Cahora Bassa tiger trip 2015.

[G-force]

Taking my wife to catch tiger fish has been on the cards for a while now.Finally a trip was arranged by a friend of mine.There were four couples.The four of us together with another four friends normally fish together for tigers every now and then.Not as often as I would like though.This time around we would be taking our wives with.

The destination would be Paradiso Fishing Camp in Cahora Bassa.Mozambique.
The flight to Tete was pleasant,the plane half empty and the trip a little over two hours long.Landing in Tete is like walking into an oven.Once through customs the lady from Paradiso was waiting outside ready to transport us to the lake,280km away.The trip was going to be a little uncomfortable because the eight of us plus her making it nine filled the toyota bus up with little effort.After cutting the plastic security wrapping off our bags to use as rope to tie our rod tubes into the trailer (there was no rope!) we were ready to go.






So off we go.I really do not want to sound negative now but there were quite a few frustrating moments on this trip,sadly on the one trip involving our wives.All the others have really been a lot smoother.The first of these moments became apparent after about 15 minutes of travelling squashed up in the African heat.Once we were out of Tete it became apparent that there was no provision made for cooldrink,water or beer.There are also no places to buy on route.
Things were still going to get a little worse however.We broke down,about 130km into the trip.Midday sun,stranded in the middle of nowhere,not a drop to drink.The multi-groove fanbelt that drives the water/fan was shot.There was no spare.The lady called someone she knew back in Tete.A white Zimbabwean that sells new Chinese motorbikes in Tete.So after sitting and waiting for over three hours he arrives with the correct fan-belt and some really cold beer.Between us we replaced the belt(my eife even did her bit ) and were then able to travel further.Unfortuanatley this delay meant that we would not be able to reach Paradiso Camp that day as planned as crossing Cahora Bassa in a boat in the night is really dangerous.The lake can become as rough as the sea,there are dead trees that will put a hole in the hull everywhere,crocodiles and hippos are commonplace.


We traveled to another fishing camp and spent the night there.Moringa Bay is a really comfortable and neat place to stay.The chef prepared tilapia fillets that were so tasty it made breaking down well worth it.However the trip from the tar road to Moringa Bay took us an additional hour to negotiate the 18km dirt road.
http://www.moringabaylodge.com/






Next morning we set off and finally reach Paradiso Camp after a 20minute boat crossing in two boats.
Paradiso Camp is situated in a really idyllic setting.Granite rocks for the base and there is a lovely beach on the eastern side facing the open part of the lake and a protected bay on the western side where the boats are moored.
The camp itself is nice.Three small chalets with two single beds each and then the owners house and another investors house complete the accomodation.The bar and eating area is built up against a granite boulder with the boulder forming the rear wall.
Main complaint about the camp from the ladies perspective was the lack of hot water to shower in.







The weather really worked against us over the next week.We had alot of rain and then also wind that made it impossible to be on the water at times.We fished in the rain if there was no wind present.The lake actually rose about 8" whilst we were there.The locals reckon that this affected the fishing negatively.We worked hard to find fish and has some success where the rivers were flowing in and then also in the deeper water tied to dead trees at other times.It would have been great to catch a lot more fish than what we did but luckily the ladies got some really nice fish My wife and Hennies wife were new to tigerfishing and they did really really well considering.The biggest tiger on this trip was caught by Hennies wife.It was around 4,6kg.We all hooked and lost some really big fish.I guess easily breaking the 6-7kg mark.
The first tiger of the trip in the rain:

My wifes first tiger ever:

Lots of pics:

[G-force]

I caught this Cornish Jack on a piece of tigerfish fillet.I had climbed onto some rocks to retrieve a lure from my wifes rod.I saw alot of swirling and movement in the area right next to the rocks so I put a fillet on a sinking drift and ten minutes later had this 4kg fish.Not much of a fighter at all though.The boat next to the rocks,note the muddy brown water from a river.
[URL=http://s677.photobucket.com/user/rooibok_2009/media/Cahora%20Bassa%202015/Cornish%20Jack/IMG_4542_zpsc202e2cb.jpg.html][/URL]


Although not targeting vundu we caught a couple of them this size.The big ones really put a good fight as well.This huge vundu head was left over by a croc I am sure.


We really battled with the reliability of the boats.The one boat did not start at all,the one we used we had to manually chock every single time and even then it battled to start which made things quite dangerous with the wind pushing you onto the rocks and dead trees etc.Only one boat was a sure starter and performed well.
Some random pics:






Local capenta rig:

Some chumming helps:


Now the last day was a bit of an adventure again.We woke early the morning to give ourselves enough time to get back across the lake,pack the bus and trailer,change one of the tyers that was so badly worn that we did not trust it to get us back to Tete and then still drive the 280km back.
Needless to say that around 04h00 the wind was pumping and it was pouring with rain.When the wind blows like that then crossing the lake is a nightmare.Luckily by 06h00 the wind had died down and it was only raining.We made our trip across the lake and changed into dry clothes at the vehicle where it was parked at the bush camp.Now from there it is 13km up a dirt track to the nearest tar road.With all the rain the track had deteriorated alot.At one point we reached a new river and saw someone taxi from the day before looking more like a WW2 sub than a mini-bus.We got out and used a shovel and some man power to shape the enrty and exit into the stream,unpacked all the luggage to make the trailer lighter and attempted to cross.I drove the 4x4 bus over and was just about though with no hassles when it suddenly lurched and stopped.A thick branch lying under the sand had wedged itself between the axle,chassie and towbar.This took us about an hour to sort out but we eventually managed to get going again.

[G-force]

This chap did not seem to be bothered about time:

Well after this we changed the tyre when we got to the tar road.We arrived at the little airport after boarding was closed but managed to convince them to book us through.As I was the last through i ran across the runway as they were closing the doors.From there everything went smoothly and returned to normal again.
This was not my first and hopefully not my last trip to Cahora Bassa.I think the next trip might be on a house boat or maybe at Moringa Bay which would be comfortable for my daughters to come with as well.

[Yeti]

Awesome Ge

Lovely stuff ! ! !

One day.....

[dsmerrills]

Magical bud

[Maroelas]

Very nice!