FLY FISHING FOR TIGERS IN THE ZAMBEZI
Text by John Yelland
Pictures by Ritchie Morris and John Yelland
John Yelland
I have just returned from ten days of fishing on the Zambezi at Sekoma and Ilombe Lodge. Upstream Flyfishing put together two five night trips back to back and I hosted both! The place is a maze of winding waterways with a fantastic abundance of fly fishing opportunity.
They were excellent trips – good fishing, superb lodges with super friendly and accommodating staff, scrummy meals, a really good bunch of guys and some magnificent game viewing thrown in!
The weather was perfect – cool in the mornings and around 25 degrees during the day – no wind and with sun rises and sunsets that only happen in Africa.
I love tigerfishing and over the full ten days we caught about twenty fish of ten pounds and over – two fourteen pounders, caught by James Coates and Ted Huddleston, topping the list.
James Coates with a 14 pound tigerfish
We all also lost some pigs – monster fish the memory of one of these will stay with me for a very long time! I was fascinated by the difference in the takes – sometimes they would be super gentle – like a little brown trout sipping in a tiny dry fly and other times it was as if your fly had been hit by a charging hippo!
Once my fly just stopped dead, I gave it a yank and nothing happened and I started muttering to my fishing buddy that I had caught mother Africa when my rod buckled and what turned out to be a thirteen pounder exploded out of the water! Very exciting stuff!
We had a very enthusiastic thirteen year old on our trip, Sam Brown, and his excitement was infectious! Within ten minutes of his arrival at the lodge he had landed his first tiger from the lodge deck – he easily caught more fish than anybody else on the trip!
Mark Krige is hosting another group next week when the barbel runs should be in full swing – I just know that he and his guys are going to have a great time with screaming reels and line cut fingers!
I have already booked for next year!
John Yelland Upstream Fly Fishing http://www.upstreamflyfishing.co.za/ Tel: +27 21 762 8007
