fly of the tiger

8/3/2019 Fly of the Tiger

1/5

CEMBER 06 gEtaway

Side

strap

Top strap Zambezi River

gEtaway

ly of the tiger

Caprivi, the mighty Zambezi River, fish eagles, elephants, hippos

crocs, three mates and one raft. Jazz Kuschke reckons Charles

nailed it when he said: The angler forgets most of the fish he ca

but he does not forget the rivers and lakes in which they are cau


2/5

CEMBER 06 gEtaway

Its the eye of the tiggEtaway

was calculated; the

chaos in the rat was not.

Wo-oow exhaled Keith. Something had

just smashed his y. Bi-eeeg tiger, he said,

glancing down at his reel which was whistling

that most avourite o shers tunes. Te back-

ing (150-odd metres o braided line y-sh-

ers attach to the back o their 30-metre-long

y lines when targeting game sh) was burn-

ing through his ngers. Attached to the other

end was a title contender o a tigersh with a

well-trained ght plan aim high and hit ast.

Forty metres downstream it exploded out o the

river in a tail-walking, head-thrashing efort to

throw the hook rom its mouth.

Over! Move over! Rayno shouted to Keith.

Teres shade on your ace. He was lming

the trip, and wanted to get the best angle and

light. Keith, obviously, had to go another couple

o rounds. And man, did he want that sh. We

wanted that sh.

Te trip was a recce mission, and the plan

was airly simple: use an inatable rat to drit

and paddle an 80-kilometre section o the up-per Zambezi River, spending three or our days

y-shing or tigersh and camping wild.

Te original crew was three strong. Guide

Keith Clover (the man who hatched the plan)

rom ourette Fishing Saaris wanted to see

i oat trips could be commercially easible.

Rayno Egner, a wildlie videographer, was

there to capture all the action on lm and I was

on board to take photos o the sh we hoped to

catch. Tese were the details anyway all we

really wanted was to battle big tigers with y-

shing tackle.

It elt kind o cool to be doing something

or the rst time not as hardcore as Living-

stone or Holgate, but sort o explorationish

anyway. Float shing trips are popular on

big trout rivers in America (they do them in

snazzy wooden skifs over there), but to Keiths

knowledge, it had not been tried on the Zam-

bezi although parts o the section we drited

is regularly shed by lodge clients on motor-

boats. Te beauty o using the rat was we could

get into the shallow, sh-rich sections where

those motorboats couldnt we had no motor

to wreck in the rapids and we had all day.

Te trip was late July mid-winter. Te d ays

arent too hot, the nights relatively insect ree

(which helps when youre camping on a river

bank in Southern Arica) and the river is boil-

ing with sh. Somewhere towards the end o

May each year, the ood waters covering the

Caprivi plains between Katima Mulilo and

Mombova start draining back into the main

Zambezi channel. Countless tiny ry and newly

spawned ngerlings are carried along on these

warm, nutrient-rich waters. igers and variousspecies o bream cruise the drop-ofs and reed

edges looking or lunch.

Did m ime, ook m chnces

Tere he goes again. Now 70-odd metres

rom the boat, the tiger was airborne again.

On points, Keith was behind, but he was

playing the patience game tire out your op-

ponent. He kept his rod tip down, shoulders

tucked in, trying to stay in touch and in con-

trol. In his eyes was a plea or the sh to come

in, in his posture the composure o years on

the water. He was loving it; this was what we

were there or.

From Sekoma Island (an islet about 80 kilo-

metres upstream rom Victoria Falls) we had

commissioned one o the luxury tented shing

lodges motorboats to run us 80 kilometres up-

river into the Caprivi stretch o the Zambezi.

On the way up we mapped our return route

on GPS (there is a web o snaking side chan-

nels and small lagoons to get lost in),

marking potential camp sites.

Once upriver we inated the little

rat, loaded our camping and shing

gear and enough ood or a couple o

days and took to the river. We relied

on the current and our paddling power

to carry us about 20 kilometres a day.

