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November 2010 - The Joys Of Having the “Know-How” When Reversing A Boat
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July 2010 - Fishing with a slight difference
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May 2010 - “The Good Old Days”
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February 2010 - Crocodiles (Crocodylus Niloticus)
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December 2009
Nyami Nyami – The River God
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Yes I am back! My last journal was big, but it covered a large area and more than one subject. Let us stay with Kariba, for the moment and chat about all the interesting things about it. I will try and look at situations from a different angle.
The great Zambezi River, which starts way up in Angola and flows over the Victoria Falls and eventually into the sea. Just try to imagine the volume of water that comes gushing over the falls every year. There are two seasons of the falls, the high season and the low season. The seasons are determined by the amount of water flowing over the falls at any one time. The high season is normally from April to July, and the high waters are caused by up North, the Barotsi Plains to be specific, where rain falls during the summer and rainy months, creating little rivers, which in turn drain into the Zambezi. Some of the water is due to local rainfall. The Zambezi River makes its long winding way through plains and between large mountains on its way to the sea. Until Kariba dam was built, the waters of the Zambezi River were sucked into the gorge like a trap. The word “kariwa” in fact means trap.
It is believed that where the dam wall is built was a large rock that caused a whirlpool, and if a boat or canoe was caught in this current, it would be sucked under and never be seen again. The locals’ belief was that this was the wish of the god “Nyaminyami”, who lived at the bottom of the whirlpool. When ever they went past they would throw dolls into the water to placate the god. There is a large carving of Nyaminyami overlooking the dam wall. It is a curled up snake, and many of the locals make carvings of it out of wood and stone. If you go to the local Kariba curios market you can see carvings of the Nyaminyami. More interestingly is the Nyaminyami walking stick. It tells a very intriguing story about the area and it’s people and it is carved out of one piece of tree – yip, no joins!!
The Handle: represents Nyaminyami, who the Tonga people believe is their spirit god (Mudzimu) and that the occasional earth tremor felt in the lake surroundings is caused by this spirit.
The Tree: is the Mopane tree which is found in the Zambezi Valley and is a very hard wood.
The Spirals: represent the waves on the Zambezi River.
The fish: is representative of the staple food of the Tonga people
The Figures: represents people on the Zambezi River banks during their ceremonial dances.
The wooden Rings: represents the bangles worn by the Tonga women as a decoration during ceremonial dances.
Sign of the Hand: represents the holding of the Magical Ball used by the Tonga fortune tellers to guard against evil spirits.
The women’s Bubble Pipe, incelwa: normally a long pipe made from a calabash and is used by the Tonga people for smoking tobacco. In the past these pipes were used for smoking “DAGGA” (marijuana equivalent), a Tonga tradition and is still smoked in some remote areas.
Just remember that we are talking about the local tribes that lived near the Zambezi River gorge where the dam was built. Let’s now take a look at the local’s further back from the wall area, in particularly the ones who live up the Sanyati, Nyodza or the Gache Gache Rivers. These are not anywhere near the size of the Zambezi but they are still big rivers in their own right. The tribes would have been living in the proposed flood areas for many generations, left alone to survive in the jungle. They would have been used to the yearly climatic seasons, water would not have been a problem and there would have been plenty of wild animals and fish to catch. So life was simple but very hot which made travel hard except by boat, which mainly consisted of home-made “dug-outs” (canoes). These were made out of big trees dug out in the centre, hence the name “dug-out”. The trees used, were very solid trees and once the middle was cut out, the underneath was then shaped like a boat. You can still find these lower down the Zambezi below the dam wall or in very remote areas of Kariba. Here’s something for you to think about, imagine, you are just sitting in the shade by your hut and you hear a very big noise in the distance that you have never heard before, you go and investigate. It could take you a few days to get there. But once you get there, you see these huge metal animals pushing down all the trees and clearing the land, totally confused and I would have thought, a bit frightened, you might have never seen a white man before. Then a total stranger dressed in a uniform comes into your village and wants to talk to the head man or chief, to tell him that your village will be 100 feet under water in a few month’s time, due to a dam being built! It would be very difficult to understand or even imagine what the stranger is talking about. This is similar about global warming and thinking that a part of Durban could be under the sea. The villagers then plan to move to higher ground, but to their dismay, they just sit and watch the water rising by the hour. All those creepy crawlies and wild animals heading your way, out of the way of the rising water. I am looking for some pictures of the jungle in those days just to give you an idea of what it was like. I can remember It was fantastic, seeing the black and white photos of all the operations and I read the book. Just keep reminding yourself that this happened 50 years ago.
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Now let’s come a little closer to current times. You want to go to Kariba, you do not have to go on a house boat trip, as there are Hotels, but even better are the lodges and private houses available. I personally do not like hotels, as you are normally tied down to meal times, and with children, I found it a lot easier to sort the kids out in accommodation that was not a Hotel. You can hire boats, with a driver for day trips and these guys know where the type of fish you are after and it makes it a lot easier for a stranger to the lake. They are pleasant and will help you fish if you need any assistance. They used to go out for mornings only, but I am unsure if they still do, this is ideal for young kids because of the hot sun. Sun block is a must, but remember it can only do so much. With kids, you will always have the “I am bored” factor, so you must take this into consideration whenever choosing your holiday. If there are dangers near by, your guide will alert you to them and let you know what you must and what you must not do, listen to your guide, he does know best in these circumstances. This could be anything from Hippo or crocs to a bad storm building up. When there is a bad storm you do not want to be on the lake, pack up and head for the shoreline. Hippos will normally move off, crocs will do the same but one might come for a closer look. I have had one try and jump onboard, another one bang the bottom of the boat twice. These cases are rare, but you must just move on. At no stage, whilst fishing, put your hand or leg in the water, a croc will not hesitate to take a closer look, and may even take it completely off. Crocs will even go for your fish if they happen to be close enough to the boat.
The rented houses or lodges are normally very nice and they normally all come with lots of air-conditioners or fans. They will have swimming pools which are pleasant and are warm all year round, so cooling off, in your mind, will vary greatly. Try and get the ones that are away from the built up areas, not far, but possibly down by Charara is always a nice area. There will be a very good chance of seeing Elephant as close as 5 meters away, hippo a little further in these more remote areas. Please do not try and get closer to them or chase them away, you must just sit or stand quietly and admire them. You will definitely get a better idea how big these animals are, for example, an average elephant is as tall as an average Lapa in your yard. Watching wild animals like this is the reasons we go there and live in Africa. You will also find that loud music and noise in general is not permitted, as most of the hotels, lodges, houses and campsites are within the National Parks boundaries.
