WHERE TO FISH Part 21

(Originally published in the September 2025 issue of SKI-BOAT magazine)

By Dirk Venter Jnr

THE stretch of coastline from Ponta Abril on the Santa Maria peninsula up to the northernmost tip of Inhaca Island in Moçambique is a truly special region to fish. This area offers a huge number of species to target, with unique structures harbouring some of the best gamefish in southern Moçambique. The area is overflowing with huge numbers of little eastern tuna, also known as bonnies, which of course draw vast numbers of gamefish. This article will give you some advice on how to target these species when travelling to this beautiful location.

GETTING THERE
Santa Maria and Inhaca are situated roughly 35km from Maputo as the crow flies across the Maputo Bay. There are two ways of getting to Santa Maria. The first option is to drive through the Elephant Reserve, but this requires a 4×4 vehicle. The sandy road through the reserve offers breathtaking scenes of natural wonder, but can be challenging at some stages, especially in the rainy season which usually is from November to February.
The second option is to head all the way into Maputo – the city that never seems to sleep – then make your way to either the marina or Clube Naval which are both situated in the harbour. From there you will load up the boat with your clothes, tackle, food and some cold 2M beer to keep hydrated, and head across the bay to your accommodation of choice.
You’ll need some local knowledge to get across the bay and will need to watch the tides carefully to ensure you don’t get stuck on the sand flats. If you don’t have your own boat, you can charter one from some of the locals.

ACCOMMODATION
Santa Maria and Inhaca both offer a number of accommodation options, from five-star guest lodges to self-catering chalets. The vast majority of the houses overlook the breathtaking Maputo Bay, providing sunset views that are truly unmatched. You will truly feel as if you are on a tropical island somewhere in the world, cut off from the rest of society, giving you a much-needed break from the world’s chaos.
Some of the accommodation venues closer to Hell’s Gate are less affected by the tides than those situated near the southern mangroves and the Santa Maria market.

BAIT IS KEY
The first thing to keep in mind when fishing this area is that live bait is key, and when we talk about live bait, we’re generally talking about bonnies between 25- and 35cm long.
The gamefish seem to think they are candy, and you are almost guaranteed to get a pull of some sort when slow trolling one of them on a live bait trace behind your boat.
We have also used dead baits like karapao, mackerel, wallawalla and the occasional halfbeak rigged on a stiff rig with a lure swimming in front of it, but live baits are still our first choice.
You can find the smaller live baits around the 20m mark just outside Hell’s Gate (26º4.868’S · 32º58.191’E). There is no reef that they would be shoaling around, but for some reason they stay in the murky water coming out of the channel mouth from Maputo Bay. Other places to target them are just off the lighthouse on Inhaca’s northern tip. There they can be found in 16m of water.
When targeting bonnies, there are a few methods to try. Firstly, you can pull a variety of daisy chains behind the boat; our favourite colours are white and blue or white and pink. Darker colours work better in low light conditions and lighter colours during the day when the sun was up high and bright.
A great tip is to always put in up to three Rapalas while trolling for bonnies, depending on the size of your craft and its capabilities. We have had many ’cuda and wahoo eat our lures when trolling for bonnies.
The second method you can try is to throw small surface lures into the schools of bonnies when they come up to feed. The Halco 10g sprat spoon and the 20g anchovy spoon from Kingfisher have worked exceptionally well for us over the years.
You are most likely to find bonnies on the northernmost side of the reefs where the current creates an upwelling of nutrients for them to feed on.

WATCH THE TIDES
Knowing your tides is extremely important in this area, not only because of the channels you have to navigate on the shallow side of Inhaca and Santa Maria, but also to ensure you’re fishing at the best possible times.
Just after spring tides have always been a great time for us to head up to the island. Over the years we have found that the fishing is best on the change of tides, meaning on the push (low to high tide) or pull (high to low tide) of the tides. When the current is slow, the fish seem to become sluggish and do not feed.
On a pushing tide we usually target the inside of the reef because the current pushing up from the land and going out to sea causes an upwelling of nutrients which attracts the bonnies and the toothy creatures trying to eat them. The exact opposite would be applicable when the tide is pulling.
These extreme tide shifts are responsible for the nutrient-dense water surrounding the island and its nearby reefs.

