Follows a report of the Mike Dunford Fishing Tournament held at the Tamarind, Mombasa, last w/e. The report is written by Steve Rodwell, Captain Andy’s, Mombasa –
“The recent Mike Dunford Fishing Tournament that took place on Saturday 19th March was a great day out for all the anglers that took part in the Tournament.
There were a total of 18 entries with some boats fishing down from Watamu and others up from Diani.
The tournament started with a well-attended auction on Friday night at The Harbour Restaurant where a total of Kshs 372,000/- was raised.
Boats started at 6.30am from various ports along the coast & with perfect sea conditions the first Bill Fish a Black Marlin of 70kgs was caught on Taru at 8.20am 3 miles off Nyali Beach. A light breeze began to pick up later in the morning and more billfish being caught throughout the day. A final tally of 9 tagged sail, 3 x Black Marlin 141kgs(Centa) & 70kgs(Taru) and one tagged on Bahari Kuu, 1 x Blue Marlin approx 90kg tagged on Kipapa. Most of the billfish were caught about 8-12miles off Bamburi & Mtwapa. Nearly all boats came back with a mixed bag of Falusi, Wahoo, Yellowfin, Barracuda, & Kingfish.
Hugh Walters fishing with his son Justin Walters & friend Sean McGovern on Delta won the Professional Tournament with 4 sail, a great day out for them, followed closely by Centa being fished by Irene Masai, David Chepkonga, Hassan Habit. & in third place Bahari Kuu fished by Francis Chai, Stephen Brewer, Hafiz Mangalji.
Prize giving began a 6.00pm with a great line of prizes for all entrants, Ladies prizes, Junior Prizes, species, Top Professional, Amateur & for the first Time Open Boat and not forgetting light Line “The Dick Chater Light Line Trophy” unfortunately there was no winner for the light line, although Mike Kirkland fishing on Matilai came close to taking the trophy had he not lost the Black Marlin he had up on 10kg line for about 10mins off Mtwapa.
A total of Kshs 291,984/- was raised for The Kenya Society for the Blind.
Congratulations to the Tamarind for hosting a successful event, and to the sponsors Seaforth Shipping, Yara, Satao Camp, Tamarind Mombasa.
With fantastic fishing like this it’s hard to believe that the fishing season is almost coming to an end, it could well be that we get an extra month of good fishing!
Final results where:
Professional boats:
- Delta – Hugh & Justin Walters, Sean Mcgovern
- Centa – Irene Masai, David Chepkonga, Hassan Habit
- Bahari Kuu – Francis Chai, Stephen Brewer, Hafiz Mangalji
Amateur boats:
- Instedda – Imran Moosa, Meraj Issa, Ali Harazi
- Tudor home boys – Peter Vaz
- Bado – Bob & Alex Brenneisen, Anne Taylor
Open Boats:
- Taru – Norman Kitonga, Max Donner, Steven Rodwell
- Matilai – Mike Kirkland, Jan Verwiel, Nigel Spencer
- Tsunami – Martin & Gerry Dunford, David Knopp.
Lady’s Prize:
Anne Taylor – 10kg Falusi
Junior Prizes:
Alex Haller – 5.6kg Falusi
Martyn Matiba – 6kg Falusi
Max Donner – Tagged Sailfish & 4kg Falusi
Justin Walters – 2 Tagged Sailfish
Sean Mcgovern – 2 Tagged Sailfish
70kg Black Marlin caught by Norman Kitonga of Captain Andy’s Fishing Supply on Taru –this was his first time fishing and first fish – Congratulations!!
