After 10 days without any charters it was a relief to get back out to sea and it was lucky for us that the fishing had not been too good then. But, this past week there has been some incredible fishing with one party getting 17 billfish in 3 days including 5 marlin and 3 sail in just one day's fishing. At the beginning of the week there were some big marlin around as well and now there are loads of sailfish out in the deep coming up in big packs. The oil exploration survey ships appear to have competed their work in our waters and have now moved up off Kilifi and Watamu to harass the fishermen there. May be all their banging from their air guns will chase the fish back our way!
Availability - we have had a cancellation in mid-February, peak period for billfish so if you can get away here is a great opportunity to partake in some awesome fishing. Let's hope the best is still to come!
Friday 27th January - Franz Neuwirth together with Franz Jankulik and Markus Pregenzel from Austria started their week fishing with Pat on Broadbill. They were the only boat out from Shimoni and although they only saw two marlin they got them both. A striped marlin for Franz J. and a black marlin estimated at 190-lb for Markus. Franz N. started fishing with us 41 years ago when he used to bring groups of Austrian anglers to Shimoni usually in November. The warm water was quite a long way off-shore and hence we are having to fish a long way out.
 Saturday 28th January - The Neuwirth party were out again on Broadbill whilst Kamara II was out with Bob Kasworm and Dr. John Bartlett down from across the border in Tanzania. John caught a striped marlin and a sailfish whilst Bob got hooked up in to a very nice blue marlin of more than 400-lb. That blue went absolutely berserk once hooked, frequently changing direction and twice crossed back over the line. Unfortunately this fish was too clever for us and managed to out fox us with its high speed underwater runs. We thought that the line had bust with the line lying loose on the water, Bob winding like crazy for ages and the boat still motoring hard away but then we realised too late that the fish was actually under us going very fast. We need bigger engines! But, although disappointing to lose such a fish it was still such an incredible spectacle that I am sure they will never forget. Broadbill caught just one sailfish today.
Sunday 29th January - today there were the same fishing teams on the boats and again we had to run far off-shore. Kamara II is running really hot at the moment and all the fish seem to be coming her way. It goes like this sometimes and I am sure that soon the other boats will have their run of luck. We raised a lot of sailfish managing to finally tag 3 of them and Bob also caught his first marlin, a striped. But, we also hit two decent size marlin both around 300-lb but unfortunately we didn't manage to catch them. The first one could have been a black, it did not jump for ages and never really made any high speed runs. But, when it did jump it had had put a big belly in to the line and obviously the brake had not been backed off enough and the line popped. The second one was definitely a blue marlin that took quite a small "Legend" lure, a "Ginki" off the outrigger and took off on a fantastic run greyhounding across the ocean. We stayed with it until it had stopped jumping and were just settling down to the fight when the hook came out. Unfortunately Broadbill did not get anything today.
 Monday 30th January - Ken Dodgson from the UK who has fished with us for many years originally together with the late Harry Dutfield who some of you will remember. Harry was an incredible man who fished with us until he was no less than 90 years old, and all his fish were IGFA caught. Ken is fishing this time with John Levick on Kamara II and what an amazing day we had.
By 9am we already had 1 striped marlin caught by John and 2 sailfish out of a big pack of mostly sail but there was definitely at least 2 marlin there as well. Then shortly after that we found another stripey feeding round a float. The float had a piece of rope hanging down and I guess there must have been some small fish there. But whilst Ken was playing this fish Hamisi noticed that there was still a marlin there so as soon as we had tagged Ken's fish we hurriedly put lines out and trolled back past the float again. We had only got 3 lines in the water and 2 striped marlin took two of them. Unfortunately John's fish came off very close to the boat but Ken got his. We added another sailfish late morning and then on the way home had a pack attack of striped marlin. We are not sure how many were in that group but we hooked up with 2 and tagged both of them to end up with 5 striped marlin and 3 sailfish for the day. Broadbill had a sailfish and White Otter did not manage to get anything.
Tuesday 31st January - Today was a very different day and although Ken and John fishing on Kamara II started off well with a couple of sail there was little else seen all day. It suddenly became very rough in the afternoon with a very confused sea and we decided to pack it in early. Broadbill did not get anything but White Otter had 2 sail and they did miss a marlin.
