Best "package" tour

[Cam Mundy]

I've been looking at the incredible photo's of fishing trips members of UA have been making around the continent and further away and I'd like a shot at those monster GT and 20 sailfish in day type fishing experience's as well. The big question is who do I give my hard earned loot to and how many shekels must I save to make it happen?

Its all good and well looking at the price on the brochure but then you get to the airport and and haul out cash, get to the accommodation and its R30 a beer then go fishing and find out its normal to tip deckies $50 a day and so on and so forth.     

I'm not looking for 5 star accommodation just 5 star fishing with Skippers and guides that have decent equipment and boats and can put you onto fish. The best Time of the year to go and all that would help as well

I suppose I might not be the only member on UA who has wondered about this so if you have experience please share it. The type of fishing / species isn't that important as long as its good value for money and out of the ordinary.

Thanks

[Big Van]

Hi
Do the sailfish or marlin university at Hemingways that is organised by Skiboat Magazine. Cost is about 25k and everything is included. Just pay extra for drinks. Excellent fishing water, best boats and captains with crew.
Enjoy!!

[REEFMAN]

Cam... check this trip out that we did... http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php/topic,39.0.html

Kilwa and Mafia Island. James Taylor arranges everything for you, including charter flights etc etc. Awesome trip. You also need to be careful with these trips as to who you use as your skipper. As you probably know, there are skippers, and there are skippers! The difference in catches between Kilwa Ruins Hotel charters and a skip like James Taylor are like night and day. Their details are all included in that report. No hidden costs.

The other option to try is CASTSA - he is putting together trips to fish Mafia island, which all seem pretty reasonable... Wesley Peens in a top (and I mean TOP) angler... knows what he's doing.

[tkei]

cam,
Just remember its fishing. mates of mine went to panama early last yeaR (PEAK SEASON) to fish with brad philips and in 4 days fishing they hooked 1 blue. Kla. eina. But its fishing. 2 days later the guys were doing 30 on the boat a day.
From personal experience Kenya. Havnt done the hemingways but kenya is good, but can also have its off days or season like this one has been.

No experiecne with Kilwa, but it does look oh so good.

[Cam Mundy]

cam,
Just remember its fishing. mates of mine went to panama early last yeaR (PEAK SEASON) to fish with brad philips and in 4 days fishing they hooked 1 blue. Kla. eina. But its fishing. 2 days later the guys were doing 30 on the boat a day.
From personal experience Kenya. Havnt done the hemingways but kenya is good, but can also have its off days or season like this one has been.

No experiecne with Kilwa, but it does look oh so good.

This I know very well! The Cane farmers on the North coast love us as we always bring rain when we go fishing still you have to take your chances that said I'm a bit wary of going for a one species trip rather spread the bets a bit and have a  back up plan.

[shamwari]

Kenya - Malindi area eg Hemmingways - havnet been for years but used to be very much bill fish oriented.

Mozambique - somewhere like Linene has to be in the equation. Further north in the Quirimbas. Jigstar are doing trips to Fogo very soon - lets see how that goes. If you want a big marlin and still a shot at other disciplines Duarte is your man I think (marlinmoz)

Tanzania - JT now has a lodge down in Kilwa ( Mwangaza) now where his boats are based and should be good for popping GT and jigging DTT. If the big YFT ever show up there again in massive numbers it would be hard to beat but have been absent for 7 years. Up at Latham JJ and Mady may be your best bet.

Madagascar - in the right hands an excellent jigging and bill destination (certain times of year) but need to get away from the crowds at certain time close to Nosy Be.

Seychelles - the Neptune warrior option seems attractive and not too pricey by Seychelles standards.

All these options I would think would be between 3000 and 4500 USD for about a week ex Joburg.

[Prego]

Reefs that is a report of note, amazing stuff. Do they have a option for billfish on the odd day just to give the body a recovery period. Cam after reading reefs report one would be pretty hard done by to beat that I am sure.

[REEFMAN]

Yup it's a trip of a lifetime, well worth the ammo spent! I've heard of many guys doing trips with JT - James Taylor - as Bruce rightly says, he now operates a lodge in Kilwa ... he's on the net somewhere... mwangaza is the name. None of these trips have been failures... the guys almost always have spectacular fishing. He teams up with another brilliant skipper called Mel... these guys know their stuff and do everything to put you onto the fish. I think Tommo was up there recently and wrote a report in the RSD mag recently about Mwangaza...

[REEFMAN]

Oh ja, Pregs, if we saw birds, we'd be onto a bait ball Tuna smash of note... spotted a few Sailies as well as Dorado and Couta were caught. But that was the side fishing, primarily we were there to target GT''s and Jigging.