Te three o us shed hard. Usu-

ally up beore dawn, wed break camp

while gobbling rusks and cofee and be

on the river and shing soon ater

rst light. Wed pick our way along

river bank, with the oke at the helm

(we took turns shing and paddling)trying to keep the boat as close to the

ooded reeds and shy looking struc-

tures as possible. Te other two would

balance in the bow and stern, casting

downstream toward the bank. Tis edge

dance oten led to us getting our lines

ouled up, making or some team work and

special efort rom the oarsman to get the y un-

stuck. When the ies w erent attracting enough

knocks and runs, wed trawl lures. I a shoal o

sh was ound, we would tie up and spend time

shing it.

The commotion in the waterABOVE: This is domestic life on the Zambezi note the rafts wooden deck used as a kitchen table. RIGHT: Theearly fisher catches the tiger. BELOW: Rayno Egner lands a nembwe.

ABOVE: A red and black clouser minnow. LEFT: Three kilograms of

Zambezi muscle about to be released. PREVIOUS SPREAD: Once

camp had been set up, wed cast into the dying light for tigers.

A sure way o nding the sh was by looking

or birds. Egrets and herons lined the verges,

waiting in motionless ambush or minnows

washing of the plains with the receding ood.

Sea shers use a similar tactic to locate schools

o game sh ofshore nd eeding birds and

youre golden.

Tis would go on until round midday, when

wed nd a suitable spot to beach or

Tere wed rest casting muscles and h

quick bath nd a spot hopeully

crocs, away rom drop-ofs and deep

ter, and have a dip. Ten wed sh again

our camping spot or the night was rea


3/5

Te shless, windy stretches were spent

trying to improve our paddling speed records

(measured on the GPS). Rayno managed to

clock an impressive 8,5 kilometres an hour intoa massive headwind.

At night wed crawl into our sleeping bags

with the rhythm o the river still swaying in

our legs. Our arms and hands ached rom 10

hours o casting and paddling; our bodies were

sunburnt and tired, but more content than a

boxer ater a knockout.

Well, there was that one that got away.

Okay so there were more than one. But our wa-

ter hours did pay o. Ater inrequent and small

tigers (try calling a two-pound tiger small and

dare telling it that it cant jump like dad) on the

rst two days, we cashed in on day three.

o escape the wind our boat detoured along

a small tributary and drited past a miniature

stream draining o the plains. Te rst troll-by

produced a sh, so did the second. We hauled

the boat onto the sand and shed o the beach.

Nearly every other cast raised a viscous hit

rom a nembwe (a very sporty species

o bream). We stopped counting at

about ve each.

But the magical 10-pound trophy

tiger still eluded us. Keith, ever the

optimistic guide and great motivator,

spurred us on: No worries boys, we have

three more ull days o shing ahead.Tat was our last ull day on the drit, but

we looked orward to two days o shing the

rapids around Sekoma Island.

Where motorboats fear to tread Keith and Rayno pro-

specting a shallow, fish-rich stretch of the Zambezi.

Non-fishing fun Take a boat trip to Chobe National Park.

Check out the birds.

Visit Vic Falls.

Lounge on the deck at Sekoma Island

and watch the river flow by.

HigHs

Every time a tiger hit your fly. Landing tigers.

Losing tigers.

Camping whereever we wanted.

Lows

Headwinds.

Its the cream of the fight...

getaway DeCeMBeR 06


4/5

Getting as close as possible to reeds and structure is often the key to finding fish. Just got to make sure you dont get your line caught.

the windiest sections; much as our egos wanted

to, we probably wouldnt have managed 20 kays

a day into the unseasonal head winds that pes-

tered us. And he showed us where to sh.

Its the way all uture foat trips will be done.

A back-up boat will carry all the gear and help

with transers i it gets too windy, making or a

sae and comortable foat trip.

and hs chin us ll in h

of h ir

Even beore I could properly untie us, it was

over. Just like that. Less climatic than a knock-

out, but bloody painul nonetheless. Around

us everything seemed quiet, not even the rapid

sounded like an applauding crowd anymore.

Keith mumbled something in river French.

Te scientic name or tigersh, Hydrocynus

vittatus, translates roughly to striped river dog,and this terrier had managed to break Keiths

leader line (as about seven out o 10 hooked on

fy do). What else do you expect when dealing

Rising up to the.

with three-centimetre angs and those inamous

aerial antics? But then thats what lures shers

rom around the world. Was this one over the

magical, trophy 10-pound (4,53 kilogram) scale?

