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Tropical Thunderings at Linga Linga

An infamous cast, tropical location and action boat – the shooting of ‘Tropical Thunderings at Linga Linga’, gets underway today.
Famous names include Captain Gallop and Captain Cook, with quite a few upcoming acts in the mix.
The launch from Barra is set for low tide. Tonight is set on Survivor Island – main activities being fire, food and fishing.

Tofo this morning…

Tomorrow the crew heads way up into the Morrombuene Estuary searching for the prawns, mangrove forests and rock salmon.
Stay close to this blog. Updates every few scenes…

Day 2 (not sure what happened to day 1, but it was spent on the island and under the stars)
Captain Dave Charley heads out to get some livebait this morning at Linga Linga. Although he came back with two karapaw and a flounder, it was not enough to get a strike on the fishing trip later in the day.
Slow trolling around the ocean side of the Linga Linga peninsula did not prove exciting so back to Linga for more strategising.

Loving the smell of Linga Linga in the morning…

Guest Greg out from North Carolina caught the only fish this day…a delicious Lula, or pencil squid. Many of the same fish species and methods of catching them are common to both Florida and Mozambique. We’re just looking for a tarpon now!

Oh ya…Frenzy just reminded me she caught a lizardfish and a sandsoldier that afternoon too…

The action vehicle…what a boat! This ones got a twin cylinder Lister Diesel motor! A bit smelly and noisy sometimes but perfect for cruising the Inhambane Bay. Slowly.
Renske and Steamer warming up…

Ettiene, Amanda, Benny and Pedro came by on their way back from the fishing grounds off Morrumbuene. 5 nice couta and smiles all round…Ettiene runs silverfishlodge.co.za up the Morrumbuene Estuary. They offer deep sea charters and accomodation right on the lagoon.
Being out here puts you within striking reach of many fresh fishing spots. The Sylvia Shoal starts about 10kms north of where we are on this trip! Acres of reef.

Day 2
This morning we woke early again, to try fulfil one of our objectives – a couta from the shore on spoon. 500 casts later, to fish jumping all over – couta in the 4 to 8kg size, we had to give up. It’s hard work and we had to get 100m of line out to reach the action. There were so many fish. Greg was pacing with encouragement and the dogs were beside themselves seeing the fish flying 5m through the air. I remember the semblance of a chase early, but with so much baitfish available, the couta were being very picky. Humbling.

The wind picked up a little this day, so cruising the estuary towards Morrumbuene was enough for us. Resting and eating, in preparation for the morning. We never saw any fish this night either.

Day 3
Early to bed, early to rise. The water was glassed off and crystal clean. And we headed to the wreck of an old whaler scuttled in wartime, out front of Castelo do Mar. Another objective, in fact a permanent one, was to find the rock salmon. As I popped my head over – there they were! 5 Rockies cruising around, about 2kg’s each. Frantically I ran back to the boat for my dropshot rig and Captain Gallop and stalked the fish. As we searched the wreck, out of the depths every now and then, in between the mullet, karapauw, wrasse, glassies, sardines…etc…the dark and ominous red shape of the bigger rock salmon could be seen. Cast after cast yielded nothing. And then it happened…

The neaps make this estuary mouth quite useable through the tides. We were on slack low and almost as the tide turned, the place came alive. The first gamefish to launch an assault were kingfish, not huge but destructful as they herded and smashed the baities. Yet still naught for us as we casted to them, in front of them, and behind them, trying to predict their next moves.

The makolo’s had appeared on the scene now. Anchoring about 10m away from us. Calmly and with that knowing look, out came the tiny hooks as the young salts started catching live bait. It wasn’t a minute before he caught a karapauw and with one big single hook behing the neck, sent it swimming straight down the mouth of a beauitiful couta – 8kgs about! Right in front of us. On handline! The fight was spectacular as he expertly maneuvred his makolo inbetween the other guys, and eventually handed it off to his older comrade to be gaffed and boated.

So now we had seen it. I never imagined a place where you could fish like this. The forward thinking gentlemen at Costelo do Mar have been placing dollosse (huge star shaped concrete things) on either side of their little beach for 6 years now.

