Big Game Fishing - Jigging - Popping worldwide

V Lobito Big Game Fishing Tournament, Port Lobito, Angola

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The Angola Soap Addicts know it already:
legendary Lobito is well and thoroughly under way by now.

Thursday Midnight - evading the thickest traffic -
the loading of the main fleet of 24 small craft of the
Luanda Boat Clubs has concluded Luanda preparation.
Sponsors NDS Nile Dutch Africa Lines have f.o.c. taken
the boats/trailers on board her RoRo Liner Vessel
NDS Prodigy, to bring them to Lobito 425km south
on the Angolan Coast and ferry them back after the
tournament.

Those of you who have a feeling for the concepts
of "uninhabited coastline" and "African Roads" will
understand, that a) 250 nm is too far along the
rough coast to push the sports boats against
South Atlantic swell and tradewind chopp and
b) to trailer through potholes infested post-war
roads.

The generosity of the sponsers makes unbureaucratic
"cabotage" short sea transport possible. The "Yacht fleet"
of 30ft to 65ft vessels will follow Saturday 21st in a
flotilla maneuvre... fantastic to observe.
10 of the boats will race in the "swift" group,
a dozen will follow at cruising speed, the smallest
being a 23ft center console twin 140 Evinrudes... .

Why are we going to Lobito? Well, that's because of
the dense population of Marlin (blue and white), record
sailfish (64kgs in 2002), Dorado (35kgs plus) and Yellow
Fin Tuna (60kgs national record), which the fleet will
run into in March/April. Thats the time when the mighty
Benguela current and the warm Bay of Guinea Current
battle it out in the Benguela Bay. From Port Lobito into
the thicket of billfish is a mere 3nm/5km. Marlin, not
Dolphin, will play infront of your bow!!!
Marlin basically come for the fat YFin and Dorado, who
feed richly on smaller baitfish congregated by the
mighty eddy infront of the Lobito Beaches.

Sailfishing was prime in 2007 with 80 t&rs through
30 boats (97t&r overall; 5 times as many strikes;
3 hugh Marlin taken dead by the boats; largest 911 lbs).
2008 was more of a Marlin year with 30 Marlin
compared to only 30 Sails in a fleet of 35.

This year the fleet will exceed 50 yachts and boats,
3 RSA teams and 2 Namibian amongst the homies.
Lobito clubs will try to retain the Cup in town, but
Luanda brings on the big boys: Team Xiripiti (leading
the national league), Team Nautico and Team
Jicula o Mesu (both beautiful CABOs/Mexico IGFA starter),
Team Tudo Fish (50ft Viking), Team Girassol (won the
CNIL Aniversario/qualified for Mexico IGFA), teams
Provider and PeixFree... and the whole famous lot.

The event is run through 22.-29. March. Four days
fishing and loads of pastime attractions like a ride
on the Benguela Railway in a Museum Train,
Captains Gala following the Skippers Meeting
Monday night. A Gala Dinner and fireworks on
closing night 28th of March.

RSA Television Sports Channel send a camera team
to document from within the boats and even under
water.

This all being made possible by core sponsors NDS,
DESCO and the Empresa do Porto de Lobito, who
look after us brilliantly, all fuel and even fresh ice
f.o.c. provided for the entire fleet.
Just the first prices chew out anothr USD 700k
chunk of the budget....

Benguela Province Government, federal Ministry of
Industry and many more celebrities present, underpin
the economic importance and the fame of the event.

Watch this space for the humbled view of my team
"Malta da Kianda" in the sturdy single engine o/b
SeaRay 21 "Djamila2".


[attach]1415[/attach]

Have a nice weekend!

Ahoi All,

quick summary, fotos to follow, t&r video footage to be advised asap.

1. Carlos and IGFA Resident Rep Doc Iain stood by Cam Nicolson... loosing his potential Atlantic Sail WR on 6 lbs line after 2 hrs fight... and that's only on the resting day.

2. 464kgs Blue Marlin is the new Angolan Record, a GRANDER!!! Wow!

3. My team "Malta da Kianda" produced stable hook ups with billfish every day out... but we fumbled most of them... i.e. 3 sails and 2 marlin. Hence, we came in 28th (of 50 teams) with just two sails (unfortunately one eye-hooked and taken at 39,6 kgs) plus plenty Dorados above 8 kgs, best 15 kgs. Winners are "Tubaroes", "Tudo Fixe second and "Jikula o Mesu" 3rd. Statistics: 67sails t&r, 5 taken, 21 Blue Marlin of which 6 taken, biggest Marlin 464 kgs, biggest sail 39,6 kgs, biggest Dorado 22 kgs. Consider a hook-up turnover of 3 or 4 to one by the boat... that's billfish bonanza!

