Toby Amies in Watamu doing a bit of fishing from Pete Darnborough's boat Alleycat
Alleycat, Watamu
Jane's giant trevally on Alleycat
1st April 2001 New power boat school opening Written by David Slater
For many years there have been articles criticising the fact that in Kenya anyone could get a boat, and without any training or experience whatsoever take out tourists and other paying clients on the seas and lakes. This has now changed with the passing of the Maritime Act 2009, and any person driving a boat requires an approved certificate.
Until now, there has been no place locally where leisure boat skippers could get formal training to a suitable standard, although some fleet owners have imported instructors to conduct private courses. But this has changed with the opening of the Indian Ocean Powerboat School, IOPS, and everyone involved in boats, for leisure, fishing and the tourism industry should have formal training themselves and get their skippers and mates trained and certificated to make boating safer and more fun.Such training greatly reduces chances of a serious accident, while owners must consider the serious legal implications of an accident with an unqualified captain.
IOPS, a fully accredited overseas Royal Yachting Association training centre, now offers such training, based at Capt Andy's Creek Marina, Nyali, with competent and professional instructors. The RYA, which has been established for over 130 years, has 2,300 training centres in 41 countries around the world and develops courses internationally renowned and respected and up to date on safety issues, regulations and emergency trends, and initially the Powerboat Level 2 Certificate is offered.This is a two day course with practical training in Tudor Creek which gives the candidates the relevant skills and confidence to drive a motor boat. This is fun on the water and families can come too, while successful candidates can also apply for the International Certificate of Competence through IOPS. An advanced course, involving going offshore and night work, will soon be offered by June, and instructors will be able to teach at other locations, such as Lake Victoria. Try their interesting website www.iops.co.ke
The fishing scene has been quieter with fewer trips this last week, but the fish are there - big fish, too, as witnessed by Mark Faulkner out with veteran skipper Pete Darnborough in Alleycat, when a huge blue marlin crashed a lure on heavy 60kg tackle and ran away with 800 metres of line down to the knot on the reel spool, despite chasing hard in the boat. It is an amazing, if frustrating, experience for skipper and angler to be 'spooled' like this, but what a monster this must have been!
Next day the angler tagged a black marlin around 90kgs, on this his first trip to Kenya, so both a marlin and a great story! Clueless did well also, with a blue marlin and two sail released, and Simba tagged a blue marlin for Tim Allen, so there are still billfish about in the Rips, while closer in on the Banks there has been a good run of wahoo, Vuma catching seven one day, and White Bear four as well as five dorado, building up although no rain has fallen here yet, fishing should continue until Easter with skippers and crews looking forward to their well earned rest.while Ol Jogi found a couple of sail as well as eight wahoo. These latter are tasty table fare, often described as kingfish from which they are barely distinguishable on the butcher's slab, and at present are averaging about ten kgs - they run very fast and fight well on light tackle, and when one hits a shoal, their razor teeth take a very heavy toll of one's best lures!
With the winds gentle but starting to veer south of east, and clouds building up although no rain has fallen here yet, fishing should continue until Easter with skippers and crews looking forward to their well earned rest.
25th March 2011
The Mike Dunford Tournament was held at the Tamarind Mombasa last weekend, and for the eighteen boats that entered from as far north as Watamu and Diani down south it proved great fishing, with a total of three black and one blue marlin and nine sailfish, and good catches of smaller fish, dorado, wahoo, tuna, barracuda and kingfish spread through nearly all the boats.Norman Kitonga, from Capt Andy's Fishing, caught the first billfish by 8.20am, a black marlin of 70kgs on Taru, just three miles out from Nyali beach, his first fish on his first outing - well done!
With Steve Rodwell (to whom thanks for this report) and Max Donner in the team, this gave them top spot in the Open Boat sector.Delta, fished by Hugh and Justin Walters and Sean McGovern, came first in the Professional stream with four sailfish, Justin and Sean with two sail each winning prizes in the Junior sector, and they were closely followed by the team on Centa, Irene Masai, David Chepkonga and Hassan Habit, which landed the biggest fish, a black marlin of 141kgs. Bahari Kuu with a tagged black marlin was third and Kipapa tagged a blue marlin.In the amateur stream, Instedda with Imran Moosa, Meraj Issa and Ali al Harazi took first place, followed by Tudor Home Boys with Peter Vaz, and Bado with Bob and Alex Brenneisen and Anne Taylor, the latter winning the Lady's prize with her 10kg dorado.
