Sports Fishing in Angola
Sport fishing in Angola became internationally renowned due to the size of its Sailfish. Fishing for Sailfish in Luanda started in the late 1960's and during the period of 1971-1975 many world records were granted by the International Game Fish Association. (IGFA)
The reasons for why sailfish reach such a large size off the Angolan are still not known. However a recent study suggests that this might be due to low oxygen concentrations in deeper waters which force the food species which the Sailfish eat to concentrate in a narrow band of surface water where the oxygen levers are suitable for Sailfish and concentrate their food.
Before independence in 1975 there was a dedicated and enthusiastic group of anglers targeting sailfish. These anglers were concentrated at the Clube de Amadores de Pesca de Luanda (CAPL) at Futungo de Belas. During their time various international tournaments were hosted with visiting anglers and many spectacular captures were made including world records.
After 1975 the amount of sport fishing for sailfish was substantially reduced and only restarted in the late 80s. In 1990 the first blue marlin was caught and this started a new interest in this billfish which reaches much larger sizes than sailfish.
During the 1990s more tournaments were organized each year for billfish but these tournaments were nearly always won with captures of marlin and sailfish became incidental catches.
Fishing for sailfish is quite different from fishing for marlin and usually requires more skill and finesse to hook a sailfish although many sailfish are caught using the same techniques as used for marlin.
In 1999 with the sponsorship of Jembas Assistência Técnica, Lda a new tournament was established which was specifically for sailfish. The idea was to encourage the targeting of these fish that originally brought fishing fame to Angola.
Only billfish would score points in this tournament and the scoring was altered to give more points for sailfish than marlin. This was the 1st JEMBAS Sailfish Classic. This tournament became an increasingly more prestigious event due to the quality of its prizes and organization.
Jembas Assistência Técnica, Lda sponsored this event for 6 years from 1999 to 2004. During these years this tournament introduced some important changes and milestones in offshore fishing in Angola. In 1999 the 1st billfish to be tagged and released in a tournament took place during the Jembas Sailfish Classic.
In 2001 this event became the 1st in Angola to be completed without any billfish dying, a novelty for the sport here and proof that tournaments could be held without killing billfish. In 2003 the 5th Jembas Sailfish Classic was the 1st event in Angola to introduce a 100% tag and release rule. This continues to be the only tournament in Angola that maintains a 100% tag and release format for all billfish.
In 2005 the innovations continued with the 7th Luanda Sailfish Classic, this time sponsored by a group of companies. A 'Bimini Start' was arranged for the 2nd day of the tournament where the participating boats gather in Luanda Bay at the start of the day.
After a signal from the Jury -the boats take off together in a spectacular collection of different sport fishing vessels. The 8th Luanda Sailfish Classic was held in April 2006 where yet another innovation was introduced which was the obligatory use of the same 30lb (15kg) line by all the participants. With this change all anglers are using the same strength line which also offers a more sporting chance for the fish.
2007 marked the 10th anniversary of this event which is now being held in November due to low numbers of sailfish in April. The 10th Luanda Sailfish Classic was held on the 9th, 10th and 11th of November 2007 at the Clube Nautico da Ilha de Luanda.
To become a sponsor of the next Luanda Sailfish Classic email: luanda.sailfish.classic@netcabo.co.ao
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