Some recent pictures; Malindi, Kenya

[IhaveaBream]

Just had a very memorable first trip to Kenya. While we didn't manage any marlin we did catch (and release) nearly 40 sailfish in 3 days as well as various other species.

All in all it was a great first visit to a beautiful country and certainly one I'll be returning to soon. Thought I'd include a few of my favourite pictures from the trip...

[Robja]

nice looking colors on those sail fish

[SeaBiscuit]

Gorgeous sailfish.
Please tell us more about your trip. Boat, fishing style, equipment, accommodations, cost. Any such info you'd like to share we would certainly appreciate.
SeaBiscuit

[gradywhite273]

wow , great trip, thanks for the shots , outstanding i agree with biscuit, what a beautiful fish that is.

[Finesse]

I agree with Biscuit too ... Lets hear some more about this trip. It must have been an incredible journey.
Look forward to the stories and pics !!

[IhaveaBream]

Thanks guys.

Wanted to visit a new country this trip and Kenya looked such a fantastic place- safari possibilities as well as excellent fishing- that's where I decided upon. Kenya also offers probably the best chance in the world to catch 5 species of billfish in one day (done at least once already this year) although I was there a bit early for marlin.

Flew to Nairobi then a short 45 minute hop to the coast and Mombasa. From there a drive north to Watamu Beach. Hotel accomodation in Kenya is all-inclusive and very cheap compared to some other locations. For example, 7 days here cost me just over half of what I paid for the same amount of time in the Carribean last year.

I decided to fish with a company called Kingfisher on their 35 foot Bertram Neptune. For the 3 days, the 2 of us on Neptune took 37 sailfish with an average weight around 50 pounds. My best was over 60lb and it gave a great fight lasting nearly 45 minutes. We were mostly using Penn sticks with Penn 30 reels or Shimano TLD25s. Little bit heavy for sailfish imo, but I did manage to take several sails on a spinning rod and light mono which I can certainly recommend for some extra excitement We also had assorted dorado, wahoo and bonito which were expertly converted into lunch on board each day.

While there were no giant trevally in yet, one of Kingfisher's boats took a black marlin the week I was there and there have been some great catches of broadbills also. Big tiger and bull sharks are always being taken also.

Here a couple more pics including Kenya's first grander (which was caught by Neptune) and which now hangs proudly in Malindi Fishing Club with various other records. There is also the head of a Great White on the wall which was caught in commerical nets- the head alone weighed 2500lbs

[gottaflylee]

Wow, great pictures and report, sounds like my kind of place...

[JD5652]

Awesome Bream...just awesome!

Can you elaborate more the cost and suggested time required for the trip.....if you'd rather not publish the cost openly could you PM some of the details. This looks like something I could definitely be interested in.

Thanks for sharing!

[sagamoron]

I was lucky enough to spend six months in Kenya when I was college as an exchange student studying economic and environmental development. This was in 1998. Although most of my time was spent in Nairobi, I was able to spend two and a half weeks in Diani Beach which was south of Mombassa. It was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. I think my buddy and I spent only a few hundred dollars combined for a hut on the beach, food and beer. Lots of Tusker. The kenyan coast is actually quite popular with German and Italian Tourists. There are lots of large resorts where we would sneak in and hang out poolside.

Unfortunately I was a broke college student and couldn't afford to charter a boat but did get a few local fisherman to take me out to fish the reefs with them.

I can't wait to go back. Taking two weeks to do a few Safari's followed up with some time on the coast chasing Sails would be the trip of a life time.

[Robja]

http://www.kenyasportfishing.net/kin...ing_Rates.html

JD here is a web page for the place. Not sure of the currency though could be Euros but sitll looks cheap. I would imagine the affordability compared to Central America would hinge on airfares. I am going to get more info on it as a possible future fishing destination.