Wednesday 1st February - we were all anticipating another rough day and were preparing to run up north to Chale Point then fish back down with the sea and wind behind us. The internet weather forecasting site was also predicting strong winds but as we headed out this morning I noticed that the clouds were more of a calm weather sky and it turned out to be a very calm day in complete contrast to yesterday. Broadbill fished by the Neuwirth party started off early with a striped marlin before 8am and Kamara II had 2 sailfish. There were lots of packs of sailfish around and certainly one of these included a marlin. Broadbill had another stripey on briefly but unfortunately the hook was just on the bill and came off once the fish turned its head towards the boat. They also tagged a sailfish and Kamara II fished by Ken and John ended up with 7 sailfish.
Best wishes and Tight lines wherever you may be fishing.
website
email
Mobile: Tel: +254 (0)722 796198 (Simon)
Fax : 254 40 2227675
Sea Adventures Ltd.
P.O. Box 348
Ukunda 80400, Kenya
We fished in English bay again and in the afternoon it started to look very good bait everywhere some spearfish knockdowns and at 3.30 we had a nice bite on the Blackbart Abaco Prowler. The fish took a lot of line and I chased her for 3 miles on the surface until we came close and saw her and decided to take her in. Michael fought the fish for 35 minutes until it was gaffed and secured. The final weight was 1093 pounds.
For daily reports check us out: Website
Best regards
Olaf Grimkowski
Editor's Note - Another large gene egg layer removed from the global inventory.
Marine Anglers,
We are starting a new and exciting year. Which East Coast angler will be the first to recover one of the many fish tagged in the Caribbean this past fall and winter? That is the land mark event that I am waiting for.
We will be expanding the year-end awards this year, altering the categories slightly to encourage more tagging in areas where it has lacked in past years. But more on that in a future issue.
This issue of the newsletter deals with some facets about the biology of dolphinfish. This issue gives some insight into the feeding behavior and growth of this amazing animal. There has been a lot of discussions about how fast dolphin grow. If we accepted some length estimates reported by fishermen for recovered fish, then the growth rates would range from a minus three inches over a 30 day period to six inches overnight. We utilize research done on dolphin around the world and here at home to look at commonalities in their behaviors and to make some sense out of the reported growth rates. Then data gathered by the DRP is used to explain what it means to the fisherman.
I hope you find the newsletter both informative and interesting.
See Dolphin Report
Good fishing,
Don
Donald L. Hammond
Marine Fisheries Biologist
Cooperative Sciences Services, LLC
961 Anchor Rd.
Charleston, SC 29412-4902
(843) 795-7524
cssllc@bellsouth.net
www.dolphintagging.com
Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures - Fishing Report - January 2012
Greetings of the new year to all from us in Guatemala. We hope it's a year filled with everything good, and most of all.....some great fishing action!!
We have been posting regular updates on our Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures Facebook page but thought it best to send out one of our usual reports to keep all our friends in the loop.
The fishing has been good this season so far and all our anglers have been kept most happy both on and off the water.
We fished the ILTTA tournament the end of November and were top boat on day 1 with 26 sailfish releases. The bite slowed the next three days, but we still released 49 sailfish to place 4th, 5 fish off the pace. Well over a thousand fish were released in total and a great tournament.
 Next we fishing Clint and Lisa Everett out of the Carolina's for 10 days. They are hard-core fishermen and great anglers who enjoyed every minute of their time here and saw some great days.
The 9th saw the Everett's releasing 12 sails and a feisty 350lb blue on 20lb. They released another blue the next day with there being up to 6 blue marlin raised per boat in the fleet for the day. Things got going with the sailfish on the 11th with 17 releases for the day and then 21 releases on the 12th.
On the 14th we were joined by Dave and Diane Cordes going 8 from 16. The fishing remained steady for the couple over the next 4 days and they were unlucky not to connect with the handful of blue marlin we raised but stacked up some good numbers of sailfish, releasing 8 on the fly and 3 on spinning rod on their final day to see out a
memorable trip for the adventurous couple.
The 26th saw us releasing 4 sailfish and a feisty striped marlin for our US Embassy friends from Guatemala City, Billy with his sons Justin and Billy II Sherrill, Roberto Pineda and Juan Manuel Rubio.
