THE GAME FISH OF MOMBASA AND MALINDI 65 
THE GAME FISH OF MOMBASA AND MALINDI 
By E. K. Boileatt 
Mr. Cuninghame, in his preliminary notes on the Sea Fishes 
of Mombasa, states that a large field for discovery lies amongst 
the game fishes of the coast, and subsequent investigations 
have amply justified his remarks. 
It seems somewhat remarkable that such grand sport 
should have lain at the very doors of Mombasa fishermen 
for so long without being recognised, yet it was not until 
Mr. Cuninghame’s first visit to those waters that such a thing 
as a really big game fish had been captured on rod and line 
(or, if captured, not recorded). 
In April 1918, Dr. Small, Mr. Scott Higgins, and the writer 
commenced systematically to exploit the sport in the harbour 
waters of Mombasa and Kilindini and the reef outside, but 
owing to want of suitable tackle, for some time but poor results 
were obtained. This deficiency was soon remedied by the 
arrival of the necessary tarpon tackle from home, and from 
November to March, when the big fish came in, the sport was 
excellent. These few months are without exception the pick 
of the whole year, and very little is to be done in Mombasa 
waters after the south-west monsoon has broken. This, 
however, is not the case in the Bay of Malindi, which, being 
sheltered from the full blast of the wind, is comparatively 
calm, and becomes the home of the many small fry which 
constitute the diet of the game fishes. 
In the present article, which, it must clearly be under- 
stood, is written for the benefit of the fisherman, and not the 
naturalist, it is proposed to give, after two years of careful 
study of the subject, as complete a list as possible of the various 
fish to be caught ‘ trolling ’ in the coastal waters of Mombasa 
and Malindi, their habits, distribution, methods of capture, 
and native names. The subject of bottom fishing is too vast, 
and presents too little attraction to the big-game fisherman. 
