the return to tanga 2013 nov

[trishul]

Greetings to all here, its been very long since I posted a report or anything much on here but I hope you enjoy my annual jigging trip story and the pics, personally for my brother and me it was our best fishing trip soo far and as always we are understanding more and more about the sport jigging and always learning alot

Since feb  2013 my brother and me were deciding over many a meal and a few beers/ whiskeys where we should go jigging for the trip for 2013, many suggestions were put on the table like the andamans, south Tanzania, Lamu in kenya etc but these quickly got cancelled out when we decided on what was the aim and target of this particular trip, firstly we wanted to catch a big amberjack and secondly we wanted to give one of our first jigging destinations a revisit on a different season then before to understand for our selves the full potential of this destination in terms of jigging so the dust finally settled and the decision was agreed upon that we will go to tanga and pay Captain steve his wife and fish eagle point a visit again, this is one lodge I never get tired of it is amazing in all ways not only for fisherman but for all people who like nature and the sea or just getting away from the hustle of the city.Next we needed to start ordering last minute items like  extra jigs, lines etc just to have a few extras, I also managed to get hold of the 2008 stella with some custom parts from jigging master as I feel it is a more suitable reel then my 4500 saltiga for the 250gm powerspell, This trip we were joined by  long time fishing and drinking friend in Kenya who for 7  years I have never fished with so we all were really looking forward to the trip and wishing time away, Finally after months of waiting and anticipation the time came, My friend arrived in dar es salaam on the 4th of nov and on 6th we were off at 3am on the way to tanga via bagamoyo. Things started off great the cooler was full of cold beers sodas water etc, but unfortunately we ate some chicken and some bar the previous night in dare s salaam and I must have got the wrong end of it so I need to use a wash room and there was none, I did what any self respecting man would do and go relive myself in the bush at around 4am while my brother and my friend were having a laugh in the car and talking all kinds of trash. After that it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders so I opened a cold beer and proceeded to drive slow since we were on a small patch of dirt road, Once we hit the tarmac I switched to soft drinks for obvious reasons while my brother and our friend enjoyed the cold beers. Things were going on very well within a couple of hours we were only I would say 100-80kms from the lodge and there was this huge line of cars at 10am almost 5-6kms long and it started raining like crazy, it appeared some lorry driver had an accident the night before and the whole raod on both sides was blocked with no signs of improvement, welcome to Tanzania haha, now I was not happy, so I walked out to investigate if I can go offroad and pass this jam but it looked bad as the sides were too steep even for my Nissan patrol, I returned to the car opened a beer and told the boys that we need to go back where we came from and drive round the sadani national park reach the historic town of pangani cross the ferry if its working and come out at tanga town, after a lot of talk and a few more beers It was decided to go round, we were worried the other road would be bad as its all mud road for around 200kms but I had confidence in my car that it would get us through, we went round and as true as the rumors we heard the road was a mess, it was slippery and needed a lot of concentration or else you end up in the side which is even more muddy, a few hours in we saw a land crusier that looked like is slipped of and was on the side, so as a good gesture we stopped to investigate, the cars 4wd hubs were on but the rear diff was sitting in mud and tyres were in a bit of a bog so it was either we help him or he can sleep with the monkeys and lions and what ever else lurks there haha, luckily I had some heavy rope so I pulled his land crusier  out and the man was soo happy and relived, he said he was stuck there since last evening, after a few minutes of hand shakes and talk we left him happy and smiling, this road was getting worse and I had to engage 4wd for a few kms to be safe, finally after 3 hours or so we were out of the slippery boggy road and onto muddy but better road and nearing pangaini town, I called my friend in pangani to ask if the ferry across the river was working and he said yes so I was not so worried, the beers kept on flowing saw some huge monkeys on the road and finally after many hours we had reached the ferry, and after I meet my friend whos name is Mridu and nick name polygamy we crossed and it was all smiles from then on, We reached tanga and found a car wash place and then proceeded to the lodge with a clean car, By the time we reached the lodge It was evening and I just realized that I had been driving and in the car for more then 14 hours, but its all good we reached safe checked in had a nice cold shower and went to the bar for a few whiskeys, there we meet the owners of the place Steve and his wife Cathy who we were very happy to meet and we discussed the fishing for the next couple of days with Steve. That night we had dinner and went to bed looking forward to fish the next day. All I can say the fishing on this trip was the best ive ever had personally, we got probably more then 15 species of fish all on jig from sailfish to wahoo to an aj of 41kgs that's possibly the largest in my country soo far, also my brother managed to break a 400gm powerspell on what was probably an even bigger aj then the one captured, however I must mention the rod breakage was totally due to my brother highsticking with the drag on lockdown on the expedition 6500 anyways we are both still learning as this was only our 3rd jigging trip since we started to jig, we jigged for a total of 9 days and must have got under 65fish in total from small ones to big ones and everything in between, but we missed many true monster gts and I caught my first shark of 50kg that took me 30 plus mins to bring (fowl hooked on a live bait) and another interesting catch was a small shark of maybe 15kgs on jig on the 150gm titanium evo rod and saltiga s etreme 4500 enjoy some of the good pics and im definitely going back there in the near future. Pls note the pics are in a random order
mostly






































































