![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/P1076760.MOV.10_18_22_27.Still001-1024x540.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
What draws any angler to a piece of water seems like a simple answer. I mean, if there weren\u2019t any fish to be had, why would we bother? How\u2019s the fishing been, is the leading question, but what we really want to know is how good is it expected to be when we get there? Which is always favourably predicted, but never with any degree of certainty.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Lion-1024x273.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Hence although we are lured to a destination for the fishing potential, it\u2019s really the environment in which we find ourselves throwing a line, that\u2019s the attraction.<\/p>\n
And incredible fishing destinations have three things in common. Firstly they are scenically jaw-dropping, secondly, there is little to no human footprint\u2026\u2026.and lastly, if the former is true, the vicinity should be inundated with wildlife that hopefully remains protected from our appetite. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the sanctuary of the Lower Zambezi national park and why we found ourselves marvelling at the riverbank on route to Bains camp. The first night was embraced in the usual celebratory fashion, punctuated by many cheers, which naturally led to a little competition between us keepers of the faith (fly fishers) and the exponents of the dark arts in the form of Brad and the group GM, Scotty, a rather foolish bet considering their arsenal and combined experience.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/C0074T01-1024x378.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Elephant-and-croc-1024x626.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The water levels were lower than we\u2019d ever experienced, which theoretically exposed more structure and drop-offs for us to get our flies into. But getting to within casting distance wasn\u2019t going to be easy, with every tasty piece of holding water firmly occupied by the beasts that sensible people should give a wide berth. First light demands that you throw a popper of sorts and the instant reaction had our spirits soaring. Strangely the fish were holding above the drop off in faster water, and they seemed to be congregating there in numbers. Getting a fish to stick on your popper requires constant attention and quick reactions, which we were a little slow to learn, but Jeremy soon got us on the board, with a solid tiger for a surface take. Brad and Scotty weren\u2019t getting the same reaction from their surface lures, which had us goading them resulting in their suggestion that we have some conjugal relations with our relatives.<\/p>\n
Taking the piss is a time-honoured tradition amongst fisherfolk and it never hurts to apply a little pressure to your fishing buddies. Although one should be prepared to reap what you sow.<\/p>\n
Day 1 witnessed some action on the fly, but it wasn\u2019t anything you\u2019d be sharing on the Fishbook front. It would seem that we were destined to eat our words, as the lure duo waltzed into camp that evening, boasting double-digit fish and rubbing our noses in it. Caught on what was a question answered with the appropriate sign language. Our crack of dawn assault the following morning was met by a howling wind, scuppering our hopes and the only thing to show on day 2, aside from a few fingerlings was a broken 9wt courtesy of a Vundu or possibly a crocodile, we\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DSC01562-1024x577.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
By the end of day 3, we were facing down the barrel of an embarrassing defeat, Vundu, Bream, and Tigers had all been landed, with 5 double-digit fish to add insult to injury. And, they had caught them on it all, \u00a0from jigs and surface lures to live bait\u2026.needless to say the dark knights had conquered everything in their kingdom and justifiably crowned themselves. Our only consolation was the destination in which we were toiling away. Even in such windswept conditions you can\u2019t help but be distracted from the task of fishing by spellbinding scenery and the wildlife that abounds. The luxury of Bains River Camp also helped us to regain our composure, despite having to listen to the accolades of our opposition.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/bream.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Baines-Cuts.00_12_29_30.Still002-1024x576.png\")
<\/p>\n
On our last day, we took casting to a whole new level. Finding some fish tight against the structure we just didn\u2019t stop throwing lines, and after my gut-wrenching snap up on a trophy tiger, I was ready to throw in the towel.<\/p>\n
How many casts does it take to get a reaction? Well, don\u2019t try counting! It takes a fairly demented fly fisher to cast 8 hours a day in 40-degree heat, against a howling wind, but quite frankly that\u2019s how badly Jeremy has the affliction. His abrupt \u2018Inside\u2019 and immediate silence alerted me to the fact that he had hooked a significant specimen and watching the head and body break the surface to shake his hook, I knew it was a trophy. To say he manhandled it, is an understatement, he dominated the fish from the get-go and it was a privilege to watch him tame the beast.<\/p>\n