I have always thought that this is such a lovely way to bring up the kids, you should try it sometime.
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Well I hope that this has given you a little history of Lake Kariba and the River God, “Nyami Nyami, as well as a few ideas of where to stay when you finally get to Lake Kariba.
Uncle Doug
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October 2009
Houseboat Trips
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I hope that you don't mind, but I entered all your names in a draw for a 7-Day, 6-Night cruise. No sales people will call or bother you in any way. It's on the fabulous new Gypsy Queen Cruise Line ship, The 'Dixie Belle'. All airfares, transfers, food and drinks included - with dinner at the Captain's table as his personal guest. Good luck, I hope you win!
The Flagship ' Dixie Belle' is shown to the left!
Your first night's meal promises to be scrumptious, featuring fillet of Catfish, Hush Puppies and Collards, with all you can eat Boiled Louisiana Rusty Crawfish!
Boy, I wish I was goin' with ya. If ya win, make sure to send pictures, especially of the Famous, 'Ole' Muddy Midnight Skinny Dip, with your hostesses Eulla Bell and Krissie.
Since ya may have the presidential suite, u'll have a balcony view and the finest facilities.
Nothing is too good for my friends!
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Oh OK, don’t worry, there are no boats like this on Kariba! Let’s get a little more serious. Lots of people talk about a boat trip on Kariba, which I can assure you is a very special holiday. You are guaranteed to see plenty of wild animals and have a good rest, on most trips.
Well let’s start with the Lake itself. Everyone knows it is on the Zambezi River and is situated on the boarder with Zimbabwe and Zambia. When it was finished and began to generate electricity in 1960, it was the largest man made lake in the world, an amazing feat to say the least! Just imagine the amount of cement, stone and sand that was used in making the wall alone. Take a moment to think about those big highways with lines of 30ton rigs or a huge rail link, with trains going backwards and forwards carrying all these items, but not in the 1060’s, everything was moved by road and if my memory is correct the largest truck in those days was the old Bedford 7ton truck. Imagine these trucks traveling from Harare on very narrow roads to Kariba 367 kilometres away. The construction started in 1955 at a cost of USD$80 million.
The dam wall is a concrete arch, 128 metres high and 579 metres long. This caused a lake to be formed, which at it’s fullest, measured 280 kilometres long, and covers some 5200 square kilometres and raised the dry weather height of the river by more than a hundred metres.
Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this operation. The project involved the construction of roads through rugged country to both north and south banks, an airstrip and two townships to house the employees, which peaked at 7000 in 1957. A church was built in Kariba town and has a list of the people who died during the construction of the wall, many from the dreaded malaria. 430 000 tons of cement, 50 000 tons of fuel, 23 000 tons of steel, 9000 tons of machinery and 70 000 tons of other supplies, too numerous to mention, had to be hauled to the site. Once the dam wall was built and the lake started to form there was water covering ground that was once dry, and many people were displaced due to the flooding.
Part of the plan was to resettle them on higher ground, it was estimated that 22 000 people on the Zimbabwean side and 29 000 people on the Zambian side were to be resettled. Just the thought of getting the message to them in the deepest jungle and then getting them to understand, never mind getting them to move was going to be one hell of a mission - what a staggering thought. Hey - don’t forget the wild animals, most importantly and there were thousands of them. To capture and relocate all the animals was an operation taken up by some very brave men who fought the odds with wild animals to save countless species of game. Senior ranger Rupert Fothergill (which Fothergill Island is named after), Frank Junor, (a young scientist), Brian Hughes, (an ex fireman that could not swim) and their assistants arrived undermanned and under-equipped. The operation had begun and was called “Operation Noah”. I can give you a lot more information on this in a separate journal as it was very interesting in the very different ways they moved and transported animals to safety. One of the most amazing things I have experience on the Lake since Operation Noah is how the elephants still follow the same migration route, although it is underwater. Yes, I have seen it in the Lake, where elephants are found swimming in very deep water from one point to another following their migration route from before the Lake was formed!
The areas to be cleared of dense vegetation were so huge that double decked bull dozers had to be used. Basically, the bull dozers worked in pairs, they were linked together by huge chains of equal length with a huge steel ball in the middle. The two dozers would drive with the ball between them and would just knock the trees over, in most cases. You must remember that the valley was full of the Mopani tree which is a very hard wood and 20 odd metres high and therefore, extremely difficult to remove. The lake came up so quick at one period some of this equipment was abandoned and still lives at the bottom of the lake to this day. I know some of you are asking, what about the fishing. Whilst the Lake was filling, the only way you could fish because of the jungle, was to drive down an old track and fish there. If you had a boat then you launched it and fished above the sunken road or track. You did not venture off the road as the jungle was so dense you would get lost. Two or three metres in and you could not see the road or where you had come from. The is an island call Redcliff, and is on the right of Antelope Island (for those of you who know Kariba), and as the lake was filling the red cliffs of this island were collapsing into the lake, fishermen, in their boats positioned themselves on the dirty line and threw spinners along this line and caught many large tiger fish. The average tiger fish were 17lbs and a big one was 27lb and there were plenty of them. That should give you a small idea of what it was like to fish in the early years of Lake Kariba. I must admit that the fishing is still very good.
Let me throw another curved ball. All this happening in a small country in dark Africa in the late 1950s - what were you doing then? Maybe not you were not even born!
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Ok, so let us get into the house boat side of Kariba. I have been on a house boat trip or part of a trip at least 50 times. There are some very important areas that need a lot of detail and as I go through I will highlight them. The average boat is from 45 feet to 80 feet long and have at least 3 bedrooms. The bedrooms/cabins are mainly for privacy as most people sleep on the top deck or the side decks in the cool breeze, as it is can get very hot at night. Yes, you do get a lot of boats that boast aircons, but these require generator to run, and generators are allowed to run from mid morning to last light, according to National Parks, but some crew leave them running until 10 at night, if you are in a remote area this should not cause a problem. The biggest pleasure of having a generator is felt whilst having your lunch, brunch and dinner in an air-conditioned dinning room, as it does make the whole dining experience a lot more comfortable. Number of toilets and showers are always important, some boats have these on suite, make sure there are others on the boat as well.
It is important that the boat has two engines, tender boats, these are small runabouts that you go fishing in or game viewing or both. It is much nicer if there are 3 or 4 small ones (depending on the number of guests), that are around11feet rather than two big ones around 17 feet long. It is an added bonus if one of your friends brings his own speed boat then a whole bunch of you can go on a booze cruise, although this is not a necessity, just a nicety. There will be at least 2 crew but could be 4 on the bigger boats, this mainly consists of a captain, a cook and general hands.
