Fishing Mozambique

Hells Gate Lodge, overlooking Inhaca Island.

A brand new lodge offering good standards of comfort, excellent food and superb fishing from beach and boat. A recent fishing trip produced 30 to 40 fish with hook ups on all four rods at any one time. The catch included a 15kg green jobfish, and 80kg potatoe bass and a 20kg tropical yellowtail. Shark to 1000lb are hooked from the beach. Bone fishing excellent with fish to 9 pounds landed (bait fishing).

All meals, water, tea and coffee included. 8 luxury chalets all ensuite each twin bedded. Main lodge has dining area serving superb cuisine, lounge and bar. Alcoholic drinks are paid for in resort. Tackle shop. All furnished in ironwood and mahogany, thatched with stunning views. Great fishing right off the beach.

Fully guided fishing for GT's, variety of Trevally, billfish, yellowfin and big eye tuna, dorado and sharks. Summer months produce big King Mackeral and the big GT's are targeted from the deeper offshore reefs. Lots of great action year round.

Lure, bait and fly fishing options. Year round fishing but prime time is January to April. Unspoilt location, some of the finest shore and boat fishing on the Indian Ocean expertly run lodge operated by Earl Strydom and his professional and friendly staff.

Full board packages , 7 nights, from only £2397.00 including flights from Heathrow to Maputo (TAP via Lisbon) with private boat and flight connections via Inhaca Island. 2009 / 2010. A 10 night stay would cost from £3070 pp.  (Based on groups of 8, boat and beach fishing combinations). Great value for top class lodge accommodation and fantastic fishing. Durations can be flexible for 2 or more persons but the minimum stay is generally 7 nights. Groups of 4 persons boat/beach fishing combo from £2570 pp (7 nights 6 days fishing). £3330 pp (10 nights 9 days fishing).

Fishing Techniques.. The Lodge has all the gear you need on a buy as you need basis. Top gear.

Dropshot Fishing....

It is really vital to focus on the correct gear for dropshot.It is the most favoured facet at the lodge because of its effectiveness.Are you familiar with it? The use of Fireline is also extremely important.(I may as well be stating the obvious, seeing that you are seasoned anglers, forgive me if I am).It will be ideal for all to have a small 7' MH stick with a small spinning reel loaded with 10lb Fireline.Onto that comes a 3' 25lb fluoro leader onto your jighead.I recommend buying all the plastics (Berkley Gulp) on this side,together with the jigheads.We know exactly what works and what not.It can be a costly exercise not having the correct selection.

Vertical Jigging

You would need on average 2-3 jigs pppd on the boats.Together with heavy dropshot by far the most effective.You would need 3 packets of 7' plastics pppd together with 6 x 2 oz jigheads pd

Plugging

We use a chisel nosed wooden plug called a Da Gama.We highly recommend using them..They weigh 3-5 oz.We use the 3 oz mostly because of the better action.GT's love them.The guys are welcome to try anything that's worked for them in the past. Big cup-faced poppers also work.About 4-5 should do.

BEST TACKLE ADVICE AND VALUE.. www.fostersofbirmingham.co.uk

General

For shark fishing you will use our personal rods and reels.No need for too much weight on the plane for this.

What I suggest buying on this side

-Berkley plastics

-jigheads

-plugs

-jigs for vertical jigging Please look at www.pulsatorlures.co.za if anyone wants to see a selection.They can mail me in advance.I'll bring it to the lodge.You just need to give me a quantity.

-Weights

-General consumables like hooks,tracewire,swivels etc.

TRAVEL:

We recommend flights from the UK to Lisbon and then on a direct service with TAP Air Portugal to Maputo. Transfers to the lodge will either be by boat or private charter flight via Inhaca Island, its the easiest and best value way of travelling to Mozambique...  You may choose to overnight in the capital Maputo, we can arrange a choice of first class hotels. A vibrant, bustling and colourful city.

NEW for 2010/11 The option to take a Safari tour of Mozambique post or pre trip tour and fishing/Big Game Safari in Swaziland. Details to be announced.

