Both marlin and sailfish have been caught over the Christmas holiday, with a fantastic days fishing on White Mischief notable when the boat went out on Monday evening for an over-night trip. Catching three broadbill during the night, anglers Danny, Jodie and Sean added three sailfish, and both a black and a blue marlin before returning to harbour with their outrigger loaded with flags- a super grand slam which must be the best catch so far this season, with all the fish released!
Earlier, on Thursday, What Ever it Takes found a stripey and a sail, while Tamu had a stripey and two sail, and both Tarka and Sand Dollar caught sailfish. Next day, Eclare had a pair of sailfish, followed by four the following day, with fourteen sail raised over the two days.
Tarka on Friday found a huge blue marlin, estimated about 270kgs, duly released after a good fight with some amazing jumping runs recorded on video, probably the biggest fish seen recently. A good omen, as it is still early in the season for the big blues, which are more common in February and March. Alleycat had a busy day releasing two sail, missing a marlin after a few jumps and boating a good mixed bag with a giant trevally and wahoo.
The first day of the Watamu Xmas tourney was marked by a slow-down in the fishing – why does this happen so often in competitions? Nineteen boats were entered, ten of these being small boats under 24ft. Instedda was the leading boat, with a striped marlin and two dorado, fished by Imran, Kai and John, while Usubi, a small boat of 20ft, lies second with a sailfish and two dorado for anglers Craig Griffiths and Tina Harris. Lets hope the fish show up on the second day, with full results in next week’s article.
At Shimoni, White Otter has done well with a marlin on almost every outing, plus some sailfish and good mixed bags on their trips. With the north wind blowing fishing should continue to improve there, January being one of the best months for striped marlin in that area.