Striped marlin have moved into the Rips, good news for anglers as the sailfishing in the inshore areas has only been moderate, and better still, sailfish have also been showing far out as well in the last couple of days. The wind has been really unpredictable, swinging back to the south-east for a few days, but was back in the north again yesterday, so we hope it settles there!

Eclare had the best day with Bernt and Marc Neufelt tagging and releasing three stripies last Saturday, while Tina recorded two consecutive days with a double of stripeys with Fabio Trasari and friends from Italy, including an exciting episode with five on at once! Regular anglers Peter Hofmann and Mario Cao also had a double of striped marlin on Neptune and a couple of days later they had a stripey and two sail, bringing up a fine total of two big black and three striped marlin, plus six sailfish, in their four days out - great fishing by any standard!

At Watamu, B's Nest tagged a stripey and two sail for Eduard and Victor from Russia, and next day the same team had five sailfish, all in the Rips. Unreel, Tega and Seyyida also had stripeys last week, and a lot of other fish have been lost so it looks as if things are waking up in the Rips.

This is good news for the Watamu Sea Fishing Club's annual Christmas competition, one of the coast's most popular events. Sponsored by Captain Andy's Fishing Supply, Yamaha and Zodiac with excellent prizes, a team's total points are divided by the length of the boat, giving smaller boats a good chance as the points system is heavily geared towards marlin to counter the usual complaint that the professional boats are just too good at catching the sailfish! Fishing starts at 6.30am on Tuesday 28th from any port, back by 4.30pm and weighing in at Ocean Sports. The second day also finishes at 4.30pm, followed by the prize giving at Ocean Sports.

Kids are always keen fishermen, and on Boxing Day Ocean Sports will host the annual Kids Competition. Don't be fooled this is not serious fishing, as last years winners presented fifteen sailfish tag cards and were back by midday - but with the Paul family from Malindi there was plenty of experience there! And for the Under-13's, Friday 31st Dec. at Captain Andy's Mida Creek premises will see the kids at work up the creek from 8am till 12am for the weigh-in at 12.30pm with hot dogs and sodas, while sponsorship from Fly 540 will give a good range of prizes

After the successful Capt Morgan tournament Hemingways ran an informal competition, Sailfish University, with mainly South African anglers, four teams for four days. 26 sail and four marlin were tagged, with Matthew and Warren Meredith both catching a marlin on Ol Jogi, and Cassie Le Roux and Dean Guildenhuys  likewise on Black Widow. With eight sail one day and four another, as well as two marlin, Black Widow took boat honours, with the boats fishing different teams of anglers daily. A couple of boats then went down to Shimoni, where Garry Cullen in White Bear succeeded in tagging and releasing a striped marlin on fly, always a great achievement.