Th
Tiger
Time in Tanzania. reflections from the season
Keith Clover and Rob Scott - Tourette Fishing
"Yes it'll come back, cast! CAST! Wait. Right,
strip now. Faster! Here it comes. OHHHH On!
Stick it, and again. Insiiiiide, &^%$ it's big!
That's what we come here for, yeah!" I won't
carry on with the rest of this recording from
an outing during our recent season in Tanzania.
A dozen or so profanities back to back do not
make for good reading. Suffice to say the fish
in question, ripped 30 meters of line, tore
through a fallen tree and spat the fly out in
disgust! The couple of Canadian clients on the
boat were left trembling, shell shocked and
awed, still trying to piece together what had
just happened. A quick glance to Sixbet, our
coxswain, and we shared a knowing grin. Similar
moments of chaos having been repeated many times
prior over the course of an epic season chasing
trophy tiger fish in Tanzania. This year we
spent a total of 114 days guiding on both the
Mnyera and Ruhudji Rivers which make up the
Duma Tiger Fishery in Tanzania. Having spent
seven weeks setting up in the area last year,
we entered into the season thinking we had the
fishery pretty much worked out. This was soon
to change. Over the course of the season, we
came to understand the intricate habits of the
Tanzania tiger fish and the fishery. This in
turn led to refining our tackle and fly fishing
techniques. In the following paragraphs we look
into these refinements, and reflect on the observations
we made over the season. Firstly, it is imperative
to have an understanding of the waters that
are being fished. Both the rivers flood seasonally,
water levels rising over 2 meters between the
dry and wet season. Much like the Lower Zambezi,
we focus on the area as the waters begin to
drop and until such time as the rains arrive,
at which time the water level literally rises
as you watch it! Both rivers are an average
of 50 or so meters wide, with many areas narrowing
down to 30 meters and the widest sections around
100 meters across. Competent fly casters can
reach either bank when drifting the middle of
the river. The rivers are rich in structure
- loads of fallen trees and submerged timber,
sand banks and the associated deep channels
and drop offs, rocky out crops offering riffles
and big eddies, deep undercut outside banks
and, at the headwaters, rapids of astounding
beauty. What this means to the fly fisher is
simple: no cast is made without thinking. Each
cast must be made giving thought to where the
fish will be holding in the associated structure.
Fishing is done off the drift, and off anchor
when trying to get flies into the deeper holding
areas. The fishing is technical and exciting.
Drifting a productive stretch, planning ones
strategy knowing you have only one shot at the
prime lie and possibly a trophy tiger fish,
is fly fishing par excellence. Evolution of
terminal tackle: As with all fly fishing, to
achieve consistent results, one has to adapt
to the local conditions - an evolution of sorts.
And as geneticists love to study isolated populations
for the mass of information they can offer,
fly fishing in new territories provides a completely
fresh angle on how best to target certain species.
There is no doubt that this is the case in Tanzania.
We ended off the season last year using standard
20lb leaders attached to the fly line with perfection
loops, leader to wire with an Albright knot,
and finally a haywire twist joining fly to wire.
June and July's pre season recci saw the first
change to this set up. We were loosing too many
big fish on the take. Most break offs occurring
on the weakest point in the set up, the perfection
loop. Thus after a series of tests, we began
to use Bimini twists as the top loop attaching
the 20l leader to the fly line. This offered
far more strength. We were however still unhappy
with the albright knot joining the #4 piano
wire to the leader, as this became the weakest
link. The 'improved' or 'double' rapala knot
was then used (see picture), and we achieved
a breaking strength of around 18lb on this leader
set up. Job done, or so we thought. Late August
and the first couple of days through the season,
and guests were popping this improved leader
set up as though it were 6X tippet. The strength
and speed of these fish, proving too much for
many anglers to handle in the heat of the moment.
All leaders were then beefed up to 30lb test.
