Day 4 The Distant Edge of Civilization

November 5, 2010

We had a little excitement last night. Fortunately it wasn’t in my tent. The South Africans had a baboon spider sharing their residence and were nice enough to show us before they carefully released him back to the wilds. Evidently there are many species of baboon spider but no matter how harmless they are this truly massive spider would of scared the living ***** out of me had he been in my tent.

We got another early start. We were up by 4:45 am and motoring up the Rhudji River with coffees in hand. Today was a true expedition run. We drove upstream for 4 hours. We went to where the South Africans have been only three times since they discovered this tigerfish filled river. The ride was scenic to say the least because we started in near darkness and watched the sunrise. Surprisingly we only saw two hippos as far as mammals. Sadly, this particular area gets poached. However, what we didn’t get to see in mammals was easily made up for with amazing bird species.

Three hours into the ride we came to the first local village we’ve seen all week. We were quite a sight for these folks and I think every single one of them came down to check us out. They seemed very friendly and nearly all of them waved to us from the minute we popped in their sight until we went around the next corner. It was what fishing and travel are all about.

We began fishing on the upstream end of the village. Local kids lined up to watch the mysterious visitors. In my boat were Rob, Keith and Chris. Chris has been filming from the other boat these first three days so today he climbed in with us for some new camera angles. The pool we started fishing had a lot of current and Rob and I sort of swung our flies through its tail-out. Each time Rob and I got jolted by quick striking tigerfish but could not connect. Just as we were getting frustrated I tagged into a 9lber. The kids of the village watched curiously as I battled the leaping tiger to the boat. Then I revived the tiger and let him swim away. In the distance I heard a mom yelling something to the kids. I could only guess she was telling them to ask for the next fish, but they ignored her because they weren’t up for the language barrier challenge with their strange guests.

Our plan was to drift and fish our way all the way back to camp. A four hour drive upstream against the current would likely only be about a two hour boat ride back. By drifting down all day we could hit so much good looking water we’d be bound to catch the giant tiger we are dreaming of filming. Pool after pool we pounded the banks and dredged the depths. We caught some fish but it was surprising just how slow the fishing was. At last we hung our first good fish. Rob had gotten strikes three casts in a row with his Rio deep 300 grain shooting head. Then on his fourth run through the pool he came tight and shouted big fish. I reeled in to make sure my line wouldn’t be in the way and got ready to see a giant.

The strike was bigger than the fish. Although it was no tiger to baulk at, Rob was disappointed as we tailed the 12lber. Nonetheless, Chris went into action and filmed the entire catch as if it would be our biggest. Realistically it could be as we will be half way through our trip at noon today. And if 12lbs is our biggest only the South Africans will be disappointed – a 12lb tigerfish looks like a beast to we Americans!

We drifted downstream and fished through some gorgeous African scenery today. I too landed a 12lb tigerfish and like Robs, we worked him with the cameras. All these tigers have the most incredible looking blue adipose fins. This segment of the Confluence Film #3 will be about 12 minutes long and already they have enough to make a great one. At this point a tigerfish larger than 12lbs would simply be a bonus.

Fishing became red hot at sunset. Rob and I were fishing as Keith poled us into some fast water. We both cast to the bank and on our first strip we were doubled up. We’ve doubled up a few times this week but never got both fish to the boat. This would be our first as we each hoisted hefty tigers for the cameras.

It is absolutely essential to be back at camp by dark so even though the tigerfish were on a tear we had to reel in after we released the two fish. On the short ride home we saw two hippos. One was especially cool because he was trapped in shallow water. He charged downstream ahead of the boat in a desperate search for a deep hole to hide in. I was just starting to wonder when he’d turn around and fight when he found his hiding spot. In he went. Of course, we had to drive the boats through the deep hole to get by him. It’s not uncommon for hippos to attack a boat but luckily we slid on by without confrontation. We made it home just in time and after a great dinner out on our beach we were in our tents resting for a trip back to the Mnyera early in the morning. Another great day in Africa!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Day 3 Tsetse Flies and the Rhudji River

November 4, 2010

With the exception of some wild pigs foraging through the leaves on the forest floor outside my tent it was a quiet night. But somehow I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t fearing the arrival of African wildlife and should have been tired from long day of casting, but instead I just laid there. I heard Michael the Masai warrior that patrols camp all night approach my tent to wake me up at 4:45 am. I surprised him when I was already up gathering my fishing stuff. I felt like crap but we had a long day ahead of us. We were switching to a different river.

