I would like to tell you about our unique fishing for tigerfish and other trophies in Tanzania.

Together with Evgeny Danilichev we had been thinking about going fishing to Africa for a long time. And in September, 2017 we took our wives and went to Tanzania. Our trip began with the flight from Moscow to Zanzibar. We chose the Qatar Airways flight through Doha. The prices were surprisingly low (2 400 dollars per round-trip business class ticket and 570 dollars per economy class ticket) and the service was just great. The other convenient alternative is the Emirates flight through Dubai. The prices are practically the same.

The weather in Zanzibar was wonderful, the beaches were luxurious, the ocean was warm, and the local people were friendly and hospitable. The words “Hakuna Matata” from a famous cartoon “The Lion King” are constantly used here. This Swahili phrase means “no trouble”.

In the first few hours on the island, it seemed that everything was going on too slow there, but by the evening of the first day we had completely acclimatized and relaxed. A comfortable flight and the absence of a time zone change contribute to a rapid entry into the state of relaxation.

Having had a delicious dinner on the terrace of our 5* hotel with a luxurious ocean and a sunset view, we went to sleep to be able to go on an excursion around the island the next day.

We visited Stone Town which for a long time had been the center of the slave trade of the whole African continent, the National Park with the rare species of primates

and other animals,

and had an excellent dinner in a famous restaurant located on a huge boulder near the shore.

The freshest seafood and a couple of bottles of cool South African Chardonnay brought us into the state of complete nirvana, and after dinner we were admiring the beginning of the tide and the ocean which was constantly changing for a long time.

It is amazing that coming to the restaurant on foot at low tide you often have to leave it by boat as the water level is constantly changing.

The next day we went by a private plane to one of the most interesting National Parks in Tanzania.

Not all the parks are equally attractive, as the number of tourists in many places is beyond all reasonable limits. Instead of unity with nature you can find yourself in the situation when the number of safari cars with tourists exceeds the number of wild animals.

I found a place not yet spoiled by tourists for our photo safari and we hardly met few cars a day with other lovers of nature there.

We landed and immediately saw some warthogs and impalas on the runway, and the nearest tree attracted a giraffe and it began eating the young foliage tranquilly just 50 meters away from our plane.

Our guide Justin and the pilot took our baggage to a Toyota safari jeep and we went to a lodge. Justin asked us about the animals we wanted to see. We discussed it with our clients and I asked the guide to concentrate on finding elephants, lions, and buffaloes.

The territory of the National Park is more than 3 000 square kilometers, and despite a large number of animals, you need an experienced guide to find such cautious animals as lions and leopards.

In half an hour of our safari, we saw a herd of elephants moving in our direction. Justin chose a very good position and parked the car behind the tree so that the elephants could catch sight of us as late as possible and could not change the route.

The leader of the group was a large female (“cow”) and it crossed the road confidently a few meters from our car. A few smaller females and teenage elephants followed the leader. The last to cross the road were small calves and one more female.

When one calf came up to our car, it got nervous and trumpeted alarmingly. The female-leader reacted immediately and with a war cry rushed to us.

I expected our guide to jerk the car off the place to leave the furious female behind, but Justin was absolutely calm and said that the female would cover the cub to protect it from us. And it happened exactly that way. The female stopped one meter from our car and began swaying its head and ears covering a safe passage of the rest of the group across the road.

Having recovered from this terrific scene and such a close contact with elephants, we had some beer and lunch which our forethoughtful guide had taken with him, and headed towards new adventures.

Unpaved roads are quite good in the park and on the straight sections our jeep developed speed up to 50 km per hour. On one of the straight sections of the road Justin braked sharply and turned into the grass of about 1 meter high.

I asked Justin what was going on, but without saying anything he just pointed under the wheels of the jeep. We could hardly distinguish the silhouettes of lionesses languidly sleeping in the grass a few meters from us, and it still remains a mystery for us how Justin could notice the pride.

There were three lionesses and a large and handsome male that was not sleeping so deeply, suddenly, the lion rose from the grass a few meters from our car, looked at us for a little bit and then came back to the females and fell flat on its side between the two of them. We drove off quietly not to disturb the lions after their successful hunting (the stomachs of all the predators were full and stretched like drums).

The day flew by unnoticed, and by the sunset we arrived at a lodge where we were supposed to stay for a day or two, enjoying the unity with the African nature.

The lodge is built on the top of the hill and has an amazing 180 degree view from the terrace where we had dinner.

We were watching elephants, giraffes, different antelopes and other animals just from our lodge.

The excellent accommodation and experienced staff contributed to the creation of a cozy and relaxed atmosphere in which we spent 2 days with great pleasure.

On safari we saw all the animals we had asked Justin to show and a lot of other animals including reptiles and birds.

I had been to Africa many times before but the greatest surprise for me was a huge lizard which was the size of the Komodo dragon. We were also impressed with the endless variety of birds of all colors and sizes.

It was the time to say “Goodbye” to our guide who had told us a lot about animals, birds, baobabs, and minerals the park is rich in.