4. Bottom line: Lobito is one fantastic billfish address in the tropical Angolan Atlantic.

Detailed report to follow asap.

Lobito Logbook "Djamila2" and Team "Malta da Kianda"
Sunday March 22nd
07H00 loading the Pajero
07h45 depart to Lobito 500km on "new" roads
10h00 breakfast in the beach in Porto Amboim, half way
11h30 taking diesel at Rio Canjala, 100km left to Lobito
12h45 arrival in Lobito, first stop at "The Tackle Box" owner Mark, definitly the best tackle store in Angola
13h45 port entrance Lobito; no hickups or stops all the way to the quay, manning the "Djamila2", engine check, slings under and boat lowered over the quay into the prestine cristal clear waters of Lobito port
14h15 start engine
14h30 entering "Clube Ferrovia" marina; tight but safe berthing promptly
15h30 trasfer to bunkerpier; taking 150 ltrs gas free of charge
16h45 mooring back in berth an leaving to Hotel "Casa Rosa" 500m from the Club
17h45 Sun-Downer in the "Zulu" restaurant also on "Restinga" peninsula engulfing Lobito bay

Top Organisation by the three sponsors:
- free fuel all days
- ice f.o.c. in any quantity desired
- f.o.c. seatransport by NDS lines from / to Lobito
- one week f.o.c. mooring in Clube "Ferrovia" marina
- restless "Marinheiros" on the mooring for wash down etc of all boats

Monday March 23rd / test fishing and skippers meeting
08h45 tackle up for sea testing; our makeshift outrigger instablel (so we couldn’t use them at all)
10h45 depart; Dorados, Dorados, Dorados, but no bill's sofar;
[attach]1535[/attach]
Water choppy at 28 celsius and greenish inshore! Air 30 c plus African sun beating the sh!t out of our brains at 12°30' South
17h00 back to the marina
19h00 Skipper's Meeting and intro of the jury


Tuesday March 24th 1st of 4 fishing days
05h25 rise and shine
06h30 by the boat; takle stowed; taking ice
07h00 Province Governor; Port Director and the press in position
07h30 sounding the bells and Bimini Start of 50 teams... craaaaazy
07h40 round cape "Farol Velho"; we take her North to avoid the crowds
08h15 first message incoming on the VHF Radio: Team "Nguendeiros" with billfish in line
09h00 wetting our lines 12 miles out; timid sails playing with us until we start dropping back free spooled… missing 10 sails before things work out
12h45 "Double Strike"; one well timed drop back brings us one small Blue and a Sail into the lines
our junior angler Sacha singlehandedly has to clear all lines, navigate and announce on VHF; Double Strike... the jury wants to know if they understood well?!? Double que?!?
13h20 Xico pumps his marlin factory style, Fish by the boatside, but to few hands helping dives under the outboard, rips the hook out of the beak and is gone to grow to size.... ... was a small but worthy one; sadly having no pics... again to few hand for all the tasks
13h35 my sail by the boat; eye hooked, so we decide to euthanize and bring to the scales
[attach]1534[/attach]
15h00 Dorados Dorados Dorados
16h00 Lines Out; on VHF: 2 Dorados for the scales plus the sail
17h00 arrival, bunkerpier, scales
17h30 across the fleet t&r 16 Marlin, 20 Sails; one 290kgs Marlin for the scale, another big fish lost (died in the deep) after 4 hrs fight for Team "Tubaroes"
Malta da Kianda current rank 17
Sail weighs in at 39,6 kgs

Wednesday March 25th; 2 of 4 days
05h45 rise and shine, all muscles still aching
07h10 limping behind the fleet
07h18 round Restinga in ugly chop; green wate all the way to the horizon
10h00 finding blue water at 20 miles
11h00 sail taking our ballyhoo combo Drop Back; but lost 500m jumping
14h30 again a double strike; this time its junior Sachas and Xicos
announcing on VHF Radio: dois bicos nas linhas... this time no doubtful calls from the jury
Sachas magnificant Fish tailwalkers, but spits the hook after 5 brave stand-up minutes;
Xico easily put his sails bill into my hands and Sacha wins his smile back to film the t&r for the jury; the rod holder unfortunately is ripped from the foundations…
450 point for our team score; a nice Dorado ontop and thats it for the day
16h00 lines out
17h30 arrival, bunkerpier, scales
Fleet punished the bills; Team TS brings the 464,00 kgs "Grander" Marlin to the scales;
[attach]1536[/attach]
all he!l breaks loose press everywhere and everyone wants a pics; Angola telly news bring the fish etc etc etc that’s marketing the sports and the specialist tourism
Malta da Kianda decling in the ranks despite the Sail t&r to 20th

