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2006 Catch Information

Welcome to our Gambian angling report for last year - 2006. This report shows what was caught by Hooked On Gambia anglers throughout the year. Enjoy!

Apologies to all of our regular readers for the delayed updates, due not least to problems with our land line and dial up connection facilities from September through to December '06 and then our (t)rusty old computer 'blowing up' in early December '06 - ah the joys of living in Africa!

Anyway, without further ado, here are the results of our anglers efforts for October to December 2006. And, we further apologise for any omissions in names, countries of origin, fish details etc. as our memories aren't what they used to be! 

    December 2006   

Date:	Angler's Name & Country Of Origin	Species & Catch Details	Anglers Photos
30/12/06	Alex & David Richards - Wales	After a day of respite, this father & son combo were back for more, although whether it was as a result of such a busy couple of weeks, or that they simply had a lousy day's fishing, we forgot to record where we sent them and what they did or didn't land - OOOPS! First new year's resolution for 2007, remember to write EVERYTHING down in the little black book Fiona!
29/12/06	John Luddington - Wales & Mr Brian Grunnill - England	John, with the patience of a saint, paired up with Mr Brian even on this, his last day fishing with us in 2006! This time on board Lady Rita with Sanna they headed out to do battle with the inshore reefs and came back with plenty of Butterfish up to 5kg's and a 7kg Cassava.
29/12/06	Keefer Pitfield & Max Bachman - Canada	A huge Hooked On Gambia welcome to our very first Canadian anglers who have come out here to show us how to fly fish properly ( hee, hee!) So, paired up with Dembo on board Lady Fiona, so that they had room to cast their flies, we sent them up the creek to the flatter waters, where, finally giving up on the flies, they landed 2 Snapper on the bottom.
28/12/06	John Luddington - Wales & Mr Brian Grunnill - England	Meanwhile, on board Lady Fiona with Dembo, John & Brian appeared to have spent their day Butterfish bashing, but did manage to land a new species that Dembo reckons was similar to an Angel fish but yellowy-orange in colour - Any suggestions?????
28/12/06	Alex & David Richards - Wales	It's a bit like 'DejaVue' - only this time we sent both boats to the Reef given that Barra continues to under-deliver. Once again teamed up with Sanna (and in an endeavour to win the  wager with John & Brian) the Swansea boys certainly had more species - 1 Cassava, Frogfish, Wrasse and Doctor Fish.
27/12/06	John Luddington - Wales & Mr Brian Grunnill - England	Oh yes - he's back (having turned up unannounced at our house on the 23rd) and John has kindly agreed to share a boat with him so that he can get out fishing this week, and we wish he hadn't as instead of 1 disappointed angler, we had two! Nada on board Lady Fiona with Dembo!
27/12/06	Alex & David Richards - Wales	A very warm Hooked On Gambia welcome to our first Swansea Anglers courtesy of Roger's Tackle in Swansea Marina, although it turns out that we already knew them being that the Swansea fishing fraternity is pretty tight - even now. So here goes, day 1, and over at Barra on board Lady Rita with Sanna, they landed a 5kg Thick Lipped Grouper and a Banded Eel.
26/12/06	John & Cath Luddington - Wales	John & Cath however, weren't quite as lucky, not only did they manage to eat all their food without the monkeys they only managed to land Frogfish. It just goes to show doesn't it?
26/12/06	Phil & Sally Bashford - England	What better way to relax after the excesses of Christmas Day (not least due to the Hooked On Gambia BBQ special at MacDomoro's bar) than a spot of bird watching, creek fishing and lunch at Lamin Lodge, which was only slightly marred when a monkey stole one of their sandwiches! This lovely couple also caught a Grouper, 2 Snapper and lost a Barracuda to boot.
24/12/06	John & Cath Luddington - Wales	A Xmas Eve half day in the creek proved to be little more than a sightseeing trip, but at least it's given John some ideas for his 'proper' fishing scheduled to begin on Boxing Day!
