Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Africa

With a wide variety of species and a fascinating range of methods, angling enthusiasts would be wise to consider a trip to Africa. We check out five top places to go fish

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The Gambia

With a fine coastline and a major river running up the centre, it’s no surprise that this small, narrow country attracts plenty of leisure fishermen. Offshore you can often catch the majestic tarpon, while from the shoreline you can hook shovel-nosed rays, catfish and barracuda. Butterfish and threadfin salmon swim among the mangrove swamps, and anglers can lure in tigerfish further upriver. Look out for boats for hire beside Denton Bridge.

Ghana

The waters off Ada Foah, a fishing village at the mouth of the Volta River to the east of Accra, are renowned in big-game circles for their marlin fishing. Stay at the nearby Manet Paradise Beach Hotel ( 8 22276) and they’ll arrange an expedition.

Alternatively, Lake Akosombo, an artificial body of water formed by a new dam, offers up huge catfish; stay at The Akosombo Continental Hotel ( 1 20091); staff here can also arrange fishing trips.

Kenya

The Indian Ocean is a sports fisherman’s paradise, and the Kenyan town of Malindi serves as its golden gates. Here you can catch yellowfin tuna, hammerhead sharks, sailfish and marlin. Try the family-run Kingfisher (www.kenyasportfishing.net) or reliable, though expensive, Hemingway’s resort (www.hemingways.co.ke), just south of Malindi at the Watamu Marine Park.

If freshwater angling appeals, go to Kisumi on the shores of Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest body of fresh water; you’ll have the chance to hook huge Nile perch and tilapia.

Senegal

As well as drawing lots of amateur anglers, the coastal waters of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, support a thriving community of small-scale commercial fishermen; walk along Yoff Beach on any weekday morning and you’ll see them unloading their nets. Groupers can be caught with a line and rod from rocky outcrops around the capital, while blue marlin and swordfish swim a little further offshore. Local fishermen are willing to take visitors out for a spot of spear fishing; ask the boat-owners at Yoff Village.

Further south, near the border with The Gambia, freshwater species can be caught in the Sine-Saloum Delta; operators such as The Senegal Experience (www.senegal.co.uk) offer excursions from €38 per person.

Angola

Fishing opportunities are equally good down the southwestern coast of Africa. At Kwanza lodge (), 70km north of Luanda at the mouth of the Kwanza River, you can catch tarpon, dorado and blue marlin. The lodge has six boats for estuary and inshore angling. Meanwhile, Campo Rio Longa, at the southern border of the Kissama National Park, offers good coastal and estuary fishing, as well as some basic safari accommodation.

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