You will begin the journey by leaving one of the harbours and the captain knows the lake and how to get to places in the lake where you want to go. Remember, the lake is very big and the house boats cruise at around 8kph, so it will take hours to get to any reasonable destination, and you may have brunch/lunch whilst travelling. Once your reach your desired mooring spot, the captain will park the boat in weather protected areas, beach it with guide ropes out on each side which are tied to tree stumps or rocky outcrops. Once it is secured, one of the staff will offer to take anybody wants to go fishing and will ensure the tender boat/s are ready with rods, bait and a cooler box in each, filled with your selection of beer and cool drinks. Meals on the boat are normally, coffee/tea, cereals, biscuits first thing in the morning before going fishing, brunch at about 11am and supper from 7pm onwards.
Important, you will have to bear in mind these meals when you work out your catering. If you catch fish, these can form a part of some of your brunches or evening snacks. It is easy to catch bream even if you are hackers, but if you are really bad, do not despair as the staff should catch a bag full each time they go out. If you are not an experienced fisherman or woman, go out with one of the staff and learn to catch fish, you will enjoy it and the staff will also be happy.
So you are on the boat, parked away from anyone and you enjoy every moment! But remember that time flies when you are having fun and before you know it you and your guests are on your way back to harbour. So try and make the most of the time you are on the lake, one way is to watch the sun set every evening. They are beautiful and some are filled with amazing colours. Try waking up early enough to see the sun rise, very different to the sun sets, but if you are on the lake in September or October and the sky is full of haze the sun is a huge red ball - now your days are getting filled up.
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After dinner many people drink some more and play games like blocks or 30 seconds, and the next minute it is midnight already, damn! Some one then asks the inevitable, “Who is for fishing at 5 tomorrow morning?” No one responds!! On the many houseboat trips I have been on, on the Saturday night after dinner we play our favorite game, “Pub Crawl”, yes on one house boat! This is how it is played - each couple in each room must decide what every body has to wear to be allowed in to their room, for example things like a shoe tied to one of your ankles or a tooth paste beard or mustache, a pair of knickers on your head, you really can dream up all sorts of things. Then each couple must make up a surprise drink to give their guests on arrival at their bed room. So off everybody goes to get kitted up and get their drinks ready. These drinks go into a water jug or plastic container that you can pour from, drinks like, Vodka orange and beer mixed together, Don Pedros are nice because they make the drink in your glass curdle. Brandy, fanta grape or orange and a squeeze of lemon is also another favourite, so you are getting the idea of the horrid concoctions people dream of! The first couple go to their room and call the rest, you all have to have a half glass full of your normal drink, you are welcomed at their door and your glass is filled on entry with the drink of the couple’s choice. Once all are inside the bed room, the door is closed, lots of “raaaa raaaa raaa” and a good slug of your drink. The same is done in the on suite bathroom if there is one, just jam everyone in, it is more fun. This happens in each bed room and by the time you get into the lounge or on deck you are feeling somewhat pickled, your glass looks like it is contaminated and starting to grow some kind of ugly vegetation, but it is great fun, tiring and the staff will be a bit confused!
The next day after the hectic “Pub Crawl”, you may want to take it easy and maybe try out some game viewing. On your trip around the shoreline you should be able to see lots of elephants, crocodiles, hippos, small buck and lots of birds. You might see and hear lion, in most cases the upper deck of the houseboat will be the best place to see game and that is the place you will find that you and your guests spend the most time. While fishing you could fish as close as 50 metres from elephant or hippos, but DO NOT put your hands in the water because a crocodile could be right there waiting to attack! I have known of staff being taken off the duck boards on the back of house boats by crocodiles, so be very careful.
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Ok, lets try and put the basics in some sort of order so it will give you a better picture of a boat trip. Remember there will be 8 or 10 of you are on the boat for 5 days and basically together for a week. Make sure as it is important that you all get on really well together, even the best of friends can cause problems. You can get people or a person unhappy on the boat, there is nowhere for that person to hide and it will cause an uneasy feeling for everyone, so be very careful when choosing who to go on a house boat trip with. We generally use a circle of 16 people that go on our boat trips to make sure we have 10, next thing is, do not take children under the age of 10years because it will tire you out and it will be hard work for everyone, if you have two families and each have kids then it will be easier as you can take turns in looking after them. They WILL NEED LOOKING AFTER! The horror thought of a child falling over the side of a house boat is very real, nice to have kids but think hard about a house boat trip. It is always nice to be in Kariba the day before your trip begins, to drive from Harare in the early morning is not safe because of the bad driving and the bad conditions of the roads and it makes it a very long first day! Work on 4 to 5 hours travel time, Harare to Kariba, even if your house boat is only scheduled to leave harbour at 10am, you can do some sight seeing so get there the day before. You are bound to have a great party that night, full of excitement but at least there is no long drive. There are houses for rent, bed only which is all you need, most of them have aircons so it will be comfortable. The next morning, get into the harbour as early as you can, unload your stuff, work out who is in what cabin and put your kit in yours. Then go up onto the deck, sit down and start enjoying yourself. You will get a visitor from National Parks who will charge per person per day and fishing, only pay for half the number on the boat for a daily fishing licence. I normally just pay for the amount of men on the boat, don’t worry no body is going to check. If you all want to fish, make sure you do, in your numbers the crew are not to be counted. The crew will run around, show you the important things like the fridge with all the beer in it etc. All sit down and start enjoying your happy holiday. Now the hard work starts for one of you. Whilst planning the trip someone agreed to do the catering, a menu is prepared for the trip and this must be given to the cook/chef. It must be explained which is not a problem and snack requirement explained. The chef will confirm each meal time just to make sure. If you like certain things cooked or prepared a certain way, explain this and it will be done. Food selection, remember it is hot up there on the lake, cold meats and salads on some days at 11am will be most welcomed. So you bring all your food with you from Harare, the cooler boxes will be filled with fish and fish fillets to take home. Talking fish, you will need to buy lots of worms, the best place is just as you come near Banket by the Fisherman sign, if you have lots of fishermen then USD$50 will get you enough worms. Fishing routine, after coffee, onto the tender boats until 11am and then back to the house boat. Have brunch and then rest until 3pm as it will be too hot for you to go fishing any earlier. Hey if you do not need to rest you can always drink. Talking of drinking, you need to sort out what everybody will want to drink. Good point, this order can be emailed or faxed and will be loaded and on ice ready for your arrival in the harbour. You will have to tell the captain where you would like to go and stay on your trip. If you have no idea, then talk to the captain. Some places are better for fishing and others are better for game viewing. Some are close and some are far. You really do not need to travel more that 4 hours on a reasonable cruising boat. So each day is fun and some people catch bigger fish than others. Make sure you are back in the harbour at the correct time, the captain will tell you. Your drinks member will need to check the fulls being returned. The staff will normally stack them up on one of the decks. The food member will need to check the food left and take off the boat what is needed for supper that night and breakfast in the morning. Egg and bacon is a must to help the hangovers. In the harbour, get your kit off the boat and it is best to send the girls to the house with a cooler box full of drinks and another with the fish and all the kit. All boats have their own charges, if the fuel is part of the hire charge then that is easier but cost lots. If it is not then one of your group will have to check the amount of fuel going into the tank. Sorry, you will need to make sure that the tank was full before you left harbour on the first day. You will need to settle the fuel bill before you leave. You will wait for the returns to be checked in and a credit note raised. This will be taken off your booze bill and you will be required to pay this before you leave. You then get back to the house and has a good party. Next morning you take it easy getting back to Harare and then back home where ever it may be I might take you a week to recover.
