The various species of bream indigenous to the lake will be caught on worms. Following the rainy season and busy mating time (starting late December through April), the Mozzies or Kariba bream (Oreochromis mortimeri) settle down to a more sedate life of roaming and feeding. They will be caught along steep banks close to the old rivers entering the lake, and in adjoining bays such as the Gache Gache bay, Nyaodza and even Charara bay. A good bunch of worms on a reasonably sized hook - a No.2 - cast toward bank and slowly crawled along the lake back to the boat will entice them. They reach good sizes and make for good eating, but do not expect to fill the boat with them. Once a likely area is located - 12 to18 feet of close to the bank - give the spot 15 or so minutes to settle and start producing bites. The fish seem to roam up and down the shoreline, and often periods of intense activity will be followed by relative quiet as they move off, returning a short time later.
Kariba - A Fisherman's Paradise
By Ant Williams
Kariba has an incredible diversity of fish, with many of the Zambezi species once found in the river, still represented. Fish like chessa, bottlenose and Cornish jack have survived and will be caught on occasion, though are not prolific in the dam environment. Species which have done well, are those we love to catch - the bream species, catfish like the mighty vundu and of course our favorite, tigerfish.
While space does not allow an in-depth study of all species and preferred methods for subduing them, a brief overview on popular fish and techniques will aid the first time angler to Kariba. Most fish will take an offering of earthworms - a nice fat juicy clompy - fed onto a hook and either fished on the bottom or using a float. Vundu will fall to this bait, and will often even take fish fillets used for tiger fishing. Cornish jack and bottlenose too will take worms and small fish fillets fished on the bottom.
When locating a spot, there are a number of things to consider. Firstly two points, or (in this case) trees to tie between – this is to hold the boat taut while you are fishing, as the "hot spot" can often be a very small specific area where the bait has settled. Depth is very important in locating a good spot, and anywhere from 16-22 feet can work great. Too shallow and you will be catching palm size fish and too deep you will be feeding the catfish! If you can find some sort of drop off or channel close by in a main tree-line, this will improve your chances of success.
Don’t worry about over feeding your spot but rather worry about under feeding it - the more food you bait with the more fish you will catch. Once the fish are there and you start catching, then cut down to say a minimum of half a game block per day plus 5kg of fish pellets (also made by National Foods), ideally though one game block plus 5-10kg of fish pellets per day does the trick! So feeding a spot close to a few other boats can actually help bring fish quicker because schools of fish are being drawn into and concentrated in that particular area! To mix your dough bait, take a container (5ltr bucket), 2kg of fish pellets and add water slowly (a cup at a time) constantly mixing until you have a sticky sadza consistency. Flavoured additives may help, but this is largely about personal preference. The size of the bait you use is determined by your hook shape and size, but a ball of dough half the size of a golf ball is best - for bigger fish evern a squash-ball-size bait is good!
 The deeper water pinkie-holding weed found along the shorelines and among the submerged trees in Kariba. |  A good anchor is essential for boat positioning as gentle bites can be missed if the boat is moving and dragging the bait through the weeds. |  Pinkies can be specifically targeted when, at the onset of the rains the lake begins to rise to flood terrestrial vegetation. |
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 Roger Macdonald with a 10,21kg fish taken on a downrigeed live bait. This was one of two over 10kg taken within half an hour of each other. |  The Kariba we know and love... not a moment too soon to get off the water. |
 The pinkie - Tilapia rendalli |  The deeper water pinkie-holding weed found along the shorelines and among the submerged trees in Kariba. |  The nillie - Oreochromis niloticus... This nillie was attacked by a tigerfish on its way to a brave fisherman. |
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 National Foods Game Block |
Tigerfishing is a big attraction, and this ferocious toothy creature can be caught using a variety of methods. Again, space does not allow an in-depth study on the subject, though we will outline the more technical method of live bait fishing for those interested in possibly landing the next world record! Fly fishing for tiger is a growing though specialized sport, while more recently, tigers are being taken on bass-type surface lures. Do not be afraid to experiment!
