Pongolo River Tigers: Budget fishing style.

[Andre]

Ok.. lets hope I can explain it. You going to have the rod low while you retrieve anyway, fast short retrieves are probably the most useful. When he hits the fly, strike hard with a strip, and once the fish is on, you can start to use the rod, but try as far as possible to keep the rod low. the line should always be tight and straight, no slack line, and yes, hold him as far as you can with minimal line to run, that's why you should keep the rod low, and pointed towards the fish, in order to bring the rods butt section and to a lesser extent, middle section into play, for pulling power. Don't be scared to bully the fish, theres not a lot of subtlety involved when tigerfishing, go heavy leader, and use wire. also, take a boga grip, tigerfish are surprisingly fragile, besides you don't want to gill grip them, they have very sharp gill plates that can cut you. Also keep your hands well away from the mouth. A heavy duty net as well will be an advantage, but he guide boats should have all of these.Sounds like you have the right idea.. have fun, your first tiger is certainly a fish that you will never forget. Think of a 10 pound fish, putting all of its energy into a 15 second fight... its a huge amount of fun.
I wouldn't waste my time with a stripping basket, unless the boat is very cluttered. On all the trips I have done, the guide boats are clear and unobstructed enough to let the line lay on the deck.

Many thanks Andre for the info and tips. So strip strike is the order of the day.....just a question after the first strike is it wise to stike again.....this time more a flick action with the rod, just to ensure the hook gets into that boney mouth. So giving a tiger line to run is not prefered as such? When he jumps I bow to the fish....no slack line, should he jump left of me I should keep rod down near water on the right side? Thanks on the sharpener.....would have forgotten that. So 30 flies for 2days to 2 and a half days might be to few? Strip basket a must on that river or not?

[Bryan]

The river is not that wide in places so the guide boats in this case are croc ducs with the backrests that you can sit on, not the typical flat guide boats used in Zim or by some of the guys on Jozini. If you do the long drift you need to bring along a cooler plus your goodies for the day, hence the need for a stripping basket. If you go the all inclusive route you get a rower / guide. Definitely worth having a boga grip but I managed with one of those collapsible nets just fine.

[Bryan]

Bryan you are making me throth at the mouth How the hell am I gonna wait till November for that, if you are telling me these tales and experiences? Is the viz always that good as in the pictures? Thanks for the tips. When are you planning to go again?

Viz is actually better than in the pics. Remember, most cameras dont have a polarising filter so what you see through your polaroids is usually much better. I dont have any immediate plans to return but it is always on the list if the right opportunity presents itself.

[Barbus13]

Thanks Andre and Korrie.

So basically I have a fish here that fights and accellerates 2 to 3 times the speed of a smallmouth yellow, jumps like a tarpon, teeth like a piranah. No wonder some say you loose 50% of your catches when tiger hunting. Looks like most fishing would be done from a broad canoe, from sandy beaches and sometimes okes wade in.....though viz is awesome, not sure I would be doing that, seems the hippos and crocs keep more to the pools the floodplain forms but one never knows, wanderer could end up in the river on my watch. I will buy the basket and look what the other do, need one anways for boat fishing in Vaal for largies. Bogagrip? Eish forgot that also.....you get erm cheaper alternatives than the real one? Not gonna pay for a brand name and good quality if only use it once a year. If I'm going in Oct/Nov/early Dec somewhere, would my standard Vaal clothing be fine? Long sleeved shirt, long trousers, all with that sunscreen/breathable material, buff, "Bree rand hoed", sunglasses, sungloves, wading boots.....leave the wading stick at home?

[Barbus13]

Viz is actually better than in the pics. Remember, most cameras dont have a polarising filter so what you see through your polaroids is usually much better. I dont have any immediate plans to return but it is always on the list if the right opportunity presents itself.

Even when the dam has flushed in Sept/Oct the viz remains good Bryan? Did you find the viz a plus or minus when fishing?

[Barbus13]

The river is not that wide in places so the guide boats in this case are croc ducs with the backrests that you can sit on, not the typical flat guide boats used in Zim or by some of the guys on Jozini. If you do the long drift you need to bring along a cooler plus your goodies for the day, hence the need for a stripping basket. If you go the all inclusive route you get a rower / guide. Definitely worth having a boga grip but I managed with one of those collapsible nets just fine.

Hehehe....I did opt for the rower/guide package Will check prices on boga's and basket.

[Bryan]

Std Vaal get up will be fine but you probably don't even need wading boots. I ended up fishing barefoot most of the time. In December it gets very hot and I ended up taking a quick dip in a shallow section in all my clothes. No Hippos around that section at all and they say that they dont get crocs in the section directly below the dam wall for about 15 km. Not sure if I would entirely trust this but the local villagers certainly don't seem scared. The Calverley's have a no netting arrangement with the local community in exchange for the conservation fee that you will have to pay. They can remove any illegal fishing equipment on the authority of the chief.

I haven't fished there directly after the flush but apparently it take a few weeks to settle down again. Viz is definitely an advantage. I would rather have clear water over murky water anyday. It just means you have to be a little more clever than the fish but with tigers its less of an issue. I used a knottable wire made by Cortland which performed exceptionally well. I find that after a few hits the piano wire can get bent out of shape. Knottable wire is more supple so. A lot of guys just fish pretty thick fluoro and swear by it. Reckon they gets more hits. I havent tried that but i know the other two options work well.