Mike Kirkland in Matilai, which came second in the Open Boat sector, would have put his team amongst the winners had a nice black marlin he was playing on 10kg line not come off, which could also have won the Dick Chater Light Line trophy, which was not awarded eventually.Thanks to sponsors Seaforth Shipping, Yara, Satao Camp and Tamarind Mombasa, and nearly 300,000/- was raised for the Kenya Society for the Blind in an event much enjoyed by all.At Malindi, the Penn Challenge continued, won by the Double Dutch team whose last day fishing on Tarka proved their best with two striped marlin, a sail and a shark.
Kipapa took top boat honours, with Snark second and Snowgoose third. They all plan a bigger tournament next year!Leo Haak followed up his amazing day last week on Neptune with a 150kg blue marlin and a 100kg black marlin three days later, while Tina had a 100kg black marlin for Keith Hill from South Africa, as well as a sail and a 20kg giant trevally - his first black and first GT in many years of fishing!
Snowgoose found a black marlin and a sailfish, plus eleven wahoo, a kingfish and a dorado, and on Snark Con Jooste and his nephew Donovan had a 80kg black marlin on a light rod one day, then next day a double header of sailfish both on fly rods for an exciting experience!
Good fishing continues at Watamu, Alleycat getting a 208kg black marlin and B's Nest tagging a blue of 200kgs for Ken McGeorge, and with marlin harder to find many boats are fishing closer in. With the wind showing signs of switching south, a signal for the billfish to move on from the far-out Rips,the Banks at Watamu will become crowded with boats, and with a day like the crew on Black Widow found last Sunday, catching two sail, twelve wahoo, eighteen yellowfin tuna and four kingfish it is not hard to see why!
White Bear has also had good fishing, with a sail and nine wahoofollowed later by eleven wahoo, and then a sail, nine wahoo, a barracuda and a dorado for Chris Williams the next day - keeps the anglers busy and keen for another trip.
David Slater
tagged sailfish
70 kg black marlin
"Another huge fish was a black marlin which was caught on Unreel at Watamu with skipper Rob Hellier. A team of South African anglers were jigging for a variety of fish around the Canyons, when behind a yellowfin tuna on a line as it neared the boat could be seen the purple glow of huge pectoral fins and a tail - a very big black marlin. The tuna was quickly bridled and rigged on a heavy rod, and back in the water it swam down deep, and after a few minutes it was swallowed - the marlin had engulfed it and hooked itself. A two hour fight ensued with the anglers taking turns as they tired on the heavy rod, and the fish was eventually gaffed, to turn the scale at 390.5kgs, one of the biggest marlin in recent years".
Well done Rob!
Black Marlin of 390.5kgs caught on UNREEL
390,5kg Black Marlin on Rob Hellier's UNREEL from Watamu
17th March 2011
March is the month for big fish Written by David Slater
Sports anglers usually target particular species, then go after the biggest they can find, often on lighter tackle when they are looking to catch records. The most prestigious prize is a billfish, and of these the rarest is the broadbill swordfish. Broadbill are usually fished for at night, as they are deep dwellers during the day and come nearer the surface to feed at night, but a new technique pioneered in American waters is to fish on the bottom in the deepest water, often up to 600 metres, during the day. The first swordfish locally was caught near Watamu recently by this method, and veteran skipper Pat Hemphill at Shimoni recently took a party of South African anglers who wanted to try this tecnique. Armed with the correct tackle from America, Pat set out in his boat, appropriately named Broadbill, and with the bait helped down with 8kgs of concrete in over 2000ft of water his angler, Christo Wentzel, hooked into a huge fish, which was slowly fought to the surface.
