Jozini Tigerfishing

Jozini Dam Tiger fishing charters by Extreme Nature Tours

* Fully equipped fishing boats available for FULL DAY with plenty of storage space for drinks and food
* All rods, reels, fishing tackle and bait included.
* Accommodation can be arranged in our tented camp or in nearby lodges.
* Professional tiger fishing guides who love fishing

Tel 082 2575 612 - Charl
076 4855 366 - Peter
Email - charl@extremenaturetours.co.za

Jozini Tiger fishing

Jozini Tiger Fishing - Extreme Fishing Holidays

You tell us how much time you have available and we will arrange all accommodation, fishing guides, boats, rods and tigerfishing tackle and all transport if required.

We run tiger fishing trips to Jozini Dam and all the best tiger fishing destinations in Africa including the Okavango Delta, the Zambezi River, the Okavango River, Kariba and Caborra Bassa.

Jozini Tigerfishing compares to all these places now that the tiger fish populations at Jozini Dam have grown substantially, and it is right on our door step! Contact us for a fully arranged Tiger fishing trip, tailored to your requirements.

Lake Jozini

Jozini Tiger fishing

Jozini Dam is probably the most underrated tiger fishing destination in Africa! The tiger fish populations have slowly grown since the Jozini dam was build in 1972, and now lake Jozini is tigerfishing paradise, with a very healthy tiger fish population and many big tiger fish, up to 10kg being caught regularly at Jozini Dam all year round.

At Jozini, tiger fishing areas vary from deep drop-offs, shallow flats,reed beds, weed beds and open water. At Jozini, Tigerfish are caught on artificial lures, flies and a variety of baits including liver, sardine fillets and live bait (no cast netting allowed).

Jozini Tiger fishing - Boat and Skipper Hire

We have fully equipped boats and experienced skippers and tiger fishing guides who will take you to the best tiger fishing spots on lake Jozini and show you the best ways to catch Tiger fish. Shore fishing for tiger fish at Jozini is very limited and to fish properly for tiger fish, you need a boat.

Contact Extreme Nature Tours

Email: charl@extremenaturetours.co.za

Tel: 082 2575 612/ 076 4855 366

Jozini Tiger Fishing Info, Tips, Techniques

Tiger fish are a highly aggressive freshwater game fish species which occurs in Africa south of the Equator, occur as far south as the Pongola River and the dam which it feeds, the Jozini Dam in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Tiger fish occur from the Eastern borders of South Africa and central southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana) but are absent in the west flowing Kunene River, which forms the border between the Namibia and Angola . Tiger fish enjoy warm water with a high oxygen content.

Jozini Tiger fishing has really improved over the last 10 years, now that the tiger fish populations have grown in Jozini Dam and there large numbers of Tiger fish in Jozini Dam. Jozini Tiger fishing is really exciting with such a variety of tiger fishing options.

Jozini Tiger fishing Tips

Tiger fish are predators and one uses similar bait, lures and techniques that you would to catch other aggressive game fish like the Tiger fish. Jozini Tiger fishing techniques include using live bait (Tilapia and small tiger fish), dead baits including sardine, shrimps, chicken liver and ox heart.

These baits can be fished on the bottom when the tiger fish are moving deep and on a float with a varying length leader when the tiger fish are feeding nearer to the surface. Fillets and strip baits can be trolled slowly for tiger fish. Tiger fishing with live bait is exciting because the tiger fish hits the bait at full speed!

Spinning and spooning are popular and successful Jozini tiger fishing techniques. These tiger fishing methods work well in gloomy conditions and when the water is not very clear and the tiger fish are hunting actively near the surface. Allowing spoons and spinners to sink to near the bottom works well to lure tiger fish from deeper down, especially when the sun is high. Yellow and red Meps no.3 & 4 spinner, silver and copper spoons 1- 4 inches in length where there are smaller tiger fish and larger ones for the giant Tiger fish.

Drop Shot lures (soft plastics) work very well for Josini tiger fishing and on light tackle, tiger fishing with drop shot lures can be fun for days until all your plastics have all been shredded (and you use anything including your favorite fishing shirt to cut strips, soak them in some sardine juice and hook them on!).

