Guinea Bissau Fishing Adventure Popper & Lure Paradise

"Very relaxing location and hotel. Excellent staff and outstanding service from you all."

"This is a superb hotel for a relaxing break, with superb food and exceptionally friendly service from all departments.

Drinks prices are very reasonable with a good wine list on offer (numerous South African wines, understandably) and all sensibly priced. The pool bar has a good lunch menu, with extremely well prepared dishes for those who enjoy lunch. The hotels seem to work well with the local vendors, who have a number of' 'cooperative' style stalls, so great credit to the vendors. it is not just about fishing, though it does have a superb operation. I only fish on holiday and on this trip, I could not have been in better hands. "

"Perfect combination for us both, we had a trip to remember for along time Thank you so much."

"Excellent fishing with guides that were totally committed to angling.

The level of expertise, skill and guidance I found to be unparalleled.

A tackle list could be supplied, as follows:
Poppers, up to 200mm.
Surface plugs.
Shallow diving plugs.
Trolling plugs.
Wire trace.
Flouro carbon hook lengths.
Slow jigs, 40-60-80-100g.
Casting jigs, up to 40g.
Heavy duty hooks, trebles, swivels and split rings.
Split ring pliers."

"Superb fishing, and totally excellent accommodation.

The highlight of the week for me was a 26lb Jack Crevalle caught from the beach, it took line so fast I had to run 200 yards to keep up.

Overall superb, but a couple of points of constructive criticism:

It was sometimes difficult to communicate well with the boat guide, it's a mainly French speaking operation, this could have cut out some styles of fishing I didn't particularly enjoy. Also, got a large bill at the end of the trip for tackle used and/or lost, including lost by the guide, charged at high local prices, if I'd known exactly what was involved I could have taken a lot more of my own tackle. Nothing specialised was needed, just larger pike/bass lures & light jigs. A good option to point out to future customers would be to just use the operation's rods, take everything else yourself."

"Dear Paul
We had a fantastic trip. Everything went to plan, thanks to your and Giles careful planning.
After the painful flight we were met at 3am and contrary to our info were taken to a hotel in Bissau for the first night ( fairly grim but served a purpose).
The next morning we were taken to the port to meet one of Giles’s boats for the transfer ( by the way this is 2 hours not 45 mins!)

At lunchtime we arrived at Bubaque and were met on the beach by Giles and his team. With the challenges of living on an island in the middle of nowhere Giles really has created a piscatorial nirvana over the last 21 years .

Our room was spacious, clean, and amazingly had functioning ac, refrigeration and mosquito screens, as well as big comfortable beds, and a big well-appointed bathroom.
We were introduced to our guide for the week, the ever cheerful Ronaldo, Giles’s protégée of 15 years who apparently can smell out fish! Certainly speaking to others there, the one to aim for if there is a choice.

If you are planning a trip here then always ask for Ronaldo he gets our FULL TOP marks

He inspected our tackle and started to kit up our various rods for the week, and suggested an afternoons warm up session. Within minutes our spinners had a decent permit, a couple of bonito and a nice carpe rouge.

Every day a new area ( amazing just how vast the archipelago actually is ), a new fishing challenge, and fish firsts.

The highlights were chasing a shoal of feeding permit, all casting poppers and all being hit at once with some force, the large barracuda hooked on a Rapala that leapt clear of the water to evade capture, and the landing of a challenging Cobea after losing two others.
A couple of things that may help others, It would be helpful if rank amateurs could pay for a full tackle pack, Giles has a room full, and it would prevent the wasteful purchase of a lot of the wrong size tackle that was not used.

The other thing to bear in mind that all communication with guides is in French which may be a challenge for any non-French speakers. That being said it was a fantastic trip, I read somewhere that the islands of Guinea Bissau were a fisherman’s paradise, I would probably re phrase that as a paradise with fantastic fishing!

Thanks again"

"The flights are quite long and would prefer going more direct.

As a tip I would also recommend customers to take light fly fishing tackle as great fun to be had on light tackle for jacks etc.

We both enjoyed the trip as the fishing and guides was all excellent."

"Best way to spend Christmas and New Years yet!

Should have thought of this before.

Relaxed, great climate and plenty of fish!"

"Our trip in February was also;cutely fabulous. The Fishing Lodge - Kasa Afrikana on the Island of Bubaque was an ideal base for our 10 hour daily expeditions over our 6 days fishing. The Host, Gilles, was over accommodating, nothing was too much trouble. Any gear that we had forgotten or lost and needed replacing was easily replaced in Gilles "Aladdin's Cave", he had everything and more. Poppers and lures of every colour of the rainbow, hooks, line, reels and rods to borrow - unbelievable!!

