With a lasting peace having finally come to this war-torn country, Angola is finally able to exploit the incredible fishing potential created by the clash of hot and cold currents off its coast. A coastal fishing operation has existed for several years in the south of the country, and in mid 2002 at least two more lodges are currently under construction further north, where West African species such as tarpon and giant threadfin occur.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Flamingo Lodge, Rio Longa and Kilwa Lodge

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On the island of Principe, part of the two-island Republic of Sao Tome & Principe, lying some 250 km off the coast of Gabon in West Africa, lovely BomBom Resort is one of the world’s most remote and idyllic tropical destinations. Principe has a population of just 4 000 and apart from Bom Bom and one decaying town, the island consists of nothing but equatorial rainforest. The blue marlin season is short (July and August) but spectacular, with big fish and many of them. September to December is sailfish time, specimens of over 100 lb plentiful.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to BomBom Island Resort

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This arid and sparsely populated country, lying between South Africa and Namibia, has one unique watery jewel: the famed Okavango Swamps, lying in the northwest of the country, home to tigerfish and various lure-gobbling bream species. In the northeast, Botswana also has access to the mighty Zambezi and Chobe rivers, containing similar but general larger species.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Ichingo and Nguma Lagoon Camp

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This mysterious central African country is home to the mighty Congo river. Found in the Congo river are goliath tiger fish, one of the most vicious fresh water predators on the planet. These voracious fish grow to well in excess of 100lbs and can be caught pretty much year round. There is finally a reputable fishing operator in the Congo offering packages to target goliath tigers in the waters of the Congo river.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Congo

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Why not? It may be primarily desert, but it’s also home to the Nile, the river that nurtured modern man. And Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest man-made impoundments, swarms with huge Nile perch which thrive alongside tigerfish and bream. A Lake Nasser safari, sleeping either aboard your Arabian fishing craft or on the desert sand under stars close enough to reach out and pluck, is a different experience … just another thread in the rich tapestry of Africa. 

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Lake Nasser

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The offshore waters of this West African country teem with all tropical gamefish, including blue marlin, but there are few facilities for offshore angling. The marine estuaries, however, are home to the world’s biggest tarpon during November-April, plus cubera snapper, various forms of trevally (known in Southern Africa as kingfish), the spectacular giant threadfin, and many other species. We’d love to say you can pursue these 250 lb-plus tarpon on fly, but the deepness of the estuaries and the leaf-stained water make that unrealistic; they’re mostly caught on drifted deadbaits or by casting surface plugs.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Gabon

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This friendly, English-speaking West African country has been rated by several renowned international fishing magazines as the best place in the world for big blue marlin and behemoth yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Since 1997, the Blue Marlin Fishing Charters (BMFC) caught 617 blues with an average weight of over 500-pounds with an average of two boats fishing. Eight blue grander marlin were weighed in or released during this period. Biggest blue was 1,283 pounds. The BMFC is averaging one blue marlin a day per boat in the peak seasons which is from March - June and October - November. Also several IGFA word- and local tuna records were caught in Ghana since 2002. Captain Johan Zietsman of BMFC charters a refurbished 31'Bertram KARMA with state of the art 130-pound tackle. Clients need to book well in advance for the prime seasons because of popular demand.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Ghana

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The green hills of Africa that Hemingway loved – Kenya has a special magic, and the coastal fishing resort that carries Hemingways’ name is Africa’s finest, though one has the choice of operations ranging from Hemingways (170 beds, ten boats) to the much smaller, venerable Pemba Channel Fishing Club where Kenyan gamefishing began 40 years ago. Blue, black and striped marlin, vast quantities of sailfish, and all the normal tropical species – the Kenyan season kicks off in late August with the arrival of big yellowfin tuna, moves to sailfish in November/December, peaks for marlin in January-March, and winds down in April/May.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Hemmingways and Tropical Village

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The great “Red Island” lying off Africa’s east coast is more a mini-continent than an island. Virtually closed to the world for two decades of disastrous Marxism, Madagascar became one of the world poorest countries and was only starting to gain the angling recognition it deserved when a disputed election in early 2002 plunged it back into civil strife. Facilities are limited – but we have a couple of angling gems to offer at Nosy Be in the north and Tulear in the south. All tropical offshore species occur, with sailfish being the predominant billfish May-September, and blacks being the most common marlin species; Madagascar’s black marlin fishery remains virtually untapped.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Madagascar

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The “biggest little island in the world” continues to produce some of the world’s biggest blue marlin October-March, but billfish numbers have declined in recent years. Some blame it on El Nino, others on the long-line fleets attracted by the yellowfin tuna cannery built a few years ago. The summer of 2001/2 saw an improvement, and if that improvement continues (or even if it doesn’t) here is where you’ll get the unvarnished truth about Mauritius as an angling destination.