Hope you have many good trips.
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Hope you enjoy the photos, if you think they are great, try Kariba on a house boat, it is even better. Next time I will be touching on the subject of the great River God of the Zambezi, Nyami Nyami!!
Uncle Doug
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July 2009
Well, let’s talk about, rods, reels and line. I think it is easier that I put the three together because they work with one another. I do not intend to tell you what to buy, I prefer to give you ideas then you can make the decisions on what to buy or use. I have put them together because it is correct to use the right rod with the matching reel and the proper weighted line. The rod must have enough back bone to handle the fish you are targeting and be able to put enough pressure on the fish. I can just see some of you saying, “Uncle Doug, what are you talking about? We have never seen a rod made out of a back bone and putting pressure on fish, is this to make them bite the bait or for landing the fish?” Ok, some rods are soft and they start bending just above the handle. This rod has very little back bone but will still catch fish it has been designed to catch. I am sure you have seen deep sea game fishing and they use short but very thick and not very bendy rods. These rods have a very strong back bone. It is the terminology that is used for this stiffness in the rod. You do not have to cast the bait when you are game fishing off a boat, therefore you require a rod with back bone.
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The reels in deep sea fishing are matched to the rods and the line is within the range of both. Range, is your question. If you look on a reel it will give you in lbs or kgs the amount of line the reel will handle. Obviously the heavier the line, the thicker it, is so less line will fit on the reel. It will give you a few options. I do not load line heavier than the heaviest on the list. If the list goes from say 6kg to 15kg, I will not load line heaver than 15kg. This is my preference but I believe it helps in extending the life of a reel. Every reel is made up of gears and a drag system and overloading can shorten the life of your reel. I use bait casters for a large amount of my fishing. They can take a bit of getting used to, to cast them continuously without getting numerous over winds. If you want to get into using this type of reel and I recommend it, then get hold of a good friend to teach you. After saying that, if I am using line with breaking strain of 5kg or less I will use a spinning reel. This is because I feel that the smaller spinning reels give you a much more accurate and smoother drag setting. You know you can catch much bigger fish than the line strength by having the correct drag setting. A bait caster’s drag normally starts too strong for light line. Have a look at the BASS Pros in America, as soon as they go onto light line, out comes the spinning reel and a soft flexed rod. Try it out and see how you feel.
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Rods are the same as reels but with extra information on them that is important for their optimum performance. Pick up a rod, you will see printed on it, its length, action, the weight it can throw and its line weight range. The average length normally used is between 6 and 7 foot for normal fishing. Action fishing will vary from light to heavy with variations in between. Remember this is where the back bone comes into it. If you want to fish with light weight tackle and cast it a long way do not pick an extra heavy action rod. The weight of the bait you want to use with the rod is printed on the rod. If you exceed this, then the rod will not operate at its full potential. The range of line weights are there to give you an idea of what it is designed for. If you exceed these do not complain if the rod breaks.
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Line, I am not going into the different types of line, as I feel there is just too many to talk about and compare. I have been told by some guys because I do not use braided line I am old fashioned. The few properties braided line has are, it does not stretch and it is very thin compared to other lines. With no stretch or give in the line, I feel that it puts extra strain on the rod and the reel. Monofilament, with its stretch, I think gives the fish more of a chance and relies more on your ability to fight and land a fish. It is easier on the rod and reel too. Once again look at the rod specifications on line and keep between them. I am pleased in certain circles that fishermen are using lighter and lighter line. If you are using a spinning reel buy line without a memory. “Uncle Doug, don’t tell me line can remember things?” No, basically what I mean is that you buy line that is extra limp. That means when it comes off the reel it is straight and does not have any loops. If it has loops then it has a memory because it still thinks it is wrapped on the spool. Bait casters can handle line with a memory as it goes on the reel and comes off the same way. A spinning reel puts the line on via the bail so it gets a little twisted. You must have been fishing and after catching a few fish and lots of casts you have noticed the line starts to twist into loops. It is a nuisance!! There is nothing you can do if you are on a boat until you move. If you are on the bank, what you can do is remove your tackle, i.e. hook, etc. and put a big swivel on the end of your line, then tie the swivel to a tree and walk away from the tree letting line out of your reel. You need to walk further than you have been casting. Just flip your rod a few times keeping the line off the ground at all times. Reel the line in and replace the swivel with your tackle you were using before. The twists will have gone. On the boat, once you move, take off all your tackle so you just have line coming out of the end of the rod. Put this end of line in the water. You will have to get it started buy pulling some line off and get it into the water. The line will then come off the reel by itself. Once you have enough line in the water, leave it trawling behind the boat for a few minutes. Reel it in and all the twists will have gone. If your line is very old but you have a reasonable amount on the reel. Tie the end to you gate and walk around the house until you come to the end. Cut it off at the reel and drop the end on the ground. Go to the gate and Tie that end of the line to your reel. Wind on the line and you will find that you have new line on the top. You can do this on the boat, if it is moving. Tie the end onto the boat, let the line run out of the reel into the water. Once it is all out cut it off the reel. Cut the line off the boat and get someone to hold onto it. With some one holding that line, find the other end, tie it onto your reel and wind it in. Fluorocarbon line works very well but is expensive. I have used it when fish are visible because I know all they can see is the bait. I used it as a test one day on trout. My son and I were using the same fly. The only difference was my leader was fluorocarbon. The trout came out of cover when my son’s fly came past but that is all it did. He did this three times. My first cast into the same area moving it in the same direction they attacked my fly. Try fish lighter and lighter weight line whenever you can.
