Exploring the Phongolo Floodplain - Part 1

This week’s mission was to explore the un-fished waters of the lower floodplain in terms of fishing, birding and canoeing potential. It was only fitting that we invited a varied group of people to participate in our exploration. And this is how a pilot (Kyle), a scientist, a professional hunter (Jabu), a veterinarian (Jenny) and a conservationist (Chris) all found themselves jammed into a Mahindra double cab driven by a Zulu man named Ishmael ridiculously early on a Saturday morning in search of an access point to the Pongola river. Kyle and myself had fished the first 10km of the lower floodplain the previous week and already impressed with what we had seen were keen to get cracking. The plan was to put in just above where we had take out on the previous trip in order to cover some good water we had not had time to fish on the previous trip.

Stunning Pongola river

After a few wrong turns and some directions from the local farmers we made our way down to the river only needing 4x4 once along the way. As always the first sight of the river gets the nature lover in you going. For fly fishermen the clear water with distinct drop off's and the knowledge that Tigerfish occur naturally here makes you assemble your rod too fast and with shaky hands. For birders the impressive riverine vegetation and giant Sycamore fig trees suggest some good sightings – we were not to be disappointed. The vegetation, the birds and the water combine to make this one of the most beautiful stretches of river you can paddle.

Awesome underwater pic of Kyle's tiger

These same qualities can make the fishing somewhat challenging. The numerous trees overhanging the river make casting a bit difficult and fishing from the side nearly impossible. However, every now and then the river opens up and presents you with a sandy bank and adjacent drop off to fish into. Spending a fair amount of time here is often rewarded with a brace of fish.These little 'hotspots' can be manic with lots of action and often cast for cast hook-ups! We managed to land 15 tigers between 3 fishermen and most of these came from areas where we could stop and fish from the side. However, once again we fished the first part of the day too slowly and had to rush over some of the best water in the late afternoon to meet the vehicle at the take out point. This is inevitable in exploratory trips as we do not know exactly where the take out will be and paddle downstream until we find Ishmael! 

Green coucal

The focus of the trip was on the fishing but fortunately for us Chris was on the ball with the birding and we spotted Pink-backed Pelican, Green-back Heron by the dozen, Sqaucco heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Purple heron, Giant Kingfishers, Cape Parrot and Green Coucal to name a few...

Perfect over night camp sight.

The river itself is stunning and thickly vegetated with Giant Sycamore fig trees, Natal Mahognony, Fever Trees. About 8km into the paddle we found a perfect camp site where an old sandy riverbed runs into the Pongola. The riverbed is surrounded by dense forest and about 3m above the water level and is made up of white sand and comes complete with an inlet to park the boats - perfect.

In summary this is a great stretch of river with a bit of something to offer everyone from fishing to birding or canoeing. The fishing is great and will heat up in Spring/Summer I am sure. The birding promises to be truly exceptional and the canoeing, as always on the Pongola, is a real treat.