See if you can get a shopping basket and attached a belt to it. Best low cost stripping basket around.

[Korrie]

Thanks Andre and Korrie.

So basically I have a fish here that fights and accellerates 2 to 3 times the speed of a smallmouth yellow, jumps like a tarpon, teeth like a piranah. No wonder some say you loose 50% of your catches when tiger hunting. Looks like most fishing would be done from a broad canoe, from sandy beaches and sometimes okes wade in.....though viz is awesome, not sure I would be doing that, seems the hippos and crocs keep more to the pools the floodplain forms but one never knows, wanderer could end up in the river on my watch. I will buy the basket and look what the other do, need one anways for boat fishing in Vaal for largies. Bogagrip? Eish forgot that also.....you get erm cheaper alternatives than the real one? Not gonna pay for a brand name and good quality if only use it once a year. If I'm going in Oct/Nov/early Dec somewhere, would my standard Vaal clothing be fine? Long sleeved shirt, long trousers, all with that sunscreen/breathable material, buff, "Bree rand hoed", sunglasses, sungloves, wading boots.....leave the wading stick at home?

The setting of the hook is the most important.
I have taken a number or groups to Pongola, the normal setting does not work, about 1 in 3 fish mabye even 1 in 4 is landed.
I developed a "different retrieve and setting stance" that have increased the hook setting by a lot.
Normally when standing on a boat and retreiving and setting the hook, your feet are next to each other. Or almost together.
If you are right handed, put your right foot forward.by a normal step and bend in your right knee.
Now extend your right hand forward and bend a bit forward as well.
Retrieve from your extended right hand to your crotch.
should you get a strike, you have much more room to set the hook with the normal strip, plus by standing up and raising the rod, you win almost another 1,2m to 1,5 meters on the strike. IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE in hook up rate.

[OliverO]

I regularly fish the Lower section of the Pongola River from the Jozini outlet downstream for quite some distance, from August onwards to March (March to October is prime upper Pongola and Assegai River Yellow fishing time) I have also fished some of the water from behind the sugarmill downwards, but not as much though.
For the lower section I favour a 7Wt TFO Axiom loaded with an Intermediate line for most of my time on the river and occasionally switch to a fast sinking line for the few deeper sections on the river, most of my flies are weighted to help get them down faster on the intermediate line.

I tend to fish smaller more imitative patterns Tan and Black coloured Brush Flies, Clousers and a small weighted “Bulletproof Catlet” as I call the thing are my most successful patterns ranging in the #1 to #6 size. Bulldog and small tiger imitations have also worked for me and occasionally a smallish popper worked tight against and under overhanging trees has pulled a tiger and believe it or not the odd Largemouth Bass from the deep. A little bit of orange in most patterns is deadly, as is an all-orange Clouser, avoid flies with to much flash in them, seems to put the lower section tigers off a bit.

There are lots of puppy tigers that will make up the brunt of your catch but the occasional big dog will snap at you, this makes the seven weight ideal, you can cast it all day, handle the small stuff and let them show off a bit, but also bring the fight to the larger fish including the occasional whiskers.

I do most of my fishing from an Old Town Canoe and occasionally a Arc Minnow with a 5hp, the river has crocks and the occasional wandering hippo, so it pays to be aware of your surroundings, still there are sections you can climb out and wet wade (especially in the heat of summer), the areas where locals fetch water and do washing are often safer areas to do so, don’t discredit these spots often small bream sit just downstream from where they wash dishes, these wait to eat the pap scraps, this then brings the tigers, my biggest fish in the river a 3.7kg was taken from just such a section, much to the amazement of the locals.

[Barbus13]

Std Vaal get up will be fine but you probably don't even need wading boots. I ended up fishing barefoot most of the time. In December it gets very hot and I ended up taking a quick dip in a shallow section in all my clothes. No Hippos around that section at all and they say that they dont get crocs in the section directly below the dam wall for about 15 km. Not sure if I would entirely trust this but the local villagers certainly don't seem scared. The Calverley's have a no netting arrangement with the local community in exchange for the conservation fee that you will have to pay. They can remove any illegal fishing equipment on the authority of the chief.

I haven't fished there directly after the flush but apparently it take a few weeks to settle down again. Viz is definitely an advantage. I would rather have clear water over murky water anyday. It just means you have to be a little more clever than the fish but with tigers its less of an issue. I used a knottable wire made by Cortland which performed exceptionally well. I find that after a few hits the piano wire can get bent out of shape. Knottable wire is more supple so. A lot of guys just fish pretty thick fluoro and swear by it. Reckon they gets more hits. I havent tried that but i know the other two options work well.

See if you can get a shopping basket and attached a belt to it. Best low cost stripping basket around.

Sorry only replying now, was sick. I will fish with wading boots or plakkies, not sure I will go all natural :smile: Good to hear the 2 biggest killers in Africa is absent/low in nurmbers there, but will be careful. So my R100 conservation fee goes into protecting tigers, nice! The date I'm looking at is somewhere in mid November 15-25th, but pressume the flush would have taken place by then? The viz should also be better? Anyone got the precise time period the flush happens? But the dam must surely keep most silk inside and even the flush water would look better than poor rainwater?Thanks on the knottable wire idea from Cortland, seems Rio also produces the same type of stuff....20lb be suffice?

Will see if I can turn local P'nP owners arm for a shopping basket.:biggrin: