Hi Guys, my report from January's trip, Caught some fantastic fish but most importantly just had a great time. I hope you enjoy it. I'll keep adding as I get them down but for a start.

Cheers,
Glynn

Bazaruto? Absolutely! Let’s do it, let’s go! ……

To say getting to that decision wasn’t brief or easy is an understatement. You see, this was to be a special trip and one we couldn’t waste. Due to certain circumstances this was to be a one off. A trip that would not just be Dad and I fishing but something we and I better halves could do together. Many options were on the table, we even considered the Okavango as an option along with many others. Somehow we settled on Moz and the natural Wonder that is the Bazaruto Archipelago. Low and behold, the fishing is supposed to be pretty good there too but I had to caveat that with a few promises of dolphins and turtles to uphold…

The warm excitement and anticipation started to grow through the 12 months of planning, researching, tying and testing. The rubbish winter we were having covered in ice and snow really helped the desire. A few days before we touched down in 30’C glorious climate of South Africa I was standing on top, yes on top, of a frozen river in staring into what could only be discribed as the Ice Ages returning to the Welsh Hills. Funny enough while Brian and Tommo were humorless, I found myself laughing about it, as long as this snow didn’t keep the airport closed on Friday.







The engines roared and I felt the thrust push me back in my seat – summer hear I come. 10 hours later, now suitable dressed in flip-flops, shorts and smothered in sun cream we packed the 4x4. We hitched the boat then lit the fire. We drank with friends and family and cooked the chops and boereworse and fell asleep in anticipation… tomorrow we cross the border. Good to back at home.







We aren’t talking about the family taking a picnic to the park here chaps! Journeying over a 1000km north of the South African border is a logistical nightmare especially when you are self-catering for 2 full weeks. The girls were great though and never once complained of the cramped conditions.





Thank god my mother is an organizational genius else we would have starved, become filthy and had to sleep on the beach. Due to our “special” contact at the border and the number of “external contractors” in the country, the journey was painless and a far cry from the experiences we have previously faced. This said don’t even think about self-arranged drive in trips without thorough preparation and planning. You will not get through the “authorities” on a wing. It is wonderful, the changes, fantastic to see!

The road is an experience in its self. Driving through the wilds of Africa, it’s beautiful scenery, Flora and Fauna. I mean where else do you find beware of Hippo signs, dodge baboons and not stray off the pathways for fear of exploding mines. Oh and don’t go down to the river’s edge for a drink!





While it would be possible to drive all the way in shifts through the night, why would you? We’re on holiday right and the trip is all part of the experience. Especially when you have the option of overnighting and breaking up the migration by staying in a place like the Honeypot! The fantastic hosts look after you so well! Cold beers on arrival, mango’s falling off the trees, a dip in the refreshing pool and a fire ready to light for a true South African braai under the star lit sky, what a big sky too and if you have never been there or seen it yourself, you cannot explain the number or brightness of the stars. The Honeypot has just got it right, thank you guys, full stop. A far cry from the -12’C a few days back!







An early morning start after the free coffee and the final part of the journey begins. The scenery just becomes spectacular. Driving from the tropical palm tree plantations along the coast, through the villages and eye opening way of life, through tropical shrub and even Baobab Trees, going past the wonderful fresh water lake systems that run parallel to the white sand beaches, we finally arrived in Vilanculos. We passed the airstrip, looked over the bay and down at the water’s edge, a magnificent setting, please let this be the place…. It was, Casa Chibububo Lodge.













While the arrangements, bookings and communications had been professional and hassle free, for good reason you are always skeptical of what you will get when you arrive in remote places. We were shown to our personal lodge and looking at it and our surroundings I kept thinking, “What’s the catch?” Get this, we were called outside where all the staff had gathered and then they began to sing and dance for us “Welcome To Their Place”. Each and every one introduced themselves and then helped us unload. We felt so welcome and we were. Seriously, this place, these people, PARADISE!