Thursday March 26th Resting day
Tourism Excursion into the desert; convoy of 23 Teams follow the invitation; visiting Biopio hydropower station; 40°c in the shade; strong winds feel like the blowdryer; bare chested wash ladies on the riverbanks of the "Rio Catumbela" right below the damm;
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later the traditional Biopio dance and speeches delivered at the brand new municipal complex; national reconstruction reaching deep into the hinterland
13h45 return to Lobito; port Director invites all for Ochsen on the spit!! Style!
16h15 Xico, Sacha and I in the DIY store to find a solution for the rodholder... should have bought two as it turns out later…
17h25 rigs the spares at the boat club... tough in the scorching sun...
... and while we were doing our tourism program IGFA resident Representative Angola Dr Iain, his brother Cam Nicolson and well known RSA Fishing Guide and Angola expert Carlos Moran with spectators go fishing…
sole objective: 6 lbs Sail world record ... Cam holds other record, but this one is missing; hooking a giant sail estd at 50kgs, but they fail to after 2 hrs already wiring the leader; when the sail manages to throw the hook eventually by the "Bitchalot"! That would have been the one. Try again Lobito 2010?!!

Friday March 27th fishing day 3 of 4
We gotto make it count
... but nothing goes in the blue water
... only on the way home through the green filth we get nibbles on the ballyhoo
... another sail jumps by the boat waving us byebye
16h00 Lines out... nada para declarar... nnot even a single Dorado
16h10 but all of a sudden Xico and Sach sight a Testbuoy of the fisheries ministry 5 Meilen from the port entrance... we approach and see fat Dorados chased out of the water, a hugh marlin full out of the water behind them estd 600 lbs airborne...
nothing to loose we put our ballyhoo back in the pond and solve in 25 minutes 7 Dorados and a Mako-Baby … just the marlin stays under... time to go now… the engine stutters for fuel
Entire fleet hardly caught anything today
Malta decline to rank 25

Saturday March 28th 4of4
05h15 rise and …; love for the sports
06h45 on the marks
07h40 at "our" Buoy; Dorados Bonanza! But no Marlin
09h00 enough Ballyhoo gone to the Dorados; suddenly we sight a Sail...
but he cruises just past our proposals in dead calm to leave the dire ballyhoo for the Dorados...
10h00 decide to turn to blue water; another good solitary Dorado and the second rodholder ripped out of the thread...
14h15 Xico gets his Malin in the Spread, cool as ice drops back, well hooked; 650m line in the water in the first run, the large fish gives its all estd 700 lbs.... craaaazy; Sacha and I clear the dek in less than two minutes to give Xico space... message on VHF: Marlin na Linha, Marlin na Linha
14h22 end of story; teaser Daisy Chain fails and fish is free (perhaps attacked by wahoo)... calling the jury to admit the defeat; that was rank 15…
the impression of that magnificent animal is murnt into our brains; next year we'll try to be back when he will have 800 lbs...
19h30 big ceremony with fire works; top live music...
and then I cannot remember anything but the rain in which we strolled back to our hotel..
[attach]1538[/attach]

Sunday March 29th.
08h00 wakeup; breakfast and stowing the Pajero
10h00 at the Club; unmooring "Djamila2" and trasfer to commercial port
11h00 craneing "Damila2" Sacha and myself out of the pond
11h30 driving off to Luanda
20h00 arrival Luanda through thick Sunday suburbia traffic jam..


Conclusion: seasonal, but very rich waters
67 sails, 21 marlin, Dorados (max 22kgs), Wahoo (15,5), Yellowfin Tuna (26 kgs), shark

Worth mention:
- dangerous coastal road, plenty of ugly accidents
- speaking Portuguese of great advantage
- Hotels & travel expensive

Fishing:
- standup advantageous; lines 80 lbs or chair 130 lbs
- chair boats not of significant advantage; even when fishing 130 lbs and fat Marlin-Konahead
- Teams need definitely 4 anglers plus a dedicated helmsman (who must not intervene in fishing) otherwise the free-spool-watch doesn’t work
- train routinely with your fishing mates
- arrive early to get into the rhythm before contest
- bait instead of lure, Ballyhoo functions well, but is hard to find
- green water is not always "fishless"; who dares wins!
- outrigger a must for quick maneuovres onto sighted fish without tangle
- clear deck and minute organisation a must when fishing for the big ones; Dorados immediately under deck; single hook less accident prone; health nothing to gamble with in Lobito
- sun protection absolute vital, "rehydration" very important
- food & bev hygiene to be observed rigorously
- remember malaria chemo prophylaxis; polio refresher

Just to comment on the slaughterhouse views of many of my current pictures, I wish to make a quick comment on the Angolan practice of t&r.

