I recently returned from a whirlwind adventure to some of the best hunting and fishing grounds on earth. I visited the Kilombero Valley of southern Tanzania with my son Drew, a couple of friends, and WTA clients for 10 days of wild Africa at its best. Everyone had Cape buffalo, crocodile, and plains game licenses, and I particularly wanted to experience the world-renowned tigerfishing, as it is regarded as the best in all of Africa.
After chartering in from Dar es Salaam, we took the short drive to our camp which was surprisingly nice considering how remote we were. We had full-out chalets with private bathrooms in each. The dining area was a large, elevated space under thatched roof with a long dinner table and a lounge area with couches and chairs, all just a stone’s throw from the river.
I couldn’t wait to get on the river to fish, so after unpacking, we hit the water just out from camp. We had lots of action immediately, and both Drew and I caught a couple of fish each, but we hooked and at least partially fought more than 20 in a couple of short hours. Three to four of these were jumbo fish.
Over the next two days, Drew and I fished for a few hours in morning and a couple of hours in evening, and we caught fish every outing. Actually, we at least hooked big fish on every outing and most of the time more than one. We fished from rocks one morning, and I got a mid-teens fish to our feet that jumped out of the net. I also lost fish estimated at 18 and 20+ pounds. Drew lost two big fish and landed one about 10 pounds, and we both caught some small ones. Our videographer made only 10 casts and he landed a 16 and 20+ pounder.
That evening it took me until my 11th hookup to land a fish, but it was a giant well over 20 pounds. The tigerfishing is nothing short of amazing there, and I plan to go back just to fish.
We experienced some freak, early, heavy rains that basically blew out the river for fishing the rest of the trip, but we were in hunting mode then. One of the other hunters shot a nice buffalo on day 2, and another really big bull on day 3 that got away.
We looked for buff early each morning, and passed a few good bulls, but I was more interested in a really big Nile crocodile. The rivers there are full of crocs and hippo, and we looked over quite a few. One afternoon we got within 50 yards of a 13′ croc that normally would be a no brainer, but we had a lot of time, and decided to hold off.
A few days later after a wonderful tracking session, I took a nice hard-bossed buffalo in the miombo forest hills. We took part of the buff to use as croc bait that afternoon, and the next morning, we found an even bigger croc in the area. He never presented a shot, so we replenished the bait, and decided to come back the next day.
We slipped in to our hide the next morning, and soon could see many croc heads in the river. One exceptionally large one moved toward our sandbar island that we hope to shoot on, and when he climbed on the bank, there was no doubt he was a giant. I anchored him with a brain shot, and we had a massive bodied 14.5′ croc in the salt.
Jonas, hunter who had lost a buffalo tracked a trio of bulls almost all day with his PH and ended up taking a great bull that evening as well as a beautiful waterbuck.
On the last day of the hunt, my good friend Jay shot a tank of a buffalo in the morning, and using part of it as bait, he also took a very big old croc that afternoon.
Jonas went back to my croc spot and shot a big one an hour before dark to give us all buffalo and great crocodiles on this relatively short hunt. We also took varied plainsg ame including puku, waterbuck, etc.
This area is as wild as it gets with no human settlement within the 2 million acres of hunting concessions. Our outfitter has two hunting camps and two dedicated fishing camps strategically located along the riverways, and each has its own charm and beauty. The food was top notch, and the staff was friendly and efficient. In short, it is a well-run operation in a special part of wild Africa. The fact that you can choose between a dedicated tigerfishing trip, a hard-core hunting trip, or a combination of both really sets this destination apart from any other that I’ve experienced on my 37 safaris.
Check out the links below for more information on both hunting and fishing this African gem, and give WTA a call to discuss if you have any questions.