[Tommo]

There are quite a few "trip of a lifetime" type destinations around Africa. At the moment the piracy issue is having an effect on some of these spots, but there are still many available. The one you choose comes down to your own personal preferences for fish species, techniques etc and what you most want out of your trip.
For billfish, general trolling and a bit of jigging it would be very hard to beat fishing out of Watamu in Kenya. For plugging offshore for GT's, with a bit of jigging and trolling thrown in it would be Mwangaza Hideaway. For jigging for a variety of species and trolling for some good billfish the North of Madagascar sounds like the bomb. So depending on your priorities you choose the one that suits you best. It is also critical to choose your times according to seasons, tides moonphases etc and then hope that the weather plays along.
If there is one thing that I have learnt with fishing travel, the best money spent is on getting a good skipper/guide at your destination. This makes or breaks your trip, and saving money on a substandard operator is often what causes many a trip to be a complete blowout.   
Find out who the best operator is at the place you want to visit, and work from there. That way you will have the very best chance of catching fish, whatever the conditions....

[REEFMAN]

the best money spent is on getting a good skipper/guide at your destination.

Too true. 

[Cam Mundy]

Thanks for all the advise guys making things more difficult for me though! I'd like to go popping for big kings but my brother would rather chase billfish we'll have to duke it out on that one. The one thing that bugs me a bit is if you chase bill fish the tackle is supplied but it looks like if you want to chase GT you are going to drop 20K on tackle before the trip even  begins, now I'm not scared to buy tackle but I want more than one trip out of it and my regular fishing destinations either don't allow jigging or are not great for popping. 20K is quite a few nice toys for the boat or even another trip to fishing nirvana

One quick question has anyone fished for Tarpon off Angola?

[shagnrelease]

Don't write of Bazaruto as a great all round destination its fantastic and there is unlimited species you can target there. From gamefish to billfishing, there are some good guides up there as well. We have just structured a couple of all in deals up there so will let you know the feed back.

A lot of these place can be as expensive as you want to make them, as Tommo rightly says you should be looking at paying decent guides and operators, as long as your catching fish you don't need to stay in the ritz.

[REEFMAN]

Thanks for all the advise guys making things more difficult for me though! I'd like to go popping for big kings but my brother would rather chase billfish we'll have to duke it out on that one. The one thing that bugs me a bit is if you chase bill fish the tackle is supplied but it looks like if you want to chase GT you are going to drop 20K on tackle before the trip even  begins, now I'm not scared to buy tackle but I want more than one trip out of it and my regular fishing destinations either don't allow jigging or are not great for popping. 20K is quite a few nice toys for the boat or even another trip to fishing nirvana

One quick question has anyone fished for Tarpon off Angola?

Hahaha Cam, R20k will only get you one setup...  You need a t least 2!   
Many of the charters do rent tackle out (at a cost)

[dugong]

What about Bassas??

[Tommo]

A lot of the better operators will have the specialised tackle for you to use for popping for GT's. It is a good idea to check first with them. It is expensive tackle, and to justify buying it you would need to use it fairly regularly. A good GT popping outfit can also be used to spin for Yellowfin Tuna, wahoo etc. Once you have started catching GT's on popper you will be surprised where you find them.... IF you fish with a guide such as Adrian at Linene, or Guy at Nyathi, or Graham at Benguerra or Bruce at Dugong (inhassoro) you will have tackle laid on and save yourself buying specialised gear. The problem is that these guys will mainly specialise in jigging and popping, with a bit of sailie fishing thrown in. They can catch marlin, but aren't really geared for it as a main line.

I have fished for Tarpon off Angola and off Gabon. The best place is probably Kwanza river mouth in Angola, where there is some epic Tarpon fishing around the colour line in the sea off the river mouth. Most of the fish are caught on live or deadbaits drifted on a circle hook, but some excellent fish are caught on lures and fly there at times. It all depends on the water clarity.

[SAfish]

Sorry if this is a bit off the topic but the company I work for do a lot of work in Angola. Do you guys know how difficult it is to try and persuade your employer to send you on a site visit to Angola? I have been trying and trying and every time I get the standard reply: "We know you only want to go fishing and no work will get done".  You can't blame a guy for trying and I have promised Fedu I will go up for a visit. 

[John F]

Sorry if this is a bit off the topic but the company I work for do a lot of work in Angola. Do you guys know how difficult it is to try and persuade your employer to send you on a site visit to Angola? I have been trying and trying and every time I get the standard reply: "We know you only want to go fishing and no work will get done".  You can't blame a guy for trying and I have promised Fedu I will go up for a visit. 

That will teach you to keep your mouth shut, SA (at least in front of your boss)!!!!!