DivingPrincessE

My boyfriend is an avid salt water fisherman and I have a couple of questions about fishing in Kenya and Lake Victoria. I’ve searched on Fodors and TA, as well as googled and can’t seem to find the answers.

FIRST: I’ve read about fishing in Laikipia (likely staying at Loisaba), what kind of fishing is it? He’s into deep sea salt water fishing for large game fish, so regular river fishing for small fish would be boring to him. Are there any “fighting” fish in the rivers in Laikipia?

SECOND: Does anyone have information about Nile Perch fishing in Lake Victoria? I can’t find ANYTHING about tourists fishing for Nile Perch in Lake Victoria, only commercial fishing and the fact they are an invasive species. Can Lake Victoria Nile Perch fishing be included in a safari itinerary?

I would especially appreciate any advice on the possible catch and release options (I’m a tree hugger, he’s not). We were just planning to go to Laikipia and the Mara for Kenya, but I’ll add a trip to Lake Victoria if it will give him something he would enjoy (since so far this trip is all about what I want to do).

Thanks!!

DivingPrincessE

Nothing, huh? Guess that explains why all my searching and googling didn't get me anywhere, lol.

micmic

I know nothing about these companies and I didn't google for more than 10 seconds, but these results I picked almost randomly indicate that fishing for Nile Perch in Lake Victoria is not only possible but also very common among tourists:

http://www.victoriasafaris.com/eastafricatours.htm
http://www.uganda-tours.com/fishing-8days.html

DivingPrincessE

Thanks micmic. Those didn't come up when I was searching, although I was looking more for day tours as opposed to all encompassing tours, so perhaps that was my mistake.

Guess I can contact these companies to ask about day tours. Appreciate the help!

spassvogel

I assume you get Nile Perch while just dipping your hand into the water of Lake Victoria! It's the fish which ruins the whole fauna of that Lake and can be opruchased in Europe for a couple of €/kilo.
I don't know whether that's very demanding for a fisherman.

From any Kenya island he can go for pelagic.
Google should bring up tons of companies.

But well, I am vegetarian and a diver so I wouldn't fish. Not for a meal and certainly nt for "sport".

But that's your BF ;-)

DivingPrincessE

We're divers too, but not vegetarians. He spearfishes here at home in FL. Though I don't necessarily "like" spearfishing it is the most ecological form of fishing. You don't get all the by-catch that you do with nets, and you don't hook the "wrong" fish like line and reel fishing.

Although he does also do line and reel fishing, he releases everything he didn't mean to catch.

One of the other reason he was interested in the Nile Perch is because of exactly what you said, how it ruins the fauna. He is very vocal about the eradication of Lionfish, an invasive species in our FL waters. It has no natural predators and is eating everything on the reef and breeding like crazy. So from one invasive species to the next...

"I don't know whether that's very demanding for a fisherman."

He saw it on some show "river monsters" and it's described as a large game fish...which usually means a fight. Plus I read they can get as big as shark.

Like I said, so far the trip is all about me, the tree-hugger. He's just along for the ride. I'm trying to add a couple days of something he'd enjoy.

sandi

See:

http://www.governorscamp.com/propert...e_victoria.php

Mfangano Island Resort for fishing (for him), chillin' (for you). Whoopie... Nile Perch!

Governor's camp can arrange flight from their Mara airstrip to this resort.

DivingPrincessE

Thanks Sandi! I just looked it up on TA, and this is stated in one of the two reviews, "It's a magical place to escape for a few days. My kids (6&7) loved fishing on the jetty and going out trawling for Nile perch (successfully!)."

Perfect!