20/12/06	Maurice Deighton - Isle of Arran & John Henning - England	Hoping that a new fishing partner may prove to be the turning point this holiday, coupled with lighter winds, the pair headed out to the inshore reefs where they landed a 6kg Barracuda (lost another), a Snapper, 3 BIG Frogfish, a small Grouper and 2 sea snakes (Banded Eels), so whilst not brilliant, it was definitely an improvement!
19/12/06	John & Sarah Malone	With strong winds (again) restricting fishing to the creeks, we were relieved when these new customers managed to whittle out a couple of Snapper on the 'bends'.
17/12/06	Maurice Deighton - Isle Of Arran & Steve Symes - England	This time combining fishing Barra with Creek fishing, the guys found 2 Doctor Fish, an Angel Fish and another bucket full of 'Bait' Fish.
15/12/06	Maurice Deighton - Isle Of Arran & Steve Symes - England	A very warm Hooked On Gambia welcome back to Maurice who paired up with our latest in a long line of new anglers to fish Barra. Unfortunately, Barra continues to disappoint and all the guys had to show for their efforts were a couple of butterfish, a Sompat and lots of small 'Bait' Fish.
14/12/06	Ian Shevill - England	I know that we said that we wouldn't tell Mum where we were, but being that she doesn't check this site we should be on pretty safe ground (hee, hee)! Following on from his success on the 11th, and wanting more, we decided to take 'pops' trolling for a couple of hours. Restricted to the creeks, as dad's prone to seasickness, we discovered 2 Senegalese pirogues netting illegally inside the creek where a fellow angler had landed 20 Barracuda the day before!!!! Needless to say as we approached, they disappeared PDQ but not before we took a few piccies - just in case the fisheries department ever decide to take our complaints seriously and would like the evidence! So, with all chance of catching a 'cuda dashed, we ended up fishing the small hole opposite the bridge itself and proceeded to catch all sorts of bait fish to keep Dad amused, until the inevitable phone call from Mum came asking where we were!
13/12/06	Hooked On Gambia	Bob, desperate for a day's fishing, teamed up with Dembo and Sanna for a day in the creek. Unhampered by the rain, thunder and lightning (????What, at this time of the year????) the guys still landed 5 Snapper to 3kg, and lost another 5, on the peanut wrecks.
11/12/06	Althea & Ian Shevill - England - otherwise known as Fi's mum & dad!!	Ian's first holiday to The Gambia and first time fishing since he was a 'small lad', and in spite of the really blustery conditions (even making fishing the wrecks in the creek system impossible), Fi & Dembo managed to find them some fish - 5 Sompat, a Captain Fish and 4 Frogfish, interspersed with a leisurely lunch at Lamin Lodge and some bird watching for Althea.	Ian 'Pops' Shevill with his 1st ever Sompat
07/12/06	Scott Turner & Jane Leeks - England	OK, so once again nothing big, but these guys went all out on species - a 2kg Barracuda (caught in the creek again) and then after losing a big Stingray after a 30 minute fight on the reef, they landed Wrasse, Frogfish, Trigger Fish, Catfish, Butterfish, several small Stingray and Sompats.	Scott & Jane with their 'Cuda
06/12/06	Neil & Hazel Vine - England	With all sea fishing cancelled due to strong winds, these new Hooked On Gambia customers ended up with a day's creek fishing where nevertheless they landed a 4 kg Barracuda, a small Stingray and lots of Frogfish and Butterfish.
05/12/06	Bob & Sue Hyslop - Isle Of Wight & Mike Opreshko - England	What's that saying - another day, another dollar, and lots of small fish???? A Stingray, Thick lipped Grouper, Wrasse, Angel Fish and 3 Butterfish, but where are all the big fish?
01/12/06	Jack Beagan & Sandy Marshall - Scotland & Dave Tarpey - England	One last day for the guys, and back on the reefs they struggled to get some Catfish, a Wrasse, and a couple of butterfish. It's just a shame that Sandy missed out on Jack's excellent fishing at the start of their hols. We really enjoyed your company guys, and we'd love to see you out here again sometime.

