| 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. |
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Rockavango - It's Not All About the Runs
