Marlin release pro Captain Duarte Rato checks in from Bazaruto
Marlin release pro Captain Duarte Rato checks in from Bazaruto with two more Captain’s Blogs from his recent excursions taming marlin out off Bazaruto.
It’s just amazing, that our eastern seaboard, right on our doorstep, has so many marlin. From as far south as the Cape, and right through KZN and into Mozambique, and further north…our continental shelf wavers and wobbles creating eddies and currents and congregations of all sorts of baitfish. That the marlin are after.
And it’s not only the marlin, we are so fortunate to live here. Huge yellowfin tuna swim these same waters. And wahoo. Dorado. Anywhere in the 80m zone along the shelf will tell a story.
It’s just all about timing. The weather can really play along, but often times it doesn’t! It has been really otherwise lately, as you can read in Duarte’s report – since that cut off low caused all the trouble a month ago. It seems that if we don’t get a cut off low, then the weather plays along just fine. But the huge pressure difference this last low brought, caused havoc up north. 40 knot easterlies!!! Luckily it gets better and better through November and into December.
FishBazaruto.com checking in with yet another post FULL of marlin. It’s time to stash the light tackle for whilst these denizens enjoy their annual holiday to Bazaruto waters. There are plenty smaller “models” as Duarte call them, available, courting the big ladies too. These smaller fish, presumably males, really put on a good show, even on the heavy tackle.
But it’s all about the big fish off Bazaruto right now. Four rods only. 80lb minimum. Everyone on alert!
Read Duarte’s account of the second week of November. There are barely a handful of boats fishing out there at the moment – the weather has been terribly difficult still – but the amount of fish coming up is staggering!
The Sardine News on TV – Inhaca GT and other stories
Getting a trip together with Bino Nordine, out off Inhaca and Macanete, made my entire last month in Mozambique! Fetching me from Fatima’s nice ‘n early, although almost not early enough, as we took a while to get ship shape and beyond the threatening low tide. But soon we were passing Xevina Island and it’s crazy archaic looking prison ruins.
There used to be so many sharks here, that it was the ultimate prison. Free enforcers! From a reliable source, I heard that Samora himself hid out on this forsaken little island – here was the safest he could be – in full view of Maputo!
A quick stop at the “turning buoy”, a few casts and a few chases, but off we had to go, in lieu of a beasterly easterly that was forecast And never came!). It’s a good 20 miles to the reefs. But eish, what reef. Scattered over a large area, kind of joined though, and dropping from 20 metres to 40 and more, in no time. Reef and pinnacles, all full of showings, all over the place. It was a question of finding the fish that were feeding, rather than finding the fish. There were fish everywhere! We caught a bunch, letting most go. A couta and a kakaap for the pan came home!
When we got a live bait out finally then, a stupid hammerhead came knocking, biting the tail right off our hard earned hapless bonnie. Getting the bonnie away from the shark, we teased him for some fun. Aggro little hammerhead!
Tottering around, from showing to showing, reef to reef, eventually, we were finding more and more promise on the underwater TV Channel (by Garmin). Bino, from years and years out here, knows exactly how to position for a drift accounting for all the many variables that this takes. Then it happened, Bino went away solid. In fact, the fish was so aggro, it hit and missed twice before Bino found jaw and hooked up. It was a long hard fight which turned out to be Binos biggest GT, by estimate. Enjoy the video…! Like and subscribe and whatever tx!
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Let us know what you kind of fishing you would like to experience in the Inhaca area. Amberjack. Marlin. Wahoo. Sailfish. Snapper. Tuna. Dorado. Kingfish. The list is pretty impressive and it’s all tucked in nicely around the Inhaca s Island System.
With the new bridge about a year away from completion, get your fishing slots booked now already. It’s gonna be a short hop from Durban up to Maputo. Where we take over! We arrange the whole lot. You avoid the tangles and hang-ups that can be experienced trying on your own.
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Fishing Mozambique by Bus: Giving myself ample time, I arrive at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg. Only to find that my flight has been cancelled. LAM. Late and Maybe. Mozambique’s airline. Their excuse? No aircraft this time.
And so I gallop across the expanse of the international airport, fuelled by adrenalin, only to find that Safair, the only other carrier, is fully booked! No flights available. For the next week and more. Chokkablok.
My clients arrive this same day, in Inhassoro…a short hop from Vilankulos airport. So now what do I do?
