Tiger Talk

Africa still has so many remote and unexplored fisheries that some of its fish species are not yet scientifically identified. I just spoke with Keith Clover of Tourette Fishing and he told me the tigerfish we will be targeting in Tanzania next week is no longer classified as the same type of tigerfish as those of the Zambezi and Okavango River systems. If you look back in my previous blog posted October 24th I mentioned that they were the same and want to clear it up.

My information came from an article “The Quest for Trophy Tigers” written in 2008. If you want a great read and to see some unreal photos it’s archived on the Tourette Fishing website in the articles section. At the time of the editorial there was little information on the Tanzanian tigerfish and despite its different appearance and larger size they were still considered to be (Hydrocynus vittatus). However, after recent studies of DNA from fin clip samples provided by Tourette Fishing, this amazing predator has been determined its own species. This Tanzanian tigerfish is (Hydrocynus tanzaniae).

The visual differences in tigerfish species aren’t nearly as dramatic as say that of trout species but I can see differences. In past trips to Africa Granny and I have caught at least two types of tigerfish.

The first hero shot on this entry is Granny with the Zambezi tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus). We were in Namibia fishing the Chobe River (five miles up from where it enters the Zambezi). It was actually my 40th birthday when she caught this beast!

The next photo is me holding a tigerfish that Granny caught in Egypt, (Hydrocynus forskahlii). We were Nile Perch fishing on Lake Nasser (the lake formed on the Nile River by the Aswan Dam). We were five days into a two week camping trip. Granny was tired of casting the 9-weight for Niles so I rigged her a red and white Clouser Minnow on a 7-weight. All I can say is she wished she had the 9-weight for this 7.5lb Egyptian tigerfish. Did I mention that tigers fight hard?

Lucky for me, Granny isn’t joining us to Tanzania next week and I’ll have a chance at a big Tanzanian tigerfish, (Hydrocynus tanzaniae). That’s the tigerfish in the last photo, courtesy of Tourette. They were only discovered a few years ago and the biggest caught so far is 28lbs.

The largest tiger is the goliath tigerfish (Hydrocynus goliath) of the Congo and Lake Tanganyika. You can find pictures of them on Google but I have yet to hold one and don’t have a picture to show. I would do about anything to go try to nail one of these on a fly. Goliaths reach 100lbs!

There’s plenty of work being done studying tigerfish these days. For your average angler having one on the line is enough. But I find it very interesting and hope to catch them all before I’m done.

Tanzania should be a great trip with plenty of stories and photos to come. If they don’t appear on my blog next week - not to worry. My guess is there won’t be any chance at all of internet in the jungle, but I’ll keep a good journal and transfer it to the blog the minute possible just like on my past adventures. I should also mention I will be interviewed live on Fly Fishing - Internet Radio on November 17th. It will be entirely about fishing for tigerfish and I’ll share stories from this trip and past trips. You won’t want to miss it!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Back to Africa

The weather has changed. This October has been the nicest I can remember in my 24 years living in the Yellowstone area, but this morning the birdbath is frozen solid and the smell of snow is in the air. You may have noticed this past year that when the snow flies, so do I. That’s exactly why there haven’t been many posts this week even though late October can be the best fishing of the year. I’ve been packing, gathering info and pouring over maps.

I’m headed back to Africa. This time to Tanzania to fish for a colony of tigerfish only discovered in 2008. Although these tigerfish are thought to be the same species of tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) I've fished for in the Zambezi River and the Okavango systems, they reach sizes far larger. It is believed that the incredible biomass in this river allows the fish to grow faster and bigger than at other locations. They are also a good deal lighter in color and their stripes are much fainter likely because of the water color on these remote Tanzania Rivers.

The main reason of this expedition is to film a segment for the latest Confluence Films project. In the past three years Confluence Films has released two highly acclaimed fly fishing movies, Drift and Rise. The new movie to be released in fall 2011 is tentatively called Connect but that could change. The masterminds behind these movies are executive producer Jim Klug and director/cinematographer Chris Patterson. Jim is the founder and director of operations for Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures and a long time friend. Chris is known for his stunning visuals and unparalleled camera work in numerous action sports. He has been the director/cinematographer of the Warren Miller Ski Films feature films for twenty years and has numerous other projects including all of the lead camera work for the winter action scenes in this year’s blockbuster DiCaprio movie, Inception.