Our French Guide for our trips was Djibril (Jibby or Jib), so knowledgeable, took us to all the best fishing spots, told us which colour lures and poppers to use or just set up our rods ready for us to fish. We got over our language barrier with Google translate and also sometimes charade type impressions worked as well. A great time had by all!

Every lunchtime we would go to a deserted strip of beautiful golden sand and our guide would prepare ceviche for us using one of the fish we had caught that morning. Truly a fresh lunch!! - just another thing we won't forget, all washed down with a cold beer before heading back out into the 30 degrees plus sunshine - wonderful.

We caught many different varieties of fish - Spanish Mackerel, GT's, Barracuda, Silver Crockers and many others. The Barracuda / and GT's put up the best fights and there were many that got away, obviously huge specimens.

But Tony and I both agreed that our best day was on a Sand Bar running up and down the beach chasing after the bait fish when GT's turned up and chased them. You couldn't fail to not catch one and boy, did they give you a run for your month in 18 inches of water. That was an amazing 3hours!! Absolutely brilliant.

Whilst we were there, Tony and I celebrated our birthdays on the 24th Feb and we dropped this into the conversation with our guide one day. He told us it was Gilles's birthday too. So, at the bar on the 24th, we went to buy Gilles a drink and he cracked open the champagne and we celebrated in style and enjoyed a cake baked by the staff from the kitchen. All the staff proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to us. Fabulous, all the staff were so friendly and helpful.

I think your itinerary needs updating, because on arrival in Guinea at 05:30 in the morning, the boat took us straight out to the island with no stop at the Hotel - which was much better as we just wanted to get to the Island and relax after a long days/nights travelling. The same occurred on the way back, no Hotel stay. We left the Island of Bubaque at 22:00 for our 04:00 flight back the following morning. This seemed much better to us, as our first day and last day at the Lodge was really relaxing after 6 hard days fishing.

I haven't stopped talking about our exploits with anyone who asked about it and even people who just commented on the tan, has had to listen to my stories.
"

"The guide couldn't speak English. The food was good but if you don't like fish you could have a problem."

"Kasa Africaana lodge is a well run fishing lodge providing good clean simple accommodation.

Food is good and reasonably varied.

The biggest disappointment is the arrival and departure at the airport and the transfer to the boat at the port.

We were needlessly harassed for tips for putting a bag on or off the very old and rickety people carrier.

"

"Excellent organisation from Sportquest. Everything works perfectly - Many thanks "

"The whole experience was brilliant only thing worth mentioning was the transfer from the airport in Guinea Bissau to the island was pitch black - took 3 hours and no light on the boat to see where we were going. Would recommend daylight transfers"

"Fantastic place. Great fishing experience "

"Holiday overall was excellent except the flight transfer time needs to be longer at least 2/3 hours between flights to allow for take off and landings and delays.

The transfer from mainland to resort should not be done at night time, I strongly recommend this."

"The fishing was outstanding. 15 species caught- guitarfish to about 150lb, shark, stingray, loads of jack, cassava and pompano. Barracuda, snapper and more. Not deep, no real current, lovely and warm. Highlight of the trip was me playing a hammerhead of about 100lbs, with jack boiling all around the boat and the guide screaming at me to get it in, he and my partner then both hooked into large jack whilst I was still fighting the damn shark. Lines everywhere! Hotel was nice, more of a fishing club, very friendly, kit was included in the price and was good quality.
Prepare for a long journey- about 20 hours with airport layovers, and Bissau airport is very basic. Gilles provides a fixer to get you through the airport, which saved us loads of hassle and time. The archipelago is stunning- classic tropical islands. I’d highly recommend this is you are looking for something off the beaten track and a bit different.
Couple of tips
Don’t load yourself down with kit. I bought loads of cheap ebay poppers and stickbaits which were too flimsy. I had 4 decent poppers and used those exclusively and didn’t lose one.
Also it’s very French, and they are as bad as us at languages. We got by with my O level standard, but it’s worth gaining a few fishing related terms before you go
Great trip"

