Tigers on Live Bait
It’s fair to say that every true angler out there has a bucket list, and there are many great fish to include in this list, but there is one fish that I’m sure tops many anglers bucket lists, and that is the Tiger Fish (hydrocynus vittatus). The Tiger Fish is regarded as the hardest fighting fresh water fish in Africa which makes it such a popular trophy, these African fish are found in many rivers and lakes on the continent and are fierce predators with distinctive, proportionally large teeth, making it particularly prized as a game fish.
Whenever the subject of tiger fishing comes up one starts dreaming of far off remote corners somewhere in wildest Africa drifting along unfished waters, surrounded by nothing but wilderness, mother nature and the call of a African fish Eagle in the distance, any true anglers paradise.
But then the reality sets in and one starts thinking about the logistical nightmare involved in these trips and the fortune it’s going to cost in the end, and soon your dream starts fading and you are back in the state where the tiger fish of your dreams is just a thought.
Well, prepare to have your thoughts on this subject changed and your dreams made into reality. Everyone thinks that you have to travel to all these distant remote countries to target these fish, but very few anglers know that this spectacular fish can actually be caught right here in South Africa at a fraction of the cost and travel involved in any other Tiger fishing safari, let me introduce to you Pongolapoort Dam, or as it is better known, Lake Jozini.
The Lake sprawls itself across Maputuland in Northern Kwazulu Natal nestled between the Obombo and Lebombo mountain ranges. Built as a dam in 1972 to be used as a holding reservoir for water desperately needed to irrigate the surrounding areas. This is also the only lake in South Africa where the Tiger fish Naturally occurs, making it a popular destination for angling enthusiasts in search of the ultimate freshwater fishing experience.
Today the lake is surrounded by game reserves, teeming with life on the shores of the lake making it a spectacular place not just for the fishing but also for water based game viewing and birding, with regular sightings of buffalo, elephant, rhino, waterbuck, tsesebe, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, kudu, bushbuck, duiker, nyala, impala, warthog and even the occasional sighting of leopard, which roam the Lebombo mountains, as well as over 350 species of birds.
If you have to compare the quality and quantity of fish in Jozini to other places such as the Zambezi, I would personally say that it is up there with some of the best destinations, with average size fish of 5-6lb and regular catches of fish over 10lb and the dam record at 21,12lb its fair to say that there are some real trophy fish in this lake.
Lake Jozini has an amazing climate with warm to extremely hot weather all year round, winter temperatures averaging 25C and summer 35C, making it ideal to target tiger fish all year round unlike other destinations where the fishing is limited to rainfall and water colour , Jozini always has a pocket of clean water somewhere in the lake to go fish. Personally I have found that if you are after Quality fish then the winter months between Mid-march - End August are the best, and if you are after Quantity and not Quality then the summer months is best where you can someday expect to catch up to 30 fish in a 2 hour session.
Methods of tiger fishing vary all over Southern Africa with each place having its own best method, these methods range from fly fishing, spinning and trawling with lures and spoons to dead bait and live bait fishing with fillets and live tilapia/bream.
When looking at Jozini as an individual tiger fishing destination there is only one super bait that has the best results all year around and that is Live Tilapia/Bream. Very often I am asked about the different methods of catching live bait and which rig is the best to use, well sit back and let me share with you the best methods I have found over the 20 years of experience I have gained fishing lake Jozini.
Other than the cast net the next best way of catching live bait is the good old fashioned way of using a hook and line. This method can sometimes be even more effective than using a net, as with the hook you can target areas where the bait fish are more concentrated, where you cannot always get in with the net.
We use a very simple yet very affective rig for catching the bait fish, this rig consists of a light fishing rod with very light line and a small hook (size10) attached to the end, no swivel sinker or float needed. The bait we use that works best is a small piece of earth worm, just a little bit bigger than the hook so part of it is able to wriggle under the water, helping to attract the fish.
The best areas to look for when fishing for live bait usually are areas with lots of structure, such as a jetty, fallen trees, rocks, weeds or grass patches very close to shore, they tend not to go too deep for very obvious reasons with all the predatory fish being around, they can usually be found in about 2ft of water.
When you have found a area you would like to target one should be very stealthy and silent when stalking these little fish, as they spook very easily, wade in to where you think they would be and very carefully let your bait sink to the bottom in-between the structure, I have found that short little twitches with the rod helps to attract them, it is very important to be patient as it sometimes takes them a while to get use to you in the water.
When they do start showing interest in the bait just keep twitching it around until they start nibbling. Small bream have very soft mouths so its important not to strike too hard when they take the bait, rather wait until they pull the line and hook themselves then gently lift them out the water. It is also important to have some kind of container with you in the water where you can put them in, you don’t want to walk in and out the water everytime you catch one, as this would just spook them and make them harder to catch. I have found that 10litre bucket drilled full of holes to let fresh water in works the best as you can just drag it along with you and you don’t have to worry about them dying from not getting oxygen, but make sure you fasten the lid or you will be spending the whole day catching bait, (ask me I know).
I have found the easiest method of transporting live bait to the boat or pond is in a 250litre drum with a aerator, this ensures that there is enough water for them to move around in and a constant feed of oxygen. The drum can also be used to keep the bait in between fishing trips just remember to change the water regularly and another secret is to add about 500g of course salt, which helps to relax the bait and prevents them from stressing.
