The new season is now under way and has so far looked very promising, with black marlin being caught around the Watamu Banks, sailfish in the same area as well as off Malindi and the usual catches of wahoo, kingfish, and tuna. Â Another good sign in the last week has been some large yellowfin tuna from the Rips, early for these fish in that area. Seas have sometimes been rough, however, but these are often the best days for marlin and tuna, and the occasional rain squalls often help bring the fish to the surface.
Both Tarka and Neptune started well with a black marlin in early July – the latter boat also tagged three sailfish another day, while towards the end of the month Neptune found two sail for Ted Grayson but not many trips were made that month.
August found things busier, with White Mischief, finding a blue marlin on the Banks – these fish are generally caught much further out in the deep water around the Rips. They also had a black marlin, and twenty small yellowfin one day. Unreel had a good start with with six marlin so far, including three in three trips for the Corry family from the USA, while Alleycat has totaled five marlin so far, as well as losing several including a good fight with a big fish which came off after three hours on 36kg line. The latter boat has had half a dozen sailfish released and good catches of big wahoo, kingfish and tuna to keep anglers busy!
Tarka found two marlin one day, but one was eaten by sharks, always a problem around the Banks. Unreel also tagged two marlin in a day.
At Malindi, Neptune tagged four sail from nine strikes with the Aniere family, as well as five giant trevally, and found wahoo and tuna as well
In the last week White Mischief tried the Rips, to be rewarded with a dozen large yellowfin up to 23kgs, then on a second trip they bettered this catch, while Shuwari, fishing near them did better still with over 300kgs of these yellowfin, with the biggest at over 40 kgs, a nice fish.
At Diani, Shuwari found two sail on a half-day, then another sail, together with big wahoo and kingfish for a Swedish student group so it seems good fishing everywhere, and prospects for a great season ahead.