"Guinea Bissau took us about 24hrs travel from Edinburgh to Heathrow then Lisbon onto Bissau.
On arrival at a chaotic Bissau airport we were met by out guide to the transfer who guided us through the airport.
If you have never entered an African airport it is definitely an experience no one spoke English and the visa application forms were in Portuguese if traveling it would be wise to consider contacting the Guinea Bissau consulate in Paris to be furnished the correct visa forms.
We travelled through Bissau then a three hour boat trip out to the Archipelago which is an area of immense natural beauty although there was an enormous amount of plastic in the sea and washed up on beaches,
The accommodation was first class the food excellent but mostly fish dished but first class the accommodation was good and the rooms air conditioned .
the boats were excellent with Yamaha 75 engines and the guides were excellent really looking after you.
It would have been nice to have had more info on end tackle especially as we did a lot of live baiting
The fishing was first class with out two boats catching Jack Cobia Otlie Barracuda Capo Rouge as well as some sharks which were released at the side of the boat ,
The tackle provided was of the highest quality well suited to the job and the resort has a well stocked tackle shop with prices equivalent to the UK market.
All in all a really good venue the local people are really friendly the guides really look after you and the weather was calm the whole time we were there.
If you are considering visiting we found the Reimans factor 50 was really good as well as a decent sun hat glasses and gloves it was about 36 degrees around noon however each person is supplies with about 4 litres of water kept in ice so no dehydration worries."

"This is the second time i have visited Guinea Bissau.
The accommodation food and service at the lodge was excellent as was the fishing which was excellent every day.
The venue is well worth a visit and as we were the only UK anglers in the lodge the entire week i feel some people are missing out on a fantastic holiday experience.
I would like to make a few suggestions for Sports quest firstly the information sheet has not changed since my last visit in 2019 and still speaks of arriving at night when the flights have changed to a daytime arrival.
Most importantly the information sheet says to bring End Tackle.
What exactly is end tackle?
It would be a great help if sportsquest could ask the owner Gilles to make up a sheet of what to bring for example circle hooks what size of poppers split rings jigs etc The waters in the Bijagos are shallow and the tackle is relatively small a detailed what to bring list would make life easier for first time visitors and the guides who often find people have brought the wrong gear
Overall this is an excellent venue and i would highly recommend a visit. "

"Fishing was outstanding on long days with excellent guides. Accommodations were superb and the food was excellent. The host and staff were friendly and couldn’t do enough for you.
This was a two stop flight rather than the one stop journey we were led to believe.
Transfers interesting!
Type of fishing was 80% live baiting, not mentioned beforehand. Would have revised tackle choices, if known.
All in all a great adventure…


"

"First trip since 2018 and a great trip to. Traveling was tiring 24 hours door to door nonstop and it isn’t that far compared to other destinations I have visited. The return journey seemed a lot easier with a short 6 hour stay in a Bissau Hotel off sorts, before our journey home and not having to stop at Cape Verde as on our way out which put another 3 hours on the flight.
Slow jigging was all new to us and we relied on our guide to where and when we jigged and it was all down to the tides and wind and the mornings weren’t very productive. Come the late afternoon and that was a different story hook ups to lovely Jacks seemed to be every drop down. The problem was that after three days of jigging for maybe two hours a day we were running out of the right weight jigs as the Barracuda kept eating them and not giving them back.
Due to the tides and wind 80g jigs were the smallest you could get away with and l only had a few 100g jigs with me but could have done with 130-150g at times. Silver and orange jigs were the colours.
Popper fishing apparently was only any good when the water was super clear and the sun was shining, we tried around reefs a few times during the day with only a few small barracuda.
During the times when you couldn’t jig or fish poppers you would catch small bait fish which could take 2-3 hours and then fish live baits on 5/0 circle hooks which was good fun to start and you can catch lots of different species fishing this method, but it’s not for me, as I like a little more challenge, it is something that they seem to like doing a lot as it gets lots of fish. Take plenty of 5/0 circle hooks with you as lots will be eaten by Barry.
We lost three mornings due to high winds, but the afternoons the wind would drop away and we had our best fishing. On day 4 we went out late the sea was flat calm and bait fish were everywhere,after fishing live baits for a few hours and catching our first pompano and cobia the guide said to reel in and we were going popper fishing as the water was clear and tides were good. That evening was fantastic with some of the biggest jacks of the trip hitting poppers in the 150mm range and seeing them hitting bait fish on the surface was great.
The next evening was the same and we were hopping for our final day to be the same as the winds had dropped and we could get out early. We started jigging with the last of our jigs which was hard due to the tide but we managed quite a few jacks. Then we left and we thought we were going to look for bait as we were heading for a large flock of gulls, the guide passed us our popper rods and as we got closer you could see jacks hitting bait fish. We managed one cast each, one hookup and a hit before they were gone.
We then thought we were going to try and find bait but were taken back to the lodge early as we were leaving 5pm that afternoon, so our last day was cut short and fishing was all over.
Lots learnt, now have a better idea of what tackle to take and planning a return trip, not sure when as I have a few other destinations to try first.
Thanks to all the Sportquest team for their organising of the trip.
Looking forward to speaking to Peter about Arapaima in the Amazon.
Thanks again
Reuben
"