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A large country, stretching for 3 000 km along the East coast of Africa, between South Africa and Tanzania, Mozambique is Africa’s premier black marlin destination October-March, being the ONLY Indian Ocean waters to have produced grander-plus black marlin up to 1 400 lb. (635 kg), though the official record is 1 109 lb (503 kg). All the tropical species, including world record queenfish (five-finger jack), springer (ladyfish) and Giant Trevally, are present. The opening of a new fishing lodge in the Quirimba Archipelago along Mozambique's northern coastline, close to the Tanzanian border, has opened up a whole new frontier for both big-game and and light tackle/fly anglers.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Linene, Pemba & St Lazarus (7 days), Pemba & St Lazarus (4 days), Ugezi - Cahora Bassa  and Mozambique Islands

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Unchallenged as the most beautiful Indian Ocean destination, the 115 islands of Seychelles have recently become the world’s hotspot for bonefishing during October-April, with fly anglers easily averaging over 30 fish a day. This is mostly on the distant and uninhabited outer islands, whose very remoteness guarantees the future of the fishery. All other tropical species are present, including broadbill swordfish and big blue marlin. But it’s the abundant, innocent bonefish which have caught the world’s imagination.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to MV Illusions

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Though we are Johannesburg based, we offer few local destinations because South Africa falls largely outside the tropics and does not have a developed sportfishing industry, other than inland trout lodges and a few saltwater destinations such as Cape Town (yellowfin/longfin tuna and broadbill swordfish) and Durban, Natal, or Sodwana Bay in Zululand, (black, blue and striped marlin, sailfish and lesser gamefish.)

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Tanzania boasts catches of big yellowfin tuna in early summer when the mantis shrimp come onto the water surface.

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Two decades of civil war and dictatorship ended in the mid-eighties, and today Winston Churchill’s “Pearl of Africa” is regaining its lustre. The inland ocean of Lake Victoria, larger than some African countries, offers superb Nile perch fishing, these giant largemouth bass lookalikes (and act-alikes!) regularly going over 100 lb, and often double that size. But for real action, catch the same fish in the mighty Nile river just below Murchison Falls, a five-hour drive from the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

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This amalgamation of several Arab sheikdoms on the shores of the Arabian Gulf seems an unlikely fishery, yet during their winter (October-March) the warm, shallow seas off Dubai swarm with the fattest, friskiest sailfish you’ll ever see – fish over 150 lb have been caught, with one of 230 lb released on 28 March, 2002. Livebait is the popular method, but these fish shoal so close to the boat that it remains the best destination we’ve seen for flycasting to free-swimming sails without having to tease them to the boat first. Huge king mackerel and wahoo are present, also dorado and queenfish. No marlin, the water’s just too shallow. 

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Dubai

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This landlocked Central African country is bounded in the west and south by the great Zambezi River with its tigerfish and bream species, and in its northeast corner has the southern end of huge Lake Tanganyika, over a mile deep, crystal clear and home to over 600 species of fish – plus Africa’s biggest crocodiles! Nile perch, the unique kupi and the 100 lb plus Goliath tigerfish are the prime species, though Goliaths are rare and seldom caught by anglers. If you did want to try for Goliath, October is the time; for general fishing, February-April.

Sport Fish Africa offers packages to Mvuu and Mwandi

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This is tiger country – also lions, buffalo, elephant and other big game. But for anglers the tigers are the razor-toothed and high-leaping tigerfish, considered by many the world’s finest freshwater fighting fish. Zimbabwe is also becoming internationally recognised for some of the world’s best bass fishing (that’s right, American largemouth bass!) with ten-pounders not rating a second glance.

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