Dave Workman Jr of Jacksonville Florida, joined us along with his wife Angela, and dad, Sr Dave and Melissa for 3 days the 27th to the 29th followed by a few splendid days in Antigua, the "Old City". They went 7 from 10 their first day, 8 from 12 the next, with a blue both days that we could not capitalize on. Their final day saw the father and
son duo start out with a double header of blue marlin on the 20lb gear they were both able to release, one of about 250lb's and the other around 350lbs.way to go Sr and Jr!!! The blues were around and we raised another 4 that day releasing another of about 250lbs as well as a 5 sailfish. I'm not sure why Angela didn't join us on the previous
days, it must have been her lady luck, what a great day!!!!
The 31st saw us out with our friend Fernando Paiz of Guatemala, along with his friends Richard Voswinckel, Johann Voswinckel, going 22 from 29 on sails today, with a blue
that would not play, to see out the old year in true festive Guatemalan style.
The 2nd of January saw us going 10 from 18 on sails with some nice Dorado.
Bobby Richter, his son Matt and their friends Paul Jr and Paul III Kennedy all of Port Aransas Texas joined us the 5th. With the bite at 7 miles it was one of those perfect days with the excellent anglers going 24 from 30 bites. Things slowed a little, the next two days but the boys were kept busy and remained extremely happy campers. We look
forward to seeing them all back with us in the near future.
The 13th saw Steve Cothron, "Decisive's" owner on the water along with Matt Richter who just couldn't say no to the offer and extending his stay. The guys went 10 from 15 on sails with a 7 nice yellowfin their first day. Things got crazy the following day going 37 from 54 on the sails for another epic trip.
Scott Lund joined us the 23rd and 24th of January along with his old vet school friend Mark Scribano, his wife Lisa and brother George, along with friends Jay Mastry and Debbie Crisp. They went 14 from 21 their first day. Their second day saw Birthday boy Mark releasing his tackle slam with his first sailfish on fly, then one on spin and a few on conventional with a total of 2 on fly and 8 on bait for the day, all at 5 to 12 miles.
Please don't forget to give us a "Like" on Facebook so you get your regular updates.
Brad is heading back to Nova Scotia this coming September for the remarkable giant bluefin tuna fishing there. It'll be his third year up there and he has reserved 2 of the best boats and is taking some friends up there to enjoy it along with him, so if any of you have any interest in this let him know and he'll make a plan to get you in on the action. He is also looking at running the "Hooker'' in Cape Verde this coming June so that's another option for anyone wanting to share their unbelievable blue marlin fishing along with Brad.
Until the next report, tight lines, circle hooks and healthy releases.
Capt. Brad Philipps
www.guatbilladv.com
info@guatbilladv.com
Website
Email Cindy and Brad Phillipps: email
The good fishing continued in to the first few days of this period but thereafter it has dropped off a bit. There were some big marlin raised although unfortunately none of them were caught. Some oil exploration survey work has begun in the area so we have to dodge these ships. Some prime fishing slots have become available so check out the dates at the bottom of this article.
Tuesday 10th January - Broadbill fished by regular anglers Mark Lempriere from Guernsey and Carlos Rivero from Holland had a great day. Mark tagged a nice striped marlin to go with 5 sailfish that they also caught. Carlos lost a very nice stripey that was jumping around a great deal, which Pat estimated at 160+ but unfortunately it threw the hook. Anders Jonsson from Sweden fishing on Kamara II lost a nice blue marlin that we estimated at 200-250 lb on 50. Anders brought it very close to the boat after 20 min and with the swivel just below the surface the hook pulled. We raised a bigger marlin on an outrigger later that just billed the lure down, never followed and pushed off. Hamisi saw her come after the lure lifting herself out of the water on to her pectoral fins but she just swatted at the lure then left it. There seemed to be no intent to actually take it. Otherwise we released 3 sailfish in total.
Wednesday 11th January - The fishing was right off today, White Otter did get a striped marlin but I think that was the only one seen. Kamara II with Anders Jonsson tagged a sail but Broadbill missed out. There was a strong northerly wind with rough rips and there were far fewer flying fish than there had been.
Thursday 12th January - Pat had the day off today, which he was looking forward to so it was just Kamara II and White Otter out. We headed up north towards Chale Point following the 1,000 ft contour and as so often happens, White Otter followed us. It is always quite amusing because since Kamara II came on the scene the rest of the fleet tend to follow us wherever we go. We picked up a sailfish off Funzi and then headed out off Chale. We saw quite a few sails plus a striped marlin and had our chances before finally getting another sail at the end. White Otter had a good day with a nice black marlin of 270-300 lb and 3 sailfish.
