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Captain Duarte Rato finally comes down off Ascension Island

A white marlin to round off an incredible experience...

Captain Duarte Rato finally comes down off Ascension Island

Captain Duarte Rato finally comes down off Ascension Island and delivers the goods once more.

You can read all about his epic sojourn across the Atlantic Ocean, to the tiny island of Ascension, in the middle of nowhere – by following the links below.

Ascension Island – Part 1 – where our Captain makes his way to the Ascension Island. The following excerpt gives you an idea of what to expect…

“Situated at 7´56 S and 14´22 W and a startling 1 600 km from Africa and 2 250 km from South America, Ascension Island is literally in the middle of nowhere and getting to it is an adventure in itself. The only way is via Brize Norton RAF base, where two weekly military flights serve Ascension & the Falklands. Lucky for us about 10 to 15 civilians are allowed per flight and after a swift flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow, a very pleasant day spent in Oxford, we finally boarded the 9 hour Ascension bound flight on the evening of the 13th July.”

Ascension Island YFT come in many large sizes!
Ascension Island YFT come in many large sizes!

Ascension Island – Part 2 – in this chapter we see that our Captain Duarte Rato can practise what he has been preaching…

“For my part I was grunting, swearing, cursing, groaning and eventually squeaking! My word, this was not for sissy´s, what did I get myself into! I think all the initial adrenalin rush, making my way to the transom (I had been throwing on the bow), trying to get into a confortable position and coming to grips with it made those first 15 minutes real hell. But, eventually I settled and seriously focused on the job at hand. We set up the Black Magic and I started feeling relaxed and at ease, just maybe I could actually pull this off – and I do not think it humanly possible to do it without the help of a harness – at least I know I DO NOT want to try it!”

Captain Duarte Rato and his monster Ascension Island Yellowfin Tuna
Captain Duarte Rato and his monster Ascension Island Yellowfin Tuna

Ascension Island – Part 3 – In this final chapter, our Captain declares his full time love for Ascension Island…

“But again we had a great time & vibe in the water and also out of it – great braii´s Ascension Island style, a few good drinks at the Saint´s and any other drinking hole we could find at the rock and generally just (as David would put it) terrorizing the Ascension nights! We made a great team and spent parts of the day already planning next year´s and 2017 trip´s – the boys should be back at Bazaruto to fish with me, we might make it to Cuba on David´s Viking ´Tucker´s Tale, later in the year they might join me in the GRB and there´s already plans for a return trip to CV in 2017!”

A white marlin to round off an incredible experience...
And a white marlin to round off an incredible fishing experience…

For more information on Captain Duarte Rato and his antics across the globe in search of huge mama black and blue marlin, and whatever else comes into his path on the way – head on over to http://fishbazaruto.com and read all about it!

 

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Bazaruto Marlin

 

Bazaruto Marlin

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Bazaruto marlin by Captain Duarte Rato

Just to feature once again – the most incredible photography by Captain Duarte Rato, as he chases down billfish through the summer season, off Bazaruto Island.

Again, it was another surprisingly consistent season and even in the face of hectic weather most of the time, the tallies of tagged and released marlin swimming around off Baz are way up there.

At the moment, Inhambane is being battered by very strong swells whipped straight at us by the tropical storm / cyclone hanging off Madagascar. It is travelling in the right direction to keep compounding the swell and by the next dark moon spring tide, the line ups will be very interesting indeed. The fish are active in the wild surf zone with kingfish smashing baitballs right in amongst the bathers at Praia do Tofo.

 

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Bazaruto in November: Mayhem

Bazaruto in November: Mayhem

The last 4 days fishing we have raised a total of 15 Black Marlin, releasing a total of 6. There is a lot of fish around but bites are a bit lazy so not the best hook-up ratio.

However this is incredible fishing by any standards and today we started with Rod, Carmen and Gordon Janz from Canada and had another blasting day in flat calm seas. Twenty minutes into it Carmen hooked into a very big fish that stripped 300 meters of line before coming undone. We then had another fish miss the lure and then one about 300 pounds that come off immediately after the strike. Finally at noon we hooked up solid and Carmen managed to release her first ever Black marlin at about 200 pounds on #50 pound tackle. The afternoon was slower and we only raised a fish about 400 that never struck the lure.

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Bazaruto in November: Black Marlin action off the charts…(c) Duarte Rato
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If you want to see this in real life…Get yourself to Bazaruto Island and go fishing with Captain Duarte Rato!
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Carmen Janz about to say goodbye to her first Black Marlin (c) Duarte Rato
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EPIC MARLIN trip for Ulrich & Frans

(c) Duarte Rato. Addressing Ocean Acidity

EPIC MARLIN trip for Ulrich & Frans

Captain Duarte Rato reporting in from Bazaruto Island in Southern Mozambique…

Ulrich and Frans then fished three days of excellent flat calm weather and Bazaruto´s Marlin fishing at it´s best. The first day we raised five Marlin on the lures, had four strikes and hooked three fish. Unfortunately we pulled one about 400 close to the boat but released two. The second day we raised one on the lure but did not get a bite out of it but then tagged and released two Blacks on live bait. The last day was slower and we raised 3 Blacks, had two bites but could not hook any of the fish….but I saw no one complaining and the guys left with a smile and a promise to be back next year!

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EPIC MARLIN trip for Ulrich & Frans – and more incredible photography by Captain Duarte Rato

Continue reading EPIC MARLIN trip for Ulrich & Frans

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Bazaruto Blue Marlin in winter – again…

Bazaruto Blue Marlin in winter – again…

Hi Sean,

Seems incredible but every time we been going deep off Bazaruto, we getting into some Blue Marlin…and this is the peak of winter!!!
Went out on Friday night to fish for broadbill swordfish and we found very interesting structure dropping from 300 to 500 meters in less than half a mile. Except for sharks the night was uneventful but the next morning we decided to troll around the area with some Marlin lures and an hour into it we got a awesome strike on the short corner Black Big T – TT and hooked up. Charles Holsted brough his first ever Marlin for a release – a  fish we estimated at about 400 pounds.
We had another blue come up on the same lure a tad later but missed it and just before heading home hooked a sailfish that pulled hooks close to the boat!
Looks like we might have a winter fisheries in our hands that no one knew about!
Will be out there friday again, hope to have some news by the weekend!
Cheers mate,
Duarte
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