Lodge durations can be from 7 nights or longer, most groups find a 10 night stay to be ideal. This allows time to fully explore the excellent shore and boat fishing here at Hells Gate. Exclusive lodge use is guaranteed for groups of 10 or more.

"  I have just returned from a fantastic recee/ group trip to Southern Mozambique, Hells Gate Lodge. Owned by Earl Strydom, an old friend from years back who used to be lodge manager and head guide at Linene Island in Bazarutto, has built what can only be described as one of the very best of the great many African lodges I have been privileged to have fished. At Hells Gate you get fantastic accommodation, gourmet food, superb guides and staff all of which are set in a what can only be described as a National Geographic location on the northern tip of the Santa Maria Peninsula facing Inhaca Island.

Fishing at Hells Gate is a mix of boat and shore with options to fish pretty much how and when you please. Offshore its mostly surface popping and jigging but not surprisingly trolling is productive, too. Target species typically include Giant trevally, our group caught fish to 70lb, and many other trevally species, various types of tuna, dorado, king mackerel, snapper, grouper and many, many others. Sailfish are caught at certain times of the year and the area is famous for black marlin.

Drop shotting South African style, which basically involves using small to medium size jig heads armed with Berkeley Gulp soft plastics, is very much a lodge speciality. Fished with a fast, erratic, retrieve drop shotting is a favoured technique for all of the trevally species and will catch pretty much anything else. Light to medium spinning outfits are used so you get the absolute maximum of sport from each and every fish you hook; boat or shore; certainly all of our group are now drop shot converts!

From the shore the surf fishing, UK bass style, for bonefish is outstanding, each time we fish we caught superb chrome flanked bonefish up to around 10lb in weight; which is approximately half the size of the better fish that have been caught hereabouts!

Live baiting in the surf is a great technique for giant trevally and sharks, while one of the very best shark marks in the area is located immediately below the lodge. All of the tropical species of shark are caught her including tigers, hammerheads and bulls, along with huge rays. Sharks average between 100-300lb, mostly black tip and short nosed black tail, aka grey reef sharks, but fish in excess of 500lb are often hooked, though landing them is another matter!

Already we are planning return trips with groups of clients in the near future. In addition we will be returning to check out what we are reliably informed is some amazing game viewing and river fishing within a few hours of the lodge for tiger fish… "  Dave Lewis International Angling Journalist ( Sea Angler Magazine) /Professional Angler/ Shimano Consultant.

2 SPECIAL GROUPS ARE ALREADY FULLY BOOKED FOR JANUARY 2011. WE HAVE SOME SPACE ON SPECIAL GROUP DEPARTURES, RESTRICTED JUST TO 10 ANGLERS January to March 2011.

SPECIAL SPOUSE PACKAGES ALSO AVAILABLE WITH WHALE WATCHING, SCUBA DIVING, WILDLIFE VIEWING FROM SHORE AND BOAT. THIS LUXURY ECO FISHING LODGE IS PERFECT FOR SERIOUS SALTWATER ANGLERS AND PARTNERS WHO WISH TO RELAX. 

TO BOOK CALL NOW ON 01246 221717 PLACES SELLING FAST FOR PRIME FISHING WEEKS.

Giant Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Green Spot Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Golden Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Big Eye Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Blue Fin Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Black Tip/or Yellow fin Kingfish	Boat and Beach
Needle scale Queen Fish	Boat and Beach
Telang Queen Fish	Boat and Beach
Queen Mackerel	Boat
King Mackerel	Boat
Sail Fish	Boat
Dorado	Boat
Pick handle Barracuda	Boat and Beach
Yellow fin Tuna	Boat
Striped Bonito	Boat
Oceanic Bonito	Boat
Tropical Yellow Tail	Boat
Green Job fish	Boat
Prodigal Sun	Boat
Swallowtail Rock Cod	Boat
Pompano/Three Spot	Beach
Speckled Snapper	Beach
Cave Base	Beach
Blue Emperor	Beach
Mozambique Emperor	Beach
Bonefish	Beach
Thread fin	Beach
Grey Grunter	Beach
Russell Snapper	Boat and Beach
Mozambique Brown Ray	Boat and Beach
Honeycomb Ray	Boat and Beach
Amberjack	Boat