Saturday 19th April

Myself and Adam Clark from www.faroutfishing.org.uk, who I booked my two week fully guided fishing holiday with, took a flight from Johannesburg to Livingstone in Zambia where we were met by a driver who took us to the border with Namibia. There we were collected by Mick, one of the owners of the river lodge where we were to stay for the week. It’s worth noting that Zambia charges for a visa on arrival in the country on each visit at a cost of $140 a time. They were taking advantage of the political problems that neighbouring Zimbabwe were having, making Zambia the only safe place to see the Victoria Falls, and as Adam and I were only passing through the country our two visits would cost US.$560. I don't think it will be long before the Zambians see sense and do a u-turn on the visa cost as Adam's company and many other guided fishing and safari companies are re-routing their clients to other country's airports. On route from Zambia to Namibia there are many mud hut villages and although these people are obviously not rich I had the feeling they were not poor either, at least not in the sense of not having enough food to eat. They grow maize, farm cattle and always had a smile on their faces for me; a lot could be learnt from them, eh? On arrival at the river crossing, the road was flooded so we took to a boat and headed for the lodge which would be our home for the week. See aerial photo of the lodge area, the river and floodplains. At dinner it was obvious that at least one of the owners was British. Roast lamb, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy followed by fruit trifle, luverly. Mick and his wife Sue (both Brits abroad) are in partnership with Mike, Steph and their son Garth. All the men are expert anglers, taking part in and winning international matches on Namibian and South African rivers. See photo of Mike and Garth with a good Three Spot Bream. Having Tiger fishing expert Adam as my guide and a local boat driver called Kennedy I was going to be spoilt for advice. Kennedy's dad, Benson, is a local Mokoro fisherman and I imagine he would have passed on much knowledge to his son, which I hoped he would in turn pass on to me.

Sunday 20th April

Up at 6am and after a quick breakfast snack we were off and the river looked fantastic, although it would prove not to be ideal for fishing. Trying to plan my Bronze Whaler Shark fishing with the Tiger fishing proved difficult as timings were too late for the Bronzies with a cold current putting them off the feed and too early for the Tigers. Water around the River Zambezi had not dropped off the flood plains and bait fish were not pouring into the main river in the numbers needed for the fish feeding frenzies I was hoping for. That morning we caught a few Tigers including my PB of exactly 4lbs, caught on a 22gm DAM Effzett Copper Spoon, as most of my fish that week were. At 11am we returned to the lodge for elevenses, a full English breakfast; the lodge is a seriously laid back place. We were soon back on the river and found a Mokoro fisherman (who we were informed a few days later was Kennedy's Dad) and enquired if he had any small dead baits. He didn't but had caught some catfish and Tigers. See photo of Kennedy's dad in his hand crafted Mokoro Boat. Early afternoon, during our return for lunch, I had a new species; a 5lb Sharp Tooth Catfish that I caught on a red headed rapala; good sport from the bank. See photo. Tackle used this week was Shimano Convergence 6.1/2 and 7 foot medium strength spinning rods. Reels, Shimano 2500 Side Stab Re's. Mid afternoon and during our break for tea and muffins (I'm not joking!) at the lodge we saw a Tiger frenzy right in front of us, best described as a shoal of Tiger fish chasing a shoal of bait fish. The predators come up from below, sometimes coming clear of the water and depending on the time of the year a frenzy could last for a minute or hours. This one lasted only minutes and finished before we got within casting range. A few more Tigers were caught this afternoon but none that beat my previous best. At 6pm we headed back to the lodge as it was becoming dark and it's dangerous to be fishing on the river at night with hippos about. See photo. After a shower it was time for a drink in the purpose made lodge pub where stories are swapped and advice given and taken. It's also the ideal setting to spend an hour before dinner! Thank goodness I didn't have to eat supper although there were bar snacks available.

