Ultimate African Tiger
Fishing Safaris
1997
Ultimate African Tiger Fishing Safari I awake at 4 in the morning to a deep rumble. As I rub my eyes a shape begins to appear. At first I am confused. A long white object is pointing my way and I see an eye. An elephant is standing a meter from me eating the thatching grass from the roof of my chalet! One giant tusk is almost touching my mosquito net…this is great (In general elephants are pretty mellow) After a few minutes he moves on and I see the rest of the herd scattered behind him …Life in the bush! The sun is well up as I awake to a chorus of hippos, baboons, and birds…Mana Pools! A short walk to Dave and Sukh’s chalet finds them ready and we pile into the Rover. Soon we are on the river. In need of fresh bait fish (chessa and nkupe, small deep bodied fish whose fillets make excellent tiger bait) we boat over to a small beach and hop out with a reminder from Troy to keep an eye out for "flatdogs", the local term for crocs. A few casts later and we have had some bites - but nothing amazing. Chessa and nkupe can usually be found feeding on hippo dung so we jump back into the boat and head to the nearest pod of hippo. As we cut the engine they eye us suspiciously. A few snorts and they are galloping away. Hippo don’t swim, they actually walk along the river bottom. Knowing that hippo are one of the most dangerous animal species in Africa we respectfully cast out our lines letting them settle to the river bottom. Nibble, nibble, a slight tug, and gwacha, I’ve hooked into an nkupe. By turning sideways into the current both the chessa and nkupe use their bodies to aid in their fight. Pound for pound some will argue that the chessa is a stronger fighter than the tiger but as they only grow to 3 pounds or so, there is no real comparison. After half an hour we have 5 chessa and an nkupe in the boat. Troy is busy cutting fillets for tiger bait. By mid morning we have had some great sport. Sukh has had several good tiger runs, Dave has gotten 3 tiger in the boat….all about 10 to 11 pounds, I managed two and Troy had a couple…not to mention all the ones that got away. Great fishing! After a late breakfast at the lodge we head back out. We decide to spend the entire afternoon fishing and arm ourselves with a few snacks and lots of cold drinks. Back on the river and we are enjoying! The sun is bleating down, the sunscreen is flowing like champagne at a wedding, the fish are fighting mad, the beers are cold, and the hippos and crocs are everywhere…what can I say? Wish you were with us! Dave seems to have the luck and catches about 4 good tiger, Sukh and I get a few bites on each cast and I get 1 nice fish in the boat. Troy is sitting back smiling. As if waking from a dream we realize it is dusk - what a day. The last 6 hours were like magic. We push the starter button and the outboard roars to life…we don’t want to miss dinner!
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