We lit the fire and opened a Ice cold 2M. (pronounced du shem)

Wow those photos are great, looks like a bit of heaven right there. Looking forward to the rest. Cheers

Thanks man much more to come.

_______________________________

Morning breaks and the sun is pouring through the fronted doors onto the balcony overlooking the sea. The balcony alone was bigger than my flat back in the UK. A wonderful breakfast on the deck and with a meandering start to the day it was finally time to get wet.
10 hour flight and 2 days in the 4x4 and now it we were cruising through the azure channels, passing flamingos feeding on the shallows and spraying up a magnificent wake. Some people pay thousands and even millions for a piece of art, for me this sight is my Picasso.


















We arrived at Margaruque the closest of the islands, a splendid beach with a reef running out into the channel. No fishing here as it’s a reserve however the snorkeling is world class. If you could fish here there would be no end to the tight lines and species diversity. There’s literally no way of guessing the next pull.



















I managed to catch this chap mid lunch as he crushed up a rather large crab:



On the seaward side of the island, I met a chap who landed and released a gorgeous shark. Many big GT’s have been landed and lost from here. I would have liked too but never got a chance to fish it properly.














We dropped the girls off on their piece of paradise and the boys headed off to explore a group of coordinates and the closest area around the island. We did get to them eventually but not without going through the “Washing Machine” and a rather interesting set of breaking waves +- 20KM away from where we were having breakfast. They weren’t easy as we just weren’t expecting/prepared for 2meter non uniform waves! I would liken this to the rip off Portland on a bad day. With Steal focus, patience, control and knowledge that only comes from years of skippering experience, we got to the other side with nothing but a wet bum to show for it. Every time I fish with him, I learn something new from my father. One day if I can skipper a boat like him I will be very proud.



Using the GPS and the fish finder we started mapping the co-ordinates pulling lures. We had no confidence – the water was completely different to that what we were used to. The prevailing wind had put the pelagic down and the water had gone a dreaded greeny colour we knew wouldn’t produce results like the purple tinged blue colour we knew to be productive. This is a pretty tough pill to swallow after all the planning prep and expectations. It was time to go back – no more fuel – we had underestimated the distance and fuel requirements and we didn’t even have a fish! BUT and it’s a big but we had learnt a lot!

-1st when the GPS says 16km it actually meant a hell of a lot further with the navigation of the channels and sand flats and to get there uses a lot more fuel.

2nd This area of marks was no good for our style of fishing and the current conditions. We needed to find out others we can adapt our style to and get the fly to deeper water.

3rd Find out more about this “washing machine” and it’s unpredictable waves.

4th 40’celcius is bloody hot. Make sure you put enough beer in the freezer when you leave home in the morning. It’ll just be ready for your return.

Our heads hit the pillow, a little deflated but still excited. Tackle ready to go. DIY Fishing in places like this is fickle and you have to accept that you may not get it right on day 1 without help. So we got some, we had a secret weapon. The confidence builder we needed… Kobus.

We woke up early; the wind was getting up and due to the tide dropping and the wind not following suit we pushed to get the boats ready ASAP. Kobus was watching over the loading of his perfectly suited ski boat, which he charters out to guests who want to chase marlin and other beasts of the Mozambique Channel. He is the owner of the resort. He and his family were staying there as they regularly do over the holiday and the night before we sat with him and a cold beer of course, as he tied and crimped his big bait traces. We discussed our challenges and he offered us the opportunity to follow him over some of the local marks. Of course we graciously obliged. A great host.



