Kenya Fishing - Grand Slams 2007

[abelcher]

BILLFISH TOURNAMENT 2007

The Billfish Tournament was held on the 17th and 18th February and was a great success with 13 boats entering. Over the two days they managed to tag 13 Black Marlin, 1 Stripped Marlin, 13 Sailfish and 1 boated Black Marlin. The competition was very close with the first day closing with Snowgoose in the lead with 2 Black Marlin, followed by Eclare, B’s Nest and Unreel (with 1 Black each) drawing second and coming in third was Seahorse and Simba with 2 Sailfish each.

Day two brought in 9 more Black Marlin, 1 Stripped and 5 Sailfish. Snowgoose took the cup with a total of 4 Black and 1 Sailfish. Eclare came in second with 3 Black and Simba came in third with 1 Black, 1 Stripped and 2 Sailfish.

As with all our competitions the success would not have been possible without the generosity of our sponsors. I would like to give a big thank you to:

Robert J. Goodson Ltd (Insurance Consultants), East African Safari Air Express, VFS International and Driftwood Beach Club.

FISHING HOT SPOTS

David Slater’s fishing report has been forwarded to all our members to keep you up to date with the fishing news in Malindi – however here are just a few of the highlights in the last couple of months:


• End of January Simba had a grand slam on an overnight trip to the North Kenya Banks with a black and a striped marlin, a sail and three broadbill. We believe this is the first grand slam this season.
• End of January Snowgoose had a black marlin on a 15kg line for eight hours. The crew had the leader several times but the fish was too strong, and at the last attempt to secure it the hook fell out. The fish was estimated at about 250kg which on such a light line would have almost doubled the existing record.
• Beginning of February was the 42nd Delamere Trophy at Kilifi, and was most successful with 11 marlin and 13 sailfish recorded.
• First week in February saw a whopping fifty marlin and ninety sail caught by the boats in Watamu and an extra twenty one by the Kingfisher fleet at Malindi.
• Zambarani caught a 221.5kg hammerhead shark on an 80lb line, angler Jaques Schouten will claim for a Kenyan record as it is the largest caught here.
• A team of South African fishermen on White Mischief were deep jigging on the Mountains out off Watamu and managed to tag four giant trevally – a species not normally found in this area and then about twenty amberjack.
• Kleis Reedijk on Zambarani caught a 350lb bull shark on a 30lb line using only a plug.
• Ol Jogi managed to catch a huge grouper or rock cod weighing 199kg, while bottom fishing.

The fishing has been excellent with plenty of marlin and sailfish. These are just a few of the highlights.

COMPETITION DATES FOR NEW SEASON

The Committee have discussed the up coming competitions of the new season. The tentative dates are as follows:

OCTOBER FESTIVAL - 20th & 21st October 2007
MATTHEW DE VILLERS - 8th & 9th December 2007
CHURCHILL & MORSON LIGHT LINE - 22nd & 23rd December 2007
INTERNATIONAL BILLFISH - 16th & 17th February 2007

[leo trauma]

I was fishing the malindi billfish cup together whith a friend and Angus Paul on Neptune and indeed a very nice tournament,on the first day I lost my first marlin ever a stripey trhow the hook 15 meters behind the boat.
But on the second day I caught one blackey my first one ever:gr_cheers.
I have bin there also in november and fished for the first time whith poppers catching GT,S up to 36 kg amazing the power next time I go to the gym
Tight Lines .
Leo