More information on Deep Sea Fishing holidays to Indian Ocean (including Kenya, Zanzibar, Mauritius), South Africa, Mexico & beyond:
INDIAN OCEAN
Fishing veterans and novices alike are catered for in our deep sea fishing holidays, and in Africa you are never far from fabulous scenery and stunning wildlife safaris, so you can combine both in any tailor made deep sea fishing holidays.
South Africa: Cape Town is the Atlantic centre of tuna fishing. The fish variety is impressive and there is always something exciting in season. The list of species is a long one and includes bronze whaler, atlantic blue and mako shark; yellowfin, bigeye and longfin tuna; yellowtail, snoek, dorada, cape salmon and the occasional marlin.
Durban and Sodwana Bay on the east coast enjoy the warmer waters of the Indian Ocean and the fish variety is spectacular as a result. The annual South Africa Billfish Tournament is held here, with good reason. The specialities are blue, black, striped marlin, sailfish, short bill spearfish and broadbill swordfish. In addition you can go after giant trevally, yellow and big eye tuna, dorado, wahoo, queen fish, amber jack, tropical yellowtail, king and queen mackerel, garrick, barracuda, garfish, oceanic bonito, shad and kawa kawa, to name but a few.The game fish change with the seasons, so there is great deep sea fishing almost all the year round.
Kenya offers wonderful deep sea fishing holidays from Diani Beach south of Mombasa and Watamu near Malindi. You will enjoy easy access to all the billfish, including sailfish, striped and black marlin, swordfish, plus kingfish and seriously big yellowfin tuna. Look out for wahoo, sharks and giant trevally. Look out for swordfish in Shimoni in the far south.
Tanzania game fishing is centred on the capital Dar es Salaam, Pangani, Tanga, Zanzibar and Pemba islands. You can also fish off Mafia Island and further north for the big game palegics migrating through the Pemba Channel – yellowfin and dogtooth tuna, giant trevally and broadbill, plus the perennials like grouper and red snapper. The deep waters along the coast are less developed, and the relative peacefulness makes this the ideal location for relaxed but highly productive deep sea fishing holidays. In Zanzibar deep sea fishing is centred in the area between the northern tip of the island and Pemba. There are year round barracuda, wahoo, kingfish and giant trevally and blue, black and striped marlin in season. Tag and release is the norm here.
In Mozambique deep sea fishing holidays takes place in the Mozambique Channel, which is a paradise for big game fishing and has been a major attraction of Mozambique fishing since 1960’s. Just about everything is here, especially around the Bazaruto archelelago, the premier deep sea big game fishing destination in the country and famous for its big, mostly black marlin. You can rely on king and queen mackerel, bonito, tuna, barracuda, grouper, snapper, big wahoo, dorado – and sailfish. Giant trevally are a speciality here as well as various sharks, including the Zambezi, dusky, blacktip, hammerhead and tiger. Tag and release is the policy here, and not just for the sharks.
Madagascar has something for everyone, from superb deep sea fishing holidays to in-shore and estuary fishing. The boats and guides here are very flexible so you can try just about anything, including fly fishing. Much of it takes place in the northwest of the country around Nosy Be, which has some excellent year round weather - and massive dog tooth tuna, sailfish and marlin in season. The giant trevally are great here as well as the giant kingfish, snapper, grouper and king mackerel.
Mauritius. Deep sea big game fishing in Mauritius, to the east of Madagascar, is some of the best in the world. The island is also blessed with perfect Indian Ocean conditions almost year round and there is always something exciting to fish (but avoid January to March, which is the cyclone season). From resorts in the north, east and south west you can hunt giant blue and black marlin, the local speciality, mako, tiger and hammerhead shark, yellowfin and dog tooth tuna, sailfish, dorado, wahoo, spearfish and giant trevally.
Seychelles. If you want to try salt water fly fishing then this is where you need to be. The Alphonse and St Francois Atolls are world famous for their clear, shallow water sand flats and iconic creatures like bonefish and milkfish. The other outer islands such as Denis, Bird, Poivre and d’Arroz are brilliant too. Off the inner islands of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue you will catch bohar snapper, moustache and yellowmargin triggerfish, yellowlipped emporer, giant trevally, sailfish, yellowfin and dogtooth tuna, blue marlin, king fish, dorado, bonito and amberjacks. The game fishing here is like the sublime climate - it is good all year round. The Seychelles are also very conservation conscious and all the fishing is strictly catch and release.
Namibia deep sea fishing holidays are based in Swakopmund or Walvis Bay on the Atlantic coast. There are 300 kms of ocean fishing access and if you want to beach cast for shark this has to be the place to do it. You can fish for bronze whaler (copper), spotted gulley and sand shark plus kabeljou and steenbras of various sizes, galjoen and black tail. Sharks are always released, sometimes after tagging, but everything else can be kept.
