Zambezi Tager Fishing

Fly-fishing on the Zambezi river in southern Africa is a relatively undiscovered secret. This magnificent river which stretches some 2600 km from its source in Northern Zambia down to its delta in Mozambique. Along its length Anglers can enjoy some of the finest flyfishing to be found in Africa, if not the world. In addition to this the river presents fishermen with the opportunity to experience some of the most well-protected wilderness areas and natural spectacles in Africa. The two which immediately come to mind, being Victoria Falls and Mana Pools National Park.

Flyfishing is vastly underrated on the Zambezi. The main reason for this being that most anglers still prefer to use the more typical methods of trolling, drift baiting with strips of fillet or live bait on a conventional spinning rod. Having recently returned from a three month safari through most of Southern Africa I can confidently say that the Zambezi holds a lot of promise for the flyfisherman who is prepared to get out there and try their luck.

The main angling species on the Zambezi is unquestionably the impressive Tiger fish; so called because of its vicious teeth, beautiful striped markings and wild temperament. When a Tigerfish hits the fly it can come in any shape or form. Typically, when using a streamer or minnow impersonation the fish will hit like a steam train, leaving the angler in no doubt as to who – or what – has just savaged your bait, and quite often a slack line. They hit so fast, and so hard one cannot afford to lose concentration for half a second as any resistance on the take can easily result in losing your fly and leader. They are very quick and enormously powerful.

The best time of year for the Tiger fish varies enormously depending on which stretch of the river you intend fishing. It truly is a river that will provide good sport angling almost year round. The only exception being in the tropical summer period (December-February) when seasonal flooding of the Zambezi tributaries turns the water a chocolate brown and fish have trouble seeing the surface – let alone any fly or alternative bait.

The Zambezi river in the Caprivi area of Namibia is a relatively narrow, fast flowing river with sandbars, deep drop offs along the bank and good fishable structure all along the river. What makes the Caprivi section worthy of special mention is its seasonal flooding. Being the most northern section of our target area and with no artificial control of water flow upstream of this area allows the river to swell from approximately 250 m wide in the dry season, to a staggering 30 km at the widest point in the Wet season. This incredible flood pushes the water up onto savannah floodplains that allow all of the fish access to a huge feeding and breeding area. Later in the year, usually in late April, May, the river recedes again and millions of fry start a mad scramble to get back into the main river. This obviously provides a paradise for any predatory fish – of which there are plenty. The Tiger fish form efficient, aggressive attack shoals and drive these fry into a huge rolling shoal of food that they herd out away from protective cover. Once the fry are out in the open the tiger go into a frenzied attack pattern knifing through the shoal and snapping at anything that twitches or glitters.

Moving downstream again will take anglers to what locals refer to as The Lower Zambezi Valley. This section of the river is where I have spent the majority of my time and the section of river that is by a long stretch my favourite part of the Zambezi, not least of all just because of its remoteness and lack of civilisation.

There are sections of the Lower Zambezi that are populated and although these areas can produce good fishing I have always made a point of seeking out the most remote and inaccessible areas. These areas have generally been spared the havoc that is wrought upon local fish populations by fishermen with gill nets, drag nets and fish traps. Subsequently they offer some of the finest angling I have found anywhere along the lengths of the Zambezi that I have explored. In addition to great fishing the areas I have fished also provide excellent opportunities to enjoy some of the top wildlife areas of Southern Africa. I have often been driving down to the boats and encountered lion or leopard on the short journey and it is a common occurrence to be fighting a Tiger fish while drifting down past a herd of elephant or buffalo that have come to the river for an afternoon drink or mud wallow!

Here again the river has changed significantly and in some places is more than 2 km wide. Interspersed with sand and grass islands there are a myriad of channels, drop-offs, river mouths and other structure to fish here. The best times of year here for Tiger fish are more or less parallel with those times of year that work well at Victoria Falls.