The Rhudji River flows 40 kilometers adjacent to the Mnyera River. 40km doesn’t sound far to travel and isn’t, but when you have nothing more than a dirt track to take you there in fully loaded safari trucks it takes about two hours. That also includes taking both trucks across the Mnyera River via a homemade ferry system. Oh, and one flat tire. Normally a ride across the African plains at sunrise would be a joy but we got absolutely annihilated by blood thirsty tsetse flies. Tsetse flies would eat you whole if they could but instead they pick you apart piece by piece. When we got to our new camp I was so tired and chewed up I could hardly set up my gear. The South Africans motivated me by assuring me there were enormous tigerfish waiting and fed me some strong coffee. In no time we were fishing and filming again.

The Rhudji River is slightly smaller than the Mnyera and very clear. You can easily see your fly coming through the water column as you retrieve it. Sure enough, I watched a 7lb tiger inhale my black whistler minutes into our first drift. Despite his insane leaps I proudly stripped him in with authority and smiled as he threw water all over us before announcing him a rat. We hammered numerous rats up to 10lbs and then like yesterday the fishing completely died. The temperature definitely rose but the wind continued to crank. We pulled under some overhanging trees to get out of the broiling sun and ate lunch, sipped beers and rested for the late afternoon session.

Before returning to fishing we took a rare African swim. There was a shallow flat near our lunch spot. If you sit in the middle you are at least 30 feet from the drop-off to deep water. I promise you, if you get within ten feet of such a drop you will get eaten by a crocodile. The crocs of Africa frequently surpass the length of 18 feet! They are sneaky, can mimic a floating log and often lie completely submerged just below the surface by these drop-offs just waiting for an easy meal. We’ve all seen them eat zebras, wildebeests and etc on TV. Crocs are the real deal and you don’t mess around.

Fishing turned on in the afternoon. We changed the boats around so that Leonard and I fished while Rob poled. We floated down to one of their favorite places, the Casino. The Casino is infested with protruding logs and sunken trees mixed with strong current. We rigged our leaders with straight 30lb Rio Saltwater Tippet and attached the 40lb Rio Wire. When you hook a tiger here you can not let him run an inch or you will lose him to structure. On nearly every cast Leonard and I put a tiger in the air. And on each hook up I clenched the line with all my might. Sometimes I’d win and get the tiger to the boat while most times the line would slip loose from my grip and the fish would put lines scars I thought only possible from saltwater fish. It was amazing!

We drifted the Casino several times and then drove 30 minutes back to camp and drifted the camp water until we couldn’t see anymore. Leonard and I must have landed 20 tigerfish up to 10lbs. I was thrilled with these gorgeous fish but somehow the South Africans seemed disappointed and even stressed. There are obviously some much larger tigers in these rivers and they simply aren’t eating right now. That’s what the South Africans want us to film.

We sat around the campfire tonight and drank Kilimanjaro beer and shared stories while listening to the distant grunts of hippos and trumpeting of elephants. All the time the orange glowing eyes of crocodiles watched secretly waiting for us to have one too many. Fat chance crocodiles!

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Day 2 Weather Change

November 3, 2010

I couldn’t fall asleep last night to save my life. I couldn’t wait to get on the water this morning and couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of catching a tiger even bigger than 12lbs. Then, when I finally got to sleep at about 1 am, I was awoken by the distant roar of a lion. It was a spectacular sound that really put our whereabouts in perspective. I was thrilled to be this deep into Africa but definitely aware that I could be on the dinner plate. It took another hour to get back to sleep and then I was awoken again. This time it was to the sound of snapping trees outside my tent. At first the snaps blended into a dream but then I realized the noise had nothing to do with my dreams. My heart dropped because it was so close to me. I opened my eyes and reached for my headlamp. I took a deep breath and when I turned it on there was an elephant less than ten feet from my tent. As enormous as the elephant was, somehow I wasn’t scared. The elephant was simply foraging on the trees and shrubs outside my tent. I watched him for about ten minutes and then fell into a deep sleep for the last hour before I was awaken by the camp staff for fresh brewed African coffee.