When the time comes and you re finally ready to go in search of the tigers it helps to have a live well on board the boat with a small pump to circulate the water, but if you don’t have a live well its not the end of the world, a 25litle bucket drilled full of holes works perfect just attach it to a rope and let it float next to the boat and whenever you need bait just pull it in.
The tackle and method we use when fishing with live bait is very simple yet affective. Best rod and reel combo to use is a 7ft Med/Hef rod paired up with a size 4000 grinder reel, this is the perfect combination and you should have no problem battling these hard fighting fish. It is very important to have the right line to go with your rig, very often people are told that braid is the best thing to have when fishing for tiger, but I can promise you out of experience this is not true, I have on many occasions seen people loose fish due to this mistake.
The problem with braid is, that it has absolutely no stretch in it, and when one gets picked up by a tiger you have to set the hook very hard and its important to have that stretch as for those of you who know tigerfish takes off with immense speed and when you strike in the opposite direction and there is no stretch there is only one thing that’s going to happen, your prize tiger is going to win. I have seen 50lb braid snap like it was thread.
Rather be on the safe side, I use 25lb monofilament line this is strong enough to turn the biggest tiger and fight him with ease without stressing about your line breaking.
The rig we use when fishing with live bait for tigers is very simple, its basicly a 60lb black carbon coated trace about 16inches long with a swivel attached to one side and a 10/0 chemically sharpened hook on the other side, another trick that I find improves your chances of getting a strike is to add some bright orange or red beads sliding between the hook and the swivel. The trace is connected to your main line, with no sinker or any form of float attached, I have seen when fishing with a float the fish often ignores the bait and hits the float on the surface or when you have a fish on with the float it attracts other fish to the bright float moving through the water and you very often get bitten off, so another safety tip, avoid using a float.
When rigging your live bait it is important to make sure to insert the hook in the best area on the fishes body in order for it to swim freely and stay alive for the maximum amount of time , the best place to hook the bait is through the tail in the middle of the body easiest way to find this spot is, where the anal fin starts straight up through the lateral line in the middle of the fish, we do this there because when the fish starts to swallow the bait he will not feel the hook go in with the bait, as tigers usually swallow the bait head first so this means the hook will enter the mouth with the round side so the tiger won’t feel it, and when you strike the hook will be perfectly in the corner of the mouth of the fish. Another reason for hooking the bait here is to ensure it being streamline when casting as this would give you maximum distance which is very important, as you will see it is usually the bait furthest away from the boat that gets the most hits as the tigers are very skittish of getting too close to the boat due to the large shadow it throws under the water, especially in clear water.
Many people make the mistake of targeting Tigerfish like bass, and this can cause big disappointment. Unlike bass, tiger fish are shoaling fish and they are not structure bound they enjoy more deeper open water with a steep drop off in depths ranging between 5-15m of water where they patrol up and down looking for unsuspecting bait fish, so avoid the structure and hit open water, it is also important to be patient we usually spend at least 3 hours before giving up on a spot. As I mentioned they are shoaling fish that move around a lot and if you sit long enough they will eventually come past and usually when you get the first strike they stick around with multiple strikes and hook-ups very common .
Best times of the day as with most fishing is early morning and late afternoon we usually fish 07:00-12:00 and then 14:30- 17:30 this avoids the heat of the day and quiet times and gives the angler some time to relax and get a bite to eat.
Once you have found your selected spot and cast your bait out a fair distance from the boat set your reel to free spool or easiest with a grinder reel just leave the bail arm open so that the line is free to come off when the fish takes. Tiger fish have a very hard solid bony mouth which is extremely sensitive so the minute he feels something isn’t right he will drop the bait and your chance would be over, that is why having the reel on a free spool is so important, it is to minimise any form of tension on the bait or line to ensure the strike lasts.
Make sure that your fighting drag is set ahead of time so when the fish does pick up and you set the hook you can fight him with ease and not worrying about your drag being too loose or tight. When you do get a strike be very patient before setting the hook let the fish take some line and let it get up to speed usually about 10sec, when you see the fish is up to speed and you have given him enough line dip your rod tip to the water, close the bail arm and wait for the line to tighten to its max, when the line is tight set the hook as hard as you can, you can never strike too hard with a tiger I usually tell my clients to strike to break the rod, this ensures that the hook set is proper and that the fish can’t shake the hook, if you miss on the first strike DO NOT reel your bait in at least it for a couple minutes, as Tigerfish will very often hit a second time and this is usually when you hook the fish.
Once you have the hook set and the fish on, make sure that you maintain the tension on the line, Tigerfish are very acrobatic and fast and should there be any slack in the line with the first jump your fish will be gone, be sure to keep the line tight and keep reeling until the fish is safely netted.
Tiger fish have been listed as a protected species in South Africa and we encourage everyone to practice catch and release. It’s a fish that also dies very easily if not handled in the correct way. In order to avoid damaging the fish and return it safely there are a couple tips, always make sure your hands are wet, avoid gill handling the fish rather use a boga grip when taking pictures and make sure to revive the fish properly before releasing it, this would ensure many anglers after you to have the privilege of catching one of the magnificent fresh water fighters. Tight Lines to all and hope these tips are helpful.