Friday 13th January - Today was a very quiet day, quite rough and the water rather greenish with lots of weed in it probably as a result of the heavy rains that they have been experiencing in Mozambique and Southern Tanzania. It was only Kamara II and White Otter out and we both ended up with just 1 sailfish each.
Saturday 14th January - only Kamara II out today fished by Carlos and Mark and the day started off pretty well. We rose a nice big marlin on a small lure that she took quite hard but then never followed back. There are obviously some big fish around but there must be something stirring them up to make them so finicky. We circled round the same area and hooked up with a stripey that Carlos caught. After that we were only able to add a single sailfish but again had plenty of chances to catch a lot more.
Although in many other places the crew do the hooking of the fish and because they are doing it every day become very good at it so that you catch bigger numbers. But, that is not the way we do things here and there is so much more pleasure in hooking your own fish. Especially with sails that are hard to hook but once hooked are fairly easy to wind in. I mean, if someone else hooks the sail for you and hands you the rod to wind in, can you rightly claim to have caught that fish? I am inclined to say, NO!
Sunday 15th January - Only our two boats out today with Carlos on his last day with Pat. The fishing was not very good but Carlos did get 2 sailfish. Kamara II was fishing with Vikesh Shah and friends from Mombasa but although we raised a few sail were not able to hook up with any. This was my first day this month without a billfish!
Every year there is a tournament held out of Mtwapa to raise money for the Kwale District Eye Centre that is run by a very good friend of mine and very talented eye doc. Dr Helen Roberts M.B.E. does some fantastic work in trying to reduce blindness in the community and we always give a day's fishing as a prize, which this year was won by Vikesh. I have even more reason to have close ties to the eye centre since it was Helen that diagnosed my torn retina a couple of years ago and now keeps watch over my eyes.
Monday 16th January - only White Otter was out today and they finished up with 1 striped marlin and a sailfish although I am not sure what else they saw.
Tuesday 17th January - today was very rough and there were no billfish seen by either Broadbill or White Otter, the only boats out. The forecast is for more wind this weekend so let's see what happens.
PRIME FISHING DATES AVAILABLE: As a result of some cancellations we have the following dates available now. Please contact us as soon as possible for a quote. Remember that visas for Kenya are available on arrival at either Nairobi or Mombasa International Airports and comfortable accommodation is easy to arrange in Shimoni for fishermen.
JANUARY 2012 - Friday 20th to Friday 27th inclusive
FEBRUARY 2012 - Thursday 9th to Monday 20th inclusive - this absolutely prime fishing time and is normally booked up a year ahead. The client that usually comes at this time has had to cancel his booking due to work commitments.
Sunday 26th February into March - this is that time of the year when the big marlin traditionally arrive in our waters. The season also appears to be running late so this could be a really great chance to get some great fishing.
Security - the Kenya military are still in Somalia having secured the southern part of the country. They are now involved in assisting the Somali peoples to get food and medical aid. The naval counter piracy forces in the Western Indian Ocean have had a significant impact on the Somali pirates such that very few attacks on merchant ships have been successful within the past six months. On locating the pirate groups they move in fast to disrupt and put them out of action. There have been no pirate attacks within Kenya waters during the past year.
There have been heightened warnings of terrorist attacks in Kenya since before Christmas, which has led to an increase in security throughout the country.
We must keep these risks from terrorist attacks in perspective because most countries in the world are under very similar threats from terrorists. The Kenya security organs are receiving assistance from the UK, USA, Israel and others to mitigate these risks.
Shimoni is a very quiet and beautiful part of the world and as with anywhere in Kenya the people are very friendly and welcoming. We look forward to welcoming you here for some great fishing.
Tight lines!
website
email
Mobile: Tel: +254 (0)722 796198 (Simon)
Fax : 254 40 2227675
Sea Adventures Ltd.
P.O. Box 348
Ukunda 80400, Kenya
See Story
The good fishing in the Pemba Channel has continued throughout this period with plenty of sailfish and some good marlin too. There probably haven't been as many marlin as we might hope for but there has been plenty of action, some good variety and a few nice fish around too. Broadbill recorded a Grand Slam and Kamara II tagged another good size blue marlin as well as raising a few more. The wind has been blowing consistently from the right direction and although the water colour may not be perfect there are loads of flying fish. All in all it has been a pretty good week for the Sea Adventures boats. It was very rough during the first half of the week most likely associated with the tropical storm down near Madagascar. By Friday it was moving away south and the seas making much less rough.