i must mention most of the fish were released to grow and fight another day

Cheers
Trishul

[BMITCH]

Wonderful report and pictures. Looks like a trip of a lifetime for me. What I. Mean is that i don't think I'll jig that many large fish in my lifetime you fire that many beers down and try to drive to the boat here in the US, well let's just say you won't be jig fishing for awhile. Oh yeah, you will be getting a police escort though great report!
Bob

[Steve-O]

Very nice report!  Outstanding fishing and photos!  thanks for sharing.

Steve-o

[Shark Hunter]

Awesome Fish man!

[Dominick]

Trisul:  Good to have you back fishing and reporting.  That was a magnificent trip.  I have never caught such a variety of fish in my lifetime never mind on a 7 day trip.  Thanks for the report and photos.  Dominick

[HOLEINTHEWATER]

ALL I CAN SAY WOW GREAT POST.

[trishul]

Hello guys thanks for the comments

[erikpowell]

Wow, that's beyond Trifecta !   Nice!

Trevally (Bluefin, GT), Salmon cod (coral trout), amberjack, mahi, malabar grouper,mackral,wahoo,sail... and little doggies!?!

I had to read closely because by the pics, it looked like you're in Fiji .....even by the species!

I recognize everything except this guy:

Looks like it could be an older reef dwelling mangrove jack almost


And this guy... some kind of emperor ?
close enough to a sweetlip, I'd definitely eat him.. ( uhh but it could be a kinda sheepshead too) 


I keep a nice bluefin trevally from time to time..when the bbq is calling... nice eating. GT's are always released though

You covered all the bases bro, nice going!
What a smorgasbord.
Thanks for the report.

[alantani]

simply amazing! 

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

ALL I CAN SAY WOW GREAT POST.

me 2! thanks for sharing.

[trishul]

Wow, that's beyond Trifecta !   Nice!

Trevally (Bluefin, GT), Salmon cod (coral trout), amberjack, mahi, malabar grouper,mackral,wahoo,sail... and little doggies!?!

I had to read closely because by the pics, it looked like you're in Fiji .....even by the species!

I recognize everything except this guy:

Looks like it could be an older reef dwelling mangrove jack almost


And this guy... some kind of emperor ?
close enough to a sweetlip, I'd definitely eat him.. ( uhh but it could be a kinda sheepshead too) 


I keep a nice bluefin trevally from time to time..when the bbq is calling... nice eating. GT's are always released though

You covered all the bases bro, nice going!

What a smorgasbord.
Thanks for the report.
Hello thanks no idea what the dark one was in the mouth it was blood red but the one below with lines it is some kind of snapper i think many species we get in tanzania are similar to fiji however the big doggies napoleon and ruby snapper continues to elude us but i have a gut feeling they are around

[Shark Hunter]

Tanga is in Tanzania Africa.
I would love to go there!

[alantani]

we had a doctor rotate through our office last month and she was from tanzania.  she wants to develop a poison control center for her country.   at her medical center, they have hospital, a medical school and a pharmacy school.  we spoke about going out to lecture.  i could travel there as visiting faculty, and maybe even squeeze in a fishing trip or two.  someday.......

[trishul]

Hi alan if you do come tanzania u r most welcome and will be glad to point you in the right direction.

[alantani]

so is that where you are?