Africa - Ready To Lure The Big Ones
By
David Ellis
When angler Tim Baily says he keeps “a few
small fry for the plate,” we have to wonder at the size of his plate.
Because to Tim, “small fry” are anything up to seven kilograms (which,
if you’ve still not come to grips with metrics, is around 15 pounds or
so.)
But then Tim is not your average angler: when he takes people fishing,
they come home talking about catching fish almost as big as a grown
man, and of total “bags” that at the end of the week can be measured
not just by the tens, but by the hundreds of kilograms.
And they’re happy to confine their bragging rights back home to
hotographs, because Tim is a catch-and-release man – except for those
kg “small fry for the plate” for he and fellow anglers.
Tim Baily as you’ve probably already appreciated is not your average
angler. He was running a UK tour operation specialising in travel to
Egypt when, fifteen years ago, he talked the Egyptian Government into
giving him the first licence to operate game-fishing safaris on the
man-made Lake Nasser.
What started off with Tim, a couple of fishing boats, a few local
Nubian staff and a lot of patience waiting for anglers to be convinced
of the thrill of going after monstrous Nile Perch and fighting Catfish
and Tiger Fish (that are a relative of South America’s Piranha,) is now
so successful its been emulated by others.
Tim calls his venture The African Angler and the ink seldom dries in
his record books: the current “official” record is a whopping 104kg
(230-pounds) Nile Perch – although a retired Indian tea planter on one
of his safaris hooked another brute that broke the scales as the needle
passed the 113kg (250-pounds) mark, and so could not be officially
recognised.
And such catches are not just the domain of the blokes: a diminutive
five-foot-nothing (1.55-metre) Scottish lady was trolling out the back
of one of Tim’s boats in the late 1990s when the boat shuddered to a
near halt as, in her words, “my line felt like it had hit a
concrete block.”
After a thirty minute battle she was pulling a Nile Perch alongside,
but she, her fishing companion and their onboard guide couldn’t haul it
aboard. In the end they jumped into the chest-deep water and manhandled
the fish ashore where it took two men to lift onto the scales.
It weighed 90kg (200-pounds) and was just under 2m (6ft 6-inches) in
length. After giving it a pat on the back, they push it back into Lake
Nasser and watched it swim off into the sunset.
Tim Baily’s clients mostly hail from the UK, USA and Europe, but ten
per cent come from Australia, and the number is increasing.
And some fifty per cent of clients are repeat visitors, which is
probably little wonder with the size of Nile Perch catches and the
fighting qualities of the Catfish and Tiger Fish to be had in the lake,
that was created in the 1960s when the Nile was dammed at Aswan.
This flooded an area of over 6200 square kilometres and today catches
of 40, 50 or even 60 kilo Nile Perch are regular events on Tim’s
safaris, while 10 to 20kg beauties are pretty much par for the course –
like those 7kg “small fry.”
Tim has five “mother ships” that provide dining areas, showers for
anglers and accommodation for staff, while fishing is done from a fleet
of ten 9-metre sleep-aboard fishing boats that take anglers out for the
day with a guide-cum-driver.
And there’s no lack of the good life throughout 6-day fishing safaris:
chefs create bountiful meals that are a mix of Western and local Nubian
– the latter including such dishes as Tajine, a popular casserole of
lamb, beef, fish or quail that’s slow-cooked with vegetables and spices
until the meat falls of the bone.
Hearty cooked breakfasts start the day and picnic lunches are provided
while fishing; prices for a 6-day fishing safari start from $2195pp
including all meals and fishing tackle (although many anglers prefer to
take their own.) Air is extra.
Details from The African Angler’s Australian office on (02) 9966 9316,
peter@african-angler.net or check-out www.african-angler.co.uk
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