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Bazaruto´s second Marlin Run

Its known that Black Marlin can dependably be targeted year-round off the Bazaruto Archipelago. We have caught them on every single month of the year and despite the Big Girls season peaking between September to mid-December of every year, we have caught some really big fish from March to June.

And, the numbers don’t lie in saying that we definitely have a …

Bazaruto´s second Marlin run!

Although we have had good fishing in February and March, some years the water tends to be too warm. Bazaruto´s second Marlin run definitely seems to peak between April and May.

And although it does seem that Bazaruto´s second Marlin run does provide smaller fish overall, in the past we have caught fish up to 800 in March and April, an estimated Grander in May and fish up to 700 in June.

This is also a time that we normally have glorious calm weather, still warm but not exceedingly hot, and with big wahoo and sailfish showing up in good numbers to add to the mix.

Ohhhh and a great time to target Gt´s as well!

Season feelings…

The calm, inky blue water was boiling with baitfish all around us.

On the inside large shoals of frigate bonitos (Jube Jube´s) where feeding around the pinnacles. On the outside of it there where large numbers of kawa kawa schools with a few Yellowfin tuna in the mix.

On the edge we were picking some really nice size wahoo on the lures.

And, to the outside of it, anywhere between the 80 to the 160-meter mark there where schools of skipjack working.

The temperature gauge on the machine showed a perfect 26c and if I had not known I could have tough we were right in the middle of October!

This was the scenario we come to encounter a couple weeks ago when fishing out of Linene, right off the San Sebastian Penisula, on Bazaruto´s Archipelago´s southern side. It was mid-May and conditions could not be much better, until the northerly come and spoiled it pushing green water into the grounds.

Great week…

But what a great week it turned out to be with Warren and Andrew aboard the good ship Strenue, a beautifully rigged Butt Cat 930 XL. Justino and Charlie where the deckhands, still learning the ropes on this Marlin fishing story but doing a great job and with a smile.

We had previously fished on Strenue in late October last year for four magnificent day´, when Warren release his first Blue Marlin and his biggest Black to date at 700 pounds.

You can see that report here;

https://fishbazaruto.com/2020/11/10/bazaruto-oct-20-warrens-first-blue-and-biggest-black-marlin/

The lodge setting is just unbelievable.

The food prepared by chef Torres out of this World and that special wahoo carpaccio starters exactly what you need after a day on the water.

Well, with a nice scotch on the rocks to top it off.

The company, laughs and entertainment we had all week was contagious.

The 8 to 10-minute runs to the grounds ridiculous.

Just can´t get over it – felt like Madeira!

And, the fishing was not too shabby either 🙂

We had 8 days to fish, but due to travelling and having to go for Covid tests, four of those where half days and we had some really tough green water to content with.

Numbers…

In the end we can say we fished for Marlin for 4 days during which we raised 9 fish, had 5 bites and hooked 4 of which we were unlucky to only release two. The first we pulled the hook on was right by the boat, the other was the right one, a greedy 8-900-pound fish that took both our live baits.

On top of that there where in-numerous other fish and species including some big wahoo which are the norm this time of year, dorado, Yellowfin tuna, cuta, bonnies and kawa kawa and loads of skippies and jube jube´s.

In retrospective our strategy was not the best as we spent way too much time out wide looking for Blues, when conditions where perfect for Blacks and then when conditions went green on the inside it was rather rough to go out wide.

But, let’s go fishing…

The boys touched down at Vilankulos airport just after 10am on the 12^th May and we got on the water as fast as we could.

Just after 1pm we were putting the lures out on the southern side of the Canyon as the plan for the day was to tack down all the way to Linene and source out conditions as we did so.

It was not long before we had a bite from a decent size wahoo on the shotgun lure, the dark Ilander / ballyhoo combination we had there exactly for that purpose.

We then caught a couple skipjack that we decided not to bait as to make our way down south. Just then Morgan come crackling on the radio and told us he had released a 400-pound Black that morning outside Linene on a live skipjack.

At Marlin pinnacles we had both bait rods go and as we slowed down, we had a bite on the long left Express, without the momentum we did not come tight, but upon leader inspection, certainly a billfish, probably a small Black but could have been a saily.

We worked the outside of Marlin for a while and then carried on south.

As we got to .com the shotgun went out again and we landed a nice wahoo of just under 20 kg´s.

We decided to work the outside of the Linene reef´s for a while longer to get the magical high tide hour and although it did not pay off with the halfhearted bites it was good to raise some fish.

First a Black come up and just knock the long right Pulsator Marlin Magnet and a few moment later a smaller Black come on the short corner Pulsator Riggler but albeit being there for some time we never got a bite out of it.

Back to the lodge to settle in, enjoy a few cold one´s by the fire and finish the day off with a superb crayfish dinner water down by some chilled Portuguese green wine.

Textbook style Marlin Release

The next day we were on the boat, for the“ long“ 8-minute run just before sunrise and ready to tackle Bazaruto´s second Marlin run.

We put the long lures and the bait rods out just to the north of n.1.

Between #1 and #2 pinnacle we picked up a nice juicy 4kg YFT tuna, a perfect bait!

Tuna in the lubes, pull in the lines and put the bait out when we got to the 50m mark.

The water looked good, a light breeze from the SE, there was a 2-knot current from the north so we started to tack in and out as perpendicular as possible to it so we did not move down, away from the pinnacles to fast.

On our fourth tack, we were going deeper having just turned at the 65m mark outside number #3 when Andrew told us the bait was nervous. It went right down pulling hard and just then the elastic was ripped out of Andrew´s hand who quickly settled in the chair.

Short drop and as we come up the line tightening and as the fish come out the water there was a

MARLINNNNNN

shout from everyone on board.

