any details yet. No news from Malindi this week, either, perhaps the boats not going out, and nothing from Mombasa or south – there seems to be a big shortage of clients in the charter trade, so we hope for an upsurge in activity in coming weeks.
Photo Courtesy of No Way - Sailfish