Fishing the Barbel-Run on a Budget
Every year, during early summer, the Okavango river in Botswana’s Okavango Delta hosts a unique and fascinating spectacle known as the barbel run. To fish for tigerfish during the barbel run is a unique opportunity that is high an most anglers ‘Bucket List”

image004To make the annual pilgrimage to the Okavango river can be a very expensive exercise if you use the services and expertise of one of the many professional operators. The most convenient way to travel to your Okavango is to fly to Maun with Air Botswana and then to your destination in the Okavango Delta with a single engine charter plane. The cost of the return trip George - Jhb – Maun – Sepupa can be as much as  R10 000. Add to it the cost of the fishing trip itself, and you can be out of pocket to the tune of R22 000 – excluding the cost of bottled water and some welcome beers.

The dilemma a group of us faced this year was that the economic climate made it impossible for us to justify making the pilgrimage to the Okavango, unless we could significantly reduce the overall cost. That meant we had to forgo the luxury and convenience of flying for 4 hours from Wilderness to Sepupa - and chose to drive the 2500km with tents and provisions, for a 7 day camping expedition. We decided that the opportunity to fish the barbel run was worth the inconvenience of a very long and tiring journey and the four of us left George at 3.00am on Friday the 30th October. We decided to take turns at the wheel and mentally include the two day journey as part of our holiday experience. The Toyota Prado with trailer in tow was packed to the hilt, including a fridge with our perishables. We were equipped to be self-sufficient for at least  9 days.

It took us 14 hours to reach the border with Botswana at Mc Carthy’s Rest – after wasting 1½hours with trailer problems along the way. After pleasant and friendly border formalities we continued to Werda, dodging the hundreds of donkeys, horses, cows and goats that graze and wonder next to the road. It was getting dark and dangerous to continue to travel through this minefield of lobola currency and we decided to sleep in the bush just off to the main road. After having something to eat and drink, we climbed into our sleeping bags, hoping not to be disturbed during the night. Our hope was in vain as an unwelcome rain shower, the noise of passing traffic, voices of motorist stretching their travel wary legs and marauding cows made for an eventful night in the bush. Tired and hungry we decided to make an early start and came across a lodge in Kang that served breakfast for R65 per person. The rest of the journey to Sepupa was uneventful except that we lost the spare wheel of the trailer along a stretch of dirt road, but thankfully spotted it in time as it was making its solo journey down the road. We arrived at Sepupa Swampstop Camp on the banks of the Okavango river at 3.00pm and immediately started to make camp.

For the next 5 days we left the camp at 7.00am, travelled as far as 55km upstream in search of  barbel runs, fished like demons, drank copious amounts of liquids, and lunched out of our cooler box to save us a trip back to camp. We arrived tired but satisfied back at the camp in the evenings and started the daily homecoming routine with a welcome drink, followed by dinner preparations, a hot shower, dinner and desert, wash-up and a campfire chat that seldom extended past 9.00pm.

We reluctantly broke camp on Saturday morning and started the long journey home. We decided to take a slightly different route home and camped that night next to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, not far from the Mabuasehube Gate. We drove into the bush so that we would not be spotted by park officials and made camp for the night. The stars were unusually bright, the air refreshingly dry and the night filled with the sound of the wild. As we got ready to bed down, we discovered we left the keys of the trailer locks hanging on a tree back in the camp at Sepupa. Sleeping on Kalahari sand without the protection of a inflatable mattress is not fun, but we eventually fell asleep after exploring the evening sky late into the night. Aching bodies and a desire to reach the border early, before it gets busy, motivated an early start in the dark. We spent some anxious moments wandering in the bush, trying to find our way back to the road in the dark. When we eventually we reached the road, a Spotted Hyena wandered off into the bush not 60 meters away – no wonder one is discouraged from sleeping in the bush. This little detour added another frontier dimension to our trip as we spotted many animals, including Leopard, Caracal, Sable, Oryx, Kudu, Steenbok, Black-backed Jackal and Ostrich.

We arrived home in George at about 8.00pm Saturday evening – 10 days and 5000km later - tired, content and satisfied that our trip was a great success. We left acquaintances and came home friends, we drove all the way to fish on a budget and were rewarded with a journey of discovery and 167 tigerfish among the four of us. Yes, it was worth every inconvenience, discomfort and hard-earned cent. What we learned and experienced will be invested into next years pilgrimage to the Okavango river.

