Over the past 6 days we fished almost every day in the Pemba Channel located in the Indian ocean off the coast of Tanzania. The objective was to test a series of new lures we've designed specifically for larger pelagics. The Pemba Channel is referred to locally as Jurassic Park due to the abundance of the top 3 marlin species (Blue, Black, Stripe) and the huge size of many other pelagic species. I've never been anywhere else where dorado will hit a 14"+ lure. The bait is big and so are the fish. The depth goes to over 1000 feet deep in less than a mile from the shore. Every year between January and March, the marlin move into the area in large numbers. Black Granders have been caught within sight of the beach. Packs of stripeys roam the currents further out, along with big blues.
My friend Stef Gianola called me and asked if I wanted to fish the first ever East African Tanzanian and Kenyan cooperative tournament and I didn't hesitate to say yes. I knew this would be an excellent opportunity to see what my new designs could do.
I packed my bags and headed for Dar es Salaam Tanzania to begin my journey. Just a day after my arrival, the 5 of us packed up Stef's boat (Black Swords) and left port. The journey took 2 days to get to north Pemba Island where we would stay for the remainder of the trip. We arrived 2 days before the tournament to scout the waters and perfect our spread. I saw it as a low stakes opportunity to pull my prototypes. Half the spread was Evolution Lures and the other was comprised of popular brands such as Iland, Williamson and Marlin Magic. Immediately I could tell my lures looked good in the water and should work. It wasn't long before I was proven right. After nearly a full day of scouting with little action, suddenly it was on. A stripey popped up in the spread and knocked down the starboard outrigger, then suddenly he was on the tag and we were hooked up. He tore out like a freight train and the reel was screaming at such a pitch, that to the trained ear says it's a big one! We got the striped marlin to the boat after some time and released it. We estimate that it was about 165lbs. Next up was a blue and then 2 more stripeys came in hot and we got 1 of them.
The week went on like this with between 2 and 3 marlin a day and plenty of action. We ended up coming 2nd place in the tournament out of 10 boats. After the tournament we fished 2 more days then began our journey down to Paji Zanzibar for some fun and relaxation.
By the numbers
These are the final results for my lures vs other brands. We caught 10 marlin and one sailfish. 7 of the fish were caught on Evolution lures. There were 3 standout lures that kept getting hit over and over. So many times, I lost count of the marlin we lost and the knock downs.
- Viper S3.5 12"
- Marathon Runner S4 14"
- Pemba Shaker S4 14"
We also had good action on the BlackMatter Chug S3 10", BigPlunge S4 14", Harbinger S5 teaser, BigBoy S6 teaser, and the new mini torpedos.
All of these lures will be released along with a few more, in our store in the coming weeks. Please feel free to reach out to us for custom orders or questions.
Viper S3.5 12"
I also want to throw in a thanks to @thescratchers, Tarick Nielson, Alistair Gibson and Dhulla Musada for an amazing time on the boat.