Tuesday 3rd January – Only Broadbill and White Otter were out and both found a few sailfish although no marlin were seen. Broadbill fished by the Perego family from Italy tagged 4 sailfish and White Otter had 3.
Wednesday 4th January – All three Shimoni boats were out with Clueless arriving in the area from up north. Pat was fishing with a party of four Russians from Moscow and they started off well with 4 sailfish. Kamara II had an interesting day in that we picked up a single guest from Funzi Keys got out in to the fishing grounds, picked up a sailfish only to have to return back to Funzi as the client was sick from a tummy bug. Luckily for us there was another group itching to give it a try so we headed back out to sea. We managed to tag a striped marlin on the 2nd trip for Francis Volckaert from Belgium. White Otter also managed to tag a striped marlin plus 2 sails and Clueless had 4 sailfish.
Thursday 5th January – I was not out because I had to take my family up to the airport, always sad when you come to the end of the holidays and have to say goodbye. Broadbill with the Russians had a great day scoring a Grand Slam of a black marlin, a striped marlin and 2 sailfish. The black was caught right at the end of the day, almost last minute. White Otter had 2 sailfish and Clueless 5.
Friday 6th January – Broadbill fished by Anders Jonsson from Sweden tagged the only striped marlin together with a sailfish. Kamara II fished by the Russian group again had 4 sailfish, White Otter 2 and Clueless 3. There were no other marlin seen today and Broadbill’s was again very close in to the coast.
Saturday 7th January – There was again only 1 marlin hit this time by Kamara II but unfortunately it did not stick. Kamara II caught 4 sailfish, Broadbill 3 and Clueless also 3, which they got on their way back up from Tanga.
Sunday 8th January – Both our boats were out and Clueless went back up to Kilifi. More marlin were seen today than had been in previous days with Broadbill seeing 4 and White Otter also about 4 marlin. Broadbill tagged 2 striped marlin and a sailfish for Anders both marlin coming in quick succession one after the other. Anders had only just caught the first stripey and was still celebrating when he was called to the rods again to do battle with another. Kamara II tagged a small blue marlin of about 150-lb on 50 caught by Evgeniy Khbynin together with 3 sailfish. This was the last day’s fishing for the Russian party who managed 4 billfish every day, which is pretty good fishing I think. They only had 3 marlin but one of each species, which does not happen that often. White Otter managed just the 1 sailfish and Clueless had 2 sail on their way north.
Monday 9th January – Kamara II fished by Anders Jonsson had a great day with 5 sailfish plus a very nice 300-lb blue marlin on 50-lb line that took only 35 min to bring in. We lost a striped marlin in the early morning when the 30-lb line popped without any real pressure – very irritating! Broadbill fished by long time regular anglers Mark Lempriére and Carlos Rivero tagged a striped marlin for Mark and a sail for Carlos. White Otter did not manage anything today. There were a few more marlin seen and the rips were looking really good.
Tuesday 10th January - only our two boats out, quite a bit calmer than it has been and Carlos and Mark had a great day with Pat on Broadbill. Mark tagged another stripey to which they added 5 sailfish and they also lost a very nice stripey that Pat estimated at 160-170 that was jumping around a lot before throwing the hook. Anders on Kamara II lost a blue marlin of about 200-250 lb after 20 min that just came off right near the boat. About an hour later in nearly the same place in the cross rip we raised an even bigger marlin on an outrigger. It just smashed the lure down, left it and never followed again. There seemed to be no intention to actually take the lure just to kill it so presumably she had already had lunch. We ended up with 3 sailfish.
Wednesday 11th January - a very different sort of day, very overcast with rain showers in the morning. There was quite a strong wind and the rips were really boiling well so that it was quite rough in the middle of them. White Otter was the only boat to raise a stripey and in fact had a double strike succeeding in tagging one of them. Kamara II with Anders had a nice black marlin up that did much the same as the big fish yesterday but this one did follow for a while. It kept pecking at the lure in much the same way that a sailfish does never actually taking it and running with it. We ended up with just 1 sailfish but Broadbill missed out today.
Availability – we still have space later this month, in fact as from next week plus slots have also become available in February. We now have a week in the middle of February free, which is absolutely prime time. With this great fishing this is a great opportunity because normally by this time all the boats are fully booked up. Please get in touch as soon as possible if you are interested.