    November 2006   

Date:	Angler's Name & Country Of Origin	Species & Catch Details	Anglers Photos
29/11/06	David Wickett & Danny Sterland - England	More new customers (and sick ones to boot), but before succumbing to their sickness, the guys landed 3 Butterfish, a Stingray and a Sompat on the reefs.
28/11/06	Peter Robson - England	And again, Barra disappointed. Only a Frogfish and a Sompat to show for the day's efforts..... what's going on? Anyway, we all agreed that this wasn't to be Pete's BIG fish holiday and decided to call it a day for this year. Fingers crossed for next!!!
27/11/06	Jack Beagan & Sandy Marshall - Scotland	Back from the dead, and back on board, Sandy and Jack headed over to Barra where they didn't have a sausage - what were we saying about yesterday???? the guys even lost a Barracuda in the creek - arghhhhhhhhh!
26/11/06	John Allen - The Gambia & his 3 friends from various international origins...	Its lovely to help out our good friends in The Gambia, so when John & Pam phoned us, we agreed to putting 4 of them onboard for a day's fishing. Unfortunately, the fish at Barra weren't as accommodating and the catch results weren't even worth recording - possibly our most disappointing day to date!
25/11/06	Jack Beagan & Sandy Marshall - Scotland	Finally, having got Sandy out of his sick bed,  Jack wanted to take him out to show him how good the reef fishing was. Unfortunately, Sandy became very ill on board, which resulted in us breaking the Operation Clean The Nation curfew in order to collect him from the boat at Denton and get him back to his hotel. Fortunately, with Sandy being a nurse, we knew that he was in good hands!
24/11/06	Jack Beagan - Scotland & Dave Tarpey - England	With his fishing partner Sandy still ill, Jack paired up with Dave for the day and headed out onboard Lady Rita with Dembo to the inshore reefs again. This time, the guys had 5 Cassava to 10kg, a Black Grouper with an orange mouth (this isn't the latin scientific name we hasten to add!), Doctor Fish, Wrasse, 2 small Choff (another member of the Grouper family), Trigger Fish, and Angel Fish - not a bad day, we're sure that you'll agree!
23/11/06	Peter & Pauline Robson - England	So Peter's back for more, and this time he's brought along his very own pheromone supply in the form of his lovely wife Pauline for a spot of creek fishing and Lamin Lodge. And, whadya know, it worked. Pete lost three ripping runs before landing his biggest Angel Fish ever (3kg), a Captain Fish, a Stingray, a big Sompat and some Frogfish, and they also managed to squeeze in some monkey watching (well monkey's drinking from fanta bottles) at Lamin.
22/11/06	Jack Beagan - Scotland	A very warm welcome to new Hooked On Gambia anglers - its just unfortunate that Sandy Marshall was too ill to even make their first day fishing! Ah, well Jack more  than made up for it.... Paired up with Dembo on board Lady Rita on the reef, Jack managed to land 3 Cassava to 7kg and a thick lipped Grouper. Jack reckons that he lost 2 very BIG Cassava (might have been Snapper?) when his line snapped on the reef. Anway, well done - not a bad start to the fishing holiday!	Jack Beagan with one of his Cassava
21/11/06	Nicky, Peter & Callin Pancaro - England	A big Hooked On Gambia welcome to this lovely new family of anglers who, in spite of seasickness, managed to rack up 4 Butterfish, a Catfish, a Frogfish, a Cassava followed by a circa 30kg Stingray and then by a Barracuda trolling on their way back in! We were delighted to more than make up for the disappointing holiday that you were having in the Palm Grove - and glad that you now want to come back to The Gambia on holiday again!
20/11/06	Peter Robson - England	OK, so today was a complete waste of time on the reef, and no amount of Spam and Tomato Ketchup sandwiches were going to get the fish to feed Peter, were they?? Anyway, final scores on the doors - a Wrasse and small bait fish only, SORRY!
17/11/06	David & Jason Ross - England	OK - so for these anglers it really didn't matter what the wind was doing, as Dad was always going to be seasick in spite of the tablets on board! So, heh, we sent them up the creek and a stop over at Lamin Lodge! And - RESULT - the guys had 5 Snapper, a Talappis, a 3kg Captain Fish, a Butterfish, a Sompat and the smallest Shiny Nose that Dembo's ever seen - it could only have been 5mm long courtesy of Dad! But, heh, Dad wasn't sick, and today they apparently had 3,000 laughs!!!! Thank you guys for being such great company - we look forward to seeing you out here again, only next time we'll just book you in for Creek Fishing!!!