This is where it stayed for the rest of the
season. Now for those who think this is an over
kill, imagine a 20lb fish hitting a fly, that
is moving in the opposite direction, at 50km
per hour - this translates into 140 lb's of
force on the take! We would quite happily beef
the leader up to 40lb if the risk of loosing
fly lines when snagging on structure was not
a constant threat. Even while using 30lb mono,
snapped leaders were a constant reminder of
the size of the tigers we were targeting. Flies:
As with any new fishery, you always start with
what you know about a species. With decoding
the feeding habits of the Tiger fish of the
Mnyera and Ruhudji Rivers, we started with all
the firm tiger favourites from other tiger destinations.
Black clousers, whistlers and polar fibre baitfish
patterns worked well early season, due to the
discoloured nature of the two rivers. Black
Whistlers, with their ability to push water
were a firm favourite throughout the early season,
especially in the late evenings. With lower
than average water levels, clarity on both the
Mnyera and Ruhudji Rivers increased substantially
over the first few weeks of the season. This
gave rise to more thought on fly selection.
More imitative patterns became the name of the
game. We concentrated tying flies based on the
most prominent bait fish in the two rivers.
These small fish are called Red Finned Barbs,
and closely resemble the Imbere found on the
lower Zambezi, just a lot bigger. The biomas
of this species in the river is astounding.
At times they can even be seen jumping clear
onto the river banks in an attempt to get away
from aggressively feeding tigers. One of the
most prominent features of this baitfish, when
viewed in the water, is its large conspicuous
eye as well as striking black spot on the base
of its tail. These along with red tips on the
fins and tails, were some of the strongest triggers
for the tigers. With these in mind, Steve Farrar
Baitfish patterns, with large eyes, and red
tips proved extremely successful. A number of
natural brush flies specifically tied for the
Mnyera and Ruhudji rivers proved deadly with
the increasing water clarity. As with other
systems, the choice of fly colour varied throughout
the day. Plain black, and black/grey patterns
dominated the fishing in low light conditions,
and natural colours such as olive, rainbow,
and tans produced the goods through the middle
sections of the day. What is very important
to note was that SF blend bait fish patterns
tied over and under the shank, to give a stronger
profile, out fished those tied only above the
shank. Also, flies with large eyes whose pupil
was dead centre, produced better than flies
with pupils off centre. The lack of penetration
when hooking trophy tiger fish, results in a
lot of pressure put on the hook curve due to
the pronounced lever effect. Grip's short shank
stinger hook (21571-BN), was the only hook that
consistently stood up to the task. Fish habits
Fishing rivers so rich in structure presented
two unique hurdles on the path to 20 pound success.
First was the problem of actually getting the
fly into the strike zone of fish holding deep
and tight to the structure. Secondly, and more
obvious, was the problem of the physical obstacles
in the water once a big fish was hooked. These
tiger fish don't necessarily fight dirty, but
with the first run of a trophy fish often covering
substantial distance, the probability of getting
hung up was great. Over the course of the season,
the above situation pushed many men to the brink
of tears. On more than one occasion fish launched
themselves through overhanging branches, and
sometime even onto the banks, on their first
hit. The outcome was always the same. For the
most part, it is almost impossible to turn a
large fish if it happens to head for structure
on the take. Later in the season we had some
success landing fish in this situation by quickly
releasing the drag to almost free spool. This
allowed the fish to carry on running through
or around the structure, and gave us chance
to get the boat into a position to un-snag the
fly line. There were some interesting lessons
to be learnt about the structurally oriented
habitat of the tigers. Naturally the biggest
fish, as in any system, occupy the best territorial
niches within any given area. These being areas
that offer the most cover, the strongest eddy
from the current, and the optimal position from
which to ambush prey. In most situations, these
areas are the deepest parts of the river with
related structure. In adverse fishing conditions,
such as a drop in pressure or water temperature,
the largest tigers hold tight in these deep
holes, behind or underneath structure. This
makes fly placement and presentation a very
tricky affair. In such times, when fish are
reluctant to actively hunt and feed, the only
path to success is to cast tight, and let ones
fly sink as deep as possible - a tricky affair
when casting flies while drifting! There are
two angles of attack when attempting to reach
fish holding deep and tight. The first is to
fish a longer leader (9ft or more) with heavily
weighted flies. The flies mentioned above, tied
with ample lead wraps, heavily weighted clousers,
and even tungsten beads slid onto the wire above
the fly helps to achieve the desired results.
