Ultimate African Tiger
Fishing Safaris
1997
Ultimate African Tiger Fishing Safari The day begins at 5:15 AM...October and November are known as suicide months in the bush of southern Africa as temperatures soar over 40 degrees Celsius (over 100 Fahrenheit). Temperature wise, the early morning is probably the most comfortable time of day. After a cup of coffee we find ourselves back on the river. The Zambezi river below Victoria Falls is considered the world's ultimate one day white water rafting run and due to its remoteness and incredible rapids not many people fish this area. The "rhino" inflatable boat handles the rough stretches of river quite well although if you try and fish while spinning in an enormous whirlpool you will be thrown easily from the boat. A few casts finds the fishing quite slow. The baboons along the shore watch us with interest. We chum the water with a mixture of dried bream and kapenta fish but nothing seems to work. It appears that unusually early rains in September have made the fish go off the bite. We ponder the effects of El Nino. The rest of the morning finds us furiously working peacock bass lures across the surface while praying to the river god. For all our efforts we were only able to get a few medium tiger in the boat. Better than nothing. We return to the lodge for lunch and siesta through the hottest hours of the day. In the afternoon we again head out armed with renewed spirits and a cooler box full of beer. The Batoka Gorge is a magical no man's land. The black basalt cliffs loom above us as we shoot through a narrow channel - the day's heat radiating from the rock wall so we feel as if we are in an oven. A handful of chum thrown on the water surface confirms what we already know - the river is packed with voracious tiger fish…hundreds of them! Dave's and Tim's reels start spinning with fish on the run. Then my reel starts humming. All three fish produce spectacular fights, but in the end, all are lost. It appears they are territorially attacking the lures but not running and swallowing as usual. A few beers soothe our souls while we work the river. Another cast and BOOM the fish are on! My line is disappearing at tremendous speed. The reel is screaming as the hidden tiger came up for a leap. It burst two meters into the air, head shaking, the click of its grinding teeth clearly audible. It crashed back into the water, made another long run downstream and leapt magnificently into the air. By now it was 80 meters away and still heading out. I stared in disbelief as the tiger tail walked over 100 meters away, its teeth flashing like sabers as it shook its head ferociously. I applied pressure and the enraged fish simply tore off more line and commenced another series of aerial acrobatics! 6 or 7 minutes later the tables were turned and I had the fish by the boat's side and into the net. What a rush! Especially considering the fish weighed about 2.5 kilograms and we were after tiger 3 times this size! For the next ten minutes every cast is taken by a tiger and we get 3 nice tiger in the boat. As quickly as it started it was over - the fish went off the bite. Back at the lodge the whiskey flows freely as do the jokes. After a few drinks Dave decides that tomorrow, on day 3, he will face the mighty river God, Nyaminyami, one to one rafting. After a delicious four course meal we retire early to our thatch bungalows. The distant sky glows as a bush fire makes its way towards the lodge.
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