Tigers at Sekoma on the Zambezi

[travelmember]

Having spent or rather mis-spent some of my youth around Vic  Falls, I have tried to give my kids some idea of the experience via an annual  fishing trip as soon as they reach an age  where they appreciate it.


This year it was the turn of my youngest now that he has  reached 10. Now Cole has caught bottoms, tail, longfin, bass, carp, trout etc  but has had to wait his turn on tigers.


Last Monday we left Cape Town at an unearthly hour and then  connected via Joburg on the flight to Livingstone. I had booked Sekoma Lodge through  Gareth Coombes,  as my fishing buddy had  visited last year and highly recommended it - especially for youngsters. Sekoma  is situated above the Falls on the floodplain in the Caprivi strip area and is  very close to Impalila, Ilombe, Shackletons etc, but due to its island location  and experienced guides with quality boats, is quite unique.


The fishing theory is that as this part of the river is at  the lower end of the floodplain, once the river level starts to drop after the  seasonal floods, it sweeps all the young, small baitfish into the main current  where the tigers queue up for a conveyor belt of protein. Feeding frenzies are  common and the action is generally hectic, although the time span can be  limited to a short two-week period, and rarely extends over a month. This years  flood lasted longer and was higher than normal, and as a result the hectic  season hadn't really started. Now this is not encouraging news to hear when you  arrive, and I had fears of another – “You should have booked next week /  month…..”.


Nevertheless as soon as we stepped off the shuttle boat, we  dumped our gear, rigged rods and hit the water. Our guide, Alec, recommended  experimenting to see what the flavour of the week would be. Well, we didn't  exactly cover ourselves in glory! We tried casting Rapala Magnums, Shad Raps,  Fat Raps, DD6, DD10, weighted jigs, plastic grubs, Mepps, EffZets, and even  resorted to casting out a deadbait......a few half hearted knocks from  undersized fish were all we got. Eventually we fished a small pool and each got  a couple of small fish, at least the duck had been broken, but the fishing was  certainly tough. Around the bar that night we heard of a few better fish being  taken upriver on a black and red bucktail jig, which we quickly procured from  the bar!
After an excellent meal and a few Mosi's we retired to plan  our first full day. We decided to drift and try and cover a large section of  water alternately fishing with spinners and jigs. This requires accurate  casting as you are pitching into very small areas of either eddies, tributaries  or holes in the grasses along the banks.
I fished with a 7' Shimano Nexave (15-30lb), Stradic 5000  loaded with 30lb yellow PowerPro and Cole used his 8' Sensation Tiger Tamer  with a FinNor Lethal 40 and 20lb green Sufix 832. We also used another Nexave  with a 5500 Ambassador for the deadbait rod and a 8 weight fly rod for when I  wanted a change. Terminal tackle was as simple as possible. Braid tied directly  to a tiny barrel swivel and then a 40cm (60cm on the yellow braid) piece of  25lb piano wire to the lure / jig / fly. No snaps, coated wire etc - keep it as  unobtrusive as possible.
After a early morning run into the bitterly cold morning  wind we started fishing seriously.


Cast after cast, hitting each zone  expectantly but with nothing to show. This continued until about 11 when Cole  fluffed a cast and it dropped his DD10 short into a mass of floating weed. As  he pulled it free a large bucket mouth engulfed it and crash dived. Both Alec  and I shouted nembwe (green bream) and sure enough we soon netted a great  specimen of around 7lbs - a really good size for this fish.


Nembwe are aggressive,  predatory fish and have been overfished quite extensively in the system due to their  excellent eating. This one was destined to breed again however and we soon  released it. We returned to the camp in high spirits for lunch and Cole was  duly congratulated on the catch of the day. The afternoon was quiet with me  releasing only one 5lb tiger despite our best efforts. As the rest of the  fisherman (the camp can accommodate up to 24 guests) returned we were regaled  with stories of bigger fish feeding at Golden Pond about an hours ride upriver.  Gareth, who was in camp hosting a group, had accounted for 11 fish himself up  to 14lb!

[travelmember]

This made the choice for the next day easy and we duly set  off with high expectations. Most of the guys on the river had the same idea and  Golden Pond soon looked like Cape Point on a Saturday morning when the tail are  thick! As so often happens in fishing though, don't fish yesterdays fish!  Whilst the fish were there, they were very finicky. A couple of boats  eventually cracked the code and caught a few fish on a jig twitched dead, dead  slow on the bottom. I managed an 8lb and Cole got a 9 but that was it for us.  Most boats blanked or managed one fish, whilst the top boat managed 6.


Clearly a change of plan was called for so that our last day  would produce some fish. Listening to the bar chat that evening I decided to  head further down river than the other boats and fish in a smaller area known  as JoJo's.


My reasoning was that the while fish were tuned into the baitfish  being swept off the plain, they didn't like the wind as the ripple it caused  meant they couldn't distinguish the bait from the surface - so I wanted  somewhere more protected, and they certainly didn't like noise so I wanted to  be boat alone. As the fish were higher in the water column, I ditched the jig  in favour of a small copper Mepps to imitate the bait. The decision was touch  and go for the first hour after we reached JoJos as the wind blew and the  locals were still pulling their nets from the night before.