No matter how bad you slept it doesn’t take much to bounce from bed when you are going tigerfishing. We all met for coffee and breakfast at 5:30 am and then went promptly to the water. This morning Rob jumped into the camera boat and Leonard came over to fish with me and Keith. While Chris, Klug and Harris set up their cameras our boat made few drifts through the camp pool. I hooked up and landed a 5lb tiger immediately. Even though I got the massive 12lb tiger last night, in my mind this 5lber was nothing to laugh at. But without even a look, Keith corralled my leader and shook the fish off and called it a rat. It’s going to take me a few days to except that tigerfish under 10lbs are simply “rats”.

Shortly after Leonard landed a 5lber as well but then that was it. We fished like rock stars for the next six hours and got nothing but an occasional strike. Let’s talk about the strike real quick. Tigerfish have small mouths in proportion to their size and as you already know from my postings, teeth like a hyena. There aren’t a whole lot of places for your hook too connect to inside their bony mouths. Toothless places inside the tiger’s mouth are as hard as a rock. You must use absolutely the sharpest of hooks and when you get a strike set the hook beyond the norm. By far the best way to set the hook is to strip set about five times until the fish takes off in the opposite direction. Then hit him with some side swipes with the rod and hope that your hook is finally secure. Once hooked be prepared to put the heat on him. Tigers make some amazing runs and on the Mnyera River there are sunken trees and jagged rock crops everywhere. Even though you think you might break a leader, fly line or even your rod, do not let him run far. Be prepared for all the chaos and expect to watch some of the most incredible aerial displays of all freshwater species. Tigers are no different than a salmon, sometimes leaping five feet in the air ten times during one fight. They are really incredible.

By lunch time Leonard and I only brought two fish each to the boat. Our fishing was beyond slow; it was unheard of to the South Africans. During lunch in the shade they announced that today was the slowest day they had all season. They blamed it on the weather. Because of my poor weather history I grimaced when I heard that, but the weather didn’t seem too bad to me other than it was windy. However, evidently wind is a rarity here and the tigerfish don't like it. On top of that, it was colder than normal. Even though it was hot, probably close to 90° it should be hotter.

We took about a two hour break. Then Rob came back to my boat and Leonard went back to the camera boat. Rob and I fished like mad men while Keith worked his butt off poling us down the river. Every spot they knew held fish in the past produced nothing. Then out of the blue Rob hooked up and landed a gorgeous 14lber.

That was it. We didn’t touch another fish all afternoon. The South Africans couldn’t believe it but we landed only five tigerfish all day – a new worst day record for camp since it opened in 2009 - shocking. It wasn’t us, the fishing just plain sucked. There were no hippos, elephants or pukus either. And the African fish eagles looked hungry. All the creatures that were so active through the night were gone. That’s fishing. We’ll hope for the wind to die and for the temps to climb for tomorrow.

Special Note – Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog for this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

To the Bush

November 2, 2010

Today began the long anticipated part of our trip, try to film a huge Tanzanian tigerfish caught on a fly. After a great breakfast overlooking the Indian Ocean, Jim Klug, Jim Harris, Chris Patterson and I went to the lobby of the Sea Cliff Hotel and met Keith Clover, one of the owners of Tourette Fishing and drove to the local airport to catch our charter flight to camp. Before we knew it we were in the air on our caravan. The flight lasted 2 hours and took us southeast deep into the heart of Tanzania. Our landing was spectacular not only because it was one of the most pastoral airstrips I’ve ever landed on but elephants, hippopotamus and pukus were to be seen out every window of the plane. One puku buck barely got off the runway in time to avoid being smeared.

Keith Clover will be with us all week. Keith is the South African that I spoke about in blogs last week. It was he and his friend Rob Scott that discovered this Tanzanian tiger fishery in 2008. Rob is the other owner of Tourette and he too will be with us on this adventure. In fact, Rob runs this fishing camp. He’s also a guide and was there waiting for us to arrive. Rob was once head ranger of Mala Mala National park in South Africa and his knowledge should be an asset to the film. The right hand man for Keith and Rob and also a best friend is Leonard Flemming. Leonard is 29 and reminds me of myself at 29. He lives to fish and not just for tigerfish. Leonard wants to catch every species on the planet. Leonard has been guiding tigerfish here for the last four months.

This is the end of 19 weeks of guiding in the bush for Rob and Leonard. They are absolutely exhausted from the intense season. The cool thing about this week for Keith, Rob and Leonard is that they will be a major part of our film. Sure, they need to guide us and run the show, but they too will be fishing in the film. If it wasn’t for their explorations the last two years we’d never be here. And there’s no doubt that they will forget more about tigerfishing than we’ll ever know.