"Excellent fishing and accommodations. Very friendly staff and very knowledgeable guides. I can recommend this Tripp to everybody. "

"Excellent trip thank you for organising this"

"I’ve fished in many countries and this was the best trip I’ve made. It combines a variety of techniques and quality fish. I caught an average of around twelve a day and probably lost the same amount. Barracuda, Redfish, Queenfish, Jacks, Pompano, Cobia and others. The boats, engines, tackle, tuition were good, and my schoolboy French was adequate. Kasa Africana is a gem and the team cannot do enough for you, and a special thank you to Regina. Clothing is washed and dried overnight, there is a fair selection of drinks at the bar, the food is good, air conditioning works well, there is some internet and hardly a mosquito in sight. There is good tackle to buy if required and a good stock of medicines if there is a problem. However, this is not a trip for the faint hearted. It is hot, the fishing days are long and the fish fight hard, the crossing from the mainland can be rough, the whole journey from the UK can be long, and the country is poor, but it is worth it. Many experienced fishermen return time and time again, and I may be one of them. Well done Sportquest and looking forward to our next trip with you.

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"We had a great experience in Guinea Bissau. I would like to make a special mention of the Kasa Afrikana lodge. The lodge is very professionally run, has great facilities, food and drink. The staff are lovely - and they will stop at nothing to make sure that you enjoy your stay. Now, about the fishing: the fishing is superb, both in terms of quality and (certainly) quantity of fish; but I think it is fair to say that this is a not a lure/popper fishing destination - at least not in our experience. We caught by far the majority of our fish on livebait, and the remainder on jigs, fished close to the bottom. I did fish a couple of marks with poppers - some shallow water adjacent to an island, and The Chimneys - we had some follows but the fish didn't show any full blooded commitment. It was clear that our guide didn't rate our prospects, as in each case he was keen to move on after a short time fishing the lures. I didn't once reach for my fly rod.
So, a typical fishing day will entail motoring out to find and collect the livebait before fishing the known marks. Our skipper was very patient (we only have a basic understanding of French, and he didn't speak or understand English, so there were a few communications issues), hard working, and humorous, and, most importantly, he put us on the fish. We caught Jack Crevalle , Barracuda, Cubera Snapper, Cobia, and the superb African Pompano which ran long and fast even on a tight drag. Would we go again? There is certainly much to commend, but I like to fish lures and break out the fly rod occasionally so will probably look for an alternative for my next trip. That said, anglers looking to catch plenty of hard fighting fish , in stunning surroundings, hosted by a great lodge, are bound to have a great time - as we did. "

"All was good, was a serious language barrier ( my fault for not knowing french) but there than that it was mostly good, the fishing method mainly used was live bait or dead bait which I didn't realise so didn't bring any feathers to catch them on and they lodge charged €7 for something that would cost 50p, on the pre trip information it states you should bring the largest hooks possible, they were mostly too big and some smaller hooks were required, also vertical jigs ideal weight was 80g most of what I took was too large. Aside from the political nonsense it was a good trip and very much enjoyed and I look forward to booking my next holiday. Thanks "

"Flights-Exhausting. Would the Portuguese airline be a better option? Boat to/from Bubaque - I would suggest take light waterproof and have ready. It is open boat, not big and on the way back to Bissau port I was soaked to skin. Was as if I had swam there. The fishing was superb. I achieved all my listed species. The Guitar Shark was smallest, yet fascinated me most - 100 million years same form and the evolutionary link between rays and sharks. Last 90 mins of trip I wanted lure fishing. My lures. In that time, I had 16 Barracuda with only 1 under 20lb and best 42lb. I also landed:

300lb Bullshark.
65-70lb Cobia.
Jack Crevalle 30-35lb.
Otilete 30lb
Lost a huge Snapper.
Stingray 30lb

I loved Kasa Afrikana. Great staff. Room perfect. Good advice from Paul to have room + boat to myself. Other than flight, trip exceeded my expectations. Food lovely - fresh fish. Big help that I speak French. Next time I will have to charge for guest translation services! I was so completely exhausted on return that didn’t know - still not fully recovered. Bird life fabulous. Did you know the Palm Nut vulture is very rare indeed, but I saw quite a few there. Flamingos. Pelicans. Fish. Eagles.
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