While tigerfish will be found throughout the lake, once again the floating bream cages at Antelope Island have created a concentration of fish... some very big mammas too. They are there as the free ranging bream are hanging around the nets, and tiger have even been known to attack the nets themselves. While the floating bream cages are contained within a legal concession area which is a no-go area, trolling spinners, or spinning close to the boudaries of the concession (marked by red buoys) will produce fish. Spinners should be dressed with a strip of fresh fish fillet as an attractant and if trolling, additional weight can be added to keep the spinner down. However, the really big fish are caught by drifting livebaits (usually small bream) as outlined earlier. Spinning with a dressed spinner also works around and close to the weed-beds mentioned above for pinkie fishing, and can be employed to good effect when cast while drifting along shorelines or over underwater ridges and features.
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Perhaps one of the most prolific bream species occurring in Kariba now are the introduced Niloticus, or nillies (Oreochromis niloticus) as they are known. Used for fish farming, they breed and grow quickly and are farmed within the floating bream-farm cages found around Antelope Island. As a result, escapees have colonized Antelope Island and can be targeted using dough-type baits made from mealie meal, fish pellets or meal and additives like molasses, beer etc. Treble hooks hold the dough baits more securely - the most popular sizes are a No.8 or 10 (or smaller). Excess feed from the nearby cages still drifts onto the island and is believed reinforce their feeding habits. An accepted technique for targeting nillies is to locate a spot,
a solid game block (made by National Foods, sold at most tackle shops and even at the worm salesmen in Banket) which will attract and hold the fish, and begin fishing over it. At least a or two of baiting is needed to bring the fish into a routine feeding pattern, so preparation and patience is key. Although caught throughout the year, the Niloticus can be most productive from
November through to April.
Pinkies or the Redbreast are also a good fun species big, though the odd sizeable specimen will keep you interested. Pinkies will be caught alongside most other bream species (even mozzies), but can be specifically targeted when, at the onset of the rains the lake begins to rise to flood terrestrial vegetation. Omnivores, they will be seen in very shallow water (20-50cm) eating the newly flooded grasses - indicated by the twitching of grass stalks nibble. Here, a porcupine quill or bubble float
are used. With the baited hook (No.8-10 hook) set to about 10cm beneath the float, cast rig into the grass. Invariably, as the float lands on the water, the fish are attracted and arrow-like bow waves will been seen homing in on your bait. The float is actually acting more as a lure, than a float, and as you slowly twitch it, the fish will attack the bait. A firm strike, and the fish will be on. This is great entertainment throughout day, and especially good for keeping youngsters interested. They make exceptional bar snacks fried in a little batter.
Hunting bream is just that. Choose a likely spot, fish it thouroughly for no more than 20 minutes to a half hour, fan casting all likely ares and depths. Execute a slow retreive, gently crawling the bait back to the boat, stopping occassionally to allow a following mozzie to pounce. If no fish, up anchor and move on. It may only be a few metres, but that can be the difference between catching or going hungry.
Hook - choose a hook with a wide gap or take a pair of pliers and open slightly, twisting to improve the offset. A good offset on the hook will improve the hook up as on strike the hook will twist to find good purchase. A hook with an off-set eye also aids this process.
Later in the year, bigger specimens will be found in water of between seven and ten feet, holding close to beds of submerged weed - either oxygen weed or the less dense Potamageton swienfurthii, a favored food of of T. rendalli and one of five similar aquatic weeds found in Kariba.
While the Potamageton grows in open water in patches, it is prolific around the many submerged trees in the lake. A good anchor is essential for boat positioning as gentle bites can be missed if the boat is moving and dragging the bait through the weeds. A Paternoster rig which has a sinker at the bottom with a dropper about 10cm above tied with a No.8-10 hook is the order of the day. While the sinker should not be too heavy, it must carry enough punch to penetrate the weed and get close to the lake-bed where the fish are. Long casts are not necessary and pitching or simply dropping the rig into a likely clearing or hole will suffice.