You can’t explain how hot Africa really is. It’s absolutely scorching. If you’ve never experienced it before it can be shocking the first time. But it’s the climate that tigerfish thrive in. Under the African heat, Chris began filming the start of our adventure while the rest of us went about our business. For me and the South Africans our business entailed climbing on top of a classic African safari vehicle for a bouncy ride to camp amongst elephants and puku.

Once at camp we downed cold welcome beers then tossed our stuff in our tents and set up for fishing. I pulled out my 8-weight Ross and strung it with a Rio 250 grain tropical sinking line and strung my 10-weight with a 350 grain. I had everything prepared right down to my leader including the 40lb Rio Knottable Wire that I tied on at home a few days ago. All I had to do was ask the South Africans to recommend me a fly for each rig. After a quick lunch, another refreshing beer and a briefing about the weeks plan we were on the water.

We will fish on two different rivers this week. Today’s camp puts us on the Mnyera River. This river is much smaller than I expected and as you admire it you’ll see leaping baitfish fleeing from feeding tigerfish. We had two boats. Keith, Rob and I were fishing in one boat. The other boat had the rest of the gang including Leonard. They simply stayed back and filmed us.

We didn’t venture more than 100 feet from camp to start because like any guides, Keith and Rob wanted to see me cast. They heard I can fish but wisely wanted to make sure. Although this is my fifth time fishing for tigers I’m by no means an expert. The first thing at hand was to get my casting stroke in order. Even though this is about the tenth time this year I’ve broke out the big sticks it still takes a few minutes to smooth out casts with heavy lines and flies. To make it even more difficult, both Keith and Rob are 6’ 3”s. I only met these guys this morning so the last thing I wanted to do was hook them.

I must say I struggled the first hour. I was messing up my pick up on my casts and the fly Rob picked was the heaviest fly in my box. I was sure I was going to hook one of them and just wasn’t casting like I can. Rob was fishing while Keith poled us along with the current. He was doing fine and nailed two tigers before I got my first. One of his was easily 7lbs! I was ready to get out my camera and Keith called it a rat and unhooked and released it as fast as he could. I was really surprised because on all my previous tigerfish trips a 7lber is nice fish. This week should be very interesting I thought to myself.

My casting improved throughout the afternoon as I too caught some fish. In fact we must have caught 20 beautiful tigers and several were over 10lbs! My last fish of the night shocked me. He topped out the boga at an amazing 12lbs! I absolutely can’t believe it because we only fished for about 4 hours. To top it off we saw more elephants and hippos from the boat. The birds are incredible. Perhaps I have died and gone to heaven.

One more amazing tidbit about today is that when we got off the plane another group was boarding after their week at Tourette's camp. Would you believe I knew someone there? Garreth Coombes, an avid tigerfisher from South Africa was leaving after a great week. I met Garreth in Zambia in 2005 while hitching across Africa. We shared a ride – unreal! We have five more full days of fishing ahead. I can only imagine how big a tiger we may catch. Chris, Klug, Harris and I are so excited we can hardly believe it. In our minds we already have a film segment of giant tigerfish. Can we really catch one bigger than 12lbs? We’ll see tomorrow. . .

Special Note - Because I am in the Confluence film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you will see on the blog for this Africa Trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Where the heck is Zanzibar

October 31 – November 1, 2010

There’s been no time for jetlag on this adventure. Shortly after breakfast yesterday at the SeaCliff Hotel we found ourselves on a large ferry boat named Kilimanjaro headed out into the Indian Ocean for the island of Zanzibar. Zanzibar is famous for its blend of Indian Ocean cultures derived from being a major trade route for over 1000 years. It also has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and it and the surrounding islands provide fantastic fishing opportunities. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for fishing and this was just a quick side adventure from making our tigerfishing film that we will begin tomorrow.

Another interesting thing about Zanzibar is that today, November 1st, is Election Day. This is a terrible time to visit Zanzibar because during the last elections major violence broke out and led to mass bloodshed in the streets. Of course, when we planned this trip we had no idea about the election and really didn’t become aware of the situation until yesterday. Fortunately everything turned out ok. There was definitely tension and we actually watched locals run from the military on one frightening occasion, but overall our visit was good.

