Zanzibar ?

[Scythe]

Hey guys,

Wondering if anyone has fished this area, specifically around the Sandies Mapenzi resort and could give me some info on what the experience is like.

From what I can see there is shore based fishing within a reasonable walking distance and I will be taking my general purpose kit along, apparently there are plentiful kingies and the usual sort of species, even if the fishing might not be that great, but would also not be entirely apprehensive to charter a daytrip should that be the better option.

Hoping some of you have some useful info to share.

[jock0]

There's a turtle sanctuary in one of the bays - think wet-nose/spca but for turtles... They, along with hordes of pompano, get fed pretty regularly.

What Would Bertu Do

[Stones]

I was there about 8 years back and stayed at one of the beach resorts on the point, Nungwe Beach Resort was the name . Think its close to this venue, although I think Sandies Mapenzi wasnt built then It was a second hunny moon and unfortunately didnt fish but I can tell you that I did scuba dive the reefs, lots of turbunate coral mounds, surrounded by many fish species and some big game fish swimming around. The deeper dives 30m plus we saw large schools of barracuda in a chanel where ther current is quite strong. Try get to the small islands if you can, pemba ect.. Shore fishing will be much better there than on Zanzibar main island. Trust me, and you will see that the locals have scraped every inch of the shore line . There is the od small fish here and there but your best bet would be to grab one of the local fisherman on a wooden dow boat (quite an experience) and let him take you to the spots or pay through your butt for a classy charter . The lacals trawl with hand line, I kid you not, around 100kg breaking strain, wrap it around their foot and off they go. I have a pic of a local who got a 40kg YF tuna on hand line

You must go swim with the wild dolphins at the bottom of the island....awesome experience! And see the Red Colombus monkeys.

I will warn you to only drink bottled water, get yellowfever shots (which you should have anyway) and do not eat any food washed with local tap water......trust me! Try eat as much seafood as you can, you will see what I mean when you look around.

Enjoy!SKMBT_C36010090211040.jpgSKMBT_C36010090211050.jpgSKMBT_C36010090211060.jpgSKMBT_C36010090211061.jpgSKMBT_C36010090211070.jpg Here are a few pics I had on my laptop

[Scythe]

Hey guys,

Well I have travelled extensively in Africa, so I know the ins and outs ito what to do and what not to eat

I will be taking a light spinning setup with for some exploratory searching and then packing the two 10WT's just in case something yummy does appear to be around. Having said that, this isn't a "fishing" trip so won't be spending morning noon and night in pursuit of fins, but also can't see myself going to such an beautiful place and NOT at least chuck something, happily the S/O has taken an interrest in it too so I might end up having to wrestle the rod away from her at times (now that sounds like fun)

7 days is simply too long on spend lying on a beach drinking cocktails ... I'm very keen to see other aspects of the island ... thanks for the heads up regarding the wild dolphins and the monkeys ... will definitely investigate that.

[Stones]

Kewl man!
The turtle sanctuary is very nice, very small though and you get to feed them. I think its a natural lagoon if I'm not mistaken?
I would definitely grab the locals with boats, for sea outings of sorts. Unless money is no issue

Not sure if you have tried this beer but its pretty good stuff tanzania6.jpg

And the local toilets.....eish! chiottes.jpg But obviously dont have to worry about that at the resorts, could you imagine!....haha

[Scythe]

Not sure if you have tried this beer but its pretty good stuff tanzania6.jpg

And the local toilets.....eish! chiottes.jpg But obviously dont have to worry about that at the resorts, could you imagine!....haha

Not that particular brand no, but I have had many Tusker's ... as for the toilets ... On my fishing excursions ... I've had worse

[Stones]

Not that particular brand no, but I have had many Tusker's ... as for the toilets ... On my fishing excursions ... I've had worse

Hehe, I meant for the ladies

[Scythe]

Thought I'd give you guys some feedback ...

Fly fishing in Zanzibar is not big, they have no clue what you are refferring to, even some of the Big Game Fishing operators have to be edcucated.

Specifically the North Eastern side of Zanzibar (which is where I was) you will battle to get close to dropoffs and good water to fish, aside from this the locals scrape everything off the rocks that keep the Urchins under control, so where you do walk, make sure you are wearing boots, not crocks or anything that doesn't have a really solid sole on it because there is literally no space larger than 30cm between all the urchins.

The reef is very gradual and you will struggle to find holes with a nice dropoff, when you do find "the right kind" of hole, you will get your fish and I picked up some action this way, nothing over 35cm, good fun nonetheless, had to walk very far to get to this water and with the nature of the tides, you have very limited time to catch anything.

Anyways, I at least got something everytime I ventured out and it was fun, but nothing to write home about, if you are going to go on Holiday to Zanzibar expecting to be able to walk on the reef and make a cast ... forget it, you will be bothered by beach boys and battle to find fish.

All in ... good fun ... but not as a fishing destination and bearing in mind the schlepp I had to go through to get my rods there, hardly worth the effort just to have your gear there "in case" you get a chance.

[Stones]

Its like reliving Zanzibar over again
Beautiful place but raped beyond belief!!

[Scythe]

There is a lot of life on the tip of the reef where the locals can't get to. I saw many many many species of small (<10cm) fish and large numbers of starfish, cucumbers, swimming prawns, eels and even a watersnake.

Lovely to go and see, snorkel and swim ... leave the rods at home.

*shrug*