Two and a half hours later, with the fish near the boat, a huge pod of about fifteen pilot whales, voracious large members of the dolphin family, appeared round the boat and attacked the swordfish, biting chunks off it's head and shoulders and instantly killing the fish - with the hooks in one of the chunks! Fighting off the whales, the crew were able to recover what was left of the broadbill, which weighed 155 kgs, for a great first for skipper, angler and crew!
Another huge fish was a black marlin which was caught on Unreel at Watamu with skipper Rob Hellier. A team of South African anglers were jigging for a variety of fish around the Canyons, when behind a yellowfin tuna on a line as it neared the boat could be seen the purple glow of huge pectoral fins and a tail - a very big black marlin. The tuna was quickly bridled and rigged on a heavy rod, and back in the water it swam down deep, and after a few minutes it was swallowed - the marlin had engulfed it and hooked itself. A two hour fight ensued with the anglers taking turns as they tired on the heavy rod, and the fish was eventually gaffed, to turn the scale at 390.5kgs, one of the biggest marlin in recent years.White Otter is one of the oldest and most famous boats along the coast, with well over a thousand marlin scored over a fifty year career, and when skipper Peter Ruysenaars brought two anglers from Tanzania up to Watamu for a few days fishing in her she appeared to have lost none of her skills, with two striped marlin and a sail tagged on Wednesday. Delta is another visiting boat from Mtwapa, and had a nice black marlin for Fred Genneson over 200kgs.
Successful local boats at Watamu include Sand Dollar, with a blue marlin of 110kgs and a stripey, and Black Widow where angler Jim weighed a blue marlin of 179.5kgs, as well as catching twenty dorado, while Neptune from Malindi had an amazing day with regular angler Leo Haak who released a black marlin of 140kgs in the morning, and then also with live baits, had a double header with a black marlin of 120kgs, and a stripey of 60kgs, an unusual simultaneous strike. Fishing at Malindi, Snark had a great day with eleven sailfish, while Tina had a black marlin of 150kgs as well as a sail with Toire van Lerland.
The annual Penn Challenge, with thirteen teams of anglers from Holland and Belgium is in progress, with the team on Kipapa leading the first day with a nice black marlin, results next week.
9th September 2010 Good fishing but few trips
After two rainy days last week the weather cleared and seas have been calm and inviting, but not many boat trips show that the tourism section is still quiet with the tourists watching their pennies!
Tarka kept the anglers busy last Monday, tagging a black marlin and catching half a dozen wahoo and several yellowfin for the sort of day a fisherman remembers as the highlight of his trip
The previous day Ol Jogi with anglers Frikkie Mereue and Stephen Gogh tagged six sailfish so with a couple of days like this one would expect plenty of requests for a days outing but with September upon us the hotels have gone rather quiet after the August rush, while the regular anglers will be readying their tackle for the first tournaments in October and November. B's Nest with Richard Mears tagged a giant trevally about 25kgs, and had three wahoo another day so the sailfish don't show up every day, but in the right conditions they can be found just a mile offshore in front of the hotels, especially encouraging when one raises them early at 7am on the way out.
At Malindi the story is similar, with Eclare releasing a sail and adding three wahoo and a couple of kingfish, while Snowgoose fishing a short day with the Schmaglowski's from Germany also had a sail along with a yellowfin, a barracuda and a a kingfish. Tina had a mixed bag of sailfish and wahoo, while the next day they had released three sail by lunchtime, as well as landing three wahoo and two kingfish, with the Banks proving a more reliable area than north of Malindi at the moment.
Safety at sea is a paramount consideration in the angling industry, as a recent tragedy showed when a small boat from the Comoros islands had engine failure and drifted nearly 700 miles north to end up on the beach north of Malindi, sadly with only one of the dozen passengers and crew surviving. Kenya regulations now being enforced insist on twin engines, life jackets, survival equipment and particularly marine radios on sport fishing boats, and the industry is hoping that red tape can be cut to the minimum to enable operators to fill all the requirements. Kenya is lucky to have a large fleet of first class sport fishing boats equipped up to the best international standards, and modern anglers demand no less.