The tigerfish fishing was waiting for us in the Selous Reserve, the largest protected faunal reserve in Africa, famous for the diversity of its wildlife and undisturbed nature.

The total area of the reserve is 53, 000 km2, which is 5% of the total territory of Tanzania and much bigger than the territory of Switzerland. Selous is one of the oldest reserves in Africa, it was founded in 1905.

Our camp is completely different from other tourist lodges, it is a real hunting and fishing camp focused on individual tours, it receives one group at a time, so, there were no other fishermen 300 km around. While being in Selous we met no people, the only exception was the staff of our camp.

Tent accommodation does not necessarily mean the rejection of the benefits of civilization.

There is a bathroom with a hot and cold water shower, and electricity in each tent.

The staff is selected carefully and each person tries to be of great help and do everything possible for the comfortable rest of the guests. It is impossible to take your spinning rods or bags out of the car, the staff won’t let you do it, someone, by all means, will take your things and bring them to the camp.

On the day of our arrival, a grilled dinner cooked from wild animal meat was waiting for us. In the National Park we had visited before, the hunting is completely forbidden and there is no lodge where they serve dishes cooked from wild animal meat. In Selous everything is not so strict and they had prepared steaks and shish kebabs from impala, hartebeest, and buffalo by our arrival. Africa gives those who love meat the opportunity to taste new flavors, and the South African wine of premium class can compete with the best masterpieces of winemakers of the Old World.

No words or photos can convey the feeling you have while sitting on the bank of the river under the starry African sky in a complete isolation from civilization. The absolute silence is broken only by the cries of wild animals and birds, and if you illuminate the water, you can see a family of hippos living just opposite the camp.

The temperature in the evening and at night was just perfect, about 22 degrees, and we slept well in spacious rooms with large beds.

Before going to Tanzania, we had been planning our trip carefully trying to choose a fishing place safe from malaria. Our guide confirmed the complete absence of mosquitoes and promised to pay 100 dollars per each mosquito killed. We were trying hard, but could not find a single one during our fishing.

In the morning we woke up at an amazingly beautiful dawn, had a delicious breakfast, and headed towards the waterfalls, where a motor boat was waiting for us. While I was adjusting the tackle, our girls cast up from the shore and got the first tigerfish trophies. Even small specimens up to 3 kilos were fighting violently and it was not that simple to deal with them.

Having taken the first photos with the trophies, Evgeny and I went by boat to get real tigerfish trophies. We left the female part of our group on the shore and the guides immediately arranged some chairs in the shade and set the table with some snacks. While casting spinners in the coastal stones we were moving smoothly downstream along the river. Our first trophies were medium size fish with “human” teeth resembling the teeth of pacu.

I chose a small one and baited it on the upper fin on the spinning rod ready for the live bait fishing. I cast the bait to the middle of the river, exactly in the whirlpool, and went on fishing, sometimes looking at the live bait with the already loosened friction clutch.

Having caught a few more medium tigerfish, we heard a crackling of the friction clutch, and while I was adjusting the camera, Evgeny tightened the friction and got something large. Judging by the constant pressure downwards deep into the huge whirlpool, we came to the conclusion that there was a monster catfish on the hook. The fighting lasted for half an hour and then the fish entangled the tackle in the coastal stones. Evgeny was upset, as he had lost a lot of effort in the fight. We did not want to wait for the fish to come out, so, I cast a heavy lure in order to catch that part of the fishing line which was free from the stones. The first cast was unexpectedly successful, I managed to frighten the fish, it left the shelter and released the fishing line from the stones.

Very carefully we led our trophy to the boat as the fishing line could be damaged. We identified the trophy as the local Vindu catfish. We took it on board and went to the shore to take photos and weigh it.

Not only our wives, but guides were also struck by the size of our trophy weighing 35 kilos. We took photos with the catfish and released it despite the disappointment of our assistants. I promised them to catch another one for dinner, as I wanted to keep that outstanding specimen for our future clients. These fish are very territorial and it won’t be hard to catch the same catfish here again. Let it grow to 50 kilos, which is the maximum weight for the species.

Having said “Goodbye” to our catfish, we went fishing for large tigerfish. The first strike was on the live bait, but, unfortunately, the fish was lucky enough to miss the hook, it just bit off the half of the fish weighing about a kilo. Judging by the size of the predator’s jaws, it was a 10 kilo fish, that is an outstanding weight for the Tanzanian tigerfish.

There were a lot of strikes, but 70% of them failed. The jaws of this “killing machine” are arranged so that there is practically nothing for a hook to cling to. Finally, with the help of the Blue Fox 4 spinner I managed to win and land in the boat quite a large tigerfish of about 7 kilos.

And at last, I was holding the fish we had come for, the fish we had been dreaming about for so long. The most powerful jaws with the teeth curved inwards, resembling the teeth of a shark, made us feel sorry for other fish against which such a perfect weapon is directed.

In the upcoming season we are ready to arrange a trophy and comfortable fishing for you in Africa, Latin America, the USA, Canada, and other countries!