Roger Macdonald is a skilled tiger fisherman. Catain of the ULTC CABS tiger fishing team he has developed tiger fishing techniques to meet the changin ecology of those areas close to the bream breeding ponds around Antelope Island on Lake Kariba. His live bait rig is designed to appear as natural as possible, and careful rigging and attention to details is essential. The main hook (a small No.6) hooked through the upper lip is designed to pull the fish forward in as natural a manner as possible, while the large 5/0 Gamagatsu laying along the length of the body (often fed throught the gills if the livie is big enough) will turn and hook the moment the bait is struck by a tigerfish.
Roger emphasizes the tigerfish's ability (and in fact any fish for that matter) to spot anything amiss beneath the water surface. This is their environment and untidy rigging of the hooks and traces will be easily spotted and rejected by all but the most aggressive or hungry fish.
Depending on the conditions, Roger will also sometimes carefully scale one side of the fish (that side where the hook is placed) in order to reduce the bait's reflectivity. This effectively destroys part of the bait fish's camouflage and will more easily grab the attention of a passing or hunting tigerfish. Another trick is to lightly puncture the fish's body just behind the gills, leaving it to slowly ooze blood while being drifted or trolled. Fish are capable of detecting minute parts-per-million of blood in water... and this scent trail is often all that is needed to prompt an uncertain fish into taking the bait.
If spinning, trolling or live bait fishing prove too exhausting, the tried and tested method of doba-doba fishing is productive throughout the lake, and requires much less effort. The basic technique involves using kapenta (a small sardine-type fish introduced to Kariba just after it filled for the commercial fishery), threaded two or three onto a No.3/0-4/0 hook and dropped or cast out and allowed to sink.
No float is required, and a small bit of weight (usually a couple of split-shot) can be added to get the bait down. Target water anything from 18-30 feet deep, and if one can find an under-water feature such as trees, an old ant hill, or gulleys and drop-offs, then all the better. Anchor the boat, throw out a couple or three handfuls of kapenta (chumming), bait up and cast. The take often comes as the bait is gently fluttering to land on the lake bed... so be prepared. Keep chumming the spot with two to three hand fulls of kapenta every 10-15 minutes to keep the fish interested.
It is Roger's belief that tigerfish will hold station close to the thermocline in any body of water - that point at which there is a significant change in water temperature where the warm upper layer, meets the cooler, less oxygenated bottom layer. "This is their comfort zone" says Roger. Most modern day depth sounders will show the thermocline as a line on the screen. Tigerfish also prefer structure, often hovering in the tops of submerged trees where their predatory nature can fully utilized. From this comfort zone, the fish will forage down into the deeper trees (eating squeakers and the like) and will attack upward to snatch passing bait-fish.
TIPS
Always use a steel trace wire of between 15-30cm. Tiger will bite through most lines. Use black non-shiny swivels.If you need extra weight to cast well, clip lead shot onto your trace above your hook.
Many experienced anglers remove treble hooks from their lures, replacing each with a single larger hook. The hooks must not interfere with each other.
If in a current, cast your bait upstream and allow it to drift into the drop-off. Kariba has water currents created by wind and wave action. If, after a while, the line straightens out and the bait is obviously near the surface, retreive it and put it upstream again.
If fresh kapenta are not available, frozen will work. Select kapenta of between 50-80mm long. Dry them partially in the sun to toughen them before hooking several through the eyes so as to dangle loosely on the bend of the hook. Dry kapenta can be used this way, although not as effective.
If angling with light tackle (2-3kg breaking strain), use 2/0 hooks. Set your drag so the fish can run without snapping off and do not alter it. Let the fish run but keep your rod tip high and reel like mad if the pull slackens - never let your line get slack not lower the rod tip - it must be bowed all the time.
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