Monday 21st April

This morning we decided to make the 40 minute journey by boat to the rapids or "End Peg" as I renamed it. This is where the Zambian border takes over both banks of the River Zambezi. We kept to the Namibian side of the border bridge and fished in and out of islands giving us many fishing options including slack areas which produced a couple of good fish. Adam hooked a small Tiger that we saw throw the hook during its aerial display but a second later the lure was in the mouth of an 8lb 4oz specimen that took a while to get to the boat. See photo of Adam (Gordon Ramsey's stuntman) and his catch. I lost a good fish today at the "End Peg" but landed a few smaller ones. Mid afternoon we headed back towards the lodge and after tea and cakes went to make our own frenzy happen. Adam and three local lads got in the water on the edge of the flood plain and as can be seen in the following photo, forced bait fish into the main river. The frenzy that followed is hardly worth mentioning and it was the local water bird population that benefited most from Adam's plan, good thinking though. See Photo.

Tuesday 22nd April

We had a lay in this morning and after a hot breakfast got on the river at 8am. We fished purposely for small Tigers for fillets to drift along the river bottom. I have to say even 1lb Tigers are fantastic sport on light gear and their airborne displays are something else. Being the thinking angler I am it wasn't long before I was working out ways to stop these fish from shedding hooks and preventing them hitting lures without getting hooked. I tried swapping the treble for a single on the Effzett but wasn't happy with the action of the lure in the water, it seemed off balance. In the end I added a single hook which hung from the swivel above the lure to hopefully keep the action the same but to add more chance of hooking a fish. Sometimes it's down to confidence and is difficult to verify but I felt that although I didn't get as many hits as Adam or land as many fish, I'm sure I hooked and landed more from the hit's I did receive. I put this down to Tigers hitting the lure from the side as a rear only hook is often missed. Even when it makes contact with the armour plated mouth of this fish, it doesn't go deep enough to stay put. Both Adam and I lost big Tigers this morning and it was frustrating for me but Adam was enjoying making his captures do aerobatic displays by lifting his rod tip high in the air. This caused him to lose a few more because of hooks being thrown. Adam, like me never stopped thinking of how to improve our chances of catching and he asked three local lads to net some bait fish for us. These were collected in a bucket and we tipped hundreds at a time into the middle of the river and drifted down with small shoals all around us. We were waiting for the frenzies to start but nothing happened unfortunately. Would you believe (you would I'm sure) that while sitting at the table for lunch we saw a massive frenzy happening right in front of us but by the time we got the boat into position it had finished. Now I'm sure, and I think by the end of the week my two guides agreed, that the boat was scaring the Tigers and a stealthy approach was the best way forward. Later that afternoon I decided to have a bit of fun and do some species hunting. We fished a deep hole under a high clay bank in front of the lodge but were never far away from where many of the frenzies started. The problem with the hole was it was full of snags, being part of a back eddy but I still managed to add another new species to my list, Spotted Squeekers and more Sharp Toothed Catfish but lost a few big cats to the snags. While fishing in this area my thoughts were also with a twitcher mate of mine, Graham, he would have loved it here. Almost within touching distance I had White Fronted Bee Eaters and Pied & Malachite Kingfishers to gaze at. See Photo of a Malachite.

Wednesday 23rd April

Today we went on safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana. Two of the first animals I saw were in trouble, an Impala with a limp and a Buffalo that appeared to have been damaged by a crocodile and couldn't stand up. Both Lion bait during the night I imagined. This place is not Woburn Abbey and is really wild so when you turn a corner on the track and there is a wild elephant staring at you, throwing its trunk in the air, it's time to reverse, quick! See photo of such a happening. Chobe has a special breed of elephant as can be seen in the following photo. Photo of elephant up the tree. Ok, but the rest of the shots are for real. I didn't get to see most of the top, must see animals, but enjoyed it anyway. After a short stop into Kasane to buy ginger ales for my Scotch and find a tackle shop for some deep diving rapalas we arrived back at the lodge at 5pm and there was just time for an hours fishing. Nothing was caught and another enjoyable meal and social drink was had by all that evening.