So, I take the remaining flight that is available, to Maputo, and arrive at 10am. Now it’s on. Where do I go next? So I call up The Sardine’s Maputo connection – Marta Luisa Santos – and rally for her assistance. Sharp as always, I am soon directed to the Junta.
1100 Mets later, the equivalent of about R250, and I have a ticket!
I am going to be a day late, but at least I will make my charter, for the good weather the next day.
I just never realised how far it was!
And so the next morning, 4am, I taxi along to Junta. The bustling hub for all public transport heading north.
And there is my bus. In all her glory. She is huge. Single story though. But a huge improvement over the old models. I take the seat I presume to be the right one – without a chair in front of it, so I can lean over and sleep my well-aimed hangover well away.
At 8am! The bus is finally full enough to depart, and off we go.
Man, it’s far to Inhassoro! After we reached Inhambane province, I was well comfortable that I was going to get there in time. Sort of. What I never realised, is just how far Inhassoro is from Inhambane! It’s miles! In fact, it’s much the same distance from Inhassoro to Inhambane (336kms), that it is from Maputo to Maxixe (460kms)! Give or take an hour or two.
I have bussed a lot. And so I melt into my seat and try grin and bear it.
Around me are all sorts. Including tourists. Some also skunked by LAM. A delightful elderly couple and I chatted at every chance. Some were visibly grumpy about the prospect thrust upon them. But then I met two gorgeous French girls. They had rented a 4×4 and on their own did Etosha and Okavango! After Cape Town they had bussed along the coastline. And now were headed to Vilankulos to do some diving and island exploring. They chose the bus. It was safe they said. Cheap. Convenient. AND. The lightest method of travel for the environment! They did have a flight back as they were gonna be in a hurry. But were considering cancelling to avoid the drama all their fellow passengers had just gone through. Including me.
The journey gets underway. And this bus flies. It’s a big and powerful coach recently imported from China. Chinese decals and all the warnings are in Chinese symbols. But in great condition. The toilet was not working, but the bus stopped regularly enough. With passengers off and on taking a good few minutes. And a few official toilet and food stops.
On the bus the interactions are all pleasant. Bus culture. People politely keep to themselves. But are real enough to strike up one of those unforgettable very temporary friendships that becomes indelibly etched in your memory. Every time you pass a place where you chatted, or broached a subject in the scape, those pleasant memories flood back.
With some help, I sleep and sleep and sleep. A few nice stops barely interrupt my slumber.
8pm. I wake up, and I am the last person on the bus. And we are in Inhassoro!
A taxi to my guests at Cashew Bay lodge, and the next day we are out there catching a marlin!
But some trips don’t go as well as others. And so after the first marlin and nearly another one, and some real bad weather, I left my guests with Captain Derek Flaxman, and headed south. On another bus!
This one took forever, but only cost me 500 Meticals, including my huge bag of fishing tackle! That’s R120 or so. To go 600kms!
When I got to Maxixe, a taxi took me across (At this stage I couldn’t be bothered with a slow water taxi and all the carrying that goes with it). Then another taxi to Tofo and in one day, for 600 Meticals or less, I traversed Inhambane province.
So. For 1700 Mets (about R400 right now) plus a few taxi rides, I travelled a solid 2000kms!
That is less than 1 met per kilometre!
Considering my flight cost R3700 one way from Jhb to Vilankulos. This is one seriously cheap way of travelling.
And the most friendly on the environment. By far!
Definitely more reliable than LAM!
Mozambique by bus! And these busses go everywhere! Chimoio and Zimbabwe. Or north to Beira and beyond. In fact, you can go just about anywhere in Africa for a few hundred Rand! From Durban, the international taxis charge about R300 including a surfboard, to Maputo. Maputo a night at the friendly and safe Fatimas. Then 1000 Mets to Tofo or 1100 to Inhassoro. So, R600 for your transport to Bazaruto waters! You can spend all those savings on boat trips! Because that’s expensive!
The busses are not allowed to travel at night, so it’s daytime only. They are big and steady and safe. Almost comfortable. But one thing is for sure…Africa is being opened up even more for the much-needed tourism business, by bus.
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Lucky anglers fishing the Bazaruto waters and surrounds are having an epic season with many meritorious fish being caught every day out. Captain Duarte Rato has been keeping his journal up-to-date and this is his latest instalment…
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