The Heart of Africa
I recently received a very kind note from Tony Watson, who lives in Africa. In it he makes reference to fishing for tiger fish in the Okavango Delta, So I’ve included a couple of photos of fish from that area. He says,
Dear Mr. Borger,
Just a short note to say how much I enjoy your articles, stories and pictures.
I live in the Kalahari Desert in the far North West of South Africa, not to far from the Border with Namibia. As you can imagine, Trout, Bass and the like are about as common as hens teeth here. However,not far away is the G’ariep which is the Bushman name for the Orange River, the longest in the country. Being so remote, there is no fishing pressure whatsoever. In fact I am probably the only Fly fisher for a few hundred miles around. The river is stuffed with a fair variety of hard fighting fish some species of which live in the fastest, deepest and scariest rapids one can imagine. Hooking a powerful fish in such rapids is a challenge indeed.
As an old age pensioner I can no longer afford the fuel costs to reach the river so these days I tend to fish via my memories and through sites such as yours. Given that our village is so remote the antique telephone system struggles to deliver the internet on dial up (when the wires haven’t been nicked) makes looking at the pictures an exercise in patience.
As a small boy in the 1950’s I would fish for Pike on Zambia’s Kafue Riverfrom my Dads boat. It was a sort of double Decker and he would sit on top of the canopy taking pot shots at Crocs while I fished with home made spoons. You had to watch out for Hippo, as they would now and again charge the boat The splashing and huge wake they kicked up I remember to this day. Later I moved on to the Zambezi near the Victoria Falls for Tiger fish and to Botswana to fish the Caprivi Strip and the Okavango Delta.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences with so many people.
Kindest regards, Tony Watson
The Okavango River. The birds are feeding on baitfsih stirred up my a giant school of catfish. Tiger fish are feeding along the outside of the catfish school.
Guy Lobjoit with a nice toger fish taken from the Okavango.
The teeth of the Tiger are something to behold, and something to be reckoned with.