This has had a startling effect on the environment. Firstly, the netters can’t simply drag the bottom now, without snagging. And along with cages filled with crushed cans dropped in the middle of the 10m deep channel, they have created an amazing artificial fish attraction.
The baitfish are herded into the beach in front of Costelo do Mar, just before the wreck. The drop off is intense so the couta come ambushing upwards at huge speed from the deep and literally explode into the shoals of panicking baitfish.
First you see the baitfish feeding. In this distraction the couta setup their charge. 2 or 3 couta hit at the same time. It is spectacular. Water everywhere. And what a sound! Every few minutes the cycle would repeat. We had two strikes but were so mummified by the scene, they both came off before we got serious about them. The makolos were now making hay and 6 fish came out in 30 minutes. We bought one in the end!

Then as soon as it started, it stopped. As the tide came in the fish seemed to swim past us and into the estuary for high tide relaxing.
So. Rock salmon (mangrove snapper), kingfish and couta. All in a 50m radius cut in perfectly calm, clean and flat water with a source of livebait and beer a wade away!
At this point Anna jumped in with a speargun and mask and was surrounded by couta. On 3 seperate occasions they came in to inspect her. The gun was too small but Anna proved you could also shoot fish here, in the rare right conditions. When the tide gets bigger, the water muddies up and the current screams, making it more dangerous than enjoyable.
In fact, these waters and this fishing relies heavily on the right conditions prevailing. It can be wild out here and it is very remote.
Luckily there is a wide choice of accomodation and recently EDM were connected up so there is power now.

So there it is…Linga Linga and Morrumbuene…on a plate. Contact us!
umzimkulu@gmail.com

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Life during wartime…!

Chad Leavitt's first sailfish, released off Morrungulo, on the way to Pomene (c) BoaGente
Chad Leavitt's first sailfish, released off Morrungulo, on the way to Pomene (c) BoaGente
Chad Leavitt’s first sailfish, released off Morrungulo, on the way to Pomene (c) BoaGente

Pomene in semi-southern Mozambique has always been our ultimate destination. Featuring the best Mozambique has to offer – the diving is incredible – with acres of reef, the fishing is fantastic, the beaches pristine and deserted with amazing surf, the local community friendly and so much to explore and photograph.

Getting there by road is not so difficult. The EN1 past Massinga, a few clicks and you can’t miss the Pomene Lodge sign to the right. This 54km dirt road become sand as you wind your way through the Pomene Nature Reserve and then behind the huge primary dune north until you reach Pomene.

But. We wanted to go by boat! Mainly to gain experience, explore the areas north and to test our brand new 2nd hand Interceptor 250 Cat. Getting a team together left us with a soon-to-be motley crew of capable and fit traveller types – some from Tofo, some from all over. We spent the Thursday beefing up our safety gear and procedures, scrambling for fishing tackle, and almost heated planning and debate.

Early Friday morning with 250l of fuel and a tonne of crew and cargo, we made a good launch and headed north in a blustery southerly sea, which would follow us the entire trip.

Captain Paul Cook on the helm for the first 6 hours straight (c) BoaGente
Captain Paul Cook on the helm for the first 6 hours straight (c) BoaGente

At 1900 rpm we use about 10l an hour giving us 12km’s or so at 6 knots. However with the current this time of year being a torrent, measuring up to 3 or 4 knots and more sometimes, we had to stay shallower, in about 20m of water to compensate. And we took a load of extra fuel, in fact our range was 250kms, and we were only traveling 120kms this day. It was easy enough to get more gas in Massinga – the nearest town to Pomene, with the local chappas (taxi), that runs through there every day.

The first fish of many. Robin Beatty, Sean Lange and Charl Mikkers (c) BoaGente
The first fish of many. Robin Beatty, Sean Lange and Charl Mikkers (c) BoaGente

Our first fish came after we had left the Barra area and were past Linga Linga. The couta came one by one and then increased voracity…eventually we stuck to 3 rods only, and were even then getting full house strikes. We lost a lot of tackle and fish due to chaos and a crowded boat.

 

Great weather half way and the tuna came on the bite. (c) BoaGente
Great weather half way and the tuna came on the bite. (c) BoaGente
2 by 2! With Anna, Charl and Paul (c) Boa Gente
2 by 2! With Anna, Charl and Paul (c) Boa Gente

Eventually we were catching too much fish for our purposes, so went down to two rods only. Chad Leavitt had been spectating a bit while Charl Mikkers, Robin Beatty and I grabbed the rods every time. Great having no charters sometimes! Then the rod went again so we volunteered Chad to the rod and there come the sailfish…bounding around and causing chaos. Clearing the boat got us into the fight and in a few minutes shaking shaking but determined arms pulled the fish alongside where Charl pounced upon it with his sarong. Robin (Capt. Gallop) removed the Rapala?!?! and the fish swam away unhurt and full of beans. Well done Chad! Whoops of joy all round!