We raced out to the washing machine and frankly it was worse. The wind had pushed the swell up and there wasn’t any illusive unknown trick to the place as we had hoped but we had certainly learnt the high tide shortcut to get there sooner. We had been following him out to the waves but now each of us separated and took our own lines through – both choosing good routes and making it through no problems. Kobus and his crew were clearly very capable seamen. We continued out to a mark known rather brilliantly as Jurassic park. Big Big fish are caught hear through the year. We were enthused by the stories of this place but not the conditions. We mapped the reefs as we trolled. We crossed the canyons and on toward Leneni and over the shallow reefs where the divers go. We passed a pinnacles called Marlin pinnacle and Baluba, a large shallow reef perfect for flyfishing. It was rough and getting worse. Our fuel was low and the water temp and colour still wrong. We wanted to do some deep water stuff for trevally and we passed a perfect pinnacle on our journey there which we had marked and would later return. We thanked Kobus for his fantastic assistance. Said we would be returning. He agreed and was going to head back into the shelter of the islands for some small stuff.

Thankfully we had managed a fish. A smallish GT of about 10lbs which actually managed to eat two halco’s we were pulling but clearly the trolling wasn’t working and the conditions were just not right. It was too rough for us now and the ride home very bumpy. I was now ****** because my expectations were getting smashed. Whoever says fishing is therapeutic just has no idea.

No worries, we now had some reefs to focus on, a fish finder to set us up on the perfect drift to work the fly up through the fish schools that sit on the drop-off, right? ??… Nope, the bumping and long journey had loosened something in the electrics of the boat and now we had no radio or fish finder. Just brilliant.

The next morning the wind was still the same direction, but harder and the wave forecast for the washing machine seemed unsafe so we spent some time un tangling wires and trying to trace the issues with the electrics. No luck. We decided to take a time out and go to islands with the girls. We could take a look at the famous 2 mile reef, a few casts if it was safe and do some snorkeling. We stopped at a rather remarkable place called Pansy Island just off the tip of bazaruto. It’s pure white sand hiding many treasures for the beachcomber. White shells uncovered in the white sand are both rare and beautiful. Aptly named pansy shells and their treasure hunts stole many hours of entertainment in what I can only describe as a perfect place.





















We had a go at pushing tide through the gaps of the reef on 2 mile. We seriously had to be careful as the sea was cross and with me casting a spoon and my dad on the engine keeping us off the reef, it wasn’t long till the line went tight. Very Very tight. It set off and I tightened the drag. The stories of my fathers previous trip here where he lost every poper in his box and most of his line were truly brought to life on this fish. I couldn’t gear down the drag anymore. The fish never stopped and smoked me completely. It Went through the reef and all the 50lb braid and everything else is still going somewhere. The reel is now in the bin – its useless.



Both the girls were on the boat and it was a eye opened to see the pandemonium that went on for those brief seconds. God dam I just love Gt’s

The bad sea started to hit the stomachs of the ladies. I was so impressed they had lasted this long but now it was shore time. We drove quickly to Benguerra white sand split and beached the boat. We needed to drain the hull and the tide was rising. Perfect to take advantage of, we beached the boat high up the slope and pulled out the plugs. The boat was heavy with water so it was a good choice. There were a lot of bait schooling up close to the shore and I just knew something had to happen here.

In these two photos you can see the bait schools.





I made a few casts but it was late and we had a long way to go to get back in the light. The water quickly rose and made the time for getting the boat back in the water only a couple of minutes after we beached. I put the rod back in the holder and as we were all pushing the boat back in the water 40 meters to the side of us literally erupted like an explosion. It seemed like an age but in seconds I had a rod in my hand and was stripping line out while running down the beach after the exploding torpedoes hitting the bait inches from the shore. The bait was beaching and water spraying everywhere. I knew I only had one cast and I knew I had to put it in the right spot while running and not tangling the little line I had managed to strip out, it all needed to go out. I made the cast flat out running and the fly made it inches from the edge right in the action – in less than a second the fish had seen it honed it and taken the fly, I saw the flash and the fly disappear. The fish headed full taps. It was very fast and without a doubt a good fish. I still didn’t know what it was and the shear pace of the run confused me because I would have expected a GT. This was way too fast though. I put down every inch of drag the reel would aply, it had no more to give and neither did the rod – Now I just had to wait to see if it was enough to stop this fish or whether it would be my second spooling schoolboy lesson in a day.









