The Kilifi Classic Tournament was fished last weekend for a total of seven marlin and five sailfish, with the big boats predominating on the podium, while rough seas made fishing difficult for smaller boats.

The team on Seahorse, Gina Faber, Rene Faber and Malise Graham came in overall winners, with two striped marlin, a sailfish and a wahoo to claim the main trophy and plenty of subsidiary prizes including a stay at Elsa’s Kopje camp kindly presented by Cheli and Peacock Safaris.

Second by a narrow margin in the professional stream was Clueless, fished by Erik van Vliet, Marco Macci and Rob Duff with one black and one blue marlin and a wahoo, while the team on Delta, Richard Rosi and Mike Kammbach came third with only five points separating them as they also had two marlin, a blue and a stripey and a bonito.

Mike Kammbach also took the prize for the best overseas angler with his two marlin, while the best Lady Angler went to Gina Faber who had a striped marlin and a sailfish.

Unreel, fished by Colin van Rooyen and John and Heather Harvey from South Africa came fourth with a striped marlin.

In the amateur stream, Katisa, fished by Robbie Clarke, Cate Waterer and Susu Horsfall came in first, with a sailfish, two wahoo and two dorado, and this boat also won the prize for the best boat starting from Kilifi both days. Minerva came second, with Anne Taylor getting Best Lady Angler on an amateur boat, and Blue Marlin was third. Biggest fish other than billfish was a yellowfin tuna of 19.4kgs by Eric d’Eschallens on Tarka. An enjoyable competition with an amazing range of prizes, enjoyed by all despite the rough water.

The fishing in the Rips, where the water has turned rather green instead of the deep blue that is normal, has been variable, with some poor days, despite which one boat often seems to have a good day – this Wednesday, Neptune had a striped marlin and two sail, but most of the boats were empty. There are sailfish to be found at Malindi, however, and Snark scored well with six sail one day, while most boats fishing this area come back with one to three sail daily, so there are many anglers who are happy to fish for sailfish rather than troll for the marlin further out which are proving so elusive.