Somewhere towards the middle of 2012 Darren (MusselCracker) approached me at the UA social and asked whether I would be interested in joining them on a trip to Kilwa early in 2013. I was itching to say yes on the spot but I knew that if I made a decision like that without consulting with my Minister of Finance I would be in some serious trouble. Later that day I sent Darren a BBM confirming that I was in. So the planning and day dreaming began in earnest.
Huge thanks to Darren and Peter for all the time and effort they put into arranging every aspect of the trip in great detail. Travel arrangements, accommodation, charter schedules, tackle prep etc…etc… you guys definitely know how to plan a fishing trip, once again thank you!
After what felt like an eternity the 10th of Feb 2013 finally arrived and the 3 of us meet up at ORT, the time has come boys!! The 3 hour wait at the airport was pretty uneventful until my hand luggage containing +-20 vertical jigs went through the hand luggage scanners…………explaining to someone who knows nothing about fishing that those pointy steel thingies are meant for fishing was quite a challenge, luckily I managed to convince the kind lady that all was in order and so the journey began.
Our host, James Taylor, met us at the Dar Es Salaam airport and drove us to the lodge where we would stay over for the night. You Joburg folk who moan about the traffic in and around Gauteng, count your blessings that you don’t have to face the Dar es Salaam traffic every day, only one word can describe it………………CHAOS!
Here’s a huge bus that decided he is not sitting in the traffic any longer, let’s use the pavement. The poor people who had stalls set up on the pavement had to scatter and quickly move their stalls, this bus driver was on a mission and nothing would stop him from beating the traffic.
We went for supper at one of the seaside restaurants on the Dar es Salaam peninsula and guess who we bumped into at the restaurant, our very own Homie! Imagine our surprise!
Homie at the restaurant:
11 Feb 2013 arrives and we jump onto a Coastal Aviation charter plane for a one hour flight to Kilwa. On the way to Kilwa the plane needs to stop over on Mafia Island to drop a few passengers, nothing to it we think to ourselves……………..eish, that runway! Firstly landing on the runway that will make our local 4x4 tracks look like a highway and then taking off while dodging palm trees……….our nerves were shot.
The Mafia runway:
Flying from Dar to Kilwa the number of scattered islands and off shore reefs are absolutely amazing. This is where you start imagining what monsters live on those reefs, fishing fever is now running high.
Reefs and islands on the way to Kilwa:
At the Kilwa International Airport we are met by one of the co-owners of Mwangaza Lodge for the short trip to the lodge.
Kilwa Airport:
After a few cold refreshments and once settled in our skipper for the week, Malcolm (Mel) took us for a sunset cruise on the estuary. What an amazing estuary system. Believe it or not, this estuary is 50m deep in some places. I can only imagine what a jol you must have with light tackle if you take some time to explore this massive system.
A few pics of the lodge and area:
The fishing:
After having read reports, seen TV shows and heard the stories of the amazing fishing to be done in this part of the world one expects non-stop fishing action, one huge fish after the other.
Even though all of us got our big GT at the end of the day the action was not “non-stop” and as brutal as we would have liked. We had to work hard for the fish we eventually caught and a lot of traveling from one reef to the other was done.
The reef structures and quality of water off Kilwa is absolutely amazing, one soon realizes why the big GT’s and other fish species make this their home, its one massive and beautiful reef after the other.
One thing I learnt very quickly is that its bloody hard work throwing 5 or 6 oz poppers and stick baits for 12 to 13 hours a day, 5 days in a row. After every day’s fishing I felt like an old man with almost every muscle in my body aching.
We managed to get a good few GT’s on or over the 20kg mark. Darren hooked into what we believed to be a 40kg + GT (we saw the fish smash the popper, believe me, it was a monster!) that stripped line off his Stella 20k like there was no drag whatsoever, unfortunately the hooks pulled on this one. It would have been a fish of a lifetime, but that’s how it goes.
On more than one occasion a sailfish and at one stage a couple of them would follow the top water lures right up to the boat but unfortunately none of them wanted to commit, would have been great fun to fight a sailfish on the tackle we were using.
Two days were planned when we would have done some deep jigging for doggies, unfortunately the wind prevented us from reaching these areas, quite a letdown but we all know that we are at the mercy of the weather.
All of the big GT’s were caught on poppers, stick baits just didn’t seem to attract any attention other than a sailie that came closer to inspect the stick bait.
Darren and Peter took along a funny looking jig (can’t remember the name sorry) that proved to be an absolute killer!! It was used on the lighter setups. This jig literally caught a fish every time it was sent down. The list of species caught on this jig: GT, Bluefin King, Scads, Grouper, Rosie, Rockcod, Brindle bass, Flute Mouth, I might be missing one or two but man did this jig perform well………………………..that’s until someone lost it…………………won’t mention names. Yes, we only had one of them.
Like I mentioned, the fishing wasn’t out of this world, we went to Kilwa expecting crazy action, massive fish stretching our arms to the limit, stories of how we couldn’t use our arms for a week because the fishing was so wild – nevertheless we did get our big GT’s, we experienced the beauty that is Kilwa, we fished an area that not many people we know will ever get a chance to fish and for me it was a week spent in great company. Definitely a trip of a lifetime.
Fishing pics (just a few, there are many more):
Other highlights of the trip:
The islands where we went for a swim and some lunch every day, the word “beautiful” is an understatement:
Our skipper, Mel. This chap did not want to accept it when we told him after 12 hours of throwing lures we want to go home and have a beer. He always convinced us to stay out a bit longer and to make a few more casts. This chap is fishing mad and would probably stay out 23 hours every day if he could. Great skipper, great guy – thanks for a great trip Mel!
Couldn’t have done this trip with two better guys. Again, thank you for inviting me, thanks for all of the arrangements, planning and everything you guys did. It was a trip that I will never forget, great memories, plenty Kilimanjaro’s, great fishing! Cheers Darren & Peter!
There we go folks. Back to work, back to reality, back to the Joburg rat race! Cheers!
