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Collective Reporting

Yellowfin Tuna taken off Bazaruto (c) Duarte Rato
Yellowfin Tuna taken off Bazaruto (c) Duarte Rato

Duarte Rato at Bazaruto sent in this awesome photo of a yellowfin tuna…taken a few days ago…

These are what the big momma’s are here for!

It has been a little quiet, in town and at sea, for us in Tofo. But we have had the following launches:

Damian, Shane and Erlana

Shane was super stoked with his yellowfin on light tackle, seared and eaten still raw in the middle, with lemon juice and garlic butter. Wow!

But then Damiao got his first fish ever! A smallish sea pike – that he relished at Tofo Tofo Restaurant, where they prepared it beautifully.

Although the fishing was a bit slow, whale sharks, dolphins and whales made up for some action.

The Poker Club

Paul and I were sitting on the verandah at Bar Babalaza, wondering where our next customers were going to come from, when 8 Big Ous from Joey’s rocked up and turned our lives upside down. From partying at Fatima’s, to huge feeds at Barra Lodge and then a final assault on Freddie’s Bush Bar at Whitesands…

Lionel led the fishing charge but either he chose the wrong crew or bait – but it was not to be. We never saw a bird, and not one local rowboat fishing crew were out either. It’s about 1 in 6 trips that we score a duck like this – and no, they never let us live it down!

Double or quits next time pals!

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Duarte again!

Hey senor Sean,

After the crazy SE that blew over last weekend we have had picture perfect weather, deep blue water an ocean full of life…and some pretty EPIC fishing.

Unfortunately despite such perfect conditions we have not been targeting Marlin on heavy tackle as with such a ridiculous amount of gamefish such as wahoo, dorado and yellowfin tuna as well as sailfish around, guests have preferred to tackle these on light tackle.

Tuesday and Wednesday we only went out for a couple hours and some pretty good fish and lost a bus yellowfin and a big GT we fought for 35 minutes. But yeah, there is so much Yellowfin it´s stupid!!!

Yesterday we fished in the morning and released a sailfish out of a double strike, missed two black Marlin and again got a whole bunch of yellowfin tuna.

Today was epic…we started with a sailfish pack attack and managed to hook 3 of the five bites and released two fish. We then got into a massive school of yellowfin and got 14 as well as two good wahoo. We had to be back at 1pm but still pulled lures for a while and finished the morning with a small Black Marlin around 100 pounds for Craig Edwards…it was everyone’s first billfish!!!

Looking good bru…can’t wait to start chasing the big ladies !!!

Cheers

Duarte

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3 Hours with Duarte!

3 Hours with Duarte…a lifetime worth of fishing…!

Duarte on camera duty (c) Duarte Rato
Duarte on camera duty (c) Duarte Rato

Duarte reporting in on a trip they had last week…out of Baz.

“Cool man, nothing to do with this wind but brave it out there bru. To me this is good, the more it blows earlier in the season from the SE the more it pushes good water into the edge and the stronger the current. Every year there is a good number of SE in August to September we have a great season.

4 Sailies released! (c) Duarte Rato
4 Sailies released! (c) Duarte Rato

Did go out a few days ago with two nice girls from Zim, we only fished 3 hours and it was EPIC. We caught a bunch of school yellowfin tuna and bonito, two nice wahoo of 22 and a monster of 31 kilos and released 4 sailfish out of 7 bites. All in three hours work. The sailfish bite was awesome but the girls had enough and wanted to return home. AWESOME!!!”

What's to say? (c) Duarte Rato
What's to say? (c) Duarte Rato
Sure I recognise a young Alistair Conn here...nice one Ally! (c) Duarte Rato
Sure I recognise a young Alistair Conn here...nice one Ally! (c) Duarte Rato

Duarte, I dunno what to say…just teach us all how you do this man!

 

Duarte Rato. 31kg Wahoo.
Duarte Rato. 31kg Wahoo.
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Da Rocha Azul de Rei

Maybe this ones a Bluefin Kingfish? Duarte?
Maybe this ones a Bluefin Kingfish? Duarte?

Well, with my Dad and Darrell Hattingh on the boat, when the rod finally went, I said – “Who wants this fish!”.

They both just said – “No you take it”.

So there I was, finally actually fighting a fish myself. Wierd!

And what a fight – these guys pack a punch – even on a couta stick – it took 20 minutes. We could see the fish 30ft down but it wouldn’t budge.

We also got a big bonnie and swam it live until it died – earlier on we saw a marlin with it’s bill out the water acting strange. But no strike.

The water was 22.5 to 22.9 and really dirty – about 20ft vis.

The market was empty, so we actually did quite well…and yes, we will be eating this fish tonight.

A few local spearos also bagged a couple, there were plenty in that shoal!

Stay tuned!

Sean Lange

aka Shonalange

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More Tofo Zombies…!

Kelly on the Cobia (Prodigal Son)...
Kelly on the Cobia (Prodigal Son)...

By the time the Bluff ous calmed down and got serious about fishing, Tofo Zombie syndrome had set in already. Vinnie and Kelly were very distracted and confused, luckily Matt managed to stay focus and put in a real good effort. But it was beginner’s luck again, and Kelly got two really nice fish – his first couta, on a X-Rap 15 Bonito style on the inside at Barra. And then a marvelous Prodigal Son (Cobia), as he dropped a Bucktail, with a long red tail, straight down it’s mouth, just south of Barra Lighthouse. After an epic struggle on 20lb line lasting over an hour, the little coffee grinder was starting to take strain. Vinnie came to the fore and gaffed it deep under the boat. With so many whales, I mean SO many, there must be thousands of Cobia around. On one drift, a whole shoal caught us by surprise, swimming right past our baits and the boat! There was panic as everyone’s spinning stick was somewhere else! There must have been 30 with the big ones up front, followed by many about 10kg’s.

The bucktail shot Prodigal...
The bucktail shot Prodigal...
Kelly got his first couta and cobia on this trip...cheered on by an ecstatic Jimmo (the hotshot local), and Vinnie Cook
Kelly got his first couta and cobia on this trip...cheered on by an ecstatic Jimmo (the hotshot local), and Vinnie Cook
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