Tight Lines!
Simon
website
email
Mobile: Tel: +254 (0)722 796198 (Simon)
Fax : 254 40 2227675
Sea Adventures Ltd.
P.O. Box 348
Ukunda 80400, Kenya
 Sailfish producing cold front in Miami beach.
 Silver Sailfish Derby 3 day total 1174 sails 46 boats.
1st Get Lit - 58
2nd Jichi - 44
3rd Sandman - 42
Rob Ruwitch takes 2nd place on a Paul Mann.
Atlantic ocean sailfish tournament record.
Old record 2006 958 sailfish. Also news:
1st Grander of 2012 - Kona, HI - Angler Paul Morris and Captain Steve Tarbill of the Kona Concept weighed a 1,040 lbs. Blue Marlin.
Editor's Note - Another large gene egg layer removed from the global inventory.
Marshalls Billfish Club's January Tournament – Lot's of fish!
The MBC January Tournament was held this past weekend on Saturday, January 7. This months format was a “Jackpot” format which means that the largest fish caught and landed in the 5 categories of Billfish, Tuna, Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, and Barracuda each won a monetary prize.
The winds had calmed down for the day and it was slightly overcast making it a fine fishing day. The fish were plentiful as well.
There were a lot of small Blue Marlin snapping at the baits and at least one 500+ pounder was in the mix. The 500+ pounder was brought to the leader by “Lady C” and got away when the leader broke before it was gaffed. (Fish 1, Fishermen 0!) “Lady C” also reported 2 Blue Marlin tagged and released out of 5 strikes and they landed 1 Yellowfin Tuna of 75 pounds which took top honors in the Tuna category.
The winner of the Billfish category was Bwiji Aliven on “Patumahoe” with a small Blue marlin of 126 pounds. Bwiji went 1 caught for 7 strikes on Blue Marlin.
Wally Milne on his boat “Marah” was 3 for 5 on Blue Marlin, tagging and releasing the 3 fish that he brought to the boat. He also caught a 73 pound Yellowfin Tuna and took top honors in the Wahoo, Mahi Mahi and Barracuda categories. He earned an extra 100 points toward the annual award, The President's Cup, by catching at least 1 fish in each category.
Other notable results were:
Ronnie Reimers on “Kirtaki” went 3 for 5 on Blue Marlin tagging and releasing the 3 fish he brought to the boat.
Nicky DeBrum went 3 for 3 on Blue Marlin on “Carolina” and brought them all to the dock. One was disqualified from the Tournament results as it weighed in at less than 100 pounds which is the minimum allowable weight.
Ben Reimers, on “XXXX” went 0 for 3 on Billfish.
So the total tally for Billfish for the day was respectable. Of the 7 boats entered in the tournament 6 reported a total of 28 Billfish strikes. 12 were caught and of the 12 caught 8 of those were tagged and released.
We are very grateful to The Billfish Foundation which donated tags to the club for the tagging and releasing of Billfish. The club members are tagging and releasing more Billfish all the time and the points thereby accrued go towards the annual President's Cup award and towards a “Most Tagged Billfish” award at the annual awards in July. I am hoping that we may begin at least one tournament annually that is on a total release format.
Cheers and Tight Lines from the edge of the world!
Chuck
Editor's Note: Chuck Handy is a sailor-fisherman-shipwright friend who is on a voyage around the world. At one time Chuck lived in St. Thomas and crewed on many boats including with Capt. Ronnie Hamlin and with Capt. Rick Defeo on Tyson's Pride. He has many friends in the fishing industry and we'll post his reports for everyone to read.
Marine Angler:
Happy New Year! I wish each of you a prosperous new year filled with more time to fish and enjoy life.
This is the time of year when I tabulate numbers to see who tagged what where and who wins the rod and reels and the Costa prize packages. With 1,234 fish reported tagged in 2011, the year goes down as a below average year in terms of number of fish marked. Recaptures numbered 43 in the Atlantic and two in the Mediterranean Sea, which puts the return rate at an average level. However, many of the tag recoveries revealed new and important facets about dolphin behavior and movements. In 2011 quality made up for quantity in the tag recoveries.
2012 is starting off with a flurry of activity. Several groups supporting the research program have already locked in dates for events to raise money for the study and/or to get more dolphin tagged for science. Events that have already been announced are:
Blue Water Fishing Club, Florence, SC will hold a fund raising/dolphin tagging tournament at the Belle Isle Marina in Georgetown, SC on May 19, 2012.