Accurate casts to the structure, mending upstream
as the fly sinks, and a super fast strip out
of the structure produces strikes. Not surprisingly,
most hits in these situations come in the first
couple of strips. Line control in these situations
is crucial. Secondly, anglers can focus their
efforts on structure which is suitable for tigers
to hold on the upstream side of. Such structure
is very specific. It has to be sufficiently
large enough to cause a small upstream bow wave,
creating a buffer in which the tigers could
hold out of the current. Log jams and large
boulders provided perfect examples where tigers
would hold on the upstream side of the structure.
In these instances casts are made four to five
meters above the log jam. Flies were allowed
to drift back and sink into the log jam. Interestingly,
most fish caught using this technique, tend
to be smaller. Over the course of the season,
some interesting observations were made on the
different sizes of feeding fish, and how that
effected the fishing. In the cases when the
larger fish were off the bite, we generally
caught smaller fish between the 4 and 8 pound
range. This was a consequence of the smaller
fish being able to move and feed more freely
in the absence of larger hunting fish. A reduction
in feeding activity by the smaller fish, more
often than not, signalled that the larger specimens
had come out of the structure and were actively
feeding. During these stages, when intervals
between bites increased, keeping ones focus,
for that one big hit, was paramount. Explaining
that fewer bites was in fact a promising sign,
was often met with scepticism. Thorough thought
given to each cast, and concentration on every
strip is vital. We always advise guests, to
be prepared for a hit each time they strip their
line; this, a measure to prevent the angler
from getting a fright on the strike, and either
jamming up on the fish, or loosing all coordination
failing to set the hook. When the tigers in
this system are feeding aggressively, a good
proportion of tigers bought to the boat would
have other fish chasing them. We witnessed tiger
fish steal the flies out the hooked tigers mouths,
taking bites out the tiger and on occasion cutting
the hooked tiger in half. Even fish in the 8
to 10 pound range were not safe, and a few of
these fish got "taxed" by huge tigers on their
way in. Once an intimate knowledge of the rivers
was acquired, one could accurately predict areas
and structure that would hold trophy fish. The
aggressive response triggered by a hooked tiger
could be used to good effect in those situations.
If a smaller fish was hooked while drifting
into a promising stretch of water the small
fish was not bought to the boat immediately.
Instead it was left fighting in the current,
about 8 yards from the boat. Often this would
lure the bigger tigers from their lies, into
the main channel, and into a feeding frenzy.
Although very frustrating for the angler who
hooked the smaller tiger, it is extremely exciting
for the second angler on the boat. The fly fisherman
lucky enough to be in the casting position,
has to then cast his fly directly at distressed
fish and strip it back as fast as possible.
Casting in the mere vicinity is not enough,
as any tiger triggered by the hooked fish will
quite literally be trying to steal the food
out of its mouth, or make food out of the tiger.
This technique was most productive when a shallow
section holding smaller fish dropped immediately
into deeper water. Fighting the fish Fly Fishermen
tackling the tigers on the Mnyera and Ruhudji
Rivers, have to be prepared for any manner of
strikes. Although most fish hit hard and fast,
leaving little doubt as to what just happened,
we witnessed a significant amount variance in
behaviour of the strike and initial run (or
lack there of) of some of the really large tiger
fish. There were many occasions when "I think
I am stuck on a snag" quickly changed to "its
moving slowly, is it a croc?" Even with a guide
shouting commands to the angler to point the
rod at the snag/croc and give a solid strip,
most of these situations ended in tears when
the said snag/croc had enough hanging around
and took off like a bat out of hell, trashing
tackle and leaving all on the boat shell shocked.
As tigers do, many swam directly up stream on
the hit causing ones line to rooster tail towards
the boat as the fish jumped behind the angler
who had no chance of keeping up with the fish.
