Bazaruto, Mozambique – We love big black marlin and while there is no doubt the best place to catch one is off the Great Barrier Reef, you would be hard pressed to beat Bazaruto. Capt. Duarte Rato on Vamizi is our go to guy and he always provides. Not only good reports, but he takes some of the best shots you have ever seen. Those who follow us on Facebook (Marlin Billfish or Bill Fish) will no doubt remember some of the shots he has taken.

From Capt. Duarte Rato – Last week saw a few more boats than usual for the Bazaruto Archipelago waters for Marlin, mainly due to a small competition put together by the Zimbabwe deep sea fishing association (CADSAS). Most of the participating boats were privately owned and the guys had very rough weather for the first two days, then a good bite going for the two last days. Overall the small 12 boat fleet averaged 1.4 releases per day with an average fish around the 4-500 pounds, but a couple of bigger fish were released

Dream Catcher took top place with four releases including a fish that
died on them that went 732 lbs. Beluga also caught a Black that was
sharked after being on the leader which remains weighted over 750
pounds – the formula measurements on the fish pointed to just over 1050 lbs.

Between jigging and plugging charters we on Vamizi ended fishing 2 days for Marlin end of last week, fishing lures we went 2 for 5 on Blacks.

This week we started a 7 day charter with Dave and Duncan Royston and
have so far raised 7 fish, for 6 strikes and 4 releases. The
best of those was released by 75 year old Dave Royston yesterday
after a 4 hour fight on 80 pound. The fish was estimated at
800 + lbs and was caught on a Shotgun Blue over pink BB SuperProJet.

What Capt. Duarte failed to mention in the above report is another picture he send to us of the lure he used to catch that 800 lbs Black Marlin. Check out what a big Black Marlin can do to a hook. They were lucky to get this fish and we are happy to report that she swam away despite being quite tired.

If you want to get into this action, please contact Capt. Duarte Rato at dudas7mares@gmail.com, he would be happy to talk you about his fishery and help you in booking a trip to come experience this fantastic fishery.