Mocked by his mom, shunned by his peers and uninitiated in the ways of tigerfish, Tudor Caradoc Davies set off to Ichingo Chobe River Lodge to set the record straight



“Naysayers had told me that the water would be too low, that it would be too hot, that November wasn’t the right month to go tigerfishing. The water was low, but I didn’t know any better so I had nothing to compare it to. It was hot (for me, a ginger), but thanks to messed up weather patterns it was actually cool by local standards. Even if I did overheat, there was the wonder of a fly fishing breakfast beer (and no judgement) for such an ailment. And lastly, as I started to catch fish at a steady rate, it appeared the time was just right to go tigerfishing. Fishing the deep channels, after I got off the mark with a fish of around 2kg, a medley of similar 2/3kg -sized fish and plenty of rats came at regular intervals. Mixing it up, Cassius would weave his way through the hippo pods of the Kasai Channel, taking me to side channels in search of humpback, threespot and largemouth bream. We lucked out on the bream, but got a bunch of medium-sized tigers that chased clousers out of the light green murk and across sandbars.

Back at home pool on the third morning, moments after waving goodbye across the water to Team Indiana who had just had their stamped passports stamped to head home, I got hit and I stayed hit.”

For the rest of the story, check out issue 13 of The Mission for free below.