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Right some homework, try a test on the strength of line. Get hold of about 5 meters of 1kg line, get your favorite rod, tie the one end to the base of the reel and thread the line through the eyes on your rod. Get a small bag of sand, weigh it so it weighs 1kg, tie the line to this bag, hold the rod normally as if the bag was a fish, now try and drag the bag along the ground, it is hard work and the line should not break. Try and lift up the bag now, the rod should bend plenty and the line might just break! So for normal fishing you do not need 6kg line.
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What I have tried to do is to give you some tips and guide lines into these three items of fishing equipment. If you don’t fish a lot then do not buy the best, even if you can afford to, it is not worth it. The middle of the range of a good make will do the job for many years. If you are a “hacker”, do not arrive with all the fancy gear, you will draw too much attention and when you hook every thing except a fish they will laugh at you! Get reasonable kit, sneak in under the radar and catch all the fish. Ask for advice, watch people fish, watch them casting, fighting fish and what try to find out what kit they use, this together with my advice, you are sure to have many fun filled hours of fishing.
But just remember, it is important to enjoy yourself and to catch fish, the fancy kit can come later! Until next month, Tight lines!!
Uncle Doug
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June 2009
Oh, yes it is me again! Just thinking about my journal the other month ending off with telling you more about fishing, then I got into other tournament fishing and filleting bream and all those sort of things. How can you fillet bream, that I have not given you any tips on how to find or catch? This sort of thing happens, you can put it down to working too hard or just a senior moment. Yes, us old farts are allowed to make a few mistakes or forget the odd thing or two now and again.
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 | Well when I started fishing, I was using 6lb line, which was a lot thicker than the average 10lb line these days, and a glass fibre rod. Yes one rod! Man and did I have fun! In the old days I would ride my bike to the local dams in the early hours of the day, like 4am. The rod was tied on the cross bar, a bag on my back, and the keep net and worm box on the carrier at the back. I would get to my favorite spot, take the worm box off the carrier, undo my rod and lay my bike down. I would put the worm on the hook and cast the line out. I would set the rod up, by propping it up against a rock and then move my bike to a nice spot out the way and in the shade. I would then take my bag off my back, take out the two rod holders and my small canvas seat. I would push the stands in the ground and reset up the rod. I would open my seat and put the worms under it, out of the sun when it came up. I can assure you that while I was doing all this, other fishermen were arriving. Once you had your spot other people would not push you out, even seniors. There was and still is a lot of good etiquette in fishing. In my bag, I had a bottle of water and a sandwich. You must be thinking, what about my fishing box. Yes, I had that in this small bag too. I had my floats in a small container, which consisted of cork bottle tops and used match sticks. In another smaller container I had my hooks and in another my home made sinkers. That is all!
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Well, that was 50 years ago. So let us see how it has changed, if any and by how much. Yes, I was very much a junior angler so that side of it was catered for, but remember when ever you can, take a youngster fishing. I have said many a time, buy a boat for USD20 000, buy a Land Cruiser for USD30 000, all very nice, but take a well behaved youngster fishing, priceless. So I don’t go fishing on a bike anymore, but in my truck. I think we can put that down to being a senior. I make sure that all is serviced and will not break down. Time has not changed. Oh dear, I take more than one rod but still take one glass fibre rod. I take the glass fibre one just incase there is lightening as it does not conduct electricity like a graphite one will. I do not bank angle anymore so when we get to the spot in the boat the anchor is put into the water and the boat is positioned. This is much the same as putting my bike down. I spoke about food and water, well we have cooler boxes so things have changed there. I make sure that I have appropriate food and drink for everyone on the boat. I ensure I always have plenty of drinking water. I get the youngsters’ rods out, get them wormed up and into the water. Get them seated and keep and eye on them and their rods. I am happier if they keep their life jackets on just in case of an emergency. Make sure they are comfortable and they watch their lines. If there is time I would get my rod into the water. What is important is that there are fish there and they are biting. If not, the youngsters will get bored and restless. Make a move until you find a place where the fish are biting. They do not need to be big fish just the fun of catching them. If one of the youngsters gets a bite, help all the way until it is in the boat. Catch and release is a good way to teach. So there you have it, so a lot has not changed, same sort of planning.
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 | Ha ha ha, I know I have dodged the fishing box. Yes, there is no question that this has changed a great deal. I think a big part of the development of the fishing box is as big as Titanium is in the world of golf club development. There are more people fishing these days and more species are being targeted. It is not uncommon for serious fishermen to have a separate box for each group of fish. Sort of groups like off shore, surf, bass and groups like that. I have three dedicated tackle boxes and four others with a pile of tackle and stories in each one. This is a way of storing tackle away out of the eye of the wife, very important tip!. They went from wooden, well crafted and appointed to glass fibre and metal then into a durable plastic. From just a small box then a bit bigger with a removable tray. Then into ones that the lid lifted and had trays in levels on both sides. Sizes and weights varied and more brands came onto the market. Those people that have been fishing for some years know the story. You had all your tackle in one box, then it got too small. What was your plan, buy a much bigger one that would hold all your tackle for the next year or so but you could not move around the boat. Or did you do like me and buy two mid range boxes and start splitting up the tackle into different groups of fishing. It can then go on and on from there.
OK, now I say, open each of your boxes, even if you only have one, stand back and just look at all the stuff you take fishing. Pick a box and take out what you have not used in the last 4 or 5 outings. What are you left with? Hooks, sinkers, floats, pliers, knife and not much more. Then why have you got all that unused/unwanted stuff in your box. I did, I have downsized to a very small box with a few draws and I cannot fill them.
Something to think about, next month I will talk about rods, reels and line.
Enjoy sorting out your tackle, it is winter and you will enjoy the change.
Uncle Doug |
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May 2009
Barbel fishing
and tiger fishing all over the place. Let us get back to the quiet stories like
bream fishing. I spoke some time ago about the filleting of bream. I sort of
left you in the air or the water, as I said I would take you through the process.
As a youngster, I was shown by my seniors how to fillet fish. It was an
important way of understanding the whole sport of fishing. You threw the small
ones back, kept a few of the slightly bigger ones for the workers back home and
the good size ones you kept to fillet for yourself. Right, so you now have kept
the big ones for you, your family and friends to eat. YOU must fillet them, no one
else. If there are lots then maybe you can get help. Sitting, filleting with
mates can be fun. What is not nice is filleting at night with every bug in the
world flying around your light trying to bite you or get up your nose or in
your eyes, mouth or ears. I will not go through the many ways of keeping them
away from you but there are plenty of repellants in your local stores.
