2023 Blue Marlin Season on the go with FishBazaruto.com
2023 Blue Marlin Season on the go with FishBazaruto.com: So whilst we are all setting up ambush for the oncoming sardines, Captain Duarte Rato is operating at the extreme other end of the scale.
Duarte and crew from FishBazaruto.com have been enjoying impeccable conditions and some really exciting bill fishing.
Black Marlin
Duarte is infamous amongst the black marlin population. He has been taming marlin up in the Bazaruto Island water of Mozambique. And other exotic and fanciful destinations worldwide since he was but a teenager. The blacks congregate in a breeding pattern each year st the start of summer. Right in Duartes’ workshop a few kilometres out off the island. These fish swim very shallow sometimes but it’s at about 80m that you will encounter those black marlin mostly.
In the heat of the moment, it’s challenging to tell between a big black and a big blue marlin. I take my cues from where we are and what the fish is doing. And although these two marlins do swim together, the way they operate and where, is totally different.
Blue Marlin
The blue marlin, however, is found much deeper, 400m or so. This is not a specific rule since a blue will surprise you in the shallows if the bait so depicts. And it is in wintertime here on the eastern seaboard of Africa, that the blues move in. We are not sure if they are here to breed like the blacks. I think it’s because of the sheer biomass of marine creatures congregating along the coast here in waiting patiently in lieu of the sardines about to move on up this way.
Enjoy a quick video sporting a blue marlin making a run for it…
Tunas, mackerel, bonitos…all the species are coming to KZN for this party. And this is what the blue marlin eats for breakfast, lunch and supper.
Duarte has another way of telling blue from black – he reckons that the first run of a properly hooked blue marlin sounds like – “A thousand cats being boiled alive” as the line just melts off.
Dont forget the Stripey
Arriving in shoals for the sardine run, these marauding and hard-fighting billfish don’t get as big as the blacks or blues. They don’t need to! Wait until you hook one of these crazy animals. Cartwheels, pirouettes, somersaults – you name it.
And of course – everyone’s favourite – the Saily
These guys also pitch up in winter too. They are most definitely here for the sardines and the myriad of bait species that become available this time of the year.
But ok, get in touch if you would like to get in amongst those screaming cats. We have a website for FishBazaruto.com and the blue marlin season is well underway.