Thursday 24th April

8am start and after drifting across our favourite creases a couple of times I fished for a small Tiger to fillet. This was drifted and bumped along the river bed which is 99% clear of snags because of the water's power. A couple of hours later my favoured red headed rapala foul hooked a 2.1/2lb Tiger. We decided to troll close to the Namibian bank and our expert navigator, Kennedy, guided the baits to within what appeared inches of bank side snags. It worked and we caught fish including a new PB for me, a 4.1/4lb Tiger. See photo. Adam and I had both been questioning where the big Tigers would hide when not chasing smaller fish on the surface. Adam started bumping his Effzett really slowly 30 feet down on the river bed and in some cases was not retrieving at all, just letting the current do the work. Kennedy admitted he had never seen spinning so slow but was not commenting further until he saw the results. Adam and I agree the method definitely caught more fish over the next few days. After lunch we headed for the main river and tried fishing the Zambian bank for Tigers and the Nembwe Bream I was eager to catch, but without success. We trolled all the way back to the lodge in the hope of picking up a biggie and make sure we were close to where late afternoon frenzies had occurred in past days. Having different species in mind I asked if we could fish a hole in a swampy area I had seen local anglers fishing. Kennedy said there were cats and Squeekers and there was always a chance of a bream. We had some fun getting to it and had to walk in the swamp itself and a couple of times slipped into deeper than comfortable water. I was a little uneasy about the possibility of leeches attaching themselves to my private bits and when on dry land had to check! The three foot deep hole was "Obstacle City" with a tree and its roots all adding to the snags so I chose a 7 foot spinning rod, being the strongest, and I was going to bully whatever I hooked. We had several laughs during the next 30 minutes with me pulling out PB after PB cat, the best being 7.1/4lbs, all Sharp Toothed which was a shame as there are other varieties in the river. Back to the boat and river for a few more Tigers before it got dark. Adam did best landing a 7lber that took to the air many times but never shook the lure as it was hooked both in the mouth and fouled in the top of its head, a good fish and very welcome. See photo. The catfish bullying experience had given me confidence with the unfamiliar tackle I was using and from this time on decided I would treat the Tigers to the same treatment, "hook and hold" tactics.

Friday 25th April

We were out bright and early and it's worth mentioning that even though I was in deepest Africa, autumn was coming and I experienced a couple of cold nights. First and last thing on the river, a coat or jumper is recommended and although I came up with the following verse, "A heady almost intoxicating experience, the feeling of acceleration and joy, when the boat skips the waves with the wind in your face" It's bloody cold sometimes! Adam set up 6 rods for us today. Two with 22g Effzetts, one for Adam with a treble and mine with the extra single hook added, two with deep diving rapalas and two more with rubber frogs to tempt a Nembwe Bream hopefully. On our last drift before breakfast Adam hooked a big fish and I was a little disappointed for him when a 13.1/2lb PB Sharp Toothed Catfish emerged from the depths. I know he would have preferred something else. See photo of Adam and his catfish evading Kennedy's frying pan! Around the same time I was fighting a good Tiger but lost it under the boat and Kennedy commented my drag was too tight. I answered that had it not been I probably wouldn't have got it to the boat in the first place. I did loosen my drag whenever I had a big fish near the boat again and I never lost another in the same circumstances so who knows? We decided to target the Nembwe Bream on the Zambian side. When the river levels are low they live under the clay banks. I became expert (cough) at casting snag friendly rubber frogs under trees, into holes and twitching them up from the bottom but it was to no avail and although Adam set eyes on a Nembwe, we were to be disappointed. With water levels so high and vast flood plains full of bait fish we guessed where most of these bream would be hunting and it was "mission Impossible". See photo of a Nembwe and its captor, a previous client at the lodge. Just before lunch we sighted a crocodile about 30 feet from us and as it disappeared into the water I took my feet off the side of the boat and planted them firmly on the deck. After lunch our first drift took us past my favourite crease and it didn't let me down. A medium sized Tiger hit my lure but threw the hook on its first aerial display. As the lure splashed back in the water it was immediately taken by a much bigger fish and a truly memorable fight began. I landed my new PB Tiger weighing 5lb 3oz. See photo. I couldn't resist and told my two mates my last three Tigers were hooked by the single hook in the mouth and commented that once I left Africa they would both start using them, they laughed. Adam and I had been winding each other up all week over differing views on tactics. Late afternoon we decided to head back towards the lodge but keeping an eye on the low banks where the flood plain water levels needed to drop only a few inches before tipping the bait fish into the main river. We caught a few small Tigers, some from the main river and a few from the edge of the flood plain. We also came across a frenzy and tried to get amongst it without scaring the fish. I did get one spoon into them and hooked a decent fish, a line bite off was the result. We were using braid and mono is not worth the effort, Tigers teeth are just too sharp. See Photo.

