Category: Mozambique

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Biggest Bazaruto Kingfish in 16 Years!

biggest bazaruto kingfish

Biggest Bazaruto Kingfish in 16 Years!

Captain Duarte Rato reporting in from the Bazaruto Archipelago, as the billfish season gets underway in those magnificent waters.

It is still early season up there now with characteristically smaller fish being caught in the slightly colder water. However a few bigger ones in the 600lb range have rocked up and it sure looks to be another good season here in Mozambique.

The following is an excerpt from this week’s report, which we publish first on http://fishbazaruto.com…this report features one serious GT, or giant trevally or giant kingfish or caranx ignoblis, caught and released by one of Duarte’s clients, this past week:

“…the most outstanding was the Giant Kingfish we caught this last week with Igor and Alexis from Russia. On their third day we went specifically looking for them in the early morning and has we arrived at the reef I had chosen we immediately hooked up to a really nice one, which we released and called about 30 kilos. On their last morning we again decided to work that spot early morning and once again we hooked up to a real monster as we got there. But this turned out to be a very special fish, at a very fat 138cm, we estimated this fish a 50 + kilos, our second biggest GT in 16 years of fishing the archipelago.

I am not sure Igor really understood how significant his catch was so to put into perspective I told him that we have released way more Marlin over a 1000 pounds than we have even seen GT´s over 50 kilos!!!”

biggest bazaruto kingfish
Igor all the way out from Mother Russia had a fight on his hands when he tussled with this biggest bazaruto kingfish taken here in 16 years!

Check out Duarte’s daily updates on the FishBazaruto FB page by clicking here! Don’t forget to “share it if you like it”!

Smaller marlin provide plenty of fun, especially this time of year, in the Bazaruto ArchipelegoFishing BarraHealthy sailfish about to swim free at VilankulosDorado start to show up in catches as we move into summer time in Mozambique

Stay tuned for more reports in from Captain Duarte Rato…or log onto and “like” his FB page for almost real-time “from-the-boat” updates.

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Bazaruto fly-fishing mayhem

Bazaruto Baby Black Marlin bite

Bazaruto fly-fishing mayhem

Bazaruto fly-fishing: chuck a fly in here and see what happens!
Bazaruto fly-fishing: chuck a fly in here and see what happens next!

Early season in the Bazaruto Archipelago sees shoals of baby black marlin on the hunt in the shallows. Often this Bazaruto fly-fishing opportunity happens only a mile from the lodge! Captain Duarte Rato and crew of fishbazaruto.com are geared up for this ultimate type of fishing. Years of experience have seen many fish successfully caught and healthily released.

At these small sizes, from 20kg’s and upwards, the fish are far more resilient and hardy – and man can they jump to heights way out of proportion to their small size.

As this recent report just in from Captain Duarte Rato shows, the fly is deadly fun up there, and a wide range of gamefish are prepared to gorge them…

“On the first day they had an absolute ball at 25 mile releasing several different species including king mackerel, indian mirrorfish, GT´s, golden trevally, talang queenfish, prodigal son and yellowspotted kingfish. On the second day they found a crazy mayhem of game fish just north of the lighthouse and spend the all day in the area catching and releasing few different species but mostly YFT and lots of nice size cuda.” – Thanks Duarte!

This big couta was the only fish not released, it was not able to be revived, after a long fight on such light gear. All the rest of the fish fought that day, are alive and swimming...
This big couta was the only fish not released, it was not able to be revived, after a long fight on such light gear. All the rest of the fish fought that day, are alive and swimming…

For more information on how to get tangled up wto a mean tempered baby black marlin, head on over to fishbazaruto.com and get in touch with Captain Duarte Rato.

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Bazaruto Winter time Humpbacks

Whale Watching with the Sardine News team

Bazaruto Winter time Humpbacks

Welcome back to Captain Duarte Rato, as he begins another seasonal sojourn on Bazaruto Island, near Vilancoulos, Southern Mozambique.

Winter on the island is better than summer most other places, temperatures hang in the twenties, the water too. And winter gamefishing is another challenge entirely as the focus goes towards big gamefish on live baits. Big gamefish, including the infamous dirty fighter, the GT, Giant Kingfish or Giant Trevally. The Caranx Ignoblis and other kingfish species seem to be more active and prevalent in winter time, and if you are not careful, you may find yourself attached to one these 50kg beasts, who readily devour a live bonito, or a well-placed plug.

For the more placid, it is also whale season on Bazaruto, and humpbacks can be seen right out front of the lodge. Along with the dolphins and other whale species, the Whale Sharks that everyone love, love the waters of Inhambane Province too, and a swim in the warm clear water with one of these 30ft beasts can be the experience of a lifetime.

For more on Bazaruto, and to follow Captain Duarte Rato’s fish catching antics, surf on over to http://fishbazaruto.com, where Duarte uploads stories and photos taken each time he does a trip.

Whale Watching with the Sardine News team
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The Marakuja Express

Charl Mikkers sets up a bomb out front of Lalaland in Tofo, Mozambique (c) Lalaland

The Marakuja Express

Staying at Lalaland in Praia do Tofo, Inhambane, Southern Mozambique, encourages you to eat miraculously powerful and easy to attain natural foods. Coconuts are plentiful, delicious little tomatoes cover the ground, and the flavour of this story ; the “marakuja”, soars overhead.

Coconuts, cherry tomatos and “marakuja” for breakfast. Marakujas, also known as passion fruits, or granadillas, grow all over Lalaland. Completely naturally indulgent in sweetness and sharp flavour and ready to eat soon as they hit the floor, the plant is a creeper vine and Chad and Heidi have liberally dressed their open air living space with wooden lattices that carry Marakuja fruits all over the area.

Heidi, co-owner with Chad, shared her secret to extracting all this goodness and delight…Heidi has a normal sieve, and she literally presses the juice and flavour out manually. The result is a thick nectar so full of power, it is way better to dilute it about 20 or more water parts to once concentrate.

Even better still, mix the marakuja concentrate with the water from a freshly opened coconut!

Now where is that Tipo?

Image result for passion fruit
Marakuja!

Lalaland is a self catering dreamy holiday location with fabulous staff and facilities, right on the beach at Praia do Tofo, Inhambane, Southern Mozambique. Owners Chad and Heidi can also arrange activities for you; like diving, surfing and fishing – and even a breakaway trip to the fabulous Pomene.

Tours and dhow rides to Inhambane and surrounds, exploring the huge Inhambane Estuary and Islands, cruising for Dugongs at Linga Linga, sunsets at Barra…there is so much to the Tofo area, you need a few weeks to get it all in!

You can contact Lalaland by following this link… or checking their website and contact details on http://lalalandafrica.com

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Winter in Mozambique!

Winter in Mozambique!

Thulane Gustav making the most of the Mozambique winter climate.
Thulane Gustav making the most of Mozambique in winter. 

Nice shot sent in by Tofo ripper Thulane Gustav shot by his talented photographer Dad Volker.

Mozambique sits just outside the winter belt and in Praia do Tofo, this time of the year is idyllic. The waves are much better and more polished this far up. The water is waaarm. It breaks on sand. The sun is mild. There are no crowds. And no sharks!

And all the time we were/are being battered by huge southerly systems unloading on South Africa’s eastern seaboard, the crew in Tofo are just loving life, picking up the smooth remains of the swells we have been seeing just go straight past us!

Come to Tofo…email Sean on umzimkulu@gmail.com to make arrangements…

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