16/11/06	Peter Robson & Jonathan Davies - England	Paired up together, the duo were due to fish the reefs, however the wind was determined to ruin the day, and the anglers only managed to whittle out 1 Snapper and a Talappia in the creeks - arghhhh, sorry Jonathan!
15/11/06	Jonathan Davies - England	Another warm welcome to Jonathan, another new Gambian angler! Unfortunately, the wind was against us in the morning, so having started out in the creek system, Dembo finally managed to get out to Barra, where the day's disappointing tally  finished with a Sompat of approx. 1 kg, a small Jack Trevalle, a Jotta and 6 tiny Shiny Nose!
14/11/06	Peter & Pauline Robson - England	Thankfully, Pete was feeling a bit better today, so paired up with Pauline, his long suffering wife of many years, the happy couple headed up the creek for a day's R&R. And, yup, you guessed it Pauline had the most luck. Nevertheless, Peter  managed to notch up a couple of small Captain Fish, a Snapper and a Stingray.
11/11/06	Hooked On Gambia	Well, we'd already bought the bait, and Dembo had already brought Lady Rita in off her mooring and got her ready, so when we showed up at Cape Point Hotel and found out that Peter Robson was sick, we just carried on down to Denton Bridge and went out fishing ourselves. And, because the Boss Lady decided to come out too, we headed up the creek system (her favourite relaxing spot) and, as usual, she found the fish! a Cassava of 5.5kg, 4 Red Snapper to around 3kg - but we/she lost a further 8! - a strangled Catfish and 1Jotta - Thank you Fi - that's the last time we're bringing you along!!!!!
10/11/06	David & Jason Ross - England	Father and son back for more - and this time we were prepared. Sea Sickness tablets by the packet-full! So, paired up with Dembo again, the pair headed out to Barra where son lost a big run and Dad was sick again! So, back in the creek system (again) the pair lost approx. 7 snapper in the wrecks, managed to land 4 reasonable sized Snapper to around 3kg and apparently had another thousand laughs!!!!!
09/11/06	John & Sandra McHale - England	More new customers who we paired up with Alhadgie on board Octopussy (at the last minute as our second skipper let us down) and who made it as far as the second inshore reef after Denton Bridge before Sandra succumbed to sea sickness and they asked to be dropped back on to the beach in front of their hotel. Sandra had said that she was prone but, as it was the last day of their holiday, she was happy to indulge her husband by joining him on board for the day. Can we just say John, we think you're an absolute angel for getting off with Sandra - most anglers, including Bob, would have gone back out fishing again for the day!!!!!
09/11/06	Peter Robson & Tony Webb - England	Well, what can we say, it's an absolute delight to welcome Peter and his wife Pauline back to The Gambia (especially seeing as though they are celebrating their silver wedding anniversary out here this holiday) - and yes, Pete is a man after Bob's heart - he leaves Pauline in the hotel whilst he goes fishing with a new Hooked On Gambia angler Tony! Anyway, paired up with Dembo on board Lady Rita they headed out to see where they only managed to whittle out a few Doctor Fish, Trigger Fish and Angel Fish etc. Not the most auspicious of starts to the holiday Pete!
08/11/06	Karl Tahir & Paul Carroll - England & Ireland respectively	On board Lady Rita with Dembo, these new to us anglers also went to fish the inshore reefs, where they landed a Cassava to approx. 8kg, a small Barracuda of circa 4kg, as well as Trigger Fish, Angel Fish, Doctor Fish, Pompano, Wrasse and a host of other smaller reef fish.
07/11/06	Jason & David Ross - England	A very warm welcome to these new Hooked On Gambia father and son anglers. And on this, their first day, they headed out to the inshore reefs with Dembo on board Lady Rita where dad was sick, but nevertheless they still managed to land a couple of Eels, Frogfish, 3 Catfish, a Wrasse and apparently a thousand laughs!
02/11/06	John Wolstencroft - England	A day's reef fishing on board Lady Rita with Dembo was the order of the day for this new Hooked On Gambia angler. John landed 2 small Barracuda, a couple of Snapper (although they lost a third) and a 'no name fish' which was later identified as a Chocha (member of the Grouper Family).	John with his catch.

