Jonathan Tomlinson or 'JT' as he's better known tells us about a journey that was 3 years in the making. A journey to a memorable, far off place with some extraordinary fishing. All of which was captured on film...What seemed like three very long years ago and having just relocated to Reading I was introduced through a good friend of mine Jon Pratt, to a fellow angler that was almost as crazy as me. This overly enthusiastic South African by the name of Glynn Henry had an infectious passion for fishing that couldn’t help but draw you in. On our very first meeting the three of us sank beers whilst telling stories of past fishing adventures, memorable moments and future aspirations. As the beer flowed the stories got bigger until Glynn regaled us of a tale of a distant location that was so remote that only the most hard core of anglers would dare to venture. Descriptions of giant fish almost untouched and unharassed by commercial or recreational anglers well and truly had our attention.
The subject reared its head on almost every occasion the three of us got together until about 15 months ago we finally decided that we would bite the bullet and take on this monumental adventure. We gathered up some of the usual suspects to join us, Pengers the old salty dog, Brian who was the self confessed saltwater virgin and Glynn’s old man Terry who had forgotten more than most know when it comes to big fish.
The remoteness of the atoll brought with it inherent risks, the ever present and very real threat of pirates, big seas, sharks, no possibility of a medevac and with six anglers, two camera men, the skipper and a deck hand all sharing a 45ft catamaran for 12 days anything was possible.
An 11-hour flight into Johannesburg, followed by a short two hour hop to Vilanculos and we joined our charter yacht the Pelagic 2. We hastily loaded all of our gear and camera equipment aboard and set sail with earnest. Over 40 hours and two nights passed and Bassas appeared on the horizon illuminated by a glorious sunrise, dotted with visible wrecks strewn across the shallows; it was quite breathtaking.
Bassas Da India is a remote underwater volcano that is situated a little over 250 nautical miles to the east of Mozambique in the heart of the Mozambique Channel half way to Madagascar. Rising up from 3000 metres, the volcanoes lip forms a wadable flat for just five hours of the day varying between ankle and chest deep. A mixture of hard coral, volcanic rock and soft sand flats creates a stunning backdrop for some incredible species of fish. In its centre the crater of the volcano forms a lagoon that has depths of up to 15 metres and like the rest of place is almost completely unexplored.
Bassas had become a favourite navigational location in the days of Vasco Da Gama for the spice traders but with its location being far from well mapped it claimed its fair share of vessels. With a year long sail from India to Portugal the time of year that you left would determine what tides and currents you would come into contact with on your journey. Certain times of the year and the ships would navigate to the east of Madagascar and down to the Cape. Other times of the year and the spice ships would travel down between Mozambique and Madagascar using Bassas as their point of reference. The issue being that the actual location of the Atoll is not where it is charted. With no land fall and only partially visible at low tide this place had become a mariners' graveyard. There are over 150 ships said to have been lost here, giving it a slightly eerie and sombre feel at times. There are many sunken treasures that still sit undiscovered to this very day, if only the twisted remains could tell their stories. We found ourselves imagining the fear that must have become all apparent to the unfortunate victims on making contact with this hidden killer. The reality being that you would not make it out alive, there is only one recorded survivor from any boat that scuppered there.
It became very apparent on stepping foot onto the edge of the volcano for the first time that this would be very unlike anything, or anywhere that we had been before; which was hard to imagine when you have a group of such well travelled anglers who had dedicated their whole lives to the pastime of fishing.
Here's a tantalising trailer of this fishing expedition. A website dedicated to the journey will be available in spring of this year:
www.unchartedwatersthefilm.com