December 2004

Rok-Max Web Site  Christmas is coming ........ and us anglers' thoughts and those of our partners turn to, not surprizingly ...... PRESENTS!

You may be interested to learn that Rok-Max have recently gone on-line.  Their web site, which shows details of their complete product range plus special offers may be accessed through this link - Rok-Max Web Site  .  Paul Bowers noted that the site currently reflects their 2004 prices but that it is scheduled to be updated with 2005 prices in the course of the next 2 to 3 weeks.  Given the current strength of the £ sterling versus the US$ prices will be up to 20% lower.

You will also be able to order, from later this week, copies of their free 64 page catalogue direct through the site.

Kingfisher Boats, Kenya  Kingfisher on a weekly basis publish catch reports on their web site.  They can be accessed by clicking here .  One thing particularly though caught my attention on their latest report.

The story of the week though has to be Tarka's overnight.

They were fishing between the South Mlima and the mountain off Mtwapa, approx 20 miles off shore.  The first strike was obviously a big fish as it just took off and went straight down. There was no way of stopping it, they were very quickly spooled.  Callum clipped a 130 lb outfit to the reel of the 1st rod, and overboard it all went until the 2nd reel was spooled and the 1st line popped. It took much longer to reel the line and rod back in than it took to get spooled twice!

After getting everything back in reasonable order they tried again, They had a second strike and exactly the same thing happened again. I must say that to chuck a 130 lb rod and reel over board is a little traumatic, and twice in one night. Callum said this happened to him once, 10 years ago.

There are some very big broadbill in this sea of ours, probably big enough never to be caught on rod and line!

Ascension Island, South Atlantic  God's Favor started fishing in mid-November with SHY 3 commencing operations at the beginning of December.  Initially there were masses of big 150/200lb plus Yellowfin Tuna present together with enormous shoals of big Skipjacks - some 25lb plus fish. 

The BIG Marlin are also present - Trevor on God's Favor having reported seeing six 'granders'.  One's been taken.  But on one magical day they hooked into a fish estimated to be in the 1200lb range that ultimately jumped landing on, and snapping, the 130.  Later that same day they had a 'visit' from an absolute monster, reputedly the biggest fish Trevor has seen.  (And remember at the beginning of the 2002 season he caught that fish of 1337lbs.)  However it bill-wrapped in the leader and spooked.  Then the 'icing' in the afternoon when they raised a mere 900 pounder.  As with previous seasons though they're seeing more big fish that they're hooking.  They're interested but I guess well fed!

Olaf on SHY 3 updates his web site on a daily basis and details may be viewed by clicking here.

Guatemala  Certainly THE place for numbers of Pacific Sailfish.  Although on the only occasion I was there numbers were very thin, mind you that was immediately after a tropical storm had struck the area.  And the crews were having difficulty locating the scattered schools of fish.

This report from Brad Philipps on the Pelagian based at Iztapa shows just how good it can be!

Off the Pacific waters of Guatemala (Central America) on December 12th at 12:25 the Pelagian with capt. Brad Philipps at the helm released billfish number 2668 for the calendar year to tie our World Record set last year. Three minutes latter angler Perry Glover of Texas released fish number 2669 to set a new World Record.  The Glover group ended their three day trip with a total of 128 sailfish releases and the boat with a yearly total of 2716 releases to date.  The fishing in general has been unbelievable this year and Guatemala just seems to be getting better and better.  The Pelagian has posted some big release numbers over the past week, with 67 releases on Dec 7th, 51 releases on the 10th, 55 the following day and a bunch of high 30 release days to have released close to 300 fish in the past six days on the water.

Now that's fishing!  Most fish would have been Sails but with the odd sprinkling of Blue and Black Marlin.

Phuket, Thailand  Dave Irving, together with a group of friends, visited Phuket Island, Thailand in mid-December – fortunately 10 days before the devastating tsunami struck.  Catch rates were significantly down on previous trips and both trolling and deep water jigging were difficult in the choppy sea conditions.  They did however encounter a whole range of species – Ruby Snapper, Cobia, Skipjacks, Giant Trevally, Queenfish, Rainbow Runner, Barracuda, Wahoo, Rosy Jobfish, Dorado and a solitary 100lb Sailfish.  The Sail, taken on 50lb trolling gear, didn’t jump at all and, for a short time, Dave was hoping he was about to break his Marlin ‘duck’.

One interesting specimen, an extremely rare capture in Thailand, that Dave caught deep water jigging was a 15lb 6oz (7kg) Barracouta.  Not Dave’s fish, but you can view an image of one by clicking here.  An impressive set of dentures!

	Dave's 15lb 6oz Barracouta.  Need a tad more than 'red eye' reduction with those eyes.  The fish's not Dave's!
	David Irving's 100lb Sailfish caught trolling off the Siliman Islands.

Eric Roberts - UK Barbel Fishing   Eric's report on the season's activities to-date follows:

This season I have been concentrating efforts on the upper reaches of the River Severn and the Berkshire’s St Patrick’s Stream.

Whilst the lower Severn is well know for large numbers of fish and multiple catches are commonplace, the upper Severn is a bit of an unknown. From my chosen stretch since June 16^th I have managed 70+ fish with nine being 10lb+. The weights of these fish being 10-02, 10-06, 10-08, 10-08, 10-2, 10-12, 11, 11-12 & 13lb. Along with these fish have been many 8lb+ fish with multiple catches of up to 10 fish in a session. Mixed in amongst the Barbel there have been numbers of “nuisance” Chub - the biggest of these going 6lb with 41/2lb fish being commonplace.

St Patrick’s Stream is a very weedy and tricky Thames backwater and can be fished as a member of Twyford and District AS or on an RMC Angling ticket. The Twyford stretch has a long history of large fish in residence in its lower reaches.  These fish occasionally move upstream and then become catchable on the RMC stretch. The fish are highly pressured here and hence very shy. Having taken a few smaller fish throughout the year I fished the stretch late in 2004 and landed a fine 13-08 specimen.  It's a new personal best and a fish that looks like it can grow quite a bit yet!

All the fish have been caught on BioRed and Crustea mixes available from the DDBait stable and more information about these very different baits can be found at  www.sfmdevelopments.com.

Eric's 13lb 8oz Barbel caught from St Patrick's Stream, a Thames tributary in December 2004. Click on thumbnail image to view full-sized picture.