The Original FLYFISHING Magazine
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Kalakajour, a lovely island not thoroughly explored in terms of its fly fishing potential, is situated on the northwest coast of Madagascar.  In November 2007 I was granted the opportunity to spend four days with fly tackle in the vicinity of the island, exploring both the shore based and off shore angling.  With minimal time, this gave me a brief taste of what can be expected with the fly, however, with suboptimal weather conditions (early rains) prevailing during my stay, I believe it is far better than I experienced.

Off shore angling

The eastern shelf of the Mozambique Channel, dropping from 15 meters to “infinity” (more than a hundred meters) in some places, is barely 5 km’s from Kalakajour.  Day after day we explored various areas along this drop off and by the third day, which was also the first sunny day, we managed to find a patch of brilliantly clear water (15-16 meters visibility) on the edge of the drop which teemed with life and also proved to be the most productive.  Fishing along this shelf, we managed to land several species on fly which included little tuna (kawakawa), bluefin kingfish, as well as reef fish such as emperors.  Ignobolis were around both in the vicinity of the island and off shore, and some were taken on lure by fellow anglers, however, sadly I never managed to hook one on fly.  On return from a day spent on the drop off I hooked into a large fish some 200 meters off the camp and several minutes later landed a 40 lb great barracuda.  The fish took a Mega Clouser on 30 lb fluorocarbon tippet (yes, I do consider myself lucky!) and put up a spectacular aerial display.  With the Dow not being an ideal fly fishing vessel, the release provided much humour to the rest of the anglers and Malagasy boat crew!  Kingfish were also abundant in this area and juvenile yellowtail kingfish eagerly snatched up chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows fished with a fast retrieve.  Although the off shore angling was done off a Dow during my visit, a ski-boat facilitating all off shore activities will be available from January 2008.

Shore based angling

Much of my time there was spent on a Dow, traveling between islands and searching for off shore reefs and drop offs, however, the little time I spent shore angling produced good numbers of fish.  Following a two minute walk towards the right of the camp a deep channel can be found running along a shallow rocky outcrop.  Good sized kingfish patrol this channel during the pushing and dropping tide and good fun can be had on a 9 or 10-wt outfit.  Several similar looking rocky outcrops are present around the island, however, I only managed to fish one of these and landed several species in half an hour’s fishing, including a bluefin kingfish, several snapper and a longnosed emperor.  A prominent reef running out with a 90° angle from the southwest side of the island looked very promising.  This reef is lined with a fan-shaped turtle grass flat on the northern side and a deep channel on the south where large permit were seen whilst snorkeling, however, a return trip would be necessary to find these fish on the turtle grass flat during changing tides.

The trip also included a night’s stay at Mahalina Beach on the main island (Madagascar) where I landed a nice brassy kingfish, several queen fish and snapper from a rocky point five minutes from the camp.  Here, a beautiful estuary runs along the back of the camp where sight fishing for needle fish and snapper provides for great excitement during the pushing tide. 

Tackle and flies

For shore based angling I would recommend a 10-wt and 6-wt outfit both loaded with intermediate and floating lines.  The 6-wt is perfect for the many smaller species on the flats, which produce great fun on light tackle!  The 10-wt would be more suitable for targeting larger fish and for the casting distance needed in the channels and along the edges of the coral flats.  The flies I used for shore based angling consisted mainly of chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows in sizes 2/0 and 4/0 (and when they say “Chartreuse’n white, chartreuse’n white, chartreuse’n white!” they really mean it!).  Smaller charlies (sizes 2-10) in chartreuse, chartreuse and white, and pink and white also proved handy.

For off shore angling, a 12-wt loaded with a full length DI-7 sinking line would probably be most appropriate.  A full length DI-7 is more suitable for deeper areas (10-15m) and handles better in currents.  A sinking tip with a running line would be fine for targeting fish in water shallower than 10m, but I would not recommend it for deeper water.  The flies I fished successfully off shore consisted of Mega Clousers (size 6/0) and chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows in sizes 2/0-4/0.  Make sure to stock up on flies, since large toothy fish quickly strip flies to bare hooks!

Accommodation and other activities

The resort, Turtle Bay Camp, on Kalakajour is still very rustic and currently five A-frame bungalows containing 2 single beds per bungalow have been established on a clearing shaded by coconut palms, merely 20 meters off the beach!  The island is fairly small (approximately 8 km in perimeter) and a walk around the island during low tide is greatly recommended.  The most beautiful shells are found along the sandy beaches and lots of bird life and reptiles, such as the many geckos and chameleons make for an interesting hike.  Once the tide starts pushing over the flats, kayaks are available to explore the many channels that feed the flats with fish.
An 8 day package provided by Jenman Safaris includes accommodation, all meals (three meals per day) and drinking water, as well as boat trips (both fishing and travelling).  Flights from Johannesburg to Antananarivo, and Antananarivo to Nosy Be are also included and recommended, since Air Madagascar provides very comfortable flights with plenty of legroom in economy class.  For more information, Garth Jenman can be contacted on 082 333 3284 (e-mail: madagascar(at)remove-this.jenmansafaris.com), or visit www.travel2madagascar.com.  

Special thanks to fellow anglers Ryan Weaver and Louis for taking photographs of fly caught fish on the Dow, and Philip Meyer for his advice on knots for large saltwater species.