The wind has been erratic this last week, normal for this time of year, with swings to north of east then back to a more southerly direction, but despite this some big black marlin have been seen and caught in the Canyon and Mountains area of the Banks. This is exciting news for serious anglers, as the sailfish have continued to be elusive off Malindi, and dirty water coming down the river from upcountry rains has exacerbated the problem.
Skipper Rob Hellier in his Unreel hooked into a big fish on live bait a week ago, and after a strong fight a huge black marlin was tagged and released, estimated at 270 kgs. A few days later, Tega also released another big fish, this one estimated at about 180kgs, while the next day Sand Dollar tagged a similar sized fish, after having had some other strikes, so it looks as if a run of these good sized fish is on. They are nearly always caught in this area on live bait, and catching the bait can be difficult, while a strike is not always the targeted quarry, as Alleycat found when two baits were eaten, ending up with two sharks, one a nice spinner shark of 92kgs.
Few trips have been made at Shimoni, but Wessel Kriek from South Africa caught a huge yellowfin tuna of 62.9kgs a week ago, while Alex Torriani in his new Cabo 42 ran out to the the seamount far offshore, and ended with a giant blue marlin of 280 kgs as well as twenty yellowfin up to 20kg, a satisfying reward for a long trip.
At Malindi, the sailfish are still difficult to raise and hook, and much of the inshore area is covered by dirty water driving the fish into deeper water where they are harder to locate. Rob Hellier took clients and friends out to jump into the water and swim with the sailfish, watching them feed on the bait shoals under water, an amazing experience, especially if armed with a good underwater camera, far more thrilling than hooking and playing them on the rod!
Tony Constance is an avid fly fisherman from England, and out on Tina, hooked a sail with his lightest rod – safely released after a four hour fight, he turned to his heavier rod and caught three more on his five days of fishing, good fishing in this difficult variation of technique