Uganda Nileperch

Murchison falls

Imagine this: you are sitting on a bench in a boat with a fishing rod in your hand, waiting for things to come. In the distance you see a waterfall: with a and continuous loud roar the water plunges down dozens of meters. Suddenly you hear crackling in the bushes on the bank.

Startled, you look up and find yourself face to face with an African elephant. The animal is in the water up to his knees, less than 15 meters from you - he is so close you can count the grooves in his tusks.... Just then, a group of hippos emerges on the other side of the boat. One pulls its mouth open, and again you can count grooves in its teeth.

Are you in an amusement park? Or in some other fantasy world? Anything but! You are in Uganda, on the Nile, and the waterfalls are the most powerful in the world. In fact, every second, two hundred bathtubs of water are forced through a hole less than seven meters wide. These waterfalls are in the middle of what many people say is one of the most beautiful national parks in Africa: Murchison Falls. Lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, zebras, antelopes and so on. They are found here in large numbers. More than 76 mammal species and as many as 451 bird species can be found here!

Safari and bird lovers are in luck here. But anglers are also in for a treat. Because this stretch of river runs through the nature reserve, fishing by professional fishermen is not allowed, and this has resulted in a spectacular fish stock. Those looking for the world's largest Nile perch should be here. Fish of 100 kilo + have been caught on several occasions, and a 50 kilo + fish will not surprise anyone.

None other than Jeremy Wade of River Monsters and well-known British fisherman and TV presenter John Wilson have traveled to this location to fish for these impressive species, and with success. Several catfish species also swim around in the deep pits of the Nile, including the Sudan Catfish and the Vundu. These too can reach impressive sizes of 1,5 metre or longer. And finally, many species of smaller fish used as baitfish live here, such as large scale tetras and some barbel species. Some get bigger than half a meter and give top sport on light spinning rods.

Nile perch can be baited in several ways.

• First, you can fish statically with live or dead baitfish on the bottom. A sliding lead of about 50 grams keeps the baitfish in place. As a leader you use a piece of 100/00 fluorocarbon or nylon, with a large circle hook. That way, you also have (a lot of!) chance of catching the catfish.
• Secondly, you can offer your baitfish at half-water in the rings. Then use a balloon or catfish bobber as a bite indicator. And finally, you can also attack these giants with lures: shads, crankbaits and jerkbaits with the spinning rod and even with streamers in combination with a lousy fly rod.

The fish are always swimming there so it doesn't really matter when you come. However, it's still river fishing, so it's not unwise to avoid the months of November and April-May, when it sometimes rains quite hard and the water can be murky. The best months are December to March, and June to October.

A local guide who knows the river like the back of his hand will get you to the best spots quickly and comfortably. And as we wrote, don't forget to look around while you're boating and fishing, because it's not only impressive underwater.