Billfishing in Zanzibars Pemba Channel - Marlin

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There are no less than six different types of billfish in the Zanzibar's Pemba channel just north of Nungwi and your chances of catching at least 3 different types in a season are really good. Besides the billfish there are huge sharks (Mako, Tiger, Thresher and Hammerhead to name but a few), tuna fishing, large wahoo, king mackerel, dorado, barracuda, and record size giant trevally plus many others.

 

 

 

In peak Marlin season, the bill fish move right up to the coast line to gorge themselves on the tuna, making the north of Zanzibar very interesting for enthusiastic anglers. These fish show inexhaustible displays of strength and a chance at a personal best is very good.

 

Basically our seasons take place with the tuna season running from August to October, and then the billfish season for marlin and sailfish running from November till March. In between the game fish are always there. Large Tuna can reach up to 100 kg’s, with many schools of 50 kg tuna still migrating through our waters.  The tuna are followed by the big marlin. Our main striped marlin season runs from December through to March whilst large black and blue marlin are caught in September till December.

 

 

A Broadbill fishing trip would entail a night fishing trip. You would board the boat at around 5pm in the evening before cruising out into the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean north of Nungwi only returning early the following morning. It is not unusual to have many strikes in a night although your fishing skills will determine how many of these powerful fish you can raise. Best times for Broadbill Swordfishing would be during the calm periods of March/April and Oct/November and the first 2 weeks of December. Fantastic fishing locally too ...

Close to shore along the west, north and east coast of Zanzibar, regular catches include Rainbow Runners, Bonito, Kingfish , Barracuda, Wahoo, Dorado and Sailfish.

 

The Seasons

There are two monsoon seasons that govern the weather here in Zanzibar. The "Kaskazi" which is the northeast monsoon and the "Kusi" which is the southeast monsoon. These two seasons are separated by very calm periods.

 

The Kusi starts anytime from around mid/end of march and continues to blow through to late October. The strongest winds encountered during “Kusi” would be during July/August. The kaskazi starts to blow any time from mid-November until mid-December and continues in to early March.

 

Typically the Kaskazi reaches its strongest during January with rough seas and strong winds. Usually from mid-February onwards the winds are becoming lighter and the seas calmer.