The Bazaruto archipelago must be one of the most spectacular pieces of marine shoreline along the east African coast. It consists of four main islands; Margaruque, Benguerra, Bazaruto and Paradise islands, strung out in a pretty chain just offshore of the Mozambican mainland town of Vilanculos.
I have fished the archipelago many times over the years, and count it amongst my favourite fishing destinations. It covers a large area and recently I got the opportunity to explore the entire archipelago in a single trip, which I have never done before. Making this possible was the new Catsonova live aboard operation, which is based out of Vilanculos.
Catsonova is a forty-four foot motor yacht, which has been recently refurbished and is used as a houseboat type setup in the area. She is crewed by a helpful and friendly staff; Jose’, her skipper, Zef, the cook, Roberto another skipper and deck hand and Dean Taylor, a young Zimbabwean, who is the operations manager, host and fishing guide.
This enthusiastic team put all of their efforts into making each trip aboard Catsonova as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Dean is a qualified chef, so the meals on board are top class, he is also a keen and passionate fisherman. He has had a few years experience in the area, working out of Benguerra lodge as a fishing guide in the past, so is perfectly placed to put his guests onto good fish.
The Bazaruto archipelago is within a marine national park, so there is plenty of marine wildlife to enjoy in the area, and the fishing is world class.
Catsonova was our base, and she moved around to different moorings each day, allowing us to fish different areas. We fished from a ski boat that accompanied Catsonova, and met up with her each afternoon at her new anchorage. This allowed us an opportunity to fish the entire archipelago over the course of a week, something not normally possible when land based.
We had two amazing sightings of dugong, as well as manta rays, sharks, turtles, dolphins and of course some fantastic sunsets and sunrises. We also managed to get in some snorkeling on beautiful reefs, and of course we fished until our arms were ready to drop off.
The Bazaruto archipelago is home to a diverse range of fish species, including a wide variety of predators and game fish. We caught nine species of kingfish, along with many other species of predators. We fished everything from light tackle to the heaviest of popping gear, and all that is in between. Poppers, bucktail jigs, stickbaits and soft plastics all did a lot of duty and all produced fish. We chased down shoals of busting fish on the surface, with birds diving overhead, and got into tuna and king mackerel. We threw poppers and stickbaits at good looking water and landed GTs, and we drifted over reefs, working small jigs and spoons to catch a variety of predators and colourful bottom species.
The Catsonova experience is something quite different to staying in a land based lodge, and offers great opportunities to explore further afield within the archipelago. It gave us a whole new perspective on the islands and allowed us to fish areas that have previously been unavailable to us for fishing the prime times.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week, which was made even more special by the really dedicated efforts of Dean and his team. They could not do enough to make our trip great, and were always ready and willing to do whatever it took to make us happy. The Catsonova experience is one that I would recommend to anybody who wants to get a full, tropical blue water fishing experience in waters that are easy to access and full of fish. The Airlink flight from Johannesburg to Vilanculos takes less than an hour and a half, making it a quick and painless trip, and you can be fishing within a few hours of leaving home.