In the eleventh hour, he landed his largest tiger on the Lower Zambezi. A 15LB behemoth!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Jer-Tiger.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sauntering onto the sandbank that afternoon for the Zambezi sundowner was as satisfying as it gets. To take the game in injury time with the largest fish, was sweet redemption indeed. Thank goodness for the royal We!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/C0128T01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What draws any angler to a piece of water seems like a simple answer. I mean, if there weren\u2019t any fish to be had, why would we bother? How\u2019s the fishing been, is the leading question, but what we really want to know is how good is it expected to be when we get there? Which is always favourably predicted, but never with any degree of certainty. Hence although we are lured to a destination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":6722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,72],"tags":[226,223,229],"class_list":["post-6721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fly","category-zambia","tag-baines-river-camp","tag-fly-fishing-2","tag-zambia"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Blog.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2577,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2577","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":0},"title":"The Corporate Trophy Challenge","author":"Gareth","date":"February 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The art of festival fly fishing The finals of any event come with a certain amount of expectation from both the competitors and the audience in attendance.\u00a0 The 2012 London Olympics certainly lived up to all the anticipation and hype that preceded the incredible spectacle as did (on a much\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2134,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2134","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":1},"title":"The Great Rift","author":"Gareth","date":"June 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Bureaucrats in possession of a little power are not to be challenged and I really should know better. But in todays digital age, travelling on a valid passport and to be blocked at immigration just because there\u2019s not enough space to rubber stamp defies rationale. This was my first obstacle\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WFT_BLOGJUNE_130618_OP.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WFT_BLOGJUNE_130618_OP.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WFT_BLOGJUNE_130618_OP.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2565,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2565","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":2},"title":"Wlldfly Crew revisit the Lower Zam & Tsika Island","author":"Gareth","date":"December 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Video - Tsika Island - Lower Zambezi River The Wildfly crew managed to get back to our favorite destination down on the lower Zambezi in early November\u2026.. We took our local Notties publican, Clive Foss, along to keep things lubricated and on his first day on the river he landed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Destinations"","block_context":{"text":"Destinations","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=51"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13042,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=13042","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":3},"title":"The Fly Shrink","author":"Gareth","date":"June 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"How smart do you think fish really are? I mean it\u2019s not as if they\u2019ve managed to crawl out the water\u2026\u2026yet we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure them out. There\u2019s a lot to consider when throwing a fly at a fish and some might\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fly"","block_context":{"text":"Fly","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The-Fly-Shrink-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The-Fly-Shrink-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The-Fly-Shrink-copy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The-Fly-Shrink-copy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The-Fly-Shrink-copy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14238,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=14238","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":4},"title":"The Last Cast","author":"Gareth","date":"December 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Why ten pounds is the benchmark for many fresh-water fish in terms of angling accolades is a bit of a mystery. The imperial yardstick and it being double digits would be my best guess. Admittedly this aspiration is what now drives my journey to rivers and lakes with a fly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "South Africa"","block_context":{"text":"South Africa","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Untitled-1-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Untitled-1-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Untitled-1-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Untitled-1-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Untitled-1-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3440,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=3440","url_meta":{"origin":6721,"position":5},"title":"Brandon King decodes new species of permit!","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"February 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"In the fishing world, possibly the highest achievement that anybody can reach, is to genuinely 'decode' a species. Basically this is to take a species that has not been caught before on fly or lure and figure out how to regularly catch that species using one or both of those\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/b2ap3_thumbnail_14706806_1798055017075667_8879450014641903256_o-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8sv9-1Kp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6721"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6724,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6721\/revisions\/6724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}