Marlin fishing in Shimoni, Kenya
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Marlin Fishing in Shimoni

Welcome to Fishing Shimoni

This is the sport fishing site of the Hemphill family who have been operating big game fishing charters out of the beautiful fishing port of Shimoni on the far south of the Kenya coast near to the Tanzania border since 1962. We were previously operating under Sea Adventures Ltd (www.bigame.com).

Fishing Shimoni offers big game fishing, in the productive waters of the Pemba Channel off Southern Kenya using two of the largest sport fishing boats available for hire in Kenya, Broadbill and Kamara II. You can check out our boats here BOATS

We are also interested in selling either or both of our two magnificent fishing boats, so if you are looking for a new boat please check out our For Sale

We specialise in marlin fishing including blue, black and striped marlin along with sailfish, broadbill swordfish, sharks, tuna, wahoo and many more. With our fully equipped boats we offer either live aboard fishing trips or day fishing excursions, customised to meet your wishes, with our competent and experienced crews. Our boats are fully equipped with all the fishing gear and latest electronics needed to make this an awesome fishing adventure.

These warm waters with upwelling currents and rips caused by the northerly flowing East Africa Current and ocean topography provide nutrient rich feeding grounds for marlin and other fishes, making it a famous and highly productive fishing ground.

Simon Hemphill who is a fisheries biologist with a doctorate in yellowfin tuna ecology and fisheries maintains a blog with up to date newsletters, fishing stories and anecdotes (all true). Simon has also maintained extremely detailed diaries and statistics on the Shimoni sport fishery since 1981 with a unique data set. You can keep tabs on Simon's writings here Blog

Sport fishing

Fishing Shimoni offers deep sea fishing on our two boats, Broadbill and Kamara II, each over 40ft with state of the art equipment. Manned by our experienced and highly professional crews the boats and equipment are maintained to the highest standards keeping safety of our crew and passengers paramount.

We love catching fish and look forward to taking you out to explore the famous Pemba Channel waters! We want to make this a memorable experience for you.

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Fishing area

Predominantly our fishing grounds are located within the northern entrance to the Pemba Channel, the waterway between the Kenya/Tanzanian coastline and the island of Pemba. 

Simon is however very familiar with all areas of the Kenya and Tanzania coastlines and can be booked for live aboard safaris, or for tournament fishing anywhere within East Africa.

We have experience with live aboard safaris to the far north of Kenya, Kiwayu Island and the Lamu / Manda area. We also have experience of fishing the North Kenya Banks, the Malindi sailfish area and Watamu.
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What fish you may catch

There are no less than SIX species of billfish that may be caught in the Pemba Channel of which the most common are striped marlin and sailfish. You may also catch blue or black marlin, broadbill swordfish and and possibly even shortbill spearfish. Simon has caught more spearfish than any other skipper in Kenya.

It is possible to catch between 3 - 5 different billfish species in one trip making for a most exciting adventure. If you catch 3 species of billfish within a 24-hr period it is referred to as a Grand Slam, or Super Slam for 4 species and a Fantasy Slam for 5 species. 

Other game fish include mako sharks, dorado (dolphinfish, coryphaen, falusi, lampuga or mahi mahi), barracuda, kingfish, trevallies,, tunas and wahoo.
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Tag and Release

As a general rule we operate a tag and release policy for all billfishes and sharks, and only those fish deemed unlikely to survive release will be boated. Your skipper will make every effort to revive the fish and to release it in good condition. But there are, thankfully the very rare occasion, where a fish may die or become injured during the fight in which case it will be boated. But, landed fish will never be wasted in Africa and all landed fish are consumed locally.
(Please be advised that we do not permit billfishes to be taken out of the water to be photographed as this will almost certainly lead to death.)
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Other attractions

As an added highlight to your trip you may well see whales, especially between May and November when humpback whales can be sighted. Sometimes sperm whales and the smaller pilot whales are spotted too. Humpback whales have become a common sighting since the mid-1990's. Dolphins are often sighted including the playful and very acrobatic spinner dolphins that are great fun to watch. 

Manta rays, whale sharks and an array of large ocean birds including albatross, shearwaters and frigate birds may sometimes be seen all adding to the overall experience. 
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Fishing Shimoni,
P.O. Box 348,
Ukunda - 80400
Kenya.
Email: simonhemphill70@gmail.com

​Tel" +254 - 722 - 796198
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