Saturday 26th April (Last day fishing)

We were tempted by the "End Swim" today but didn't want to waste precious time as it was a 40 minute boat ride each way. We started by drifting the creases opposite the lodge, hooked and lost a few and landed some small Tigers then went downstream to the clay banks on the Zambia side for one last look and as Adam saw a big Nembwe we fished for them for a while. As the rubber frogs weren't catching we tried 16gm Effzetts made into a weed free setup by protecting the hook point with a leg from the rubber frogs. Again no joy and I wasn't meant to add one to my 2008 species hunt. After breakfast I caught a small Tiger to fillet for bumping along the river bed and although my guides were not confident I wanted to try it. I cast out and asked Kennedy just to hold the rod for me as neither he nor Adam fancied having such a light set up in the purpose made rod holders at the back of the boat. I faced the back of the boat watching the rod and if it screamed off I felt it was still mine that way. I was also spinning Effzett spoons and hooked a few small fish. I tried a 30gm silver spoon with a red stripe without success. Most of the day was spent spinning while drifting downstream; trolling rapalas upstream and keeping as close to the lodge as possible as this was where most frenzies had occurred this week. 45 minutes before dark and we were due back to the lodge but we decided to try our luck in the floodplains, more as a last resort than anything as we had tried to fish there earlier in the week but only small fish were caught. Maybe we had found where some of the bigger fish go at night, makes sense with hindsight, as both Adam and I were soon into fish and our first two were good ones; a 7lb 4 oz Tiger for Adam and a 3lb 13oz one for me. We had a couple more fish each and it was nearly dark as we made a last drift out towards the main channel before starting the engine. I said to Adam "I wonder if a cast into the main river, spinning back onto the floodplain would be worthwhile for a last cast". Yes it was! And you can see me fighting my last fish of the trip in the photo with a beautiful sunset in the background and the next photo of me with my prize, a P.B Tiger weighing 6lbs 11oz. See how dark it had become. It took me about 15 minutes to land it as I had to bully the fish through thick weed and I was lucky it was well hooked. I would love to tell you it was hooked by a single hook but it wasn't. A small red headed rapala, my favourite lure, did the trick and I would point out the trebles were small and exceptionally sharp. That was it and my fishing was over. I had just one more day left in Africa and the next morning I headed back to Zambia for a visit to the Victoria Falls and our flight to Johannesburg. Corruption is still rife in Africa and Adam told the Zambian customs officers he didn't have enough money to pay the visa charges. He was asked how much he had and after emptying his preloaded pockets with the equivalent of US. $70 in four currencies it was accepted with no receipt offered. (Better than $280 charged the previous week) Gary, of “Africa Gold's” Donaldson’s Dam met Adam and me at Johannesburg Airport where we chewed the fat for five hours before my flight back to London’s Gatwick Airport and Adam’s 12 hour drive home to Botswana . I had a great trip and although I didn't catch any records on the Zambezi, unlike my shark fishing adventure the week before, it was still a fantastic experience. Thanks go to everyone involved but especially to Adam Clark of www.faroutfishing.org.uk.