Other than being a great destination for swimming and diving, Mauritius is a major destination for deep sea fishing. The dream fish, the blue marlin, can be fished throughout the year, the record being 1.430lb’s, and is on show in one of the restaurants of Le Paradis Hotel in Le Morne. Marlins and also tuna, sharks(of which Mauritius holds the record for the largest Mako shark ever caught at 1.115lb’s), blue sharks, tiger sharks, hammer head sharks, bonito, Dorado, barracudas, sailfish and wahoo’s are but a few of the giants of the ocean.

The high season is between November and April, and September to November for sharks. The least productive months are June and July for all types of fishing.

The main deep sea fishing clubs on the island are equipped with 12 -14metre long fishing boats with all the tackle and equipment needed and skippered by two men who will be able to guide and advise you. The boats are equipped with radios for contact on land, fresh and artificial bait, rods and lines. The boats are out a few kilometres from the reef where land can still be seen. In Mauritius the predators come to feed between 1km and 1.5km from the land where the sea is 600m deep! This is a great advantage in Mauritius as you don’t need to travel for miles to reach the good fishing spots. The best area for deep sea fishing in Mauritius is in the South East off the Black River and Morne coast. Given that this is an expensive sport, you’ll find that there are a number of fishing boats in the area as everyone wants every chance of a good catch so the hot spots are popular.

Once here, you can hire a boat for the day (9 hour day), or half day (6 hours). Price includes the boat, the crew, the equipment and given the quality of the trip and the fishing, you’d be hard pushed to find a better deal anywhere in the world. Three fishermen with three non fishing partners can fit on the boat.

MAURITIAN DEEP SEA FISHING RECORDS

 Mako shark: 506,8kg – world record
 Tuna (dog tooth tuna): 101,8kg – world record
 Bonito: 19,09kg – world record
 Tiger shark : 553,64kg
 Blue marlin: 616kg
 Black marlin: 341,8kg (another black marlin weighing an estimated 420kg was caught but had been attacked by sharks before reaching the boat).
 Tuna (dog tooth): 225lb’s Mauritian record
 In recent times: 34 marlins over 455kg have been caught in Mauritian waters – more than anywhere in the world.

JP HENRY CHARTERS LTD

 SOUTH WEST, EAST AND NORTH

This is the largest deep sea fishing centre in the island and is run by Jean Pierre Henry – a specialist in the sport! A number of fishing companies are based here – La Pirogue Big Game fishing( important fishing company also the organisers of the marlin fishing world cup organised every year), and a number of other clubs belonging to the larger hotels from other parts of the island.

As well as being one of the best centres, it is also the only to offer jigging fishing and they are very flexible time wise offering a variety of different time slots (i.e. half day, afternoon only, 3 hours a day ...etc). Five boats are available with powerful engines so to reach the destination as fast as possible. Also on board are smaller rods and lines for smaller fighting fish – nonstop fun! SPORTFISHER NORTH Fishing exclusively in the North.