BAIXO DE SANTA MARIA
(26º5.735’S · 33º0.470’E)
Also known as home reef by some anglers, Baixo de Santa Maria is situated only 5km straight out of the infamous Hell’s Gate. This 500m wide channel between Inhaca and Santa Maria sees great rushes of water urging into and out of Maputo Bay every time the tide changes, and it can get very rough.
Baixo de Santa Maria is home to vast numbers of ’cuda, wahoo, GT and the occasional dorado. This reef is also popular for sailfish that come and eat your live bonnie that you’re swimming in the hopes of landing a croc ’cuda.
The depth varies from 20.5m to 50m at some of its deeper drop offs, making it the ideal environment for big gamefish.
This is usually our first stop of the day when targeting gamefish. Throwing a big popper early in the morning while you wait for the sun to come up and spot the baitfish (bonnies) has proven to be very successful when targeting giant trevally.
Depending on the time of day, we would usually swim two of our baits in the top of the water column, and the other baits we would downrig using sinkers or a downrigger.
The main thing to keep in mind when approaching these reefs is bird- and surface activity. Early in the morning you will struggle to find the bonnies, but as soon as the sun is fully up you will start to see them feeding. They are usually a good indication of whether the reef is going to be active on that day or not. If you do not find any surface activity on the reef, move on to the next spot.
JERIMIAH
(25º56.393’S · 33º3.466’E)
This is a long, elongated reef running down the north-eastern side of Inhaca Island, and is by far one of the most popular fishing spots in this area. The reef is over 9.5km long, with an average depth of 35m.
We have found that, during the summer months, this area produces a lot of young shoaling ’cuda and wahoo. These fish predominately take slow-trolled maasbanker and karapao pulled behind the boat.
Early in the morning when the light conditions are still low, we usually have our baits swimming in the top of the water column. Later in the day we will downrig our baits using a 5–8oz sinker, depending on the depth of the reef, or a downrigger that can be adjusted to our liking.
During winter months this reef produces massive numbers of 15kg-plus ’cuda and big tuna that hold on the outer lip of the reef.

BAIXO DANAE
(25º54.175’S · 33º2.941’E)
This reef is extremely productive during the summer months, especially if you’re looking to find a giant 35kg giant trevally. I still believe these are some of the hardest and dirtiest fighters in the sea. They come up and grab your popper, and then head straight down to the nearby reef to try and break you off!
Target GTs at Baixo Danae by throwing poppers that create a big splash early in the morning. I like to use the 180g Heru Darkstar popper, especially the classic purple. Otherwise try 150g diving poppers.
You can also put out some live bonnies to target them, but I suggest you use some of your heavier tackle when doing this so that you can stop the fish from running you into the rocks when it has grabbed your bait.
When throwing poppers and stick baits, I suggest putting a piece of wire in front of the lure because the ’cuda in the area are also very fond of poppers and tend to come up and grab them when you least expect it. Poppers are great at bringing the fish up and enticing them to bite when the day is slow.
Dropshotting is also another productive way to target the smaller kingfish species. I like to use chartreuse jigs as there is always a chance of a ’cuda smashing it mid-column.

BD POINT
(25º53.023’S · 33º3.983’E)
This reef is situated just north of Baixo Danae. It forms part of the same reef structure but does not have the sudden rise that the other reefs have.
We have had plenty of success here while targeting ’cuda on the change of tides, especially when Baixo Danae hasn’t been active.
The only problem is that you won’t find many bonnies around here to use for live bait. If you plan to head north from Hell’s Gate and target ’cuda at BD Point, first stop at Jerimiah and fill up the luna tubes with as many bonnies as you can fit in.
Using dropshot at BD Point also produces a large number of kingfish species such as greenspot trevally, bludger and the occasional GT.

SAND FLATS AROUND INHACA
Vast sand flats lie to the west and south-west of Inhaca, in depths varying from 8- to 18m of water. These areas are extremely productive from October through to January, producing large numbers of dorado, shoaling ’cuda and queenfish.
Cobia are also often found in these areas, especially more on the northern side of Portuguese Island. They can be targeted by putting out dead- or live karapao. Bonnies seem to be unproductive in these areas.
Early mornings and late afternoons on these banks have been extremely productive for queenfish which give an amazing aerial performance when trying to throw your bait or lure. You can target them by throwing GT Ice Creams, small stick baits or poppers. While throwing lures, try putting out a live karapao in the hopes of hooking a ’cuda amongst the chaos.

BAIXO CHAIMATE
(25º59.369’S · 32º52.973’E)
This is one of the only inshore reefs in the area, and is situated between Inhaca Island and the city of Maputo on the mainland. This reef has an average depth of 12m.
From early November to January, you’ll find queenfish feeding in this area. This reef also provides opportunities for anglers to catch a variety of younger species of kingfish and even the occasional bonito. Young shoaling ’cuda have also been landed successfully around here.
Small baits such as karapao or mackerel are usually successful, otherwise try throwing a 7” chartreuse dropshot.

MARLIN GROUNDS
(250m-400m)
While not covered in depth in this article, the offshore waters in the 250–400m range offer solid marlin prospects during peak season. Always be ready with rigged bonnies, skip baits or kona heads when trolling deep water.
When targeting blue marlin, it’s best to follow a contour line along the 300m mark. If you notice a change in current that will also be a good area to target them.
Black marlin tend to feed in water ranging from 15- to 50m deep and they are often hooked when fishing for gamefish in shallow water around reefs.
That should be enough to get you started on fishing this magnificent location. If you take the time to head up to Inhaca and Santa Maria, you may just find you don’t ever want to fish anywhere else!

My sincere thanks to Wynand Ravencroft and Duarte Rato for their help with this article.