Let’s get into
the act, I am not saying this is the best way as you will find the way you are
most happier with after some practice. The fish is dead, don’t take the
scales off or gut it. Gutting, this is cutting open the stomach cavity from the
bottom of the fish and removing all that is inside. Ok, so just lie the whole
fish on its side, with a sharp knife cut down from just behind the head down
passed the body side of the side fin to the bottom part of the fish. Basically,
cut straight down the side of the spine as it were and deep
enough to touch the backbones. By the
tail just come in a bit from the tail so there is some meat between the skin
and the back bone. Cut straight down. If you are right handed, hold the corner
of the fillet by the top of the head with your left hand. As you pull it away
from the head and the top fin put the tip of your knife in between the flesh
and the back bone and cut it away from the back bone. You proceed to peel the
fillet off until you get close to the tail, this is where the cutting will
finish. Then just work down, you will not get all the flesh off the back bone
but you
will get better each time you do it. You will find that you get to a
certain position near the stomach where the flesh gets very thin. At this point
you cut through the skin. On the board you will end up with a fish head
attached to the back bone, I hope which is attached to the tail. The stomach is
untouched and you have not trimmed any skin off your fingers. Turn the fish
over and do the same on the other side. Turn the fish over, head over tail, so
the top of the fish is still facing away from you. Instead of starting from the
head you
start from the tail end, hopefully the tail is still on. This is
because it is easier to fillet from the top of the fish. At the thickest part
of the fillet which will be the part that was nearest to the head. You will
find that the skin is away from the flesh. Hold this piece of skin in your left
hand and help the skin off the flesh with your right. You only need to do it a
very short way. Once you have enough to take a firm grip, you tear the skin
away from the flesh. It is a little hard to get a grip on the skin. You can
fold the skin over the blunt side of the knife and hold it on with your thumb.
Remember to take that extra time out to teach the youngsters. Now I see there
is a young guy at the back there not part of the operation. ‘Hey young man,
what is your name?’ ‘My name is Johnny.’ ‘The famous little Johnny?’ ‘No, that
is my dad.’ ‘Did you catch any fish today?’ ‘Just small ones, that I put back
into the water.’ ‘Ok, you must learn how to clean and prepare fish.’ ‘Ok Uncle
Doug, please show me!’ It took some time to do one fillet. Important is that he
did not cut his fingers or trim his nails. Guys, if your fillet has a bone in
it, it could well be the one that Johnny did but at least it will not be a
finger nail! If you put fun into this operation more people will do it. I fish
for Bass fish on a casual basis with a friend that is not fond of eating fish,
his wife loves bass. Because he has to do the filleting himself when he gets
home he only takes a few and releases many.
Cooking the
fish, ah, there are many ways and I am no fancy chef. You can fry the fillets
as they are or put them in a batter and deep fry them. Cut them into 2cm strips
and cook them plain or in a batter. Put them on a plate, sprinkle salt and
lemon juice on them and serve them as snacks. They will all be eaten, so do not
make too many as your guests will not have enough room to eat their main meal.
These fresh bream snacks are very moreish. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Lets
look at other ways of doing bream. Leave the scales on and just gut it. When
gutting make sure you break the membrane between the stomach and the back bone.
Clean this area out as quiet often blood does collect here. If you are going to
freeze fish, this cleaning of this ‘bloody’ area is a must. Your fish is now
clean and ready. Put inside the stomach, cut up garlic, onions and tomatoes and
a table spoon of butter. It is also very nice to put herbs like, dill, thyme
and parsely with the other ingredients. Lie out a piece of silver foil, put the
same ingredients on the foil. Lay the fish on this and put the same amount of
ingredients on top of the fish. You might need to lay the fish across from
corner to corner. Fold over all the ends and seal the foil. Lie another piece
of foil out, turn the fish over and lay it onto the new sheet. Fold all the corners
in and seal as best you can. Now this fish can be cooked in an oven, on an open
fire or on top of the hot coals. In the fire or coals, turn the fish a few
times, please make sure you do not break or tear the tin foil. When the fish is
cooked put it on a serving plate. Open the tin foil and you will notice that
the scales have burnt and stuck to the foil. This is great because as you pull
it back it pulls the skin off leaving the cooked fillet making serving easy.
Remember to sprinkle fresh lemon juice over the fillet. Once you have served
all the fillet on the one side, don’t try and turn it over, just pull the tail
towards the head and the back bone will come free, leaving the other fillet.
My mouth is
watering just thinking about these fillets.
Enjoy, until we
meet again.
Uncle Doug
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April 2009
 I ask the question
to my friends, “who wants to go barbel fishing?” I did not get the answers I
was hoping for. No one said yes please. I had answers like, “what for?”, “they
are ugly!”, “they smell!”, “that’s not fun!!”, etc. Well, we have an annual 24
hour barbel fishing tournament at Lake Chivero, or Lake MacIlwane, as it was
called some years ago. You fish from midday on Saturday to midday on Sunday. Some
people will fish Saturday and others fish Sunday. We fish all 24hrs. What
bait do you use? I will come to that. It is important to make sure you have
all the correct clothing. It is held in March normally so the day is hot and
the night is cold.  Look at the weather
report forecasts, this normally can help. I have fished the whole tournament
in rain. Good lights are a must. The LED lights are wonderful and are a space
saver. A large keep net is a must. You need a good wet cloth to keep your
hands clean, as the fish and baits do make a mess. A few sacks is also a
requirement. What about the baits? Just now!! There are two of us in the
boat and we have 4 rods each, make sure you have enough good rod holders. I
use bait casters with a noisy drag and bait runners, spinning reels. You will
find that some days the barbel will just hit the bait, other days or part of
the same day they will drop the bait as soon as they feel any resistance. This
is when you use the bait runners. I use 15lb line and a thicker line like
Maxima as this helps getting the fish out of rocks. Yes these guys love rocks. If
you are looking for barbel look for rocks. If the fish has taken you into
rocks or around rocks, immediately ease up your drag. Gently coax the fish
back through the rocks. Remember, do not be hard on the fish and he will come.
You will see as your line comes in how it has been damaged and tattered by the
fish taking it over the rocks. Just take care and time to bring it in – golden
rule – try and be patient! I use a small sinker on most baits. I put light
trace onto the hook, normally 7 strand 20lb uncoated. Definitely tied onto a
circle hook, normally 3/0. I will not use any other hook for barbel fishing.
