The Ivorian angler's annual calendar
A year of Ivorian fishing runs on two clocks: the ocean's, set by the two upwelling seasons, and the lagoon's, set by the rains and floods. The table below combines the two. It gives seasonal trends, not promises: the species-by-species detail is in the species sheets, and the digital version of the calendar is refined every year with readers' observations.
| Group | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large pelagics (tunas, sailfish) | P | P | F | F | F | F | ||||||
| Small pelagics (sardinellas, bonga shad) | P | P | F | F | F | F | ||||||
| Coastal predators (jacks, barracudas, Spanish mackerels)very strong near the coast in the cold season, good the rest of the year at the lagoon inlets | B | B | B | B | B | B | F | F | F | F | B | B |
| Marine bottom fish (groupers, snappers, dentex)all year round, best in cool water | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B |
| Lagoon species (catfish, tilapia, croakers)high salinity Dec. to April: marine species in the lagoon; flood Sept. to Dec.: fish gather towards the inlets | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B | B |
| Beach surfcastingbest windows: cold season and evening rising tides | F | F | F | F | ||||||||
| Rains | G | G | G | P | P | |||||||
| Upwelling (cold water) | P | P | G | G | G | G | ||||||
| Biological rest (closures)set each year by ministry notice (appendix B): in 2026, mainly July and August, until the end of October for some lakes and gear | R | R | R | R |
F: strong or main season · P: present, resumption or minor season · B: good all year · R: biological rest (closed season), dates for the year to be checked. Seasonal trends, not promises.
Two key periods dominate this calendar. The main cold season, from July to October, when the upwelling brings the whole food chain close to shore: this is the Ivorian angler’s quarter, from the shore as well as offshore. Yet it opens with the biological rest (closed season): each year, some fisheries close in July and August, sometimes until October (appendix B). Check that year’s notice before setting out. And the lagoon dry season, from December to April, when the sea moves back into the lagoon and pushes barracudas, jacks and threadfins as far as Dabou and beyond. Build your year around these two windows; the rest belongs to the species sheets, the weather and luck, in other words to fishing.