Thankfully the fished stopped and I still had backing on the reel. Then it made a mistake and swam towards me I got a lot of line back and when it realized it was going the wrong way It shot out again… It came passed me and I grabbed the tail as tight as I could. A first for me, a fish of a lifetime. A tuna from the shore on a 10#. We went home. That fish, that whole experience made my holiday. I could have gone home not catching another but that wasn’t to be.









For now though we celebrated with a braai and cold beer.

Hi FryFly, thanks for posting, I am loving this report, great Tuna from the shore as well!
All the best.
Mike

Love the bend in that rod!
Fantastic report, really enjoyed reading that.

Thanks for commenting! It's encouraging after all - glad you are enjoying it.

The sea was still cross and after coming back from the islands, once the tuna was landed, the trip wrecked my mother’s back. She wouldn’t be going anywhere today. To be fair mine was shot too and the weather out at sea was typical for the cyclone like skies that threaten out at sea. We didnt think it was safe to fish today.



We took our local denomination and the 4 x 4 into town and did some spot welding for the rod holders that broke off from the jarring, ah yes, please bear with me as I digress….

Riding along and and the reel spool jars loose, falling into the drink with hundreds of meters of line out right in the middle of the channel. Glynn grabs his mask and fins and dives straight in. Hindsight is a wonderful thing – I was far from the boat in seconds and the boat was far from the reel. Swimming as hard as I could – with very expensive, very good fins, and good technique I like to think anyway, I was going backwards in a hurry. To top all of this off with a cherry, I couldn’t see an inch in front on my face. What about sharks you say, yes indeed, that’s exactly what I said. Screw this for a pie and chips - head up waving frantically and shortly dripping on the deck of the boat hand lining the spool back. Note to sell, first check current then be a hero. I was pretty exhausted from that. …

Anyway the rod rack fell off and we needed more beer. We drove around collecting pow(Local Breadrolls) popped into the market and had a “chat” about some shellfish. We also thought about checking the local resorts and restaurants for a dinner menu for Emma’s birthday. She’s a veggie, they don’t really get that there :-) It’s pretty obvious when you walk past a market table with a goat being decapitated on.





I love the Mozambique flag – An AK47 and A sickle

















The massive fruit bats that cast their silhouette in the sky





The heavens opened and buckets fell… Staying on land – good decision.







They cleared pretty quick and we found a fantastic little seafront bar. Cold, beers time. Great setting so we just took it in for a while. We checked out the local dive charters and asked the extremely capable Bluewater chaps about what gives on the fishing. They echoed our concerns on the colour and winds and were experiencing the same hold ups. Bad news – were had missed the schooling yellow fin by a few weeks. I was fed up with trolling anyway and clearly it wasn’t the right conditions for the billfish. Time to do some flywork ;D







Lunch was rather delicious and dinner was pretty dam fine too






The problem with fishing without a fish finder is it doesn’t really work very well. There is a lot of technique behind drifting the boat correctly over the right side of the reef so you can bring the fly up the drop-off and repeat. None the less we gave it a shot. Over the day we managed to drift over some of fish around the gps marks and got straight tight into the fish. Clearly focusing on the reefs was the way to go here with this dam water the way it was.
Some great fish came to the boat: This Bigeye kingie (Trevally)was another first. Let me tell you something, these fish hit you hard and they really pull string. I love em and every time you go down you have no idea what could come up. Especially when the world record GT came from just down the road.







Very tired and frustrated with the fish finder destroying our unimaginable fishing results more cold beer was in order and so was some fresh fish. Cooked by the boss in his sexy outfit.

This report is getting better and better. Good to see you getting in about the fish.
My missus spent some childhood years in Nigeria so she is enjoying the non fishing pics as well.
How big are those fruit bats?

nice shirt glynno where did you get that from?

__________________
Tomo

www.unchartedwatersthefilm.com or email jatstanic@aol.com for your copy

Well you shouldnt have left the boot unlocked