In Zimbabwe you can enjoy tiger fishing on the Zambezi River and enormous Lake Kariba, where you can stay on a houseboat. If river fishing is your thing, try something different on the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers on the border between Namibia and Botswana. You can fish for bream, pike, catfish and the tough Zambezi tiger fish – from a houseboat if you prefer. Houseboats are also popular on the beautiful Lake Kariba, which straddles the Zambia/Zimbabwe border. At 140 x 25 miles, this is one of the world’s largest man-made lakes, caused by the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River. It is one of Africa’s most beautiful and abundant wildlife sites and you can fish here for over 40 different species. These include tiger fish, nkupe, chessa, bottlenose, barbell, and various bream. Look out too for the fish eagles, cormorants and Nile crocodiles and hippos. For a change of scenery, the famous Victoria Falls are within reach.
CENTRAL AMERICA
Fishing in Mexico
Deep sea big game fishing in Mexico is world renowned, with the Pacific coast offering some of the best game fishing in the world. From Los Cabos on the southern tip of Baja California, and from Mazatlan south to Acapulco on the mainland, the choice and facilities are excellent. Surf and fly fishing are popular here.
Los Cabos includes la Paz, Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, the largest and most popular deep sea big game fishing area in the country. You can fish here all year round for a variety of species including tuna, sea bass, dorada and grouper, with striped, black and blue marlin and sailfish in season between April and December. The convention here is very much photograph and release.
Deep sea fishing is also excellent Mazatlan, which lies across the Gulf of California and is known as the ‘Billfish Capital of the World’. Here you can find marlin, tuna, sailfish, grouper and dorado. Inland from Mazatlan you can try for native and Florida black bass in the Comedero and El Salto Lakes. Just down the coast Puerto Vallarta and Costalegre are famous for sailfish. Fishing here is also all year round and as well as sailfish there are marlin, red snapper, bonito, tuna, dorado, roosterfish, giant tuna, and shark.
Moving further south, between Manzanillo and Acapulco, there is the old fishing village of Zihuatanego. Ancient and charming it may be, but it is also a prime Mexican fishing location and home to several major fishing tournaments every year. You can fish here for marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, roosterfish, dorado and wahoo. Deep sea fishing holidays in Mexico continue down to Acapulco, where you can fish for striped marlin, pompano, bonito, red snapper and blue fin tuna.
The same goes for Cancun, on the Caribbean Yucatan peninsula. There are great beaches, resorts and theme parks here, but also superb deep sea fishing holidays for sailfish, blue fin tuna and marlin.
Belize. This tiny country is best known for its diving, but bone fishing is now competing well on the world’s second largest reef.
Honduras. Set in lush jungle with Indian villages, Brus Laguna in the La Mosquitia region on the Caribbean has some of the world’s best tarpon and snook.
Costa Rica. The Osa Peninsula on the Pacific offers superb billfish – blue, black and striped marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, giant dorado and wahoo. On the Caribbean, where the Rio Colorado meets the sea, try for their 200lb tarpon.
Panama. The black marlin, sailfish, dorado, snapper and jack are among best that Pacific Central America can offer.
SOUTH AMERICA
Fishing in Peru. Cabo Blanco near Talara in the north, near the border with Equador, is famous for its black marlin, bigeye tuna and sailfish. Punta Sal near Tumbes also offers black and striped marlin. If you like to surf as well as fish, this is one of the best locations in the world. Further down the coast, not far south of the capital of Lima, you can fish for sea bass and flounder from the ancient town of Ica, which is also an excellent base for deep sea fishing holidays abroad.
In contrast the Amazon rainforest around Iquitos in the northeast offers the butterfly peacock bass, one of the fiercest freshwater fish in the world. In the southeast of the country, not far from the old Inca capital of Cuzco, the Tambopata and Madre de Dios rivers and wildlife reserve areas are home to ferocious game fish like payana, tucanare, wolf fish, pacu, the giant piranha and a range of catfish. This really is a stunning bio-diverse region and you will fish in some of the most beautiful, pristine environments on earth.
Fishing in Brazil. Brazil offers the Amazon basin, with its vast network of rivers, streams and tributaries. You can fish for peacock bass, one of the world’s most beautiful fighting fish, giant paiche and the red bellied piranha. Among many others you will find payanra, or vampire fish, bicuda, pike, jau catfish up to 200 lbs, golden dorado and arapaima, which is said to be the largest freshwater fish in the world, if not the strangest looking.
Fishing in Argentina. Fishing in Argentina is about the famed golden dorado, the so called ‘Tiger of the Rivers’. This ferociously aggressive fish can be found in the Entre Rios region north of Buenos Aires, in the Parana, Corrientes and Uruguay Rivers and presents a real game fishing challenge. The variety of freshwater fishing here, with 220 species, is among the most exciting in the world - and it is available all year round.
Further south, in Argentinian Patagonia, the widespread trout and salmon take over - with some of the best fly fishing found anywhere. Keep on going to Tierra del Fuego, the 'Land of Fire', and try the famous sea trout fishing in the Grande River.
Fishing in Chile. In southern Chile, the trout fishing mecca is Coyhaique. Fly fishing here for trout and 30lb king salmon on the Simpson and Coyhaique Rivers is undoubtedly amongst the most unspoilt and pristine environments in the world.