First of all the 21/2 hour ferry boat ride to Zanzibar was one to remember. The Indian Ocean appeared clean and healthy and teaming with life. Flying fish scattered from the ferry nearly the entire trip and if you kept a watchful eye you’d spot porpoise leaping in our wake. When we arrived on Zanzibar the streets were quiet. Locals peered from shop doors and homes and stared at us. Very few made much attempt to speak to us or even stranger try to sell us anything, something you normally can’t get away from in the far corners of the globe. Jim Klug whom I introduced in a blog earlier this week had us booked into the famous Africa House. We checked in then hit the town to see the sites and film the people.

The previously curious folks of Zanzibar seemed to warm up to us fast. They were very friendly and wanted to meet us. The kids were especially fun and we had a couple of highlights with them. One was a big game of soccer which Jim Harris and I played. I haven’t really said much of Harris because I didn’t meet him until the trip. He’s a good friend of Klug's and Chris Patterson's (I introduced Chris a few days ago also) and great photographer. He’s along to help with the film. Harris and I were on opposing teams and I started as the goalie for my team while he played the field for his. I made a couple great saves (I thought they were) then Jim went and scored on me. The kids pulled me from the net and stuck me on the field immediately. We must have played for 15 minutes. Jim and I ate dirt and sweated to death. Miraculously I scored on his team and my teammates yelled good shot cowboy which as one of the most hilarious things I have ever heard in Africa. The best part about it Chris filmed the entire game and a few seconds of it will likely make our film. We spent the sunset watching kids practice back flips off an old tire on the beach. It was absolutely incredible!

I’m afraid it’s time to meet the boys of Tourette. Rather than me save this a week I’m simply going to say we had a great night and then today on Zanzibar. We visited the fish market and spice market and then things got sketchy with some showdowns threats from military. I don’t mess around when the political heat cranks up so we went back to the Africa House and packed it up and headed for the ferry back to Dar es Salaam.

That’s it for now. In the morning we leave early for the African bush and hopefully some huge tigerfish. Expect full day to day stories in a week or so when I have internet access again.

Special Note - Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog from this Africa trip.

First of all the 21/2 hour ferry boat ride to Zanzibar was one to remember. The Indian Ocean appeared clean and healthy and teaming with life. Flying fish scattered from the ferry nearly the entire trip and if you kept a watchful eye you’d spot porpoise leaping in our wake. When we arrived on Zanzibar the streets were quiet. Locals peered from shop doors and homes and stared at us. Very few made much attempt to speak to us or even stranger try to sell us anything, something you normally can’t get away from in the far corners of the globe. Jim Klug whom I introduced in a blog earlier this week had us booked into the famous Africa House. We checked in then hit the town to see the sites and film the people.

The previously curious folks of Zanzibar seemed to warm up to us fast. They were very friendly and wanted to meet us. The kids were especially fun and we had a couple of highlights with them. One was a big game of soccer which Jim Harris and I played. I haven’t really said much of Harris because I didn’t meet him until the trip. He’s a good friend of Klug's and Chris Patterson's (I introduced Chris a few days ago also) and great photographer. He’s along to help with the film. Harris and I were on opposing teams and I started as the goalie for my team while he played the field for his. I made a couple great saves (I thought they were) then Jim went and scored on me. The kids pulled me from the net and stuck me on the field immediately. We must have played for 15 minutes. Jim and I ate dirt and sweated to death. Miraculously I scored on his team and my teammates yelled good shot cowboy which as one of the most hilarious things I have ever heard in Africa. The best part about it Chris filmed the entire game and a few seconds of it will likely make our film. We spent the sunset watching kids practice back flips off an old tire on the beach. It was absolutely incredible!

I’m afraid it’s time to meet the boys of Tourette. Rather than me save this a week I’m simply going to say we had a great night and then today on Zanzibar. We visited the fish market and spice market and then things got sketchy with some showdowns threats from military. I don’t mess around when the political heat cranks up so we went back to the Africa House and packed it up and headed for the ferry back to Dar es Salaam.

That’s it for now. In the morning we leave early for the African bush and hopefully some huge tigerfish. Expect full day to day stories in a week or so when I have internet access again.

Special Note - Because I am in the Confluence Film I will be very limited on taking my own pictures. A special thanks to Jim Klug, Jim Harris and Chris Patterson for providing most of what you see on the blog from this Africa trip.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site