Our hosts for this incredible shoot are South African natives Keith Clover and Rob Scott of Tourette Fishing – Fight it in Africa. Keith and Rob pioneered what they dreamt of for years – a place where one can catch a 20lb tigerfish on a fly. I’ve never met either but can tell from corresponding via emails and reading Tourette's incredible website that they are very keen adventure seeking fly fishermen. These guys not only guide tigerfish throughout Africa, but also on prime African saltwater fly fishing destinations including a place high on my list, the Seychelles.

Hopefully I’ll get on the water a couple more times this week before I head to Africa. Late October truly is one of my favorite times to fish my home waters, but there’s a lot that goes into preparing for a journey to Africa. If I don’t get out locally, I’ll be sure post on my progress of packing. I’ll also do my best to pass along some tips on preparing for an international fishing trip. It’s crucial that I'm ready for massive tigerfish so I too can be soon holding one of these incredible fish pictured here today!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

100 Degrees and Few Bass

I was all amped up after giving my talk at Desert Fly Casters last night. It went very well and when we got back to Steve’s house at 11 pm there was no way I was going to try and sleep. Instead, Steve and I each grabbed a beer and watched a cool DVD called “Once in a Blue Moon”. It’s about the mouse hatch in New Zealand. I hit a mouse hatch in New Zealand many years ago and the DVD brought back incredible memories. We didn’t get to bed until 1 am.

It was no easy task, but we got up at 4 am to head to Bartlett Lake to chase down some bass. We were the lucky guests of Skyler Clark, a really nice kid about 22 years old. Skyler works part time at Sportsman’s Warehouse while going to college and is a friend of Steve and Cinda’s. He’s also one heck of  a bass fisherman and last Saturday his boat took 10th place out of a field of 60 in a bass tournament on Bartlett Lake.

Both Steve and I were a little groggy out of the gates this morning. Steve could hardly tie his fly on. However, once on the lake and after a few casts the body completely forgets about how tired it is and before we knew it we were concentrating on our fishing. It took me about ten minutes to realize our fishing was not going to be that good. I began by popping the shallows. It was great looking water but not even a small largemouth stirred. Steve was dredging streamers on a sinking line and Skyler was using his bait caster with all the right lures – but nothing. I think the field of 60 competitive bass anglers last weekend really educated the bass.

Despite the lake being full of bass, Steve and I landed four bass on the fly and Skyler landed about a dozen while using every trick he knew with his bait caster. It was slow to say the least. And the biggest bass were a couple of 14 inchers that Skyler dredged up. Not exactly the hawgs we were hoping for. Nonetheless it was a gorgeous morning on a spectacular desert setting. But at noon we reeled in and made a dash for some carp lakes. Skyler had never caught a grass carp and Steve and I knew we could probably put him on one.

We didn’t have a lot of time for carping because we had dinner plans at Eddie’s House. By the time we fought our way through the Phoenix Arizona traffic and arrived at the urban lakes we had an hour to fish. It was calm and a scorching 100º! Both Steve and I knew although miserable for us, the grassies would be feeding. We split up and started beating on some fish. I got my grassie the other day so I rigged a nymph and hammered away on some nice koi. I even caught what appears to be a giant goldfish. It’s definitely not a normal koi because of its long draping fins.

At the end of our hour Steve, Skyler and I met on a school of grass carp that were feeding vigorously. I was taking some photos of them and Skyler made a cast. Most of these grassies refused the offering but the last one in the rear of the school couldn’t resist. Skyler watched the grassie indulge his fly and set the hook perfectly. Five minutes later, Skyler had his first grass carp.

Tonight Steve, Cinda and I had a scrumptious dinner at Eddie’s House. Chef Eddie Matney is a great friend of ours. Eddie fly fishes like crazy and therefore Steve and Cinda have known him for years. I met Eddie in Jackson Hole with Chef Michael DelMaria whom we had dinner with on Tuesday night. Chef Eddie fishes the Jackson Hole One Fly Contest every year. This year Eddie led his team to a top ten finish by scoring 9th among all individual contestants. Not an easy thing to do when you consider there are over 160 individual contestants. Eddie’s House is located in Scottsdale on Indian School Rd. Every course of our meal was phenomenal to say the least and I highly recommend a visit to Eddie’s House if you have the chance.

The warm weather fishing is over for me for a couple weeks. I’ll be leaving Arizona early tomorrow morning fat and happy and ready to play with my local trout. Expect a few good stories from my neighborhood but the big news is I’m off to Africa in less than two weeks to chase a subspecies of tigerfish that was discovered in 2008. I will be part of the latest Confluence Film project hosted by Tourette Fishing in Tanzania. More on this trip to come in the next few days.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site