Delayed flights, dodging potholes and donkeys during the late evening transfer on a dark road in Africa, and a lost anchor early on the first day of fishing marked the start of an interesting 4 days on the water. Mike and Peter had to spend their first night in Maun after a 10 hour flight delay. They caught an early morning transfer from Maun to meet up with the rest of their party consisting of Ken, Anton, Graham and Jem who were already in camp. With regards to the anchor…… I will not go into details about what went down. Thankfully the guests on board for the day had a good sense of humor and were very forgiving (after quick and somewhat painful ‘straf dop’ that evening in camp).
After my rocky start, I was not going to except defeat so easily and after some deliberation with senior guides, Kyle and Lionel, decided to change my tactics to suite the changing conditions. The runs were gathering momentum with thousands of catfish pushing on upstream, however the tigers did not show up in their usual numbers, and we were made to work for the fish that came to hand. The curse on my boat was lifted and my mojo restored after Mike landed the first double figure tigerfish of the season. A super 10 lb fish that devoured a black SF brush fly on Mike’s very first cast on the 3rd day.
Not long after that Graham, using a flick-stick and tiger jig, landed a beast of a tigerfish weighing in at 12.5 lbs. After a few more tigers were landed, Mike also got his first three-spot bream on fly. A superb fish which we all thoroughly enjoyed landing. This was followed by some time out of the midday heat, enjoying a couple of well earned G&T’s and a dip in the pool before the afternoon session.
On the last full day of fishing the guides stumbled upon some good runs downstream of the lodge where the tigers were feeding furiously on the surface, chasing and smashing the fleeing baitfish. The action was explosive and very visual as Jem and Ken got smashed on just about every cast. During the carnage, both anglers landed some very good tigerfish, up to 7 lbs, as well as a whopping thin-face largemouth of 5 lbs. This great session was a fitting end to a great trip with a super bunch of guys. We headed back to the lodge for dinner and a solid fines evening ensued, where both guides and guests were made to “pay” for their misfortunes during the week. Needless to say everyone had a good time during a week filled with good company, good food and good fishing.
See you on the water.
Pierre, Lionel and Kyle.