Seven boats are due to move down from Watamu alone to the Latham Island Fishing Tournament at Dar-es-Salaam to be fished next weekend - this popular event is a two day affair with boats anchoring for the night behind an offshore island and fishing the days off Latham Island, a small rocky reef protruding a few metres above water forty miles from land, rising out out hundreds of metres of deep water. It can be a most exciting fishing venue and not over-fished due to it's remote location so we''ll await the results. Written by David Slater "Honeylulu"
2/09/10 Sailfish and tuna around despite variable weather Written by David Slater "Honeylulu"
While the weather has been variable with some windy days, it has been dry till this morning when howling winds and sleeting rain made it seem more like July than September! But despite not many boat trips during the week, quite a few sailfish have been caught and schools of small tuna have been showing in the Mambrui area.
Adam Ogden in his Black Widow took a test run around the Banks with the crew fishing, and released four sailfish as well as catching four yellowfin for a satisfying start to the season, while Ol Jogi tagged three sail with Peter Voss fishing. Other days saw catches of tuna, kingfish, wahoo and the occasional giant trevally which kept anglers busy. Alleycat reported a couple of sail and some nice kingfish as well as a giant trevally in a couple of recent trips while Unreel scored six yellowfin and three wahoo, a fairly typical catch at the moment to keep the Harrison family busy on the rods!
Malindi boats have been trying north, as there are yellowfin off Mambrui and this is a shorter run for them, but on windy days the seas there are rough and the wind churns up the layers of silt from the river to discolour the water and discourage the fish. Snowgoose had a good day ending with 18 yellowfin off Malindi, while next day Guido van der Steen from Belgium had a busy day in Neptune with five sail, a giant trevally, a wahoo, a kingfish and several baitfish for plenty of action.
Billy Lynch from Nairobi tagged a sailfish on fly on Snowgoose, successfully hooking the one fish that came up to the teasers to start his season - he had 47 sail and two striped marlin on fly last season, an amazing total. Another day three boats chased yellowfin off Mambrui on a windy day when the fish were moving very fast, but Snowgoose found one of 28 kgs and the other boats had fish just under 20 kgs, but encouraging to see some big tuna starting to come in as late September and October are usually the best month for these.
The Latham Island tournament will be held in a couple of weeks time - this is Tanzania's most prestigious competition and as there are not many charter boats available in Dar-es-Salaam half a dozen Kenya boats will be on their way down for this event. Last year, only tuna were caught and Kenya boats swept the board, so let's hope billfish will be around this year for good variety for this two day event.
26/8/10 Weather improves but fishing activity quiet Written by David Slater "Honeylulu"
The weather has improved over the last ten days, with gentler winds and plenty of sunshine, but overall activity has been quiet with fewer anglers booking than usual at this time of the year, while marlin and sailfish have been harder to find.
One area proved very active, with Neptune finding plenty of sailfish in the Boiling Pot, a very rough patch of water on the south-eastern corner of the Banks, where currents meet and turbulent waves pound the boat from all directions. Greg Mutch is a regular angler, and was rewarded with thirteen sailfish in an afternoon after a quiet morning on the Banks at the beginning of last week, then had two later days with seven and eleven sail in the same area, also releasing some nice giant trevally around 25 kgs. Gerald and Tom Taylor fishing with Andrew Belcher and family also found sail in the same boat, catching five.
Several trips further north from Malindi have seen good shoals of yellowfin tuna, with Tina,Eclare and Snowgoose having days with up to 18 yellowfin, several of the fish over 20 kgs, but often it is too windy to fish this area which can get rough as the wind gets up and the Banks off Watamu is the only option. Watamu boats have been catching yellowfin, with wahoo and kingfish and some giant trevally, but the sailfish have been quiet in this area, and marlin, while around, have failed to get hooked up successfully.
From Shimoni skipper Simon Hemphill reports a client coming at this time of year especially to try for a short-billed spearfish, a very rare species in most Kenyan waters. He was rewarded with two which were duly tagged and released - a lucky optimist as most skippers have never seen a spearfish!
