From Dar Es Salaam, the place the most interesting, and maybe the most intresting in the whole
of Tanzania, is Latham Island.
A tiny uninhabitated island situated some 45 nautical miles east of Dar Es Salaam, featuring spectacular reefs and drop off`s
covering an area of approximately 10 miles.
The crystal clear waters that surround Latham host almost every
species of pelagic game fish and reef fish in the Indian Ocean in abundant quantities.
These gamefish rich
waters are accessible by high speed sport fishing boats in two or three hours of cruising in good seas or by high
speed trolling for billfish which are often encountered en route to Latham.
The area is suitable for:
1) Full day Big Game
Fishing
2) Overnight Broadbilling
3) Half day deep sea fishing + Overnight Broadbilling
4) Half day deep sea fishing + Overnight Bottom fishing
5) Full day deep sea fishing + Overnight Broadbilling
Latham does not offer a sheltered anchorage and only in calm weather it is possible anchoring there for overnigh trips.
Best time of the year to attempt anchoring at Latham is November, mid December or end of Feb - March - beginning of April.
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SPECIES AVAILABLE
DOGTOOTH TUNA:
Latham Island, as of now, is the BEST area in the whole of Tanzania, if
you are targetting trophy sizes Dogtooth Tuna. Our Captain Jason Alexiou has been fishing this area since he was 16
years old and he has proven to be good at locating large Dogtooth Tuna, finding out during the course of his
experiences several spots (Latham, Mafia, South Zanzibar) which have provided the best and the largest Dogtooth Tuna
in Tanzania, with several 100 kg plus Dogtooth Tuna being caught on his boats.
Thanks to his skills and the profuse knowledge of the area, he made achieve 5 Dogtooth Tuna World Records to the
boats he was fishing from. 2 Dogtooth Tuna World Record are held by himself, 2 by our skipper Mady and 1 by our mate Benwad.
In general, the sizes range from 30 kg to 95 kg.
The biggest Dogtooth Tuna caught at Latham was a 103 kg and was caught in 2003 (Kelly II - Capt. Jason
Alexiou, Skipper: Maddalena Martinengo).
Several others 100 kg plus Dogtooth were caught on his boats, the latest one being a 100.5 kg caught this last
December 2007 (Dar es Salaam).
Although Jason found these Dogtooth areas more than 15 years ago, being well aware of the vulnerability of these
critters and of the large commercial interest they create, he limited himself to fish for Dogtooth Tuna only a few
months a year and he showed these areas (which up to date were still unknown to most) only to a few close friends,
managing this way to preserve these areas from being overfished.
Thanks to Jason and Mady extraordinary catches and Dogtooth Tuna records, the area of Latham, otherwise unknown to
most, has become very demanded and reknown as being one of the best destination in the wolrd for big GT and Dogtooth
and lets hope that the large demand their success have generated will not push other charter operators to overfish
the area, ruining all the sacrifices made by Jason and Mady up to date to try to preserve these beautiful critters.
The best period for targetting Dogtooth Tuna is from January through to April, being February and March the
best months
Yellowfin Tuna: Yellowfin invade these waters in large numbers from August through to November and produce some unbelivable offshore action. Catches of 600 or more kgs per boat per day are not uncommon in this period. For big yellowfin up to 100 kgs September to end of October best period.
Best boat catch year 2000 for one day fishing: 970 Kgs.
Best boat catch year 2001 for one day fishing: 1040 Kgs. (Kelly II - Capt: Jason Alexiou Skipper: Maddalena Martinengo Mate: Habbasi, Bernard)
Best boat catch year 2001 for one day fishing: 1040 Kgs.
Best boat catch year 2002 for one day fishing: 1130 Kgs. (Kelly II - Capt: Jason Alexiou Skipper: Maddalena Martinengo Mate: Jasper Samaras, Habbasi)
Best boat catch year 2003 for one day fishing: 1478 Kgs. (Kelly II - Capt: Jason Alexiou Skipper: Maddalena Martinengo Mate: Habbasi, Bernard)
Best boat catch year 2004 for one day fishing: 1472 Kgs. (Miss Linda - Skipper: Jasper Samaras Mate: Jason Alexiou, Maddalena Martinengo, Ali)
Tuna are present basically all year round and sizes vary from 5 to 100 kgs.
Wahoo : Another pelagic fish that is present in Latham all year round. They run in big numbers from July through to November and March to May.
During this period catches between 15 up to 26 pieces are to be expected.
Sizes vary from 10 to 40 kgs.
Shark : Latham has a big and varied population of sharks especially when the yellowfin tuna are running,.
Frequently incidentally hooked while fighting another gamefish.
Species include:
Reef white tips to 180 kgs
Oceanic White Tips to 100 kgs.
Mako to 150 kgs
Scalloped Hammer head (IGFA all tackle record caught here)
Tiger shark to 520 kgs
Zambezi to 350 kgs
Black Tips and other species.
Giant Trevally: Big Giant Trevally are found here on the reef year round.
Sizes vary from 5 to 55 kgs.
The best period for Giant Trevally runs from January until May. During this period it is possible to catch, up to 20/26 Trevally, together with other fish species.
Big Eye and Bluefin Trevally: All species of Trevally caught here year round with lots of All Africa records set here.
Barracuda, Dorado, Bonito, Skipjack, Rainbowrunner, Kawakawa, Jobfish all are found here in good numbers and big sizes offering numerous chances of catching Records.
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Billfish
Tanzania is defenitely not a Marlin destination as its neighbouring country Kenya, except for the North Pemba
Island and the Pemba Channel which are excellent billfish destinations during the season, but the deep bait rich
waters that surround Latham also, attract a small number of Billfish which are caught year round. These include: Black Marlin, Striped Marlin, Blue Marlin, Sailfish, Broadbill and Spearfish
BLACK/BLUE MARLIN: September through to March.
STRIPED MARLIN: October through to March
SAILFISH: November through to March
Swordfish: Caught in good numbers year round. We catch them at night either trolling or by drifting.
Overnight swordfish trips are possible when the weather permits (Best weather: October to April). A good night fishing can produce five or six broadbill.
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