Milliken Reef Restaurant in Port Canaveral, FL will hold its second annual tournament benefiting the Dolphinfish Research Program on June 30, 2012.
Piedmont Offshore Fishing Club in Greensboro, NC has scheduled a weekend of dolphin tagging for August 3 and 4, 2012 to be held out of Pirates Cove Marina in Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Harbor in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
If you are in the area during any of these events, please drop by to watch the fun, see some nice fish and learn the latest news in dolphin research. Better yet, join in supporting the dolphin research by participating. If you are interested in any of these events, contact me and I will put you in contact with the proper person.
See Dolphin Report
Good fishing,
Don
Donald L. Hammond
Marine Fisheries Biologist
Cooperative Sciences Services, LLC
961 Anchor Rd.
Charleston, SC 29412-4902
(843) 795-7524
cssllc@bellsouth.net
www.dolphintagging.com
Fishing report to 2nd January 2012
We’d like to wish you all a very good new year, which hopefully will bring us all prosperity and happiness as well as good fishing, of course. Apologies for not sending out a report earlier but I went up to Nairobi for Christmas with Tina and then went on safari with the family. There have been a lot of sailfish in the Pemba Channel since before Christmas and now the marlin are beginning to show up. "Kamara II" has had a great start to the New Year with my son, Chris catching a fantastic 600-lb blue marlin on 50-lb line as part of a Grand Slam. There was also a very big cobia caught from "Broadbill". And the day before there was also a mixed pack attack from striped marlin and sailfish so plenty of excitement to start the New Year.
I left here on 22nd to return on the 30th and when I left there was some very heavy rain in the south over Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. Actually Dar was experiencing quite severe floods but there were also plenty of rain up country in Kenya. There was quite a bit of rain around Nairobi and both Amboseli and Tsavo Parks were far greener than normal especially Tsavo with the Galana River in flood.
Saturday 24th December – "Kamara II" was out with Paresh and Kush Haria from Nairobi and because I was in Nairobi Bryan Matiba was helping Hamisi and Suleimani. The weather was a bit strange, rather hot and sultry and although a few sail were raised none were hooked. "White Otter" who was also out lost a nice black marlin they estimated at 350-lb on 30-lb line that pulled the hook after an hour.
Sunday 25th December – no boats out!
Monday 26th December – no boats out!
Tuesday 27th December – "Kamara II" and "White Otter" were both out, the former with Paresh and Kush again. Both boats managed to tag 2 sail each but quite a few were seen. Most of the sail have been concentrated between Msambweni and Chale point but there has also been a lot of weed to contend with.
Wednesday 28th December – All three Shimoni boats were out although both our boats were only on short days. There were not as many sail seen but "Kamara II" got 2 and "White Otter" 3.
Thursday 29th December – "White Otter" had a lucky day with 9 sailfish mostly caught on the plateau off Pemba Island, "Kamara II" on a short day managed 2 and "Broadbill" just 1. Pat’s clients opted to go out to look for marlin and unfortunately were not lucky to find one and they went further north in to the cross rip from where "Otter" was. The weather is still a bit strange with the wind blowing off the land for much of the time.
Friday 30th December – Paresh and Kush had their last day on "Kamara II", it was very rough and there were few fish about. The wind was blowing strongly from the north; it was very rough and perhaps the fish were startled by the change in the conditions. Generally speaking all fish like things to be stable and consistent so often go off the bite when there is a sudden change. They found a huge tree floating with loads of small dorado and wahoo under it. The latter especially can be a nuisance because they go for anything that creates bubbles and do plenty of damage to the lines and lures. "Kamara II" got 1 sail only as did "White Otter" but "Broadbill" missed out. I arrived back from a great safari with my family and was given a blow-by-blow account of each day by young Bryan who has been working on "Kamara II" all week. He was really a great help and so nice to see youngsters that are genuinely keen on their fishing but with him there is keen and then there is Bryan! He has picked up the skills well and now we have confidence in him when giving him something to do.
Saturday 31st December – no time to rest from the safari and I was off to Funzi Keys to collect some guests for fishing. "Broadbill" was also out with Gaetano Parego from Italy with his son Cristian and their respective spouses. "White Otter" was out for just a short day. Gaetano released a striped marlin and Cristian a sailfish to come out tops for the day. We tagged 2 sail, lost a striped marlin when the line very annoyingly bust and saw a lot of sailfish with plenty of chances spurned. "White Otter" did not get anything.