Capt. Andy's have launched a new website www.captandyskenya.com - of interest to all fishermen and boat enthusiasts, put this on your favourites list. They are also planning courses for skippers specially designed for local conditions, a very necessary detail as at present, anyone can drive a boat out into the open ocean, even taking paying passengers, with little or no experience.
KASA, the Kenya Association of Sea Anglers, are holding their annual trophy dinner on Friday September 10th at the La Marina restaurant at Mtwapa. The annual prizes and trophies are for boat skippers with the most sailfish and marlin and various species, with separate classes for professional and private boats, and the biggest fish of various species caught during the year. The are also prizes for young and lady anglers, boat catch of the year and for photos to be submitted.
All claims for these prizes to be submitted to Capt Andy's before Sept.6th, so if you feel entitled get your claim in now!
Capt Andy's Fishing News
Christmas is almost here, and at Watamu that means the Watamu SFC annual Xmas tournament, to be fished on Dec 28th and 29th from Ocean Sports.
Santa Claus will be bringing an amazing gift this year, as Capt Andy's and Yamaha Marine, who are sponsoring the tournament, are offering as the first prize a boat! A Yamaha W-19 fibreglass boat, must be quite the best prize ever offered in a tournament along the coast, a real incentive for all to enter.
And to give the smaller boats a real chance to beat the big professionals, all the teams points on each boat will be divided by the length of their boat, with boats over 30 ft all counted as 35ft. So, hook into a stripey with your 17ft family fisher and the big boys will need two marlin and then some to beat you this must be an challenge no one can refuse!
Boats can start from any port the first day, at 6.30am, and pass the mlango at Watamu by 4.30pm, weighing in at Ocean Sports, while the second day start is 6.30am from Watamu and back 4.30pm again. Drinks, eats and festivities at Ocean Sports, with the prize giving immediately after the weigh-in on Saturday.
There are still plenty of sail around, mainly off Malindi and Mambrui, but some around the banks also. Alleycat found a stripey out near the Rips recently, although not many boats have been fishing there yet, and there are plenty of giant trevally on the Banks, but only four of these can be allowed to score in the tournament, and sharks do not count at all.
As many anglers as one likes, so the family can all go out, with a seven rods limit; you'll need to tag six sail to equal one marlin, but some black marlin have also been caught recently so there is a real chance for anyway to hit the jackpot in this one!
Christmas is the season when all the private boats come down from upcountry on their trailers, and there are usually over a hundred boats to be seen in the water in Turtle Bay The seas are calm, and there are plenty of sailfish around, and a striped marlin was caught near the Rips recently, so the omens are good!
Last Saturday at Malindi ten boats took part in the annual Popes Trophy, a charity event raising money for the Alister Educational Trust. Notable were the number of young anglers taking part, with the team of Russ Brumby and his two sons Peter and Herbie winning on Neptune.. They were running equal with Nigel de Souza and Brendan O'Reilly on Eclare with four sail on each boat, when a treble hookup out of the blue in the last hour clinched first place, with young Peter coming Top Angler with four sail.
White Dove came third, with Arthur and Jackson Brown and Andrew and Arran Paul fishing, they had two sail and a big dorado of 12.5 kgs which took the prize for the best other fish for Arran. Generously sponsored by Capt Andy's, Ian and Batian Craig from Lewa Conservancy and Richard Collins from Kakuzi, all the youngsters won a prize so it was voted a very successful weekend.
The striped marlin have settled in the Pemba Channel now, where Pat Hemphill took out Kim Stuart and his two teenaged daughters and a friend, Three boats out saw twenty marlin, while on Broadbill all three girls caught their first marlin and Kim added a sail for a fantastic day they'll all be hooked on fishing now!
Shuwari caught two stripeys, while Jasiri had one and a couple of sail, so flags galore at Shimoni. Simba went down there from Watamu, and yesterday they had two stripeys, one estimated at over 90 kgs, a very big one indeed, so it is all action down south.
At Watamu, Alleycat found a striped marlin near the Outer Mountains on the way out to the Rips, and sailfish are being caught in the area too. Overnight trips are popular,with Unreel scoring two broadbill for Montarell Luca who was accompanied by Alessandrio Gangio, a regular here well known as a fishing photo-journalist with articles in Marlin magazine in the USA.
