Zambia: Tigerfish fishing on Zambezi

Tigerfish is one of the most prized game fish in the world, and on Lower Zambezi River, they are plentiful and reach humongous sizes, up to a meter long. They are ferocious predators and hunt pretty much anything else that swims in the water. More than that, they are known to leap out of the water and grab birds in flight! They have a massive jaw with giant supersharp teeth – 8 per jaw. The teeth are razor sharp and conical and can pierce and cut almost anything. Tigerfish can also regrow them. Fishing for them is beyond awesome, they fight like no other species. The trick is to keep the line super tight once you hook it, because if the line goes just a little loose, tigerfish turns its head and cuts the line and swims away with the hook. I lost 4 hooks like that, but also managed to pull 5 fish out – 3 were small but the other two happened to be the largest catch at the lodge for both days I way fishing – 12 and 13.5 pounders! You catch tigers on live bait – other species that you catch before. All fishing is strictly catch and release.