An example of competition / conservation politics:

Scenario I:
The 251 kgs Marlin boat bringing the fish home get
a) the fish kilos times two (=502 points) plus
b) a bonus of 500 points equals 1.002 points...
but all the crews of the fleet will shout at you because
you killed a future grander

Scenario II:
A boat filming their successful t&r of a Marlin estd only 90kgs gets
a) a t&r premium equal that of a 250 kgs "dangler" ie 500 points plus
b) the full bonus premium of 500 point equals 1.000 points.

Scenario III:
A boat bringing in a dead Marlin of less than 250 kgs
a) loose the 500 points bonus
b) score only the two points for each kg of weight
c) get the bad press of all other teams

Big advantage of small t&r over large "dangler":
1. You get your gear back in the water much quicker to release yet anotherone and
2. you retain your reputation withing the BG community.

The philosophy is to "fish around" the big marlin avoiding a tiring and potentially lethal combat
of that fish for more than an hour (after which most Marlin will die), but rather fish a small
Marlin quickly and release him in top shape within 30 to 45 minutes.

After years of experience most boats in the fleet will fish not lighter than 80 lbs lines,
combo lures/ballyhoo rather than the 50cm marlin konas. It's as everything in life an
educational process in which the Angolan competition scene more and more defends the
release in best shape, rather than bringing any more bills to the tally.

IGFA resident representative Doc Iain Nicolson made a big impact on the crews out here.
The IGFA recognise and reward our increased skills by granting us 8 wildcards
(IGFA qualifier events) for their world cup in Mexico.

The recent Lobito grander was a sign, that stocks are recovering and growing out to size.
Only back in the 2000/2001 season, marlin were not only rare, but almost never larger
than 100 kgs.

Particularily the big migrator mamas (Blue, white and sails) need our protection
while they come through our home turf waters. Almost all in the fleet know that.
The big Marlin taken in Lobito and the big sails as well I consider accidents, rather
than the disregard of some sportsfishermen in Angola for their bill population.
Nevertheless, after all we are out hunting with loaded weapons and consequently
animals will die.


The Angolan tournament rules are simple:

1. minimum weights for bycatch, before you can present it at the scale

2. sailfish t&r (formula) earns you 450 points which is equal to bringing
a 50+kgs specimen to the weighing station.
Conservation is concern, not unnecessary dangling.

3. Blue Marlin t&r (formula) earns you 1.000 points which is
equal to bringing a fish in, that weighs in excess of 250 kgs.

Luanda is the most expensive town on earth regards cost of living.
Take in account the prices of any fresh food, you can be assured that
nothing of our catch goes to waste. Again, a fine balance had to be
struck. Angola is still not at the point, that fresh produce can be found
at reasonable price, so you cannot denie anglers making use of their prey.

Amongst our club colleagues we get very loud and direct, if any billfish is
taken, that had a reasonable chance to survive, be it the 50 formula or
the 250!

No fish was taken in Lobito, that had been able to be revived. My sailfish had
unfortunately the hook from the inside in the eye, eyeball hanging by a thread
only, so it would have starved within weeks. Hence we decided to bring him in,
despite reducing our chances at the leaderboard by a half. Concerning the big
Marlin of Mario Proenca, the fish fought for over 4 hours. Marlin get into the "dead"
zone after 2 hours latest, so they decided to take the dying fish, rather than feed
it to the crab.

Nothing goes to waste, so my sail was donated to a christian youth organisation,
and the Lobito port staff (couple of hundred family fathers) could get a share
of the big marlin steaks f.o.c. for the sunday stew.

Angling in my part of the world does have to do with killing fish, as you see.
My four kids actually only allow me to go out under the condition that we
have fillets in beer batter that same evening.

Ahoy Black Jack,

I'm in regular contact with BIG Proenca and I'll ask him.
One thing' for certain: lure rather than natural or combo.

Reverting asap.

... I was told.

Gotto reconfirm, please. I'll see BIG Mario Proenca at the end of season Gala.
Reverting asap.

[attach]1583[/attach]

Jan

Ahoi Jack,

my buddy Cdre Xico is an ardent fan of lures, even more after he's been
taken on a small centre console "DURIAN" by a filipino club colleague...
who apparently during season is totally 125% on Marlin every weekend.

What's his secret??!!

Black Bart everything!! Hardheads and only max three lures on direct lines,
no outrigger complications and teched out fishing... k.i.s.s. fishing at it's best.
Stubbornly, zigzagging over the same location every Saturday from NE to SW
and back...

My buddy Cdre Xico then ordered me around... but all I could find accessible
were RICHTER's from Germany and the Willies I had in my arsenal alright.

Last weekend buddy-fishing Xico and I got a couple of bites... but not the
40cm chaps... rather the 28 to 32 cm hard and softheads.

Lesson learnt: Fish hard but handy, splash prominently but not like Hollywood!

Thanks Phillipine "DURIAN", Nation of natural fishermen!!

I'll revert asap on teh exacting specs of BIG Proenca's lure.

Cordially,