I mean, get out on your first day, get a bait early, put it out and hook up to a Marlin.

If that´s not textbook I don’t know what is…

We got the fish on the leader in 10 minutes but it was really green so Justino had to drop it, couple minutes later we had the same scenario and eventually we got the fish alongside the boat for some pictures and the release.

If you want to see a short video clip on the fight, jumps and release on that one go to;

https://fishbazaruto.com/2021/05/24/textbook-style-marlin-release-with-andrew-gillespie/

Out wide…

Now, before Warren arrived, we had talked extensively about fishing for Marlin during bazaruto´s second Marlin run and especially in May.

I was pretty confident the Blacks would be around, but had also said that if conditions where not good or the fish not biting on the inside, we could always go out wide for Blues.

This stuck in his mind and he was really keen to have a go.

So, after releasing that fish we decided to head out wide.

We brought in the gear, put the riggers up and run to the area between 300 to 450 meters outside the canyon that as produced some good blues for us in the past.

It was pretty sterile out there for the first few hours.

No current lines, no flying fish or any other bait. We settle in the long wait, watching the lures do their thing in our wake. It can be daunting to fish out there at Bazaruto as one hardly as the experience of seeing no surface activity or other signs when fishing inshore for the Blacks.

Sometime before noon we had a bite on the long right.

A big Bull dorado that pulled the hooks.

About half an hour later, the same lure goes this time like a light speed freight away train as only a Blue can. Unfortunately, after the 100-yard light speed run the steel did not find bone and we come undone.

Just before 2pm it come alive…

We started seeing frigate birds flying round high above us. Then some terns come on the scene and all of a sudden there where three or four big schools of bait, jube jube, skippies and very small YFT all around us.

We worked hard around then for the next two hours and it felt really good but unfortunately and surprisingly we could not even buy a bite.

Same Same…but different!

Except for the type of bait, the start of our second day was pretty much a copy & paste of the first one.

Out at first light and we got a double up on bonitos outside #1 and put both out as live baits.

It took a while longer but into an hour and a half have a bite and again hook up to a fish.

Uncharacteristically for a Black Marlin, the fish went on a speedy long circular run jumping and grey-hounding on the surface.

We turned the other way and followed the line, Warren picking it up at a steady pace and we got on top of the fish pretty quick.

It sounded a tad and we just kept moving forward at the same pace and direction the fish was moving. It come up and we got on top of it. The fish was tired from all the running and we got the double coming up right then. We put the fish on our aft starboard side and Justino was about to grab the leader. Just then the fish changed direction and we lost contact.

As Warren said the fish was as good as a release, I got the bite, I got the jumps, I got the fight…what else do I want!!!

But yeah, we did but does not count…whatever!

Looking into it and the leader don’t think the fish was ever hooked just nose wrapped around the leader. When we put it to our stern it changed angle and as he turned left it slide out.

Next!

Well, Warren was pretty keen to go out wide again so we pulled in the riggers and run in the flat calm sea towards the outside of the Canyon.

Again, it was pretty sterile out there for the first 4 hours and we did not see a thing.

Like the previous day just before 2pm the frigates and terns showed up out of nowhere – as they do, and the bait come up.

We put a bait rod out to see what we could get and we started picking skipjack and small YFT.

As many as we wanted.

As we pulling one on the bait rod, Justino hooks up on the spinning stick with the GT ice cream. We just patting along in gear when the long corner Marlin Magic MSR gets taken and a big run.

WTF!!!!

Well I have only twice had a Marlin take a lure at 1.5 knots of speed and this was not a third.

We brought in a silky shark for the release and thank God could retrieve that beautiful Hawaiian lure that as been so king to us.

No more fucking around with the bait rods.

Set the lures out and it looked great.

Birds and bait everywhere, absolutely beautiful water but once again, surprisingly no bite!

We decided to troll back and got a nice 20kg plus wahoo on the way in.

Back for some entertainment by the fire, a few nice drinks and superb fresh wahoo carpaccio.

Followed by a splendid grilled prawns’ dinner with Torres famous triple fried chips and some nice red wine…

Tough in Africa 🙂

The wind had picked up from the north the previous evening and blown hard through the night.

As we got out there our worst expectations where confirmed.

The water had gone a horrible green.

We caught a few gamefish and then live baited for a while.

But the feeling was just not there.

All the bait had disappeared and an Ocean that looked so alive the last couple of morning had just gone dead.

Sterile.

We had spent those fruitless hours out deep when conditions were so good on the inside and the fish was biting. Not the best strategy, but it was no one´s fault, it could have gone the other way.

But there was nothing else to do now but run deep once again.

It was a much longer run to the outside of the Canyon.

Against the current and the now stiffening northerly it took us just under an hour to get there.

It was disappointing to see that even out wide the water had taken a green tint to it.

We decided to work deeper and we did find a slightly better patch of water from 400 meters and deeper.

The bait never showed and it was slow.

We decided to tack south back home, still out wide.

A few hours later we raised a Blue.

Showed up, once again on the Pulsator Magnet, but as it come it went and never had a second look. Slow and disappointing day but there were not much else to expect given the conditions.

Green water going to Brown…

The northerly had blown throughout the night and was still going strong when we made our way out in the morning.

The water had turned on a horrible color.

I kept telling Warren I have caught Blacks in worst water…. but not many and its mentally challenging to fish in such green pea soup.

Not surprisingly it was a slow half day.

We caught some gamefish and worked south with a bonnie for almost three hours before it got sharked. Run back to the pinnacles and worked the lures there for a bit. Got a nice cuta at wahoo and decided to have an early run back to the lodge for a chilled afternoon.