| Fly
Camping the Okavango We had stopped for lunch
on a remote Okavango island, after a potential
catfish run had been found during the morning
session. The camp was promptly set-up, canvas
bed rolls, inflatable mattresses, mosquito nets
and the simplicity they offered were the order
of the day. A good pile of fire wood was easily
collected; fold up tables erected and the bare
essentials carried off the boat. While a pot of
coffee was brewed to chase a good lunch, leaders
were retied, and fly boxes restocked. Everyone
was smiling with banter spurring on the high spirits
of the camp. It was the golden hour of the evening
that was on everyone’s lips. For we were
camping on a remote island on the Okavango River,
far from our lodge, with a good cat fish run building
momentum within a stones throw from our fly camp.
Perhaps the reason for the boyishly laughter was
that everyone knew the potential that evening
held. That when the light faded and the tigerfish
were attacking the flies at fever pitch, we were
going to be the only anglers with a line in the
waterThe Okavango River spills into the North
Western corner of Botswana, after a long journey
through the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, and the
catchment area within Angola, although along these
sections it goes by the names of Kanvango and
Cubango respectively. Although the river travels
for many hundreds of kilometers before entering
Botswana, it is the truly remarkable that happens
when the rising waters reach the flood plains
of the Okavango delta. There is a marginal elevation
difference between Shakawe, in the north of the
pan handle, and Maun, some 400km away. With very
little gradient, the flooding water creates a
seemingly endless area of lagoons, winding river,
oxbow lakes, floodplains and papyrus. The area
is vast and its largest covers a staggering 16
000 square kilometers. Considering the perfect
nursery these flood waters provide for juvenile
and small fish species, one can hardly comprehend
the volume of potential tigerfish fodder that
thrive in this temporary asylum. Due to the huge
surface, up to eighty percent of the deltas water
is lost through evaporation. At its lowest, the
area drops to 9 000 square kilometers. It is the
poor misplaced Pisces from that difference of
7 000 square kilometers that make the Okavango
River an incredible place to be when the mounting
baitfish are finally flushed out into the main
channels, where the tigerfish lie in wait. This
situation is not dissimilar to the receding flood
waters of the Upper Zambezi, which also results
is some amazing fishing opportunities, but rarely
cumulate in the schooling catfish and frenzied
feeding on the scale of the smaller Okavango River.
Notably there are catfish runs on the upper Zambezi,
but most often these take place in the smaller
Kasai Channel, and from this it can presumed that
factors that lead to the schooling catfish are
not present in the larger expanse of the Zambezi.
catfish run will build up over a period
of hours to days, and its presence is often given
away by the tell tail signs of waiting birds,
and the clapping sounds the catfish make in the
reeds. The sight of hundreds, and sometimes thousands,
of irate catfish thrashing the sawgrass and papyrus
is really something to get the heart rate up.
Some runs will last days, and can get better over
time. Moving at walking pace, the runs mood will
change as it passes different stretches of river.
