Zimbabwe is bass country. And if you want to catch bass, head straight for Off the Hook, in downtown Harare.
FOR Bass fishing in Zimbabwe, head straight to Off the Hook in Harare
The owners of Off the Hook, Bruce Cooke and Kevin, are both established bass fishing obsessors. Bruce had just returned from coaching bass competitive ly in the US of A! So, yes, the obsession is serious. Hence the partnership. Taking turns to always be in the shop and ready to advise on anything and all things bass and all.
The shop and the team are well versed in the fishing that Zimbabwe had to offer. Tiger fish suffer when Off the Hook equip anglers who travel the few hours north to the great Zambezi River and Lake Kariba. This substantial and challenging piece of water is home to all sorts of game fish. The Off the Hook team know all about the Zambezi.
The shop caters well for the salt water addicts too. Both the guys have extensive experience from decades of patrolling coastal waters along the Mozambique coastline and islands in the Vilancoulos area.
In fact, Off the Hook can assist in getting your dream fishing trips together, be it North for tigers, South for bass or East and West for salt water.
Drop the team at Of the Hook a line on tightlines@mweb.co.zw or pop in to 178 Enterprise Rd in Harare, right next to The Tin Roof.
Peter Marriott of Casa Msika outside of Chimoio in Manica Province, Central Mozambique, has eagerly joined thesardine.co.za and starts off with these noteable Lake Chimipanda lunker bass caught yesterday.
A Lake Chimipanda lunker caught yesterday, from out of Casa Msika.
The season for these huge bass, many over 5kgs, has kicked off at Casa Msika, and more fish will be featuring on thesardine.co.za, from this amazing stretch of bassin’ water. This is a really big, healthy bass fishing dam.
Twin lunker bass taken in Lake Chimipanda yesterday. Thanks Peter!
The in thing at Casa Msika is being able to fish for a spot in the Casa Msika 5kg bass club, of which there are dozens of members already.
Check out this previous post for more Casa Msika large mouth bass and information.
Well she did it again. The Frenzy won the day today with her first ever large mouth bass. Check out the Magisto video in the previous Casa Mkisa Bass post.
A Casa Mkisa Bass by The Frenzy
She caught it on a Mydo Luck Shot #1 with a pearl white plastic minnow from McArthy.
The cute little fish falls about 4.5kgs short of the mark. Which in these waters is 5kgs!
Next stop Zimbabwe! And off to chase those Kariba tigers with the Mydo SS Spoon range. Stay tuned!
The Frenzy was determined to get the shot. A pin tailed wider, cheeky as ever, perched on a mooring pole a scant few metres away. As usual I was interfering with advice trying to get the silhouette shot against the broody grey Chimoio sky. She inadvertently listened and got a great picture. Next thing all hell broke loose. She was crouched down right next to an irate crocodile who took great exception to our blabbering and fuss. Luckily it was a baby, barely a metre, and this all went down right next to a sign warning of crocodiles!
Beware of the crocodiles, said the sign
Welcome to Casa Msika.
Chimoio. Central Mozambique.
We had just come back from our first attempt at what is unbelievably a 5kg or bigger, large mouth bass.
First attempt.
And the best thing about it, was that we had no idea where we were. We were actually having a fine time celebrating Murray Dawson’s 63rd birthday with bird blogger Paul Cook. They are old mates and this visit worked in perfectly with our medium term travel plans of crossing Africa. And so the three of us slowly realised that we were at Msika, part of the famous bass fishing hole, Lake Chicamba.
Casa Mesika is on the way to Zimbabwe from Chimoio. It is a classic fishing and holiday resort on the edge of the water. The huge hydro electrically inspired dam was created in 1954 and powers the entire area and beyond. But more importantly. It’s full of huge large mouth bass. Huge. They have a Casa Msika 5kg Bass club!!! Check the pics!!!
Casa Msika 5kg Bass Club
And so, after some true ex pat style celebration, which lasted well into the evening, we awoke to this amazing spectacle. The Frenzy hustled a canoe in no time and after some frantic tackle work, we headed down to the waters edge. Actually a great slipway that a few years ago was well underwater. The water level of the lake has been dropped whilst the power guys maintain some turbines. They will return the water level to it’s normal state when they are done working. But for now the bass must be more concentrated.
Well that was my thinking as I rigged a few sticks with Mydo Luck Shots, one with a Mydo SS Tarpon Flappa spoon, and one with a Mydo Buck Shot, especially for big bass. This lure swims amazingly life like, it looks and acts just like a baby bass or tilapia – the prevailing food stuff in the area. Change the fly to target different species.
But as of this article, it hasn’t happened yet. The locals slate the high all round air and water temperature as the problem. Traditionally these big fish feed better in the real cold. But that is not an excuse, we are out there again shortly…
RIP Murray Dawson. Murray passed away the day after his 63rd birthday, peacefully at Msika. He will be buried in Chimoio today 3pm.
A monster bass caught by Joff Hannaway during practise – before the Midmar Fish-off, this weekend. The fishing at Midmar has been really good lately.
With commentary by Sardine Correspondent and Team Angler Mike Stubbs…
Day 1
Session started at 10:30 and ended at 5pm. When we got in the water conditions were over cast and light showers through the mid day. The dam was 75% full and water visibility about 2m. Finding the pattern was quick after picking a crank bait rod and throwing a lipless crack, ensuring the crack hits the bottom and bouncing off the structure below. Picking up my bag (5 fish) in a short period of time. And then off to target the bigger fish. Fishing the top water in the afternoon proved a lot of fun. Saturday bag just over 3kgs. This was the best fishing I have ever had at Midmar…
Day 2 Session started at 6am and finished at 1pm. It rained most of the morning with moderate mist and fog. Started off fishing with same pattern as day before, but realized very soon that the fishing conditions had changed. With the fish not touching the crank, I quickly moved over to a slower bait. Picking up my drop shot rod, was soon to be the answer and allowing the bait to sit just off the bottom with barely any movement, was the answer to picking up the fish. Getting my bag just before lunch time was nerve wracking, but fishing slower paid off with a lovely bag just over 4.7kgs. Fishing was great over all and some lovely fish were caught biggest 4.7kg caught by Len de Wet (pictured).
Preparing for the next fish off, for Woodstock end of November.
