Are there fish left in Gambia - exploratory part two

[richardsheard1]

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

[tex]

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

[richardsheard1]

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