Don’t waist time in using any other hook. The size is your choice.
 Ok, let’s talk
baits. Ordinary earth worms are at the bottom of the scale. Years ago I used
to catch barbel on worms whilst catching other species. Cut worms, the white
fat worms with the golden head you find in the compost heaps. You put the hook
through the middle of the body so both ends hang down. I find one is enough
and they are hardy. Another good bait is chicken livers. These are difficult
to put on and keep on. I keep the livers frozen in a cooler box as this helps.
You need to put the hook through the fat parts and the yellow/white stringy
parts. You need to cast this bait carefully as any snag the bait will fly off.
Now comes the story time. One of the most common baits  are “platana
frogs”. I put the hook through the underneath of the jaw and out through the
top of the mouth. If I am using them alive then I put a heaver weight on to
keep them on the lake bottom. Other fishermen put the hook through the one
thigh. There are various ways of changing the appearance of the frog. If the
frogs are not working, you cut open the stomach so all the intestines stick
out. I proved this once in Lake Kariba in a tournament. We were fishing near
a lot of crocodiles. No body was getting bites, so I cut up my frog, I started
getting bites. Other fishermen did the same and it worked for them. I have
known of fishermen, pealing off the frog’s skin or using a thigh and leg only.
So you race away from the start
line and go to your “Hot Spot”. Drop anchor, straighten up the boat, down wind
from the anchor. Once you you’re your boat lined up straight, drop another anchor
out the one side at the back of the boat. This stops the boat from moving from
side to side. This is  important if the
bites are soft so you can see them on your line. You put your rods out with
the baits you have, set them up in your rod holders and wait for your first
bite. While you wait, it is a good idea to tidy up the boat, like putting the
life jackets away and get the landing net ready. Make sure you can get around
the whole boat, just incase you hook into a big one. It is a good laugh watching
guys trying to get around a messy boat fighting a fish. Not only falling over,
but falling into the water, I have seen many a rod disappear over the side of
the boat because the fisherman could not get there in time or a poor rod
holder. You get one, put the landing net on the floor of the boat, get the
fish out and put the landing net back in it’s place. Get the hook out and put
the fish in the sack. Tie the sack up and hang it over the side of the boat. Wipe
the floor of the boat where the fish was as the slime makes the floor very
slippery. Not difficult. Remember if your spot goes cold, before you drive
off to another spot, bring in your bags. You laugh, I cannot tell you how many
times I have heard of this happening, to keep nets and all sorts of fishing
competitions and social fishing. Many years ago before cooler boxes were
thought off, it was a plan to put your drinks in a keep net and hang it in the
water. Only to be released to the bottom of the dam by the propeller cutting
the rope when it was forgotten.
So you get back to the launch
site and into the weigh bay. Not only to see all your mates but to see the
other catches and hear the stories. You also notice, the varying ages and
amount of females taking part in the competition. Prize giving comes along,
the normal thanks in the speeches and then onto the prize winners. A big part
of it is aimed at the junior anglers, from about 5years old. It is such a
great sight to see these boys and girls going up to get their prizes. You look
at their Moms and Dads, they are proud as well. Take a kid fishing, there is
very little better in life. I was unfortunate, my folks were a little old so I
went out by myself or some of their younger friends.
 OK, let’s look at
the other side of barbel fishing, yes they might be ugly but some one has to
be. They have very strong side fins, which they use for walking on land. They
can live out of water for many hours and have been known  to
travel a long way over land. They are good fun to fish for as they are real
characters and can be very hard to catch. Yes they can smell a bit. When you
go out to a fish restaurant, how many times do people ask for Kingklip, that is
a sea barbell!! Barbel have the same flesh texture as prawns and if done a
certain way you would not taste the difference. They can be cooked many ways
and it is a fish, possibly because of it looks, that is not eaten by certain
people. The local people even dry them over open fires. They cut the fish
open, lay it flat, put salt on it, over a wood fire. This process takes hours. It
is then dry and hard. In this state it is transported normally to their rural
homes. There they will boil it up and eat it with roller meal.
I hope I have given you a
different look at this species. I look forward to seeing you out there barbel
fishing, don’t forget to take the kids with. It will turn out to be a great
outing!!
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March 2009
 The Kariba Invitational Tiger Fishing Tournament, incorporating “The
Top Ten”
It is the end of
February and yes, I have been fishing. What was nice, is that it was in Kariba.
Talking of Kariba and further thinking of the Kariba Invitational Tiger Fishing
Tournament. Lets talk about this tournament, as there is always a lot of talk
about it, for allsorts of reasons. It is held at Kariba in October each year
for starters. One must remember that it is extremely hot at this time of the
year in Zimbabwe. The tournament runs for three days, normally a Wednesday
through to Friday with prize giving on the Friday night. Teams are made up of
4 people and very important, you need a boat. Note, I said people, so, you DO NOT
have to be a fisherman to enter, but it helps and anyone, men, women, juniors, can
fish. The tournament runs from an area in Kariba called Charara and starts from
a landmark called Charara point every morning at 6am. What is so difficult with
that, you may ask? Well, you have to catch only tiger fish, they must
weigh at least 1 kilogram (kg) and you can only weigh in 20 per team,
per day. Oh, that sounds easy and good fun. I remember one year a guy
celebrating his first weigher, (what a tiger is called that weighs a kg or more)
after fishing in this tournament for 16 years. It really is not that hard, but
your first question may be, “what do tiger eat?”, you, if you give them a  chance. They have extremely sharp teeth,
strong jaws, a bad attitude and antiquoagulant in their saliver. So, if you let
them bite you, you will bleed badly.
Right you now
have the basics about the tournament let’s get to the serious side of things, how
do you catch these fish? Their general diet is kapenta, which is a small type
of sardine that was introduced into the lake many years ago. It is tiny and
only the larger ones (called select) are big enough to go on a hook. So you
drive somewhere on the lake, put one of these select kapenta on the hook and
cast it into the water and catch tiger fish. No! If you are lucky enough to get
a bite, they will bite the hook off. Yes you are right, you need trace, this
can vary from 7kg to 40kg multi-strand to piano wire, attached to the line by a
swivel. You are sitting on your boat and you see people on the other boat
casting and retrieving. They are spinning and using special tiger spinners with
a chunk of tiger fillet on the hook. Yes this spinner is joined to their line
by a swivel and trace. You decide to move and you see another boat trawling.
They will be trawling with a spinner and fillet. They might also use down
riggers to get down into the 60ft region. You may decide to venture around one
of the big islands and you see boats anchored and catching tiger with kapenta.
