06/04/2024
Tiger Fishing Massingir Dam
It’s always exciting to explore and fish a dam that we haven’t had the opportunity to.
Massingir has been on our bucket list for quite some time. Being on this massive dam was absolutely amazing.
Massingir Dam is the second largest dam in Mozambique. It consists of a 4,500m long and 47m high earthfill embankment dam, retaining the water of the Olifants river. Its purpose is primarily for irrigation of the Lower Limpopo Valley. It was constructed in the early 1970's. The dam now holds a reservoir with storage capacity of 2.8 billion cubic metres (2,300,000 acre⋅ft) of water.
Traveling to family “ou” Nick van Zyl at the beautiful Balule Nature Reserve situated between Hoedspruit and Phalaborwa was a good start to our trip. A quick “hello” in our old home town, Phalaborwa, then off to my brother Emille Stucki, and some dear friends. All set and off to the Kruger National Park.
First stop, breakfast and coffee at Letaba Camp. I could surely never grow tired of Kruger with its abundance in blue sparrows chirping away while we gaze over the riverbed with roaming game. Then a last visit to the Letaba curio shop for any forgotten supplies or just a few memorabilia.
We followed the tar road to our turn off on a gravel road to the Giriyondo Borderpost. Got our passports stamped out of SA and then again stamped into Mozambique. A security check on our vehicles and paperwork and off to camp for the duration of the trip at Albufeira Camp in the Parque Nacional Do Limpopo.
The gravel road going through the border, more suitable for 4x4 vehicles, is rough terrain. We previously stayed at the Covane Community Centre with host Marina and Andre. We simply LOVE it there. This time round we decided to try out the accommodation in the park for our fishing excursion.
Arriving at our huts, unpacking and loading the boats we headed for a fishing warm-up around 16h00 the afternoon. Just being on the water was amazing, seeing Impala grazing on the riverbank already made the trip one of my favourites. Supper, a good nights rest, going to bed with excitement of not knowing what the next day could deliver.
Early morning, cool-box packed, 10 minute drive to the launching pad and we are on the water. Yeah!
What a massive dam! Working our way around the dam with no idea of any good fishing spots, we notice a beautiful dagga bull (old buffalo bull) relaxing in the shallow water. I always “have to go closer please babes”…. What a sight he was. Not far from him it was Frikkie Leonard who had the first strike and landed the first of many tigers on our trip.
Local nets are everywhere on this massive dam. You have to constantly be on the lookout for the little floaters attached to them, trying to avoid getting your engine or trolling motor caught up.
Rock cliffs, cobble stones, luscious green bush this time of year supplied us with the most amazing views that nature had to offer in this part of the world. Hearing Fish eagles cry, lots of hippo and even more crocodiles, herds of buffalo and Impala, our hearts were full.
Nick landed his first tiger with great joy as this meant we had fillet on board to make the hook ups even more promising. Not long after I finally landed my first tiger on Massingir. Oh JOY! My amazing husband out fished us all as usual, we didn’t expect any less from him with his natural talent of always landing an abundance of fish.
Success! What an amazing day! On the way back, the Lord had to put the cherry on our cake by spoiling us once again with a large elephant herd, enjoying the coolness of the water after a long hot day!!!! Common!!!! How lucky can we be? ‘Babes…..can we move a little closer….’ I was frantic with excitement and amazement!
Out on land we had to do a fuel stop and decided to try out dinner at a local restaurant named Tilapia restaurant. Cold 2M beers and some cold drinks or water, most friendly service, hands washed by our hostess and then our dinner, a proper Mozambique style peri peri chicken with a choice of chips or salad. Great experience.
With rainy weather the next day we decided to sleep in, have a proper breakfast and fish the closer banks and some islands the next afternoon. I enjoyed the abundance in different bird species of bee-eaters, Motacilla (kwikstertjie), swallows, guineafowl and of course some monkeys mucking about. Back at camp we had a proper braai with extra meat for our lunch boxes the next day.
Making the most of the day we got up early for our last day of fishing. Ou Nick turned out to be the barbel master for the trip as he and Frikkie landed quite a few.
Exploring to the Olifants river mouth which had even more hippo and crocodile, Ou Nick finally joined the tiger fishing club with the rest of us with great joy. Bites were plenty, hook-ups a little less.
I watched in total amazement how some local kids formed a wide circle in the water and with a big splash chase the fish into there nets. Obviously they are well aware of the large number of crocodile and hippo roaming these waters….. and yet, they continue their ritual with all the dangers the dam has to offer.
With quite the catch in numbers but not size, (this time round) our last day on this magnificent dam had come to an end. We once again enjoyed sightings of lonely buffalo bulls lying in the cool water as we headed back to the launching pad.
The road back to the border is 80km but due to the gravel road takes approximately 2hours drive. As we approached the border Nick stops and says, look… wild dogs!!!! Man o man!
We will be back Massingir!
Written by: Chantelle Stucki van Zyl
We have put a trip together and have space for 6 pax with their own boats. Please send us a mail or message if you are interested in joining us. The dates are booked for the spawning season so we can target the 4kg+ tigers. This trip will include accommodation and all meals ext.
Dates: 01 - 06 October 2024
Contact Nick or myself @ [email protected]