Sunday 1st January 2012 – New Year’s Day – "Kamara II" was the only boat out and it was to be a very exciting day with the Parego family. There was still a strong NE (kaskazi) blowing and it was to become quite rough during the day but the fish were ready to play. We decided to go straight out for marlin in the knowledge that we had been seeing plenty of sails out in the deep water so we could fish for both marlin and sail at the same time. There was also a lot of weed in close and very green water. We rose a lot of sailfish almost every 10-15 minutes but the most exciting time was around 12.30pm when we found a huge pack of sailfish that was soon to be joined by a pack of striped marlin. We finally hooked 3 marlin and a sailfish but one marlin came unstuck quite early on. We tagged the sail and 1 marlin then fought the last marlin for more than 20 min to very near the boat and the hook pulled. Very frustrating, but still a day with 1 striped marlin and 5 sailfish is not a bad day at all.
Monday 2nd January – All three boats were out although "Broadbill" was only out for a short day. They landed a very nice cobia of 33-kg on 30-lb line early in the morning. We no longer see many cobia and can go a few seasons without even getting one so it was a very lucky catch. They are great fighters and excellent eating, also sometimes known as a black runner or prodigal son in South Africa. They also tagged a sailfish but sadly when the fishing was hotting up they were heading for home. "White Otter" tagged a striped marlin and missed another one along with a sailfish or two. But, the day belonged to "Kamara II" fished by my son Chris and his girlfriend, Leanne. We had headed straight out and Chris had tagged a sailfish before 8am and it was not long before Leanne was busy in to a striped marlin. This was her first time billfishing and she did really well to bring the marlin up to be tagged in fairly quick order. Chris then tagged a 2nd sail and we missed a few more that were coming up just knocking down the lures. Also, fishing out in the deep blue water one is usually using bigger lures for marlin that are much harder to hook sails on.
But, the real excitement came at 12.30pm when a large blue marlin took the 50-lb outfit on the centre rigger. The fish went ballistic charging at the boat to such an extent that I really thought it was coming on board. It was only about 5ft from the starboard corner before Hamisi was able to spin the boat away from the marlin. Somehow it missed becoming tangled in the teasers and then charged right across the wake to overtake us on the port side. Chris was brilliant, maintained contact at all times and kept the line away from the other rods. It was shear pandemonium I can tell you with the boat now at full speed after the marlin whist Suleiman and I frantically tried to clear all the lines. Again I do not know how we avoided getting in to any tangles but sometimes the gods are smiling on you. When I’m running the deck I typically do not get to look at the fish much, there is far too much to do so I did not think that it was more than about 300-lb. With a lot of pressure, some very good angling and some very good boat handling from Hamisi, Chris finally brought up the leader after 3¼ hrs. We had had to back up fast in to the sea, which had become rougher during the afternoon so that all of us on deck were soaked through. When finally I was able to take the leader I got my first chance to take in the size of this fish. This was no 300 pounder! This was one of the biggest blue marlin that I have seen, certainly the biggest that I have landed. It felt like a living concrete block on the trace and I was very glad to have some decent gloves so that once I had my wraps in there was no way that I was going to let go now. She was still alive but very tired and so I was able to bring her up alongside to be tagged with her pectoral fins lit up brilliant blue.
A few years back I caught one myself of around 550-lb and Chris’ fish was considerably bigger than that. It was a beautiful fish, the crew wanted to say 700-lb but having tagged it and released it alive I do not want to push my luck and say more than 600-lb. It was certainly more than 600 that is for sure but how much more I am not going to guess! Obviously, if one kills the fish you can get the exact weight but now I cannot bring myself to kill such a magnificent creature. It is also important to release the big fish because they are the ones with the strong genes, the survivor genes. A very special fish caught fully by IGFA rules and I can tell you we are really stoked! That also meant that we had scored a Grand Slam with the blue marlin, striped marlin and 2 sailfish.
Availability – there are still some space later this month so if you are interested in coming down please contact us as soon as possible.
Tight lines in 2012
Simon
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Mobile: Tel: +254 (0)722 796198 (Simon)
Fax : 254 40 2227675
Sea Adventures Ltd.
P.O. Box 348
Ukunda 80400, Kenya
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