Other fish fought beneath and around the boat
from the start, never running far, just heavy
head shaking. No matter how the fish strike
and ultimately fight, one rule remains constant.
Be rough and fight as hard your tackle allows
from the start. The objective is to hook, and
hold onto, a fish with jaws an inch thick and
made of bone. No hook can penetrate this! Period.
The single most important thing to keep in mind
and implement from initial strike and through
the fight is consistent smooth pressure. Side
pressure away form any structure goes with out
saying. These fish are not forgiving. The slightest
bit of slack, and they spit the fly. The smallest
jerk and the 30lb leader snaps like cotton.
The balance between too rough and not rough
enough is fine! Countless dropped fish or broken
leaders resulted in a serious decline in angler
confidence. In many instances over the season
fly fisherman couldn't understand what they
were doing wrong. The fact of the matter is
merely that this is the nature of the beast.
The massive jump from the tiger fishing most
fly fisherman have experienced, to targeting
fish of such speed, power and size, combined
with the impenetrable jaw, and river full of
structure seems often insurmountable. Another
point to consider, and this is something we
feel holds true for all tiger fishing, is for
anglers to not attempt to get the fish on the
reel if it has not run the line off itself.
Trophy fish that didn't initially run onto the
reel were often dropped when anglers shirted
their focus at staying connected by reacting
to the fishes movement when trying to reel loose
line back onto the reel. We find it far more
successful to take the fight as it comes, keeping
100% focused on the fish. Lastly, and again
this holds true for tiger fishing anywhere,
many big fish are lost close to the boat during
the prolonged head shaking fight just before
landing. This can be avoided by doing ones best
to keep the same angle on the fish. What this
means is no sudden left to right movements of
the rod and line which changes the angle of
your line from rod tip to the fish. Anyone who
has been hung up on impenetrable structure (hard
wood or rocks) when fishing can understand this
principle; very often, when you get closer to
the snag, or even above if (as when you are
landing a fish), your fly pops free. This exact
situation occurs with trophy tiger fish. Apart
from when you get a solid hook set through the
scissors, most of the time your flies only purchase
on the fish is the sharp point holding somewhere
in the hard mouth, not unlike when you test
a hooks point for sharpness against your nail.
A slight change in angle here will release the
hooks purchase. When the fish is close to the
boat this is greatly pronounced. Other Species:
Apart from tiger fish, fly fishers managed to
land a couple of new species on fly over the
course of the season. The first and most exciting
being what the locals call a 'Gundu'. This fish
has a body that closely resembles and tiger
fish, a mouth shaped like a milk fish, and a
set of teeth that closely resemble a human's.
We are working with ichthyologists at the moment
on their exact classification, but it seems
to belong to the same family as the red finned
barbs and imbere. Over the season four of these
fish were landed on fly when targeting tiger
fish, all between 3 - 6lbs. One fish of 12lbs
was landed on artificial lure. Their dental
structure suggests they are omnivorous. We also
noticed them rising under fig trees and have
come to the conclusion that these are the fish
splashing around late evening during caddis
hatches. Next year will definitely see more
time dedicated to decoding these fish. The other
interesting fish landed on fly was a yellow
catfish, which seems to belong to the Bargus
genus. The fish resembles the sharp tooth catfish
but with far more developed whiskers, a fish
tail, longer slender head and pale yellowish
skin. The couple that were landed weighed between
6 - 14lbs. We did however witness a 40lb plus
fish in the headwaters, which is promising.
Fly fishing is a wonderfully dynamic and integrated
pursuit, and fortunately so. For although, the
above reflections and insights were made on
a wild river thousands of kilometres from where
many fly fisherman regularly target tiger fish,
many of the underlying principles hold true
regardless. It is through such endeavours, when
ones paradigms are shifted, that we find ourselves
adapting and developing new techniques and methods.
This has definitely been the case when targeting
tigers in Tanzania. I personally cannot wait
to put to test some of these tactics when targeting
tiger fish closer to home. We hope you do to.
|
Farquhar, not your average fare 
