Flying in early on the first day, we had the De Jong family joining us as our last guests for the season. Lourence sr. with his two sons, Lourence jnr and Eben. Being their first trip they stepped off the plane eager to get on the river.
The first afternoon session was focused on the deeper seems and sandbank drop-offs as the barbel runs were further down the river. Working the Goya jigs slowly the guys managed some fish and got the hang of everything pretty quickly.
Heading out the next morning for their first full day on the water, with some heavy weather over head, the guys knew they had some work to do and decided to try out some live-baiting. With the help of Kyle and myself, we rigged up some tiny hooks and worms as bait for the gents. After an hour or so we had a bucket full of livebait and the guys were ready to try for some tigers after lunch. The afternoon session however was fairly quiet but the guys still managed some nice 4 – 6lbs fish.
Day 2 we decided to take the guys down to Sepopa, about three hours downstream, to find some runs. The weather was really fowl so a slow day was expected. On arrival, Kyle’s boat came across a sizeable run that showed some potential. The guys worked really hard but when fish have lockjaw, there is not much you can do. By the end of the day though, the guys did managed to land some nice fish. All varying from 3-5lbs.
The next day we had an earlier start(also better weather) as we had a long run back home again in the afternoon. Soon after the start, we came across a good run about 15mins down river. The fish were in feeding mode and at one stage the guys were connecting with fish cast for cast. However, this frenzy didn’t last long and soon the fishing started to slow down quite drastically. After the 3hour trek back to Xaro Lodge in the late afternoon, we managed to squeeze in another little session just before dark and ended the day with a prize 5.5lbs Three-spot bream.
The final day the guys reverted back to livebait-fishing as the weather turned south again. Despite the weather, the guys persisted and the day turned out to be a really good one. The guys made all the eats count and by the end of the day they had an 8lbs and two 6lbs fish to write home about. All in all a great way to end a trip.
The weather made things very tough for us this week but with such a great group of anglers in camp, it made the last week of the 2014 Okavango season a breeze.
Till next season
TF Guides Steve and Kyle
