Tanzania Adventure – Inland Sport Fishing in Tanzania

by Andrew Muigai

Inland sport fishing is rapidly becoming a popular leisure activity among visitors to Tanzania. Although fishing is not permitted in national parks and game reserves, Tanzania’s fresh water rivers and lakes ? occupying over 6 per cent of the country’s total area- provide visitors with numerous rewarding fishing opportunities.

During the rainy season, the country’s rivers and their tributaries are inhabited by plenty of fish and it is therefore a good idea to take a fishing safari after the short and long rains. The short rains fall in November and December, while the long rains are received in April and May. Some of Tanzania’s best inland fishing fishing grounds are Mwanza, Musoma, Lake Tanganyika and Rufiji River.

For the sports fishing safari enthusiast looking for the best fishing experience in Tanzania, there are a number of Tanzania tour and safari companies that organize fishing safaris. At the Lake Victoria ports of Mwanza and Musoma, you can also find friendly boatmen who will easily let you go with them on their daily fishing trips. Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and hosts diverse tropical freshwater fish species that are often exported to aquariums the world over.

Mwanza, the southern port of Lake Victoria, is a very popular fishing safari destination in Tanzania. The port is home to huge Nile Perch and Tilapia and it one of the best places to get started. The port city is also the cultural centre of Sukuma, the largest ethnic group in Tanzania.

Musoma, another popular fishing safari destination, is on the Eastern shores of Lake Victoria, near the border with Kenya. You can catch plenty of Nile perch (Sangara or Chengu in the local dialect) in Musoma. In this port town, you will also find lots of boats that take visitors across Lake Victoria-the world’s largest tropical lake and second largest freshwater lake by surface area. Lake Victoria has a 3440 km shoreline and hosts over 3000 islands, many of them inhabited.

Lake Tanganyika is also a popular fishing ground and Nile Perch and Goliath Tigerfish are frequently caught here. Lake Tanganyika is the second largest freshwater lake in the world after Siberia’s Lake Baikal and it boasts over 350 species of fish. It stretches across four countries: Burundi, Zambia, Congo DRC and Tanzania, with the latter claiming the largest share. The lake is a popular sport fishing spot in Tanzania and it hosts more than 2000 plants and animal species. About 600 of these species exist nowhere else in the world outside the lake’s watershed.

Both salty and freshwater fishing opportunities exist on Rufiji River, which is the largest river in Tanzania. Freshwater fishing takes place in the size-able 21 lakes in the Rufiji floodplain area along River Rufiji and in hundreds of ponds and creeks. These lakes and creeks fill up during the annual floods and they yield excellent catches of fish. Salty water fishing is normally done near the Rufiji coast, where good conditions for prawn fishing exist on the sandbanks off the Rufiji Delta.

Another popular fishing activity among Tanzania visitors is fly fishing. The rivers and streams of Tanzania provide good spots for fly fishing.

About the Author:

Andrew Muigai is the Managing Director of Africa Point, an agency that offers exciting safaris to Tanzania. Get more information on Tanzania hotels at the site and also exciting Tanzania safaris.

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