Introducing Trout into Local Waters
To those who are constantly looking for opportunities to introduce trout into dams and streams in the Southern Cape, the following extract from a newsletter by Leslie Ter Morshuizen of Aquaculture Innovations in Grahamstown, puts a scientific perspective on the viability of introducing trout into local waters. It requires major investment in equipment and processes to create an artificial environment in which trout can survive and grow economically. Apart from the fact that it is illegal to stock trout without a permit, it is also irresponsible and selfish, considering the long-term viability and the stress imposed on the fish. Unless you are seriously considering aquaculture as a business, rather forget the notion of introducing trout for angling purposes and take the time and make the effort to visit one of the established trout waters for your fishing pleasure.  

Trout Farming in South Africa
We continue to receive many enquiries regarding the economic potential of aquaculture in Southern Africa.  Most people live inland and their focus is therefore of freshwater fish species, including tilapia, trout, catfish, carp and ornamental fish.  Of these species the farming of trout and ornamental fish are especially economically exciting.

Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are cold water fish and should be kept in water below 20C throughout the year and, depending on the strain being farmed, the ideal growth temperature is in the region of 15 - 17C.  Most trout farms are therefore either in the colder parts or have a year-round supply of cold water.  The existing trout farms mostly either use cages or raceways as culture tanks, both requiring large volumes of water.  Under local farmed conditions the fish attain a market size of around 1kg in 12 to 14 months.  The hot, dry summer conditions in the Western Cape, which is the main trout farming area, mean that many farmers struggle to keep their crop going throughout the year as their water supply decreases and warms up.  Consequently there is a glut of product on the market as this time of the year, causing the price to drop.  The logical solution would be to erect a re-circulating system to rear trout in, as this offers temperature control to the optimal growth temperature throughout the year allowing for constant production throughout the year, improving your position when negotiating supply agreements.


My Favourite Saltwater Fly - Die Shallow Water H20

image005I was introduced to this pattern many years ago on my one and only fishing trip to Alphonse in the Seychelles. Arno Mathe, one of the guides at the time, gave me a copy of this cute looking fly to improve my bonefish tally. I believe its simplicity has a lot to do with its success as a general purpose saltwater pattern. After initially believing it to be an original Arno Mathe creation, Gerhard Laubscher of Fly Castaways told me that it in fact an original Lefty Kreh creation. Then pattern is unweighted as it is primarily a shallow water fly with a light clouser wing to enable it to swim with the hook point up. Surprisingly, it is a very effective pattern, when fishing for leeries in estuaries.  

CATCH AND RELEASE OF YELLOWFISH
Catch and release of yellows has become an accepted practice amongst the flyfishing fraternity. This has ensured that despite heavy fishing pressure sufficient adult fish of breeding age are released to maintain a healthy population. However, a few basic rules apply to Catch & Release.
•    Use only barbless or de-barbed hooks.
•    Do not play fish to exhaustion. Use side strain to get the fish out of the flowing water to bring it in as quickly as possible. This also  lessens the chance of losing it.
•    Try and unhook the fish without removing it from the water. If      you use a net do not remove it to weigh and measure it. Rather use  a net with a scale on the handle and place a tape or measurements  on your rod to record the length.
•    Never hold it with dry hands.
•    Hold it firmly but gently and do not squeeze it.
•    If the fish is exhausted hold it upright in well-oxygenated water  pointing upstream until it has recovered. If necessary push it       forwards but not backwards and forwards.
•    If you use a net make sure the netting is a soft, knotless and not  abrasive, synthetic material, which removes the protective slime.
•    All fish stress during capture and this is particularly marked in      polluted, warm water with low levels of dissolved oxygen. Limit the  number of fish you catch especially when they are prone to stress.

Flyfishing for Blacktail
The Southern Cape coastline limits us in the opportunities that we have to flyfish the from the side, either the surf or the rocks. We are forced to concentrate our efforts in the abundance of estuaries that dot our coast, fishing primarily for leervis, grunter, tilapia and the occasional skipjack. There is however, an opportunity to target Blacktail in the rocky inshore waters. Blacktail spend the daylight hours feeding on seaweed and crustaceans around reefs and in the many surf zone gullies. They love turbulent conditions and the bigger ones will be found in the white water.  

image007To get your fly into the strike zone use a sinking line and a weighted pattern. When targeting Blacktail in white water, getting the fly into the strike zone and keeping it there long enough to attract fish, is more important than the fly you use - they will accept most smaller patterns.
Bruce Black recommends a chartreuse or pink Gully Bugger when fishing the deep gullies. It is heavy enough to get it down quickly, and swims point up to minimize snagging on the rocky bottom. The marabou used for the tail gives the fly a great deal of movement, making it attractive with any type of retrieve. The bright colours may trigger a defensive territorial response.

Greetings
To all our members, partners and friends a blessed Christmas and a prosperous 2010. May the rains come and the fishing improve.

Pieter Naude