Having visited Matoya in June, I was surprised to get the opportunity to head back there a month later. The water levels had dropped by at least a metre and there was an open spot on a trip going up there. The lodge owners contacted us and asked if I would like to come along, they didn’t have to ask twice! I was super keen to get another crack at this fantastic area, and to tangle with some of those super sized denizens that roam the upper Zambezi!
The weather turned out to be good to us for the trip and with the water levels being lower, the fish were easier to find. The early mornings were cold, as is usual at this time of year up there. This meant dressing warmly for those early morning boat rides to the fishing spots, but stripping down later as it got warmer.
In fact it warmed up so much during the day that I jumped into the river for a swim at one stage, hoping that the crocs were not feeling peckish…
Anyway, apart from all of that, the fishing was outstanding. I had an absolute ball with some very good tigerfish caught. I mainly stuck to copper spoons, working them deep and slow around the dropoffs in the middle of the river. This seemed to be where the big tigers were hanging out.
Those big girls gave me some great fights, and reminded me why they are rated as the best freshwater gamefish that you can find in Africa. Fantastic stuff!
Apart from the great tigers, we also had some fun bream action. I caught a few really decent fish on the copper spoons, while fishing them deep and slow around underwater dropoffs looking for tigers. The first was this Nembwe, which pulled the Boga Grip to 8lbs. An absolutely beautiful specimen.
What a cracker! Then later the same afternoon I landed a lovely three spot bream, also on a copper spoon. This was my biggest three spot, so I was really thrilled with it!
In fact that day I landed four species of fish on the copper spoon, as I also got a barble as well as a tiger of 16lbs and a monster seventeen and a half pounder, which took off like a steam train. All in all an awesome day on the Zambezi, and one which I will never forget.
All fish were released, including the lovely bream. I saw the skipper licking his lips from the corner of my eye, but it was great to see them swim back to the bottom of the river, where they are hopefully making lots more smaller bream!
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