BIG GAME FISHING: WHERE IS TERRY? Grander Search part 22: Ghana Nov 2001

Grander Search part 22: Accra and Ada Phoa, Ghana November 2001

Just before Thanksgiving I went back to Ghana to try my luck at catching another "grander" and to greet my boat the Duyfken. Captain Earl Keene and 3 mates had brought it down the 2500 miles from the Canary Islands on its own bottom. I arrived several days before she was due and therefore had planned to fish the "Silver Cloud," an older Chris Craft kept in Tema harbor outside of Accra. The Duyfken got hung up clearing customs and immigration for a few days so I ended out fishing Silver Cloud 3 days and Duyfken only two. Richard Richardson was supposed to come with me but had some unexpected obligations arise that prohibited him from joining me.

The water was blue and the weather very warm. The bait was scatterred but present and my hopes were therefore high. I had not fished Ghana during the fall season but it was said to be as great as the spring activity. The first day out we saw absolutely nothing. I wasn't feeling too well because of a case of "tourista" so it was probably just as well the day was quiet.

The next day was another incredibly beautiful day. We fished hard all day and saw two fish but couldn't entice them to bite. Both were somewhat small and were in the 400-pound range. The last day on the Silver Cloud was also somewhat quiet. We did have a knock-down but didn't see the fish to know whether it even had a bill. The remainder of the day was without action.


Little Ada village	Dugout canoes on the bank	Villagers at work

Dugout canoe with a load	Mate Chris Schultze	Mate Ben Smith

The Duyfken arrived the next morning and we spent all day with officials. That continued on the following morning but about noon we finally got the okay to leave the dock. We steamed out of Tema harbor and headed east to Ada Phoa. After clearing the channel Captain Earl pushed the throttles up and we ran to Pram Pram. We fished there for perhaps four hours without seeing a fish and then fished our way east to the mouth of theVolta river. After crossing the bar we cruised up to Ada and moored at the Manet Beach Paradies Hotel.

The next two days we fished further east despite the fact the water was green since no one was seeing much action fishing the usually productive waters to the west. It was a bit frustrating as Earl had seen some great action on his way down off of Liberia, Ivory Coast, and the western half of Ghana up to Cape Three Points. Nonetheless that was too far to run so we would just have to do our best here under the circumstances. We saw several fish and had a strike but never were able to get a hook-up.

After travelling so far I was naturally disappointed but was still excited to have my boat in Ghana. For some reason the fishing had been slow all the fall season this year and we observed the same thing that the boats from Blue Water Charters were seeing. We will be back though next spring when the fish should return, and the Duyfken will be ready and waiting for us.



Hotel Paradise Manet Beach	Duyfken	Duyfken trolling baits