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Nile Perch Fishing in Nairobi

EXPEDITION FISHING

Kaenon Polarized hunter extraordinaire, Alistair James sent us a recap of his recent holiday expedition in Nairobi which included fishing for Nile Perch. Not something you get to do every day…

“I was in Nairobi on business the first week of November when I met Johnny Chipman, a fellow hunting guide working in Tanzania. He mentioned that he would be heading to Lake Turkana over the weekend to fish for Nile perch and asked if I would like to go along. Always willing to try something new, I immediately said yes. After a few drinks Johnny sketched a map on the back of a napkin to help me find the meeting point for our trip Thursday night.

A four hour drive from Nairobi going north on Thursday afternoon proved the napkin sketch more or less reliable as I arrived on location and met up with Johnny just before dark. There we were joined by four other friends and together we packed two Land Cruiser pickups and had an early night with the intention of starting first thing the next morning.

We had a fourteen-hour drive north to the southern tip of Lake Turkana. The closer we got to the Lake, the more barren and dry the landscape became. The local herders all roamed with Kalashnikov rifles, but appeared for the most part friendly. A couple hours before the lake we stopped in a small mission where a Dutch missionary family told us that a fight had broken out the day before and that everyone was low on ammunition so we should be safe.

As the sun was setting we arrived on the lake shore. Because of the intense thermal winds we set up camp in the lee of a rock formation. I just slept that night on a ground mat with a blanket, but when the breeze died sometime after midnight I wished that I had brought along my mosquito net.

Early the next morning we were up and launched the small aluminum boat that had been carried all the way to the lake on the top of the pickup truck. There were quite a few crocodiles in the lake, so we were on the look out when launching the boat.

We fished for perch in the mornings and evenings by trolling Rapala lures. During the midday heat we fished the shores for a big species of Tilapia that feeds on the algae growing on the rocks in the lake.

We fished all day Saturday and Sunday and trolled briefly Monday morning before packing up and driving back south. The lake is an amazing example of desert and water coming together creating an almost surreal landscape. Highly recommended.”

per: kaenon.com