Tiger Fishing

Tigerfish:
Fly Fishing Tackle:
The best rod for Barotse tigerfishing is an 8 – or 9 wt with a fast action. This allows you to cast the larger flies that are sometimes needed for trophy tigers and provide enough backbone to subdue big fish quickly in order to affect a successful release. Match the rod with a high quality large arbor reel holding at least 150 meters of backing. Tigers make long fast runs and this is when you need a dependable reel with a reliable drag system. A large arbor reel has an advantage with its ability to pick up line more quickly if the fish turns and run towards you (which they often do). The reel should be loaded with fast sinking full line or sinking shooting line, depending on personal preference. At times when tiger fish are feeding on or close to the surface you may want to use an intermediate or floating line.
Standard leaders for this type of fishing are constructed as follows: 9 foot of 20-25lbs monofilament or fluorocarbon, joined by an Albright Knot to about 4- 6 inches of No. 1 – No. 3 piano wire trace.
The fly is attached to the piano wire through a Haywire Twist (remember that the loop of the haywire twist should be wide enough to allow the fly to move freely). Check this after fighting fish or being hooked up, and be sure to open the loop up with pliers if necessary.
Tigerfish will strike a variety of patterns, and most salt water patterns work well for them. At times they can show a preference for a certain colour combination, so continue to experiment if you fail to pick up strikes. Deceiver patterns work well, and don’t be afraid to throw the biggest fly your gear can handle; big fish love big flies.
Clouser minnows in grey, black and olive with touches of red, yellow or orange are also very effective.
The important thing is to tie the fly with a short shank straight thin point hook which is razor sharp as used by Gamakatsu stinger and Grip hooks sizes 1/0 – 3/0.

We use and recommend the following set up:
Fly rod: Stealth 9wt , Sage 9 wt , G-Loomis 9 wt
Reel: Able, Shilton, Stealth GT, Tibor
Line: Airflow depth finder (300gram), Airflow Di7 ,Cortland 444 tropical intermediate and floating.
Wire: No 1 – No3 piano wire.
Leaders and tippet: 20-25lbs maxima monofilament / 20-30lbs fluorocarbon
Hook:Gamakastu or Grip size 1/0 – 3/0
Flies: Clousers tied in black, red, grey, olive and fire tiger
         Black and olive whistlers
         Zambezi deceivers
         Flies tied with a deep profile with synthetic fibers

Other Essentials:
Stripping Basket: is recommended for fishing from boats and helps to avoid the frustration of line catching into parts of the boat or blowing overboard during windy conditions.
Long–nosed pliers: are required to remove hooks from the toothy mouths of tigers.
A Bogagrip is also useful for landing and weighing your catch without damaging the tiger.
Polarised sunglasses:
Stripping glove: is a good idea as the thin, fast sinking lines dry very quickly in the dry air, and if a good fish hits you, you can get burnt fingers and sometimes nasty line cuts in your finger joints without it.
Hook Sharpner: Hook points must be kept razor sharp as tigers have hard, bony mouths and getting the hook to penetrate properly can be a problem when using incorrect or dull hooks. Check hook points after “hit” or hookup, and make sure that the point is still good.
Suitable headwear:
Additional braided loops (30-50lbs)
Camera and Binoculars
Torch
Sun Screen
Mosquito protection

Species:
Tigerfish (Hydrocynus Vittatus)
Tigerfish effectionally known as striped river dogs grow to 30lbs but this is very rare, with fish over 8lb’s considered to be a good fish and fish over 10lb’s as trophies. Tigers are one of the fastest and ferocious freshwater fish which can be targeted on fly.
Tigers are found throughout the Zambezi river systems and its larger tributaries and the Chobe, Okavango and Limpopo rivers.
During the summer rains the Zambezi swells, flooding the extensive low lying floodplains. When this happens, the fish move into the shallow waters of the flooded grasslands and reed beds to breed – all sorts of species from catfish, various barbus and tilapia species and many other baitfish such as minnows, robbers, churchills and bulldogs. The water slowly recedes after the rains. From May – July the last water is drying up or being forced back into the main channel by the dropping of the water level. With the receding water come the fry and small fish which are forced into the channels. The tiger know of this phenomenon and take advantage of it. Trophy tigers are plentiful and feeding frenzies abound. For the angler this is known as tiger fever time...