Upon reaching stretches of the river that hold
large numbers of baitfish, the mood becomes aggressive
with the slow clapping sound converting into violent
thrashing, as the hyped catfish work in teams
to try flush out the hapless baitfish. There is
no doubt that this increased excitement within
the river bank vegetation is felt by the tiger
fish, and will lead to the tigerfish having a
heightened sense of aggression. It is these passages
when each cast, and retrieve of the fly line,
demands utmost concentration, as the anticipated
bite is often eminent. Most runs will hold large
numbers of Tigers, but one must pay constant attention
in order to make the most out of these unique
fishing experiences. Probably most importantly
one must be able to forecast where there will
be a large number of baitfish holding. This single
aspect can be the difference between good, and
mind blowing fishing. While following the run,
one must always be on the look out for stretches
where the magical equation of high bait concentration,
deep water and structure coincide. In these situations
it is essential to move ahead of the run, get
well positioned, and ready. The anticipation of
the catfish arriving at the forecast hotspot is
intense, this sharp sense of awareness is fine-tuned
upon arrival of the catfish as they chase schools
of dash tailed barbs, bulldogs, bream and silver
robbers into the deeper water. When all the factors
are right, the fishing becomes a visual sensation,
as the fleeing baitfishes are annihilated by surface
boiling tiger fish. Some of these runs are mind
blowing, with so many tigers smashing bait fish
on the surface, that guests had the pleasure of
literally sight casting to specific fish. Singling
out the large tigers, and not wanting to waste
precious time on “rats”. There are
other tell tales signs, to look out for, while
following the mass of cat fish. Birds can be a
useful tool. The egrets and herons, working the
river edges, become not unlike excited children
that have just been given buckets of sweets, as
the catfish find bait and literally chase them
out of the water and into the waiting bird’s
mouths. On a run that spans up to a kilometer
of river, these hyped birds can pin point where
the action is hottest. Other birds that work extremely
hard to help the fly fisherman get onto the action
are the white winged and whiskered terns, the
two tern species that are a common sight around
the catfish runs. Differing from the egrets and
heron, which rely on the catfish chasing the bait
fish out the water, the terns patrol the air above
the deep channels on the lookout for robbers and
bull dogs that are swimming for their lives on
the surface of the deep water. As these exceptional
little birds do in the open ocean, they have an
amazing ability to know where the tigers are going
to tear the surface apart, and hence make the
tiny baitfish more vulnerable to the terns. The
feeling of watching a tern dive on boiling tigerfish
is reminisce of watching them in action over schools
of tuna or bonito. Without wasting time, and getting
positioned up river from the feeding birds, a
drift over the area will often result in being
able to cast to white water of the boiling tiger
fish.In Africa we are blessed to be able to fish
wild, vast areas, but sometimes the vastness of
a fishing area can be daunting, and sometimes
a curse. This is most definitely the case with
the Okavango River. It can take a lot of time
and effort to find a run, covering many kilometers
of water while searching for this action. There
is much excitement upon finding a good run, after
pending a large portion of a day scouting areas
a long distance from camp, and more disappointment
when having to leave the run in the early evening,
in order to get home. Leaving a fishing area in
this manner is often at the prime golden hour
before sunset. It was this disappointment of having
to leave hot fishing action that lead to the concept
of fly camping these areas. Fly camping gave us
the ability to fish further, and for longer, away
from the lodge. With a simple, but comfortable,
fly camp packed onto one of the boats, there was
a degree of flexibility that gave us more time,
over the critical late evening while fishing these
far a field runs. To start the boat, and leave
a run when you can see Tigers boiling all around
you, can only be described as heart breaking,
and something that haunts you for days to come.
On the other hand, already having a camp set-up
on a nearby island, translates into being able
to fully enjoy the fishing, without the shadow
of the long drive home hanging over your shoulders.
It is a special feeling to watch other boats leaving
when the fishing is starting to gain momentum,
thus leaving all the water in our hands. Returning
to our private island well after sunset, staring
a fire, star gazing while reminiscing about the
days fishing, and experiencing a closer bond to
the river after a magical days fishing is a hard
experience to describe, but in one word it is
exceptional.The 2008, Okavango Catfish Run season
proved to be everything, and more, than was expected
of this phenomenal natural event. The fishing
was exceptional, and mixed with the experience
of fly camping on small islands, while exploring
remote stretches of the river, is something that
definitely found a special place within the hearts
of Tourette Fishing team. There is that saying:
that every South African should run the Comrades
Marathon at least once, and perhaps the same adage
could be used for fly fisherman and the catfish
run on the magical Okavango River, and waking
on a isolated island, with birds calling, the
kettle already boiling on the camp fire, and the
first rays of the sun creeping over the horizon,
and the expectation of the tigers only a quick
breakfast away. |
Farquhar, not your average fare 
