Upper Zambezi Yellows

[krokenosterfant]

Howzit!

Does anyone on this forum have any info/experience on fly fishing for the Upper Zambezi Yellows?

I'm going to my farm in Zambia next week for 2 weeks, mostly to do culling, but I'm hopeing to get in a few days on the Zambezi! Our farm is a huge piece of land in the Barotse Flood Plains, just between Ngonye Falls and Katima Mulilo, with 50km Zambezi as the eastern boundary and the Kwando River (Angola) is the western boundary.

I'm obviously going to go after the famed Tigers, but after a few on the long rod I'm going to divert my attention to catching all the little (and some not so little) bream, catfish and the Upper Zambezi Yellows.

From the little info I was able to find on the upper zambezi yellows, it seems just the normal heavy weighted nymphs and strike indicators in the rapids are the standard approach. But my info has been limited to the fishing magazines and from a few of my mates who have done research up in that part of the world. So any info will be awesome!

Tight lines

Mike

[Wade]

Hi Mike.

I wish i could help you out with some realy usefull information but i would be lying to you.

However......

If you would be so kind as to organise a flytalk outing to your farm some time then i am sure that between us all we could re-write the book on upper zambizi yellows.

Oh well, have a great time (once you go) on the farm and keep us posted with some pics and info

Wade

[Scythe]

From Bill Hansford-Steele's book as well as some other publications I have read, the usual approach as per our LargeScale and SmallScale or even SmallMouth yellows should graft.

Spot your intended victim by looking for that immense pink/blue dorsal fin protruding from the water and place your cast accordingly. In terms of invertibrates, anything buggy should produce but I think your best bet would be to start turning over some rocks.

Watch out for the flat dogs.

On a side note, seeing as you will be fishing in the rapids for your Tigers as well, you shouldn't be apprehensive to throwing smaller sized streamers than you would for the tigers on their own, as we all know mnnost of the barb species are opportunistic and should eat whatever swims past and as we've seen the larger specimens of SmallMouth and LargeScale to tend to turn piscivorous in addition to feeding on the invertibrates so you might end up hooking a Tiger or a Yellow.

Being that I am somewhat gold-bef@k I am extremely envious of you.

Be sure to post a report with some pics and good luck !

[Korrie]

Keith Wallington did a recce up there a couple of years ago.
He had some awesome fun.
The fish he caught was in the same habitat as the SM in the Vaal system.
The flies were the same as well.
Have good fun.

[jock0]

You are definitely going to have to use the same tactics for those labeo as you do for our largescale yellows (also labeo family) as the water is pretty clean with viz being measuerd in feet not cm's as on the vaal.

Also remember that most of the zambezi labeo dont grow to nearly the size of ours with a 3kg fish probably being a zambian record. There is always the posibility of hooking an amazing specimen though when trying something new somewhere new!

[krokenosterfant]

Thanks so far for all the info okes!

My experience with Yellows is limited to the dirty Great Fish River here at home... so sight fishing for Yellows of any sorts will be a totally new and exciting prospect! Like I stated in my first post, most of my time will be consumed by work (if you can call hunting work!), but I'll put in every second I can into fish. Our lodge, in construction, is like 30m from the river... so when every one else is taking their afternoon R&R... I'll be wondering along the river with my fly rod in hand... and the .458 hanging over my shoulder, just incase!

I'm not going to spend much of my time on tigers (yes can be argued as utter stupidity on my half), so most of my effort will be toward the Yellows and then the bream etc. So I'll have time to experiment and hopefully I'll be able to share the "code" with all my fellow fisherman. The manager of the farm is a fanatical bream fisherman, conventional tackle though, and I'm sure he has already encountered the Yellows, so I should have a head start towards catching them!

I'll share everything I learn about them, once I return!

Thanks again

Tight lines!

PS: In time I'm sure a Flytalk outing can be arranged, just need to finnish up with all my schooling and university and then I'm off to the farm to carry on the operation there and I'm going to get the fishing sector up and running... and then It will be an awesome idea on having a flytalk mission there!

[chris williams]

Hopefully Jasper, Chris Shelton and myself will still be able to get up the plane's gangplank by then..

If ever you need a guard for your petrl tanks going up there?

[Wade]

Sitting in Livingstone.

Got the day off tomorrow o i am goingt otry get into some Tigers and hopefully the elusive Zambizi yellow will be on the cards as well.

Will let you know how it goes

[rseebach]

Will be taking my wife to see the Vic Falls in March, I would also like to try for tigers and maybe visit a game park. Any one have some suggestions on a opperator or place to go for 3 flies with one swot?

[Wade]

Hi Rudy

If you are on the Zambia side then go from town to the border, turn right to Batoko sky and at the boat club turn right again. You can go into the park through the gate here and self drive around the park. As for seeing the falls, carry on to the border and turn right to the curios just after a place called the falls. You pay here at the little house and then you can either go to the viewing point, down to the boiling pot (700 odd steps down and up) or you can take the river path and walk out to the falls although i think by then the river will be in full flow. The best place to see the falls is from the Zimbabwe side.

As for fishing, go the the adventure center in livingstone and book a half day fishing trip for a hundred dollars (cheaper than trying to get a boat on the Kafue river). This price includes the boat, fuel and tackle.

The other option is to book into one of the lodges that have a fishing charter service. Most of the fishing is further up from the falls. Went to look at a place called Jungle island, a bit on the steep side but real nice place, you park your car and the lodge collects you in a boat. They also run fishing from the lodge

Best of luck