Garry and Gai Cullen went fly fishing in Simba from Hemingways, and they tagged six sail on fly three each luckily, so avoiding a marital argument! B's Nest found ten sail one day for John and Andrew Chandler and Lee Morris with Ol Jogi scoring six and Kaskazi five that same day, the fish obviously biting well!.
And this is to remind small boats, don't forget your rod and leave it behind!! (OPEN ATTACHMENTS for pics!)
Capt Andy's Fishing Newsletter The off-season for sea fishing in East Africa runs from end April to early August, but is not defined by weather or absence of fish, although this period is usually rainy and many hotels close for refurbishment. The seas can be rough, but are normally fishable all year, and July has now become a month when there is good fishing to be found in the Malindi/Watamu area, principally around the Banks; small black marlin and some sailfish usually provide good sport.
Last year there were a lot of marlin early, with Tarka the leading boat having caught sixteen by mid August, but this year they are not so prolific, the top boat taking till the first week of September to score a half dozen. But sailfish are plentiful, in larger numbers than is normal for this period, with Neptune from Malindi tallying fifteen of these fish in one day in mid August an amazing score even by height of the season standards. Greg Mutch the angler had read of these sort of sailfish scores, but never thought it could happen to him!
It was late in July when Snowgoose found the first marlin, with Neptune getting a couple the next day; Alleycat and B's Nest were soon catching as well, the latter boat tagging a nice fish guessed at 120kgs for Tom Powell to show there are always some bigger ones around.
Earlier in August, Neptune had tagged a dozen sail one day, and Snowgoose eleven, these Malindi boats often finding some fish over the shallow water of the banks as they motored down to Watamu, or even trying the Boiling Pot, which can be pretty wild at this time of year! Many years ago, when the old wooden boats were built locally and outriggers were made of bamboo, these bamboos would just break off at the base if one took the boat into this seething piece of water!
It was not all billfish action, however, as Tarka released a nice bull shark over 250 kgs, then another day fought a similar monster for over three hours before a misunderstanding put too much pressure on the line, and a break ensued! Most sportsmen don't mind losing a fish, but it is nice just to see it before it goes!
The weather has been quite rough, but fishable and normally clean and blue, with greener water coming in from time to time, resulting in poorer days. The current runs strongly north at this time of year, and when on a big fish for several hours, the boat ends up near Malindi!
Bait is hard to catch which makes fishing for marlin difficult as live bait is the preferred option no bait, no marlin! As a corollary though, when bait is really plentiful the marlin often take a holiday!
Last season was probably the best ever for black marlin in the Watamu/Malindi area, with Tarka the top scorer for the season with 69 marlin, almost double the average.
Perhaps this season it will be the turn of the Shimoni area again, where Pat Hemphill in Broadbill has had his first marlin of the season, tagging a nice black of 250 lbs but their major run, mainly striped marlin, starts more November time, when in good seasons these spectacular fish come up attacking the lures in packs of up to a dozen, a truly thrilling experience! White Otter found a couple of sailfish out in the Pemba Channel, so looks as if these early fish are there all up and down the coast.
The future for all sports depends on youngsters getting involved early in life, and from Kilifi comes a good story of young Jamie Ker who was out with his Dad when, right in the mlango at Kilifi, his rod went off with the reel screaming. Jamie, aged seven and a half, took the rod from the holder, and fought the fish standing up till it was close to the boat, when rough seas made it sensible to use the chair for the tail end of the fight. Father Angus made a fine gaff shot, landing the fish on the deck whereupon both the hooks of the Rapalla lure fell out! The rear hook broken off and the front ones were almost straightened out, but there on the deck lay a huge queenfish, or 'pandu', long and silver with five big spots, giving it the alternative name of 'five-fingered jack'. Back at the boatyard, on the kitchen scales it was weighed at 6.5kgs, more than double the weight of the IGFA Junior 'Small Fry' (under 10 years) record. It was weighed officially on the certified scales next day in Malindi by local IGFA representative Peter Ready, and the world record claim sent off to America well done, Jamie! And may you catch many more.
Sailfish are difficult creatures, at Malindi the sea can appear to be a solid mass of these fish cruising on the surface, nonchalantly gulping down the small whitebait or sardines that they relish, while not a single one comes up behind ones' rod! Ol Jogi went out the other morning and had tagged six sail by 9.30am, just in front of the hotels. The anglers were no doubt wondering if they were fated to beat all the records, when the fish went down and not one more was seen all day!
The same boat went out some years ago, to immediately raise a pack of sail and tag two, with all the anglers groaning and moaning that they felt sick! The skipper wasn't going to let such an opportunity escape, and telling the green faced clients he was on the way home, circled around to hook another pair of fish but sympathy then prevailed and he took the anglers back to harbour. Alerted on the radio, a couple of young Americans who had professed an interest at the bar the previous evening were hastily roused from bed and climbed on the boat, which had to be back on the mooring by 11.30am due to the receding tide. In the two hours fishing left another eight sail were tagged and many more raised, before beating the deadline home with twelve red flags! Beat that for a story!
The Kenya Association of Sea Anglers, KASA, annual dinner went well at the newly refurbished and very smart Ocean Sports pub in Watamu a couple of weeks back, with the many prizes going to lucky raffle ticket holders and a good evening had by all. With the new proposed Wildlife Act indicating that sports fishing could be classed with sport hunting and strictly controlled or even banned, anglers need an organisation to fight for their rights and their sport. In UK, where more people indulge in fishing than play football, it would be a brave legislator who would try to ban the sport, but there are plenty of oddballs who are trying!
Marlin score at tournaments Marlin continue to feature all along the coast, with a strong run of black marlin in the Malindi/Watamu area both closer in and far out in the Rips, while at Shimoni stripeys predominate, but some good catches of blacks and blues there too.The Kilifi Classic results, from Benjie Bowles:- The 16th Kilifi International Fishing Classic was fished last weekend and was very successful. Our principal sponsor was, for the 5th consecutive year, Alastair Russel of DHL Worldwide Express, who donated caps and polo shirts for all the anglers and Shs. 100,000 in cash for buying prizes. Our other principal sponsors were Salim & Ahsan Manji of Weetabix-HOM Ltd. who donated 3 air tickets Nairobi/Coast/Nairobi and Shs. 20,000:00 cash to accompany the Weetabix Plate. There were 12 sail, 5 black and 3 striped marlin caught and tagged. No billfish were boated. A very satisfactory result The Overall winner was, once again, Tarka, fished by Phil Revett, Paul Avery and Callum Looman with 1800 points having tagged two blacks and three sail. 1st in the Professional boat category was Eclare with 1442 points fished by Graham Lee and Nick Conway with 1 striped marlin, 1 black and 1 sail. They were the winners of the 3 air tickets donated by Weetabix. 2nd was Seahorse fished by Reinhardt Stritter and skipper Peter Ready, with 823 points, who tagged 1 stripey and 1 sail. 3rd was Kipapa fished by Stuart Allison, Johnny Havelock and Snoo Colvile with 815 points who also had 1 stripey and 1 sail. 1st in the Amateur boat category was Bado, fished by Bob Brenneisen and Robert Jessop with 1058 points having tagged 1 stripey and 2 sail. 2nd was Cold Shoulder fished by Benjie Bowles and Colin Church with 600 points who tagged 3 sail. 3rd was Sukuma Twende fished by two youngsters, Ross Cork (Alec Dyer-Melville's grandson) and Sven Verweil fishing in a 17ft dory. They tagged a sail and caught 30kgs of fish, gaining a total of 256. In the individual prizes, The Weetabix Plate and Shs. 20,000:00 cash was won by Cold Shoulder, the highest placed boat fishing out of Kilifi on both days. The David Partridge Memorial Trophy together with Shs. 5,000 cash was won by Bado, the highest placed amateur boat. The prize for the Highest Scoring Overseas Visitor went to Graham Lee who tagged 1 black, 1stripey and caught 2 wahoo. He received £100 sterling personally donated by Phil Revett, who is a regular visiting angler to Kenya. He also won the prize