Are there fish left in Gambia - exploratory part two

are there fish left in Gambia - exploratory part two

Me and a group of 6 anglers paying fuel only set out to explore all those points that noone in Gambia seems able to find or capable of fishing because of a lack of will or equipment . This what happened .

Day one week two .

The plan was 1 boat lure fishing on Tnje island and the second boat heading out to find and chart the second wreck given to us by the senegalese fisherman from Tanje . As I looked out of the window at 6 , I realised it wasnt going to go to that plan. A big wind had appeared from the west and as we set off running into it , there was no way anybody was going to stick running 45kms into it . So we conveened on the beach and decided cowardice was the better part of valour and we would drop onto the stingray hole at Barra . 6 hrs bottom fishing , 4 moves and not a touch , the other boat fared a bit better but nothing spectacular . We tried half an hours trolling which did yield something , a 40lb Cuda on a deep storm lure . Jo was happy at least.

Day two

Grand plan - travel to the wreck fish all night and then straight into the Bluewater . After some interference from the Gambia authorities we set off at 5 and the wind had got up again , but we werent stopping this time and by 6.30 we dropped anchor on the wreck , Two boats about 40mts apart . We started fishing about 7 pm and from then till 1am the action was constant , the senegalese guy said he caught 10 times more fish at night than in the day and he was right . We had Snappers , Mbour { Black Cassava } , Groupers , Big Sunpats and loads of stuff that we couldnt even stop using a 250lb handline . This mark has the potential to be phenomenal , the fishing was extreme by any standards and ive fished on a lot of wrecks . I think chumming for sharks would work and we didnt really have a chance to plot it completely . Anyway about 1 the fishing dropped off on our boat so everybody tried to get some sleep , not easy as we were all pretty damp after the journey out . I dozed off , and was woken up by Jo running about the boat shouting weres the other boat , weres the other boat . After the panic died down it became obvious that we broken off the old bouy on the wreck and were drifting , panic over we headed back about 1/2 mile and anchored up again.

At dawn we started fishing again , only a few fish but it became obvious that our quick anchoring had not been as accurate as our first try . I was just thinking it would have been nice to have had a flask of coffee when a local pirogue pull up alongside , it transpired that the skipper had fished with Max , my skipper on a fishing boat in Senegal , soon they were offering around hot sweet green tea , which i am not normally that partial to but in this case I made an exception.

We pulled anchor and set off to the 80mt drop off . We saw shoals of bait on the sounder and soon had a dozen in the live well on small sabiki rigs .

After another half an hour we saw a large floatation device that appeared to have a temperature sensor on it and a strobe marker . To me it looked like one thing DORADOS .

We quickly deployed a single rapala and started to troll round it . Nothing . Max suggested Jigging as it had a deep strng weight beneth it keeping it stable . Before we had a chance to set up the jigs , the boat was surronded by good sized Dorados , fantastic blues , Greens and yellow torpedoes flashing around hungrily hunting what had disturbed them . I quickly flicked out the Rapala as far as I could with the trolling outfit and with one crank , bang the big bull nailed it . I handed the rod to Ian and grabbed a dead scad mack from the bait box , flicked it out on a spinning rod , same again one crank and bang , let it run , let it run and then drop the bait arm and hit it . Very satisfying that as another good sized bull exploded out of the clear water .

We boated the first fish and the second got off at the leader . Not wanting to cause too much confusion I refrained from putting anymore baits out until we were clear . After Ians fish was boated I set up a livebait and let everyone start hooking their own fish - much more fun but sometimes a bit more costly on baits . Over the next half our we landed another 6 and probably hooked 15 , all the small ones were released .

Once the action died down Max trolled in the area using small Jet heads which probably accounted for another 5 smaller fish alongside several small Almaco Jacks { relative of the amberjack } which were also hanging about .

I saw the other boat coming over obviously having noticed the action. As they arrive Nalla shouted across to Max , we thought we had been having good , whilst we were messing about with Dorados , they had hooked 6 sails and boated 2 good size fish. They had also seen several more packs which had not taken .

As they drifted past , they still had 2 livebaits out and as we crossed both their rods went off.

Max insisted we stop messing about and get onto some serious fishing , So out with 2 live yabouys and we start trolling at 2 knots . We hadnt even managed to get the teasers out when the sailfish came , that very satisfying clack as the outrigger clip lets go and that classic sycle tail flashing through the pattern . The fish is off and running with the bait , I hand the rod to Ian , and tell him to wait for a count of ten , he hits the fish its on , and then off . All we get back is a nose and an eyeball , so near and yet so far.

About 20mins later we have another at the bait but it never takes and just drifts back into the deep , probably more interested in the teasers than the baits.

At 1.30 we call it a day everyone is exhausted , in need of a shower and a beer . But the atmosphere is pure elation , we had found what we came for and we now had at least two wrecks and we had found Sailfish alley .

30 plus mixed snapper and groupers to 15lb - which might not sound much but you trying pulling them out of that wreck in the dark

11 dorados boated probably an equal number released

2 sailfish landed at least 6 hooked up

and its not even the prime season yet

Everyone understood that this trip could have caught nothing , but with some decent detective work and the right skippers and equipment we had found some fantastic spots and some great fishing .

My boys are out tonight doing the same again , lets see how they get on.

There are least another 6 wrecks on the chart , which we have co ordinates for and I intend to run the boats from Tanje which cuts the travelling time to bluewater in half .

So there just might be a good chance that all those guys who loved Gambia can go back with some confidence that they might catch a few good fish .

I will send the photos as soon as I can find the cable to get them off my camera

Richard

Lovely reading,wasn't looking good at the start but soon livened up,thanks for sharing,I can only imagine

Finally got the photos sorted . Just to back up my wild claims . I have two guys looking for boat shares if anyone is interested one on the 23rd July and the other on the 18th sept .

Richard

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