African Waters

The fishing season at Sette Cama hasn’t officially started yet, but a few of our eco guests have managed to sneak in a session or two on the lagoon.

Wayne was fishing a fly while the rest of the boat worked micro-jigs.

Tight to the bank. Rocky points. Moving water. Black-casqued Hornbills flapping through the trees ahead.

He’d lengthened his leader to get a heavy baitfish pattern down on the intermediate line, fishing it with short, abrupt strips and plenty of time between them.

When he went tight, we initially called it for a smaller snapper.

A minute or two later, nobody was quite so sure.

A very good brown snapper, before the season has even properly begun.

Photo: James Bader , Sette Cama guide

A fire, a chair and nowhere else to be.

📍 Kalahari Wilderness Drift

You can't control everything on the water. The things you can, you get right.

From arrival and throughout the week, the guides are on hand to help rig tackle, check leaders, change hooks and make sure everything is ready before each session.

The fish, weather and tides will do what they do. The tackle shouldn't be the reason an opportunity is lost.

📍 Sette Cama

A lot happened before the cast.

Reading the structure, controlling the drift and getting the raft into the right position was often the difference between a good shot and no shot at all.

📍 Kalahari Wilderness Drift

Photo: Simon Kay

For a few days, home moved with the river.

Each camp was set somewhere further downstream, with everything we needed travelling with us along the way.

📍 Kalahari Wilderness Drift

Photo: Simon Kay

Arrivals at Samaki were rarely a quiet affair🎉
The team waiting on the bank to welcome the next group into camp.

📍 Samaki Camp, Tanzania

Nile crocodiles were never far away on the Mnyera.

This one had been lying quietly on the bank before slipping back into the river as we passed.

A fairly regular reminder that we weren't the only ones using the water.

📍 Mnyera River, Tanzania

Photo: Matt Harris

Sometimes good fish handling is simply about doing less.

Keeping a fish in the water while preparing for a quick photograph reduces unnecessary handling and keeps time out of the water to a minimum.

A largemouth yellowfish, right where it should be.

📍 Kalahari Wilderness Drift

Arrival day was deliberately a slow one.

Time to settle into camp, prepare tackle with the guides and get a feel for the place before fishing started the following morning.

For guests on the Mnyera, the day often ended with sundowners overlooking Ndolo Pan.

📍 Tanzania

A lot of the lagoon fishing happens on surprisingly light tackle.

A solid snapper on a micro jig, with the forest right on the water’s edge.

📍 Sette Cama