IGFA Member

May 2008

May is upon us in a heart beat, where does time go? We are approaching winter at speed!

It has been a hectic month, and some serious & humorous fishing all round.

The Zambezi Classic over Easter was a great success, and the fishing this year was brilliant, even tho the Kafue was flooding, there where some great fish caught and a few really good size fish. John Clemons caught a wonderful 5.15 kg Tiger which won him largest fish & biggest Tiger, Danielle Stewart landed her biggest Tiger ever which weighed in at 5.01kgs  winning her second biggest fish. Some nice Chessa where also caught, Andrew Constintinou landed a winning fish of 1,27kg’s. And Congratulations to the “Fishlops” who finished 1st overall!! 

The wining team “The Fishlops” making there way out of the flooded campsite.

The following weekend saw the Kalimba Junior Bream Comp, held at the Kalimba Reptile Park; this event is always a hit with the kids and simplifies the whole concept of fishing.

Coming up is the River Lure & Senanga, any one interested in attending any Comp, please do not hesitate to get hold of me, or any ZSFA Member.

Better still log onto the new ZSFA Webb site and get all the information u need on fishing Zambia!!  www.zmfish.net

The ZSFA would like to inform Lodge Owners and related businesses that there is an opportunity to advertise on this site, getting you right in the face of fisherman!!

Now that we have covered the past, lets move swiftly onto the future…There is a BIG push world wide on “Catch & Release”, protect our wildlife heritage etc and I am a great believer in both “Catch & Release” & “Selective Harvest” I do not see the point in having to harvest fish unnecessarily, sure there are certain species that are very tasty to eat and others that are great fun to catch, so on that note I am always looking for new ways to improve my catch & release methods ..Drum roll please. Bring in the Circle hook!!

This has to be the most strangest hook I have ever seen, I remember when I was a kid and a hook called the Van der Mervwe hook, was never too sure if my Old man was pulling my leg or not, same kind of thing, u see this hook but are convinced that it is some marketing ploy to put more tackle in ur box. However the powers that be tell me that it is used extensively, world wide for big game fish that are released.

The idea of this strange looking hook is that, it will in theory hook the fish in the side of the mouth. As the fish takes the bait and swims away, the fine point penetrates the side of the mouth and with the strange bend the rest of the shank follows suit, and one has the fish firmly hooked in the side of the mouth. All this and one does not have to even STRIKE!  This theory would be ideal for our Tiger fish, as it seems to always be screaming away with half my line, before I get to do anything.

So nothing ventured nothing gained, I made up some nice long traces and firmly attached a 6/0 Gamagatsu circle hook. Cut some fine looking cutlets and put the theory to test. The plan of action is as follows, when one gets the take and away goes the line, give it a few seconds then crank the reel handle and retrieve any slack line, keep reeling in as u take up the pressure and just simply sweep the rod to ur fighting position….ya right….easier said than done. Honestly the hardest part after years of being told that a Tiger has a mouth like steel and one should strike like a man possessed, was actually NOT striking!!

I got 4 bites & landed 4 Tiger, 2 of which where hooked in the side of the mouth and the other 2 had swallowed the hook, impressive and I would recommend using them, they certainly work I am sure they would work even better with a braid line with no stretch, such as Fireline as the hook would set itself.

The best part is that u have a Tiger hooked perfectly in the side of the mouth, which makes for very simply hook removing and releasing.

News from around is that the waters are slowly starting to recede and some work has started on a few of the roads.

Tight lines

The River Rat.