Keith thought so. And anyway, it was all catch

and release, so we wouldve let it go.

getaway DeCeMBeR 06

ladviser overleaf

Risin up o h chlln of our rivl

Te boat! Untie it, quick! Weve got to ollow

him. Te tiger was using brawlers tactics and

was reusing to be bullied back upstream, so we

would have to go ater it.

Our boat was in mid-current, holding in a

small eddy and tied to a submerged tree by a

stretchy-strap. With Rayno behind the cam-

era, it was up to me to captain us through the

small rapid and onto the fat section where,

somewhere below, a toothy trophy had Keiths

clouser minnow in its mouth. But rst Id have

to get us o the branch.

While the Zambezi o the Caprivi plains is

fat and wide, the section o river around Se-

komo and Impalila islands is chopped up by

rapids. Ideal or the rat.

And as wed be staying at the lodge we

wanted to show up the lodges shing clientsand prove that the rapids (and the young rods)

rule. We arrived back at Sekoma Island Lodge

beore lunch on a windy ourth day, and got

there that early thanks to the ourth member o

our crew a late inclusion who turned into the

teams most valuable player. One o the shing

guides rom Sekoma Island Lodge was initially

only going to erry us upriver and drop us o.

Instead he stayed with us, camped, made us

laugh and foated the river.

With his motorboat he towed the rat through


5/5

botswana

zambia

zimbabwe

B8

B

8

M10

M10

A3

T1

Chobe

Zambezi

Zambezi

Victoria Falls

Mambova

Sesheke

Katima Mulilo

SekomaIsland

VictoriaFalls

Kasane

namibiaCaprivi

Flood Plains

ChobeNationalPark

Livingstone

w e

S

N

0 20 40 km

namibiabotswana

southafrica

zimbabawe

zambia

moz

ambiqu

e

Check out the glove on Keiths left hand to protect it from line burns from big-tiger runs.

Challenge of our rival

Adviser

Who to contact and what it costs

t fg s specialises in fresh-

and saltwater shing safaris in Southern

Africa. From tiger shing oat trips on the

Zambezi to kingsh from a surfski in Zululand

or shad on the Wild Coast Tourette will

tailor a trip for you. The trip we did will be

available as a ve-day package, with the

rst three spent camping along the river

and the last two at Sekoma Island Lodge.

However, itineraries are exible and can be

tailored to suit your needs. The oat trip

costs R2 130 a person a day. This includes all

meals, soft drinks and transfers, but excludes

ights. For more info on Tourette Fishings

operations, contact tel 033-344-2250, e-mail

[email protected] or visit www.-

touretteshing.com.

How to get thereNationwide Airlines

ies daily between Johannesburg andLivingstone, for around R2 700 a person

return. For reservations contact tel 086-173-

7737 or visit www.ynationwide.co.za.

Visas South Africans arent required to

obtain visas for Zambia.

Health There is malaria along most of

the Zambezi, so prophylaxis, anti-mosquito

spray and ointment and wearing long clothes

after dark is highly recommended.

Tackling upYou need a y rod with

backbone and power to handle tigers.

A seven or eight weight would sufce,

but a nine weight is best. Our shing

correspondent used a 8/9 from Elbe: its a

sturdy, value-for-money rod that does the

job. It costs R312 and is available from Akals

Tackle in Durban, (tel 031-313-2000).

Youll also need a large arbor reel with

a solid disk drag and space to hold at

least 120 metres of backing. We used an

aluminium 9/10 large arbour from Elbe (R570)

and an Okuma Airframe 7/9 (R153) both are

available through Akals Tackle. Load your reel

with a DI7 fast sinking line (sinks at seven

inches a second) from Airow which costs

about R500. Remember to take spare lines.

Fly selection hangs somewherebetween biology, science and intuition.

So its up to you, but Keith trusts his clouser

minnows, tied with: red and black; all

black; grey; grey and black; olive and grey;

chartreuse and white; yellow and white,

and re tiger colours.

DeCeMBeR 06 getaway52

(Eye of the tigery svv)

foat zone

fly of the tiger

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