Tiger fishing with dropshot is a good technique in fast moving or calmer waters and allows one to work the entire water column effectively for shallow or deeper moving tiger fish. Start with blue green and silver, try other colors if those are not working on the day, but Jozini tiger fishing with dropshot tends to be more successful with realistic colors. Try to copy the colors of what you think the tiger fish are feeding on.

Hard plastics (eg. Rapalas, Halco etc)are very effective artificial baits for many types of game fishing, including tiger fishing. Once again, Jozini tiger fish prefer realistic colours. For tiger fishing, having some deep diving lures in your box is essential when the tiger fish are deep and you can get hold of bait.

Fly Fishing for tiger fish is one of the best forms of game fishing and pure adrenalin. 8 to 10 weight fast action rods are required. The reel you choose for tiger fishing must be balanced to the weight of your rod and must have a disc drag system as tigerfish are notorious for burning out reels in there first 50meters of their run. Your reel must also be able to hold about 200 meters of braid backing for those giant tiger fish.

Nothing less than an 8 weight rod should be used as heavy fast sinking lines need to be thrown maximum distances.

I recommend anything from at least a 250 grain to 300 grain fast sink shooting head with fused running line similar to that of the airflow depth finder shooting head system. Alternatively a DI6 or DI7 weight forward but the reason I prefer shooting heads is that presentation isn’t that important with tiger fish but rather being able to achieve maximum casting distance, very important for productive tiger fishing.

Fly Colours for tiger fishing change according to the time of the year and water clarity but I always have red/yellow/white; blue/white; green/white; chartreuse/white and plain black deceivers, polar fibre minnows and clousers in my box. But bring as many different types of flies as you can on your tiger fishing trips with you. Don't be scared to try anything new and neither are the tiger fish, it seems.

Jozini Tiger fishing update

Wonderful, the water in the South of Jozini is clearing nicely with visibility up to 2m on some days. We are catching an average of 14tiger fish per day in the weight range of 0.5 - 6.5 kg. Most of our larger Tiger fish have been caught on artificial lures, spoons and spinners.

Jozini Dam levels are up and the dam is at 100% capacity. All the grass which has been growing on the banks since the water re;ease in October2010 has now been submerged, creating perfect habitat for tilapia and other small fish which the tigers are following into the shallows.

The annual water release from the Jozini Dam is taking place and tiger fishing conditions are changing. To add to this, the Pongola river is flowing strongly and bringing dirty water into the northern parts of Jozini at the Golela end of the dam. Our best tiger fishing has been along the western shoreline in off-colored, shallow water. Tiger fishing with spoons, spinners and other artificial lures is more productive now that water temperatures are up and the water is not as clean as in the winter. Lures for tiger fishing in Jozini include Effzett spoons, Meps spinners, poppers and stick baits. Dropshot fishermen catch a lot of small fish with their toys. Fly fishing for tiger fish in Jozini Dam is still one of the most productive techniques to catch tiger fish.

Jozini Tiger fishing updates and fishing reports

Update 23/2/2011

The Jozini Dam Water Level is now at 100%, the Pongola River is not flowing as strongly as a few weeks ago and the water in the south of the dam id getting cleaner. The water is very warm and the tigerfish are hungry. On a recent tiger fishing trip we landed 26 fish in 2 days,a few weighing between 3kg and 4kg. A 7kg tiger fish was caught in the gorge on fly in December.

Many small tiger fish are being caught at Jozini Dam on bait. Spinners and spoons are producing bigger fish, but only in the cleaner water and mainly very shallow around structure.

The Pongola river has been flowing strongly and the water in the northern parts of the Jozini Dam has been dirty, but tiger fish are still being caught in numbers with some tigerfish of 5-7kg landed. The water along the eastern shore has been cleanest recently with good catches of smaller tiger fish, Tilapia and barbel. At Jozini, tiger fish are still being caught on bait and artificial baits.

After a year of very low water levels and difficult fishing. dam levels are finally rising and fishing prospects look great for 2013. The weed is starting to grow back again, which will soon result in improvement of water clarity.

Tiger Fishing Trips and Holidays

Accommodation Special: Jozini View Lodge - R250pp. # nights and more for R200pp

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Jozini Tiger Fishing

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