Madagascar

Mitsio Island

Madagascar fishing trip

GT fishing - Mitsio Island

Your trip begins with a flight to Addis Ababa, which takes approximately six hours. From there, you’ll catch your connecting flight to Nosy Be, a journey of around five hours.

You’ll arrive in Nosy Be at approximately 2.35 pm. On arrival, you’ll need to complete an entry card and pay the €10 visa fee. Once you’ve cleared passport control, you can collect your luggage. A little tip: keep a few €1 and €2 coins handy for the porters – they’ll appreciate it.

Once your luggage is loaded, you’ll set off on the 40-minute drive to Ambatoloaka, followed by a boat transfer of around two hours to Mitsio Island.

You’ll reach Mitsio Island Lodge in the late afternoon. After settling into your room, you can relax in the lodge’s main area with a few cold drinks. If you like, you can start preparing your tackle that evening, or leave it until the morning, when our guides will help you get your equipment ready for the days ahead.

The Fishing

The following morning, after a hearty breakfast, you’ll board the boats at around 8.00 am and head for the first fishing spots. On the way to deeper water, you can target the abundant bonito with light spinning rods and sea trout spoons. These fish gather in large numbers off Mitsio Island and play an important role in the fishing here. Cast your slender spoons into the shoals feeding at the surface and retrieve as quickly as possible, making the lure skip across the water. Bonito find this irresistible – and they put up a thrilling fight on light tackle!

Bonito are also used as bait in a variety of ways. While you’re jigging, we keep a few baited lines drifting behind the boat. These regularly attract large GTs, marlin, sharks and grouper, so heavy-duty bait rods are an essential part of fishing around Mitsio.

Our guides have years of experience and hundreds of fishing spots saved on their chartplotters. They actively search for fish, moving between these productive spots. If the fish finder shows no signs of activity, it’s on to the next location.

The underwater terrain around Mitsio offers excellent fishing at depths of 30–80 metres. This is ideal habitat for predators such as GTs, kingfish, other trevally species, sharks and grouper. Marlin and sailfish are also regularly caught in these waters.

Jigging in Madagascar

Fishing around Mitsio is primarily about jigging! You’ll fish at depths of 30–80 metres, where both speed jigging and slow jigging work very well. Bring jigs weighing between 150 and 250 grams, adjusting the weight to suit the drift and water depth.

With plenty of kingfish and sharks around Mitsio Island, tackle losses can be high, so we recommend bringing at least 12–15 jigs. You can also buy jigs from the lodge’s tackle shop.

For fishing with baitfish, we recommend strong rods rated PE8–10. Baits are either drifted behind the boat or trolled specifically for marlin and sailfish. This method has proved extremely productive in the past.

Popping is also possible around Mitsio, although suitable spots are fairly limited. A few smaller islands nearby offer opportunities to fish with poppers and stickbaits in shallow water.

For the next five full days, you’ll fish for everything with fins, using Mitsio Island Lodge as your base. You’ll usually return to the lodge at around 5.00 pm.

Your sixth fishing day begins at the lodge and ends in Nosy Be. You’ll spend the day fishing your way south, arriving in the late afternoon before checking into the Sari Manok Hotel, right on the beach.

Round off the evening with a good dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. There are also plenty of restaurants and bars nearby, so if you’re in the mood for a night out, you’re in the right place.

The departure

Your journey home begins after checking out of the hotel. You’ll be collected at midday and transferred to the airport.

Your flight to Addis Ababa departs at 3.30 pm. There, you’ll have a layover of around four hours before your onward flight to your home destination, arriving at your home airport the following morning.

Nosy Be Ausflüge

If you’d like to relax on Nosy Be after your fishing adventure, why not extend your stay? Most of our guests spend an extra two or three nights on the island.

This tropical island has plenty to offer. You can explore Nosy Be on a guided quad bike tour, which we can book for you in advance. The tour lasts around eight hours and takes in the island’s main sights.

Madagascar is famous for its lemurs, and you can visit them in a nature reserve on a remote island. This excursion lasts around six to seven hours and includes a trip to the island by dugout canoe, the chance to see lemurs and other unique wildlife, and a delicious local lunch afterwards.

Both excursions are great fun and offer a welcome change from relaxing on the beach. If you’re staying a little longer on Nosy Be, we highly recommend making time for both!

Accommodation Madagascar fishing holidays

The Accommodation

Mitsio Island

Mitsio Tropical Lodge

Mitsio Island Lodge is a simple fishing lodge on the island of Nosy Mitsio. It has seven basic twin-bed chalets, each with its own shower and toilet.

Set beneath a large mango tree, the lodge’s main area features a spacious dining and lounge area alongside an open kitchen. The bar is at the heart of the lodge – the perfect place to unwind after a long day’s fishing and enjoy a few cold drinks, all included in your stay.

At Mitsio Island Lodge, we take pride in serving good food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided throughout your stay.

The lodge also has its own tackle shop, where you can stock up on any extra gear you need. To find out more about Mitsio Island Lodge, visit our YouTube channel!

Catering

Meals: Full Board

Beverages: alcoholic & non-alcoholic beverages are included

Nosy Be

Sari Manok

The Sari Manok Hotel is a boutique hotel right on the beach in Ambatoloaka. It features modern furnishings and a choice of room categories. Please note that some rooms are up to 300 metres from the main building.

