CAHORA BASSA
Tiger fish are the feistiest fish in Africa, pursued by anglers from all over. Annamaré Wolmarans and her fishing-mad family stayed on a houseboat on Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, where the tigers come with a dose of adventure.
Reader Annamaré Wolmarans and her family hired a houseboat on the Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique and used it as a base for some serious tiger fishing.
My family loves Cahora Bassa. We’d already been to the dam three times before, staying at a different place on the bank each time. Last year we decided to stay on the water in a houseboat. We also followed the advice of fishing experts and timed our visit to coincide with the tiger season in October. It took us about two days to drive the roughly 1 300 km from Lephalale to the village of Nhacapiriri in Mozambique. Near Nhacapiriri we turned onto a poor gravel road and drove to the property of houseboat owner Emildo Sada on the southern side of the dam. From there, we travelled about 2 km to Casa da Pesca Lodge by boat. The houseboat was anchored at the lodge. When we got there, we moved our food, drinks and bags to our new home. That afternoon we departed to our first overnight spot, mooring near a house on the bank that would supply power. (The houseboat did have a generator, but it was rather noisy.) Later, we headed out in fishing boats to some of the nearby angling spots. We cast our lines and… Nothing. Not even a nibble. We returned to the houseboat in low spirits that were lifted somewhat by the spectacular sunset.
We were up early the next morning. First we headed to where the kapenta boats were moored. These small fish are a staple food for the local residents and they’re also sought-after bait for tigerfishing. Buying kapenta early in the morning became a ritual during our trip. We fished until about 11 am. When it started getting too hot, we returned to the houseboat for lunch and a nap, until about 3 pm. Then we had another fishing session until 6 pm. Each time we went to a different part of the dam. Cahora Bassa is on the Zambezi River and it’s one of the biggest dams in Africa: about 40 km wide and 300 km long – that’s the distance between Joburg and Harrismith! Around us, baobabs stood guard over the mountainous landscape. Rivers and streams emptied into the dam from all directions. Away from areas of human habitation, we saw wildlife like waterbuck, kudu, baboons, crocodiles, hippos and monitor lizards. Tiger fish abound in the dam, which has a catch-and-release policy. My whole family likes fishing and we caught between one and four fish per person per day. A tiger fish is as fast as an express train and as strong as a barbel. Once it takes the bait, it usually leaps about