Chad Leavitt's first sailfish comes to the boat, off Morrungulo (c) BoaGente
Chad Leavitt’s first sailfish comes to the boat, off Morrungulo (c) BoaGente

Release! Captain Gallop removes the hooks whilst Charl Mikkers holds on tight. The fish was very much alive and well when we let it go (c) BoaGente
Release! Captain Gallop removes the hooks whilst Charl Mikkers holds on tight. The fish was very much alive and well when we let it go (c) BoaGente

But. In the meantime a squall started appearing up ahead and in our path. So we decided, in the interests of safety, to up lines and steam the rest of the way. We also seemed to be taking water on our starboard side…so bungs out and on the plane. Very comfortable for a degenerating ocean. Rain came, the wind turned more onshore, the sea got more holes in it and bang! the port side prop is spun (the rubber bush holding the prop together is meant to absorb sharp impacts and prevent them from shearing the drive shaft – but under heavy load or use, the rubber fails…leaving you with a maximum speed on the engine of 2000rpm.) So we had to back off to that speed with both motors and hunker down. The rain got worse…but the GPS showed Pomene 10kms ahead.

Stormy weather caught us 20kms south of Pomene. We upped lines and ran at this stage. We never wanted to catch anything more! (c) BoaGente
Stormy weather caught us 20kms south of Pomene. We upped lines and ran at this stage. We never wanted to catch anything more! (c) BoaGente

Arriving in almost too late visibility, but armed with GPS and spotlights, we found the channel, surfed a few waves in (she surfs like a champion) and walked her up to Sathane’s camp. Beautiful. relief all round – 12 hours at sea is not easy, physically or mentally. Paul Cook and I were responsible for the boat so slept aboard. To our misfortunes. At about 2am, the tide reached us again, and in our slumber swung the boat alongside the shore. Waves came through the channel, the rain increased, the wind was wild – and waves were breaking against us, some splashing right into the boat, causing cooler boxes, tackle boxes and all sorts to float around! Paul and I struggled for over an hour, getting the boat in a position where we could remove the water and the boats contents. We were done by 4am, at first light. Exhausted and cold, we both lost our core temperatures, and even a fire could hardly help. Luckily the sun came storming out, but too late, I got the flu and Paul got malaria. The next day we spent passed out trying to recover.

The morning after. An incredible place is Pomene. (c) Boa Gente
The morning after. An incredible place is Pomene. (c) Boa Gente
The view from the campsite (c) BoaGente
The view from the campsite (c) BoaGente

And so Pomene literally absorbed us. The sun shone, the breeze blew. We had so much fish on ice, and spent the next few days eating as much of it as we could – to get strength back up for the return trip, which we delayed twice, finally deciding on the Tuesday. No-one complained!

Our 4 Jack Mussells enjoyed the trip to Pomene the most! Stinky, Steamer, Oscar and Chelsea (c) BoaGente
Our 4 Jack Mussells enjoyed the trip to Pomene the most! Stinky, Steamer, Oscar and Chelsea (c) BoaGente

Eventually Paul was looking malarial, and our support vehicle – driven by the Knight in Shining Landrover, Branko was on his way with more drinking water and fuel, so he and Marie and Heidi grabbed the far quicker ride home. This left the boat with 6 up and a lot less cargo.

We launched at 2:30am in the light of stars, at a very high tide. Drifting with baits got us a few strikes but first light soon got the Rapalas out and we were up to 6knots again. The ocean was idyllic and we traversed acres and acres of fish. Everywhere you looked were fish. But. They were not interested in the Rapalas at all. Charl was even throwing his dropshot right down the yellowfin tuna’s throats and they spat them out. Eventually we got 6 fish together, but it was a totally different story to the upways trip, when we were against the current.

The current did help us save gas and we made it home with plenty to spare. Aside from some water again in the starboard hull, the trip was safe and uneventful.

When we dropped off the bulk of the crew at Flamingo Bay, as they looked back at us, we looked like a refugee boat with shade-cloth and life-jackets strewn around to make shelters and comfortable spots for humans and doglets.

Summary: what a trip!

We have designed a new package for the above adventure – details coming soon!

Call Sean on +258 840 666 471 or email umzimkulu@gmail.com

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