All the boats have been busy these last ten days, and with the sailfishing improving, and several marlin and shark also being caught, it just remains for the wind to make up it’s mind, as it has been hovering south in the mornings then swings more northerly in the afternoons. The kaskazi, the north-east wind, has yet to blow properly in the Watamu/Malindi area, although reports from Shimoni indicate it has started in the southern waters.
The Capt. Morgan Rum tournament is proceeding from Hemingways, with fifteen boats taking different teams out daily for six days, with a rest day in the middle. After four days, fifty-eight sail have been released, along with five marlin, only these species counting for points. On the first three days, only Tarka with previous winners John and Heather Harvey on the team had a five sail day, but things warmed up on the Wednesday with both Simba and Seastorm tagging five sail for a twenty sail and a marlin total for the day.
Last Sunday saw Willie Volschenk on Black Widow releasing a black marlin estimated at 160 kgs and Trevor Rosevear a striped marlin on Bamara, while on Monday Brendon Oostingh had a black about 120 kgs on Unreel and Eugene Volschenk another estimated at 80 kgs from Tarka. Another fish worthy of mention was a 38 kg wahoo on Alleycat – one doesn’t see many this size.
So with two days left, several teams could be in the running for top places and final results will have to wait. The WildFly tournament finished last week with the Cape Hutton team in first spot, having fished on one of the leading boats each day, while the Pink Panthers team placed second, despite Christopher Blayden’s flyrod catch of a striped marlin on Ol Jogi, a great achievement as marlin are hard to catch on a fly.
At Shimoni, the north wind has started to blow, with immediate improvement in the fishing – White Otter had a double strike from striped marlin and hooked and released one, while the very next day they hooked both from a double-header of stripeys, successfully tagging them. The same boat then went on to miss two more marlin strikes for a very exciting day. Broadbill also tagged a stripey, and next day veteran skipper Pat Hemphill on this boat found a short-billed spearfish for his client, the first of this rare species he had achieved in his forty-seven years at the job! Earlier, Kamara II tagged a black marlin estimated at 90 kgs with angler Finlay Croker from Scotland, an amazing day for him as he had released his first billfish, a sailfish, earlier in the day and then this, his first marlin!
Kingfisher at Malindi hosted a party of anglers from a Belgium club, led by Thierry van Eesbeck on three boats, where the best catch was a striped marlin on Eclare hooked in shallow water near the Banks. Neptune found a couple of sharks, tagging a tiger of 200 kgs and all the boats caught sailfish. Snark fishing with fly rod expert Con Jooste had a great day tagging four sail on fly and one more on conventional tackle, on a day when many other boats never saw a sail!
This week at Malindi also sees the club competition of the Big Game Fishing Club of Germany with eight teams fishing alternate days for four days each so plenty of action in the Malindi and Watamu areas, while if the winds swings north then it can only get better!