    October 2006   

Only managing to squeeze a few trips in between thunder storms, the much anticipated annual refurbishment of Lady Rita, and the start of the new season. Which, we hasten to add, started sooner than anticipated and caught us unawares, so BIG apologies to Richard and Val who had their second fishing day postponed whilst we were waiting for the gel coat and paint to dry!!

    September 2006   

After a very wet and stormy August, we are just keeping our fingers crossed for September as Nick Calvert (our very own wind God) has telephoned to say that he's flying back out to try fishing in The Gambia during the Green Season. Well, we're always banging on about how good the fishing is out in The Gambia during the rains, so Nick's decided to come and see for himself. Here's hoping...... as the weather forecast isn't looking very good!!!!

    August 2006   

As with July, August got off to a very thunderous start. The night of the 1st saw another very big storm with torrential rain which has finally found the weak points in the roof of our house and yup, you guessed, resulted in frantic moving of furniture and strategic placing of buckets around the house - AGAIN!!! The 2nd was spent mopping up and drying out the house whilst the 3rd was spent pumping out the boats at Denton Bridge. Our main priority is now getting the roof watertight for any future downpours and in the meantime, maintenance onboard Lady Rita progresses slowly. Any repainting has been put off in the hope of a dry forecast for 3 days and nights to give the paint time to dry properly although Bob's been using the time constructively stripping all the fishing reels and Fi has been checking out new and alternative accommodation for our Hooked On Gambia fishing safari customers along the Gambian coastline. Our planned return to Senegal for Blue Water fishing (scheduled for mid August) has had to be postponed whilst we wait for work to be carried out on the Toyota Landcruiser, BUT on a more positive note enquiries for the 2006-07 Gambia Fishing season are flooding in. We just hope that we can squeeze in all the maintenance and some more fishing time for ourselves before then! Watch this space.......

    July 2006   

July has got off to a very 'stormy' start. The night of the 2nd saw a storm lasting approx. 3 hours but it was nowhere near as violent as that of the early hours of the 4th when our neighbour's house was struck by lightning during the night. We've finally found someone (Jurgen) who dislikes storms as much as Fi and the dog!!!! Fortunately, both storms were during the night and, if anything, appear to have triggered the fish into feeding. So, with clear(ish) skies, Monique and Jurgen kicked off this month's trips for us..... and here's keeping our fingers crossed for more of the same - fishing not storms you understand?!!!

    June 2006   

Well, for those of you who haven't visited our Contact Us page recently, we've just got back from our Northern Senegal holiday and therefore haven't got much to report on the Gambian fishing front this month. However, as we went fishing on our hols. (obviously) we can inform you that the Senegalese blue water season has just started - and what a start!!!!! Our very first day and 60-odd miles out, we caught lots of Bonito and Bob finally caught and released a 250kg+ Blue Marlin after a 3 hour fight - his first Marlin and his biggest fish yet!!! On our second trip out (it took Bob a week to recover from his first day) we saw tens of Sailfilsh right around the boat but failed to hook up, which was a bit frustrating, but an amazing sight nevertheless. We also spent a couple of days beach fishing and had lots of sea trout and sunpats but failed to hook up any Dorado which apparently could be caught from the beach. We were sooooo impressed with the companies that we fished with, that we are now in the process of putting together a combined Gambia and Senegal fishing safari to offer you, our friends, a similar experience which will be available 'reel' soon. To find out more check out our Blue Water Fishing In Senegal page or Contact Us . 

Back to basics upon our return, and although our main concern is getting Dembo fit again  (he is still 'off sick' with a bad back - has he caught it from Bob?), we couldn't just leave the boats idle, so we've hooked up with our stand by skippers and been out for a couple of days ourselves (well it's got to be done.....). And, in spite of the African Union summit in Banjul (25th June to 2nd July 2006) and our Operation Clean the Nation restrictions on Saturdays we have some Spanish anglers out here. Here's the results.....

    May 2006   

At last, the fishing started to pick up during the latter part of last month - and about time too!!! Nevertheless, the wind continues to blow, the sea (although slightly warmer) and air temperatures are also below average for this time of year. Just what is going on with this weather? Everyone is predicting early rains - perhaps by the end of this month ..... But, once they start, we know that the fishing usually improves and maybe the winter duvet can finally come off the bed!

     April 2006   

Well, what more can we say ..... after a very disappointing end to fishing in March (so you see Nick it isn't just you) we can only pray for better piscatorial pursuits in April when we've got a number of new customers. We've also got a number of bookings from female anglers and our experience shows that, invariably, it's the female angler that has the better catch . Read on and see.........

     March 2006   

Well you can keep your global warming if this is the effect that it has on the fishing in The Gambia! And, whilst we (natives) are looking forward to the 'rainy season' (or green season as it has now been re-named by the Gambia Tourism Authority) and the excellent fishing to be had then, we can only keep our fingers, and now toes, crossed for our anglers fishing with us between now and then.

     February 2006     

The only constant this month has been the wind which has whipped up the sand and surf on the beaches, and coming from a north easterly quarter has meant some uncomfortable fishing (when we've finally managed to get out to sea) with wind over tide and pretty disappointing fishing. Our old Swansea (Bristol Channel) adage of  'when the wind is in the east, the fish feed least' obviously holds true here in The Gambia as well! 

     January 2006    

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Once again, the year has started off with lots of wind (not Julbrew induced) and, as we don't believe in coincidences, we blame it on the return of our very own Wind God, Nick Calvert! Anyway, Brian Grunill and Steve Eastwood are still here, and in spite of juggling boats and having to deal with the weather conditions, 2006 looks as though it could be a good year - here's keeping our fingers crossed!!!!!!