You put your anchor down, at least 100meters away from the nearest boat. You
watch them for tips and hints. They continue to catch and you fail. All day,
you have not caught anything except the sun.
At approximately
4pm you make your way back to camp and go to the weigh bay to see if any fish
were  caught. Absolutely amazing, you will see so many fish and a big 9kg
tiger could be the biggest for the day! You could then venture to the long bar
and just drink and listen to the stories. One thing you can tell your mates
when you get home, is that you drank in the longest bar in Africa. Two more
days of this, getting up at 4am, something to look forward to? Not really.
Fishing with
kapenta, those guys you saw. Many of them have been in Kariba for two or more
weeks prior to the competition, feeding spots with piles of kapenta. This will normally
bring the tiger into the area, your fishing spot. Teams might have 20 spots
that they have been feeding twice a day for two or more weeks prior to the
tournament. This is against International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) rules,
but unfortunately the area fished is just too large to be monitored. Come
tournament time, there is a great rush for these spots and lots of fish are
caught on these spots. Other teams will trawl the bream cages, an area in the
lake where a bream farm has been set up and regular feeding takes place, and as
you can imagine, this would attract the quality fish up to 10kgs, hence the
reason for trawling the cages. These boats have down riggers fitted and with
the aid of a fish finder you can see the fish sitting in a thermo cline. This
is a comfort zone for fish, basically where the temperature is the most favored
by the fish. With a down rigger, you can position your baited spinner at the
depth the fish are holding in. The teams you saw spinning, they too have their
spots, not baited, but ones that they have found over the years, that hold
tiger, and the odd bonus fish – which is 5kgs or more.
Really confused
now? And you must really be thinking to yourself, “Wow there is a lot of preparation
that goes into fishing this tournament.” There has been over 100 teams for
many years that have entered, the biggest field was 333 teams, and have
included teams from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, United Kingdom and
a team from the Netherlands over the years. Most of the teams do not prepare
like this at all, it is more of a yearly meeting, an annual migration of
fishermen. The top ten teams at the end of tournament are invited back to fish
in a tournament called “The Test of The Best”, which is normally held a few
months later in February. The average person will not win the tournament or
even make it to the Top Ten. You ask then, “Why do all these people do it every
year, even if they cannot win?” They do it, just to be there with the best and
catch the mighty tiger fish. I cannot explain the adrenalin that pumps through
your veins with the fight of the mighty tiger fish, you will have to try it
yourself one day.
You want to be
part of this? You can be, whether you are a serious fisherman or a “hacker”.
You will need fishing rods and reels that can handle up to 10kg line, which is
the max strength you are permitted to use in the competition. Spinners, trace
and hooks around size 4/0. Then you need to organize a boat in Kariba or bring
one with you. Bait can be bought at Kariba. It is easier if you know someone
that has fished this and get all the important info. If you are still
interested, then I am happy to give help and guidance. Love to see you all
there, it will be a real lifetime experience, so why don’t you drop me a line
and I will tell you more about this amazing game fishing tournament – The
Kariba Invitational Tiger Fishing Tournament, where if you are lucky enough,
you may land your first mighty Tiger Fish.
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January 2009
Well it is 2009,
a new year and my New Year’s resolution is to do more fishing and so should
yours! What a wonderful thought. First get out the yearly planner and the
money in the right place and off, off we go.
Let’s talk about
fishing. Firstly, the dirty side of fishing, and this is what most people have
spent a lot of their time doing, bream fishing or fishing with worms. This is without
a doubt, the best and easiest way of making a boat and one’s self very dirty. Or
is it?
Here are a few
tips to try and help you to keep yourself, your boat and kids a little cleaner
whilst enjoying this fantastic past time. If you do not know them already, then
I would suggest you should put some of them if not all of them into practice. You
will help the ‘hackers’ and kids on your boat.
One of the
biggest headaches whilst fishing socially, is having all the empty bottles or
cans lying around. Have safe holders for all opened cans or bottles of
refreshment. If you are fortunate enough to have cans only, provide a big
plastic bag for the empties and put it in a place that it will not be kicked or
spill over. In the case of bottles put the empties back in the cooler box, this
is the safest place for anything made out of glass.
 Worms, these, after the
fishing rods and tackle box, are the next most important items of your fishing
equipment. You are putting them in the food chain to catch fish. Look after
them. You do not need them dying on you and causing you to run out, when the
fishing is really good. It would be most ideal to have at least two little
wooden worm boxes that have access on the top and bottom of it. Put a
reasonable amount of soil and a good amount of worms in each. On arriving at
your fishing spot, these worm boxes should be put in easy accessible places for
all who are fishing. They must be kept in the shade or out of the rain, or
both. How many times have you seen cardboard boxes broken in the boat and mud
all over the place, not nice! So you now have one way of keeping your boat
clean.
 Have you ever seen all the mud on your rods and
reels after a days fishing? An easy way to cut this down, is to have at least
two damp cloths for wiping your hands on. After putting the worm on your hook,
clean your hands on the cloth, pick up your rod and cast. You will find that
your food on the boat will taste better and not like worms or mud. To cut down
on the amount of mud getting onto your hands whilst getting the worms out of
their box, get a piece of 2mm locking wire, bend it like a 12/0 hook but a little
more open. You put the point into the worm box and drag it through the mud.
Turn it up so the other end comes out of the mud, then, pull it out the mud and
there should be a few worms on the loop, with any luck! Once you have secured
the worm onto your hook, you are ready to fish.
After a days
fishing, it is advisable to clean your boat, or the boat you are fishing on and
get it ready for the next days fishing. If you are a guest on the boat, offer
to help clean the boat and to take off all the necessary items. This will help
the owner and will give you more of an idea on the amount of work that goes
into taking care of a boat, for when you hopefully have a boat of your own. It
is always a good idea to cover the boat overnight to prevent dew from settling
onto the boat and it’s equipment.
It is the end of
the day and you caught some fish? Next trick is to fillet them. If you don’t
know how, it is a good time to learn right then. Just think about having some
bream fillets as snacks that night, around the fire and how everyone will enjoy
them. You can say, ‘Oh, glad you are enjoying them, I caught and filleted them
with my bare hands.’ One of the most satisfying moments in fishing, is when
you may have some visitors from other camps visiting you and commenting that
you had a good day, because you managed to catch and they caught nothing!
Next month I
will be giving you more tips on tackle and methods of fishing for bream, which
I am sure some could be used when fishing for other species. Be sure to watch
this space for tips on how to fillet your fish as well!!
Till next time,
tight lines and happy fishing!!!!
Uncle Doug
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