Things to do
Anjajavy, on the remote northwest coast of Madagascar, on the Mozambique Channel, is one of the Indian Ocean’s finest Big Game Fishing destinations for Black Marlin, sailfish and yellow finned tuna.
Hilton Hastings thinks Anjajavy Hotel 'has it all': great fishing combined with luxury accommodation, fine food extensive facilities and unique wildlife. He describes the fishing at Anjajavy.
The Indian Ocean is highly diverse, which makes Anjajavy an ideal choice for big-game fishing trips. Around 2000 fish species – i.e. over 80% of the families of the Indo-Pacific region – occur here.
Dorado
Record catches of more than 20 yellow finned tuna, all in the region of 20 kg, have been landed in less than two hours fishing, and, no, we were not using a net. It is not uncommon to have sailfish playing with the lures behind the boat for the whole afternoon and, when the afternoon is over, we have had the most splendid time hooking, fighting, laughing and releasing Sailies of 35kg plus. Marlin fishing with the team at the Anjajavy Hotel is as good as it gets in Madagascar, with one Black Marlin, caught in December, weighing in at 770lbs and plenty of others that we have estimated to be over the 400lb mark.
We fish all year round and there is always something to be caught. However, during the windy months of June, July and the beginning of August, we tend to do more inshore fishing, because it tends to be more productive. As soon as the wind stops, we head out looking for the big stuff, sailfish and marlin, wahoo and tuna. It is at this time, just after the winds, that the marlin seem to congregate in larger numbers close to the drop-off of the continental shelf. The main Billfish (sailfish and marlin) season runs from August to mid/late March and Black Marlin often congregate in bigger numbers from August through to October (and these months have been fantastic for Black Marlin these last few years).
The average weight for Black Marlin we have been catching is 200kg/440lbs. Some very big Black Marlin can be expected mid-February to mid-March, though the biggest one caught last year was caught on 30 December.
The average weight for sailfish is 32 kg/70.4 lbs. We like to release our sailfish if we can, so the average weight is just a "guestimate". However, the record sailfish caught in these waters weighed in at 46.5kg. The best months are May to September, but I have caught three in three hours fishing in November and see them almost every time we go out.
One of the fastest fish in the sea, wahoo is famous for its searing first run. We catch a lot of them when the water temperature drops below 23°.
Other species to challenge include: Dog-toothed tuna, Yellow Fin Tuna, Wahoo, Prodigal Son, Dorado, Giant Kingfish, Barracuda, King and Queen Mackerel.
The fishing starts on our doorstep. We have good fishing spots just in front of the hotel that consistently produce giant kingfish of over 20kg, huge barracuda and good-sized king mackerel. The really big game fishing starts 22km off shore where the warm Mozambique current brings in clean water over fish filled reef structure that forms a labyrinth of underwater canyons, ravines and sea mounts that come within 8 meters of the surface and then plunge down almost vertically to over 300 meters in depth.
Until two years ago, these waters were fished only by the local fishermen, who tend to target reef fish, leaving a thriving game fish population almost untouched. Over the last two years of exploratory fishing, we have covered over 1500km² and have found amazingly productive sites like “Marlin 1”, which has produced three black marlin over 400lbs and one over 770lbs. All the marlin caught on this site have been caught within less than a 500-meter radius of one central pinnacle. Other sites like “Rainbow” continuously produce good catches of sail fish and Wahoo and the odd marlin that come in to feed on the banks of “Rainbow Runners” that congregate in this spot by the thousands.
All the fishing sites that produce good catches are within one hour’s journey of the hotel.
Our main fishing boat is a locally built “Van Dam 33”. It has proven to be an excellent fishing vessel for us - it is stable in a rough sea and has a shallow draught, allowing us to fish for black marlin in the windy season when the sea is rough, and approach fish in shallow water over reefs and sand banks when we are fishing inshore. The Van Dam is equipped with a satellite phone, GPS, VHF radio, fish finder, fighting chair, a toilet and it has plenty of shade.
The boat is kitted with all the necessary fishing equipment to target smaller inshore fish species and the materials needed to catch the big stuff like the black marlin.
It is rigged with:
• 4 x Tld 25lbs rod and reel combinations
• 2 x Tld 50lbs rod and reel combinations
• 1 x Tld 80lbs rod and reel combination
• 4 x shimano tuna & kingfish popper rods and reel
The fly-fishing is good and Hilton offers specialised fly-fishing trips for people who want to catch sail-fish on fly. Hilton has caught other big game fish on his fly-fishing rig and has fly-fishing guiding experience. Bring your own fly rod, or Hilton will get the equipment you need.