Fortunately the wind soon dropped and it coincided with the  Zambian fisherman retiring to repair nets. We soon got a couple of knocks on  the Mepps but no hook ups and I think this was because we were retrieving too  fast in order to give the blades some action. I changed both rods over to 22gram  copper EffZets and then we finally got a decent take. In short order we had an  8lb fish released and then proceeded to have the best 4 hours of tiger fishing  I have ever experienced in 25 years of fishing the river. The fish simply  turned on and their activity called in more and bigger tigers and so it  continued. I started off with an 8, then a 10lber, then a 5 then 7 and so it  went on.

[travelmember]

More to follow when Eskom switches our power back on.

[travelmember]

Cole then got his first 10lber and then followed it with a  12. That is simply a fantastic fish for the river. But then he managed another  one of 15lb! Many guys have fished the river for years and have not been  privileged to catch a fish of this size. To say I was stoked was an  understatement!


Not to be outdone I elected to cast further up current and  let the spoon sink thinking that the bigger girls would be holding a bit  deeper. Sure enough I got a solid take and soon had an 18lb tiger in the net.  My best on the river.


 This was an epic day, but more was to come. I  followed it up with a 17lb fish and then switched to a chiselnose  plug to see the surface takes - just for the  fun of it.


A few fish stuck (most knocked the plug skywards!) and I added  another 10lber to the list. Cole meanwhile was fished out. We had already  missed lunch (amazing how for once in his life, food was not a priority!) and  had thoughts of heading back. I mentioned to Alec that with this many big fish  around, there may be the elusive 20lb river tiger around.

[travelmember]

I followed it up with a 17lb fish and then switched to a  chiselnose  plug to see the surface takes  - just for the fun of it. A few fish stuck (most knocked the plug skywards!)  and I added another 10lber to the list.


Cole meanwhile was fished out. We had  already missed lunch (amazing how for once in his life, food was not a  priority!) and had thoughts of heading back. I mentioned to Alec that with this  many big fish around, there may be the elusive 20lb river tiger around. Bearing  this in mind I told Cole to go for one more cast, as far as he can. No sooner  had he done so and started his retrieve, then he went properly vas! Alec and I  both looked at each other and said "big fish". The fish then jumped  about 60m downstream, and we said "Bloody big fish"!


Cole fought it like a pro, rod down, lots of pressure,  changing angle, walking it around the motor, doing everything right. Finally  the fish was boatside and gave one last jump right next to the engine. My heart  was in my mouth as I was praying that the hook would hold, which it did, and  Alec then scooped it up into the net. The shouts were loud, high fives all  around and all Alec could say was "big fish, big fish,". The fish was  clearly close to the 20lb, and then Cole asked what was the record for the  area. Alec said 21lb as he unhooked the fish and grabbed it with the boga.  Silence as he held it up and then he said "21pounds................and a  half".




I swear every boat on the Zambezi could have heard our  shouts of joy. What a fish!.


We took some photos and then made sure she was healthy and  strong before releasing her and saying a silent prayer of thanks.
Needless to say, we stopped for the day and returned to the  lodge.
That night around the fire the story was told and retold and  the pics shown on the screen and Cole took pleasure in buying everyone the  obligatory round of drinks.
It was a long night following a long day, but I am sure we  will both remember it as long as we are fishing.
I have no idea of how to follow that up though!


For the record, I highly recommend Sekoma which can be  booked through Gareth Coombes - and if he is in camp, spend some time him - a  truly excellent angler and one that all of us, despite our own expertise, can  learn from.

[Lenny]

nice , very very nice .
Thanks for the report .

[sardinella]

Thank you - nice report

[Cage]

Great report, great catches and such a special piece of the Zambezi! Well done on some excellent fish! Off to sekoma in a few weeks time, hope we get into some of this type of action too!

[MIKE PIKE]

   congrats on some great tigers caught , looks like you's had great sports , well done to Cole those are some decent catches at that age , especially the 21.5 pounder ....   and great report as well .

[REEFMAN]

What a great report! Felt like I was there! Awesome catches! Congrats!

[Fishaholic]

Awesome report, thanks!     
 
  thats some REALLY nice tigers there! 

[dodger]

a great report and some magnificent fish  I'm  ,very well done  , it's another one on my bucket list

[MIKE PIKE]

A bit off topic  TM , but how do you rate the Fin-nor Lethal 40  spinning reel that Cole was using .. ?? thanks .   

[travelmember]

Early days as it is still in its first season.
However it has pulled around 20 yellowtail up to 8kg, some small skippies, katonkel and the tigers and the drag is still smooth and easily adjustable without going from 0 to full in half a turn.
We had no premature bail closes, the retrieve is fast and smooth and I really like the handle ergonomics.
In all honesty I preferred it over the Stradic for the lighter applications.
Will give it a thorough testing on cape snoek where it will do at least 10 a day, get covered in slime, salt etc and then let you know if anything poor materialises.

[MIKE PIKE]

   being looking at the Fin-nor lethal range in both multiplier and spinning versions , seems like a quality reel and reasonably priced as well .

[L Hooker]

Awesome well done, love the Zambezi!

[super_daav]

Superb report and epic fishing!! Those are some seriously quality fish!! Super envious!