The hotel’s excellent Batumoch restaurant is on the ground-floor terrace, where you can enjoy cold drinks and Malagasy cuisine.

Nosy Be’s lively nightlife district is just a few minutes’ walk away, with a variety of small restaurants and bars where you can spend the evening.

Catering

Meals: Breakfast included

Beverages: Drinks can be paid on site according to consumption

Your fishing boats in Madagascar!

The Boats

Mitsio Island Lodge has four centre-console boats built in Madagascar. Each boat is 8–9 metres long and 2.8 metres wide, with a 200 hp engine providing ample power.

Tropical Fishing Fishing Boats

Fishing Boats

All boats are equipped with a fish finder and chartplotter using Navionics Platinum charts. Hundreds of fishing spots discovered over the years by our experienced guides are saved on the chartplotters.

Each boat also carries a radio, a satellite phone and safety equipment, including life jackets, fire extinguishers and first aid kits.

A fold-out sunshade provides shelter from the midday heat, allowing you to continue jigging or trolling comfortably beneath it. Every boat also has a cool box stocked with drinks.

Your guides

Our guides are among the most experienced fishing guides in Madagascar, and their years on the water make a difference time and again.

All our guides and deckhands can tie FG knots with their eyes closed and are always happy to help you adjust your rigs or tie knots while you’re fishing.

You need this fishing tackle in Madagascar!

Tackle Talk

If you’re trying saltwater fishing for the first time, you can hire tackle from us, so there’s no need to invest in new rods and reels beforehand. Our hire package includes a jigging outfit, a popping outfit and a bonito outfit. Please contact us for prices.

Jigging is the main fishing method around Mitsio Island, while opportunities for popping are limited. We therefore recommend focusing your tackle selection on jigging.

You need these poppers in Madagascar!

Popper / Stickbaits

There are only a limited number of popping spots around Mitsio Island Lodge. Popping therefore plays a smaller role here, but can be arranged with the guides.

In recent years, poppers such as the Heru Cubera, ReefsEDGE, Amegari Dzanga and Craft Bait GT-3 have proved particularly effective for GTs.

Stickbaits also work well, with models measuring 150–180 mm being the preferred choice. Bring a mixture of sinking and floating versions.

Bonito play an important role in fishing around Mitsio Island, so make sure you pack a few slim sea trout spoons weighing 40–60 g.

You need these jigs in Madagascar!

Jigs

For jigging in Madagascar, you’ll need a good selection of jigs weighing 150–250 g. Butterfly-style jigs and elongated designs that aren’t too narrow have proved particularly effective in recent years. Major Craft Jigpara jigs, Sakura Orion jigs and our own Team Deep Sea Pelajig V2 and RockShock models have all produced excellent results. Budget jigs from AliExpress and Temu have caught fish too! 🙂

Pink, silver, blue-green, orange and zebra patterns all work very well. Make sure every assist hook is fitted with an octopus skirt. This adds attraction and improves hook-up rates.

Use hooks in sizes 8/0–12/0, matching them to the shape and size of your jig. For the assist cord, we recommend Kevlar at least 1.4 mm thick or cord with a minimum breaking strain of 600 lb.

The best lines and leaders for GT fishing!

Leader & Main Line

For popping, use leaders rated at 200–220 lb. Choose high-quality leaders from brands such as Fishermen, Varivas, Nomad or Climax.

For jigging, you’ll need a 175 lb leader. Diameters vary, but we recommend one below 1.0 mm.

Your main line should be a high-performance PE braid. For popping, PE8 (80 lb) is the minimum; if you’re using heavier rods, you can step up to PE10 (100 lb). For jigging, we recommend PE6–8 (65–80 lb).

For bonito, use line with a diameter of at least 0.22 mm. Keep it as thin as possible within this recommendation to maximise casting distance.

Suitable options include Gosen Diver X8, Daiwa J-Braid X8, JB Line One and other high-performance braids.

Terminal Tackle

Hooks & Terminal Tackle

There’s no room for compromise when it comes to hooks. For popping, please bring only BKK GT-Rex hooks in sizes 5/0–6/0. For smaller poppers, use sizes 4/0–5/0.

For jigging, we recommend VMC Jigging Assist Hooks (7264 BN) in sizes 11/0–13/0. Remember to bring rubber octopus skirts for your assist hooks.

Split rings and solid rings for popping should have a minimum breaking strain of 220 lb. Owner solid rings in sizes #7.5–#9 and Owner Super Heavy Duty split rings in sizes #10–#11 are good choices.

Helpful tools for your fishing trip

Other fishing equipment

We recommend bringing a good pair of split-ring pliers. The hPa Game Plier is a reliable choice, allowing you to open even heavy-duty split rings with ease.

A good waterproof boat bag is also worth bringing. Zeck Fishing offers several suitable options, including the Tackle Container Pro and Tackle Container Pro Catfish.

As you’ll often be jigging for several hours at a time, we recommend packing a good pair of gloves.

Madagascar can get very hot, so bring UV-protective shirts, a sun hat and SPF 50 sunscreen. Our Expeditions UV shirts are available to order directly from us.

Good polarised sunglasses are essential for fishing. We recommend gloryfy unbreakable sunglasses, which combine polarised lenses with exceptionally durable frames.

Take a closer look at the gloryfy unbreakable range of polarised fishing sunglasses here: Polarized Sunglasses for Anglers!