for the Most Billfish Tagged by an Individual. The prize for the Best Amateur Boat under 25ft, which is a day's fishing on Kipapa donated by Howard & Sue Lawrence-Brown and two nights at the Driftwood Beach Club donated by Julian and Jenny Larby, was won by Sukuma Twende. Ross Cork, who was fishing on this boat, also won the prize for the Best Non-billfish and the Light Line prize with an 11.6kg wahoo on 10kg line. Finally, the Ladies Prize was awarded to Veronica Hammond with an 8kg yellowfin.Had there been a hard luck story prize, it must have gone to Anne Taylor, in Minerva, who played a stripey to the boat after a long display of jumping, but it still had a jump left as while on the leader it leapt up, hit the outrigger and the hook fell out! The results of the Malindi Billfish were in the last newsletter, but it is interesting that Snowgoose was live-baiting up off Ngomeni and had two blacks the first day, with Eclare, Unreel and B's Nest following with a black marlin each. Next day, the Sunday, Snowgoose had three more early marlin strikes and missed them all, while Eclare got a black which put them equal in the lead. However, Snowgoose then tagged two more blacks to clinch their win, Eclare finished second having tagged a second black that day, while Simba came in strongly, fishing in the Rips with lures, releasing a stripey caught by Tina Allen, while Mark caught a black estimated at 350 lbs, which put them into third place. Not in the tournament on the Sunday, Malachite with Gary Chester fishing released a black estimated at 150 kgs, while next day Tarka from Watamu had a black around 400 lbs and Simba a blue of 220 lbs. Later in the week, B's Nest came in flying flags for a black and two striped marlin, two sail and a large yellowfin, this on the first day of the Kilifi tournament, in which they were not involved, tho' a catch like this would have swept the first prize! At this time of year many boats are booked up months in advance, with anglers not always interested in tournaments, or with different teams on board on the two days. I recall years ago finding myself skippering a boat on which the sole novice angler had been persuaded to enter a tournament, tho' not an experienced fishermen. One of the crewmen was also entered as a team member, and ended up hooking a fish on a multiple strike and of course having to play it according to tournament rules - the angler would have much preferred to play the fish than win the prizes! Down at Shimoni the good run continues, and Simon Hemphill reports that John Carr-Hartley from Botswana, who has been up fishing for the last fifteen years, was out in Kamara II with his pals and scored three stripeys and a sail their first day. Next day they had a grand slam, John tagging a marlin around 120 kgs, his first black in twenty years of trying! They also had a stripey and two sail. Moving over to Broadbill for the next three days, they had two stripeys and a sail, with three stripeys the next day, and finished six days of fishing with thirteen marlin and six sail, a pretty satisfying trip. White Otter, which has been fishing the Pemba Channel for over forty years, had several stripeys and a black over the week, with a blue, a stripey and a sail one day for a grand slam, while Shuwari had stripeys and sail. There are reports that the longliner which had been arrested in Mombasa is back fishing, still inside the legal 12 mile limit. Longliners are also reported around the North Kenya Banks and the Rips off Watamu, but legally as these areas are outside the 12 mile line; but the Kenya authorities must put restrictions on commercials targeting sport fishing areas, as the latter have the remaining 200 miles out from our shores in which to catch fish. The 'Friends of Kenya' tournament starts tomorrow Wednesday and finishes at 4pm at Hemingways on the Thursday afternoon, boats fishing all night for broadbill swordfish and during the day for marlin, sailfish and big tuna. Saturday sees the start of the two-day Watamu SFCFestival, sponsored by FLY 540, the new low cost airline which has just started flights to Malindi, so it will be a busy week fishing here. Capt Andy's Fishing Supply FOR ALL YOUR FISHING TACKLE NEEDS,RODS,REELS,LINES,HOOKS & LURES YAMAHA engines, BOATS and Lubes. Watamu - Tel 254 (0)42 32131 - Fax 254 (0)42 32132 Email - captandy@iwayafrica.com
