fishing Ghana

[pete carroll]

I am currently living in ghana and have heard rumours of nile perch in lake Volta can anybody shed any light or anyone any experience of fishing in ghana.

 

Only manged small catfish so far but did see one very big of unknown species roll about 60 yards from the boat, but then it could have been a crocodile. or a smart local with a lacoste sleeping bag

[Newt]

Given the Size of that lake, I can believe reports of just about any fish living in it as long as they like the temperature range.

 

Man, would I ever love to be able to spend a few months fishing that place.

 

According to the fishbase.org Species Summary they are

quote:

---

Widespread throughout the Ethiopian Region of Africa, occurring commonly in all major river basins including the Nile, Chad, Senegal, Volta and Congo.

---

so I'd say your chances of finding them there are excellent.

 

[ 11. February 2004, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: Newt ]

[pete carroll]

Thanks for that Newt , indeed the lake is beyond comprehension size wise and i have only been fishing a small arm of it.

awaiting arrival of fish finder to make the job hopefully a tad easier. one big problem i can see is getting the devils out, if i eventually hook anything of any size.The lake is full of fishing nets strung between a million or two 60 feet high trees sticking up in the water, but then what would life be like without a challenge.

 

I had looked at the list of species you, suggested its a bit daunting on the old latin front but it appears there are 250 different species of catfish and nile perch. seriously i have seen tilapia in the fishermans boats and a very peculiar fish with a tiny mouth and very protruding bottom lip. probably a top feeder which is worrying as i have only seen one fish top in three visits so there cant be that many of them.

Looking at renting a house near the lake for weekends etc so if anyone is interested in coming out and helping to explore an almost virgin lake let me know its dirt cheap once you get here

[Newt]

Sounds like a wonderful lake to fish. I envy you the chance.

 

If you already have the echo sounder ordered, I suggest also getting a hand-held GPS unit.

- mark your landing so you can always get back

- mark fishing spots so you can return to within 10 meters of the spots at any time

- mark a track from landing to fishing spot so you can back track along a known safe route if it gets foggy or dark.

 

Around $100-$120 for a good one.

 

If you don't already have a fish finder on order, they now make good ones with fish finder & gps in the same unit where they can work together and the price is very reasonable at under $400 US.

[Peter M]

pete carroll:

I am currently living in ghana and have heard rumours of nile perch in lake Volta can anybody shed any light or anyone any experience of fishing in ghana.

If you catch one be sure to let us all know. Tight Lines.

[pete carroll]

No worries, be sure the whole world will know when and if i get one. The challenge is brilliant and the whole unknown things really blows my mind. i was never a fan of small fisheries but this one takes it to the other extreme.

Has anyone been to Lake Nasser what colour lures are best . i am also told that live cat fish is a good bait . anyone know what sort of depth the live baits are fished at ? Any tips welcome

[Newt]

pete - when you get the fish finder, scout around some. When you see large shapes near or on the bottom, whatever it is you see will probably be in a feeding mood.

 

That's pretty much what I do on a lake near me that goes to 190 feet deep. The larger fish seem to find a depth they like on a given day and it can change pretty drastically.

 

In warm weather, the lake will stratify unless there is current and below the thermocline will be pretty much fishless. But find the thermocline and then locate areas with a bottom that is just a little shallower and you'll probably do well.

 

On a good fish finder with the sensitivity set properly, you can actually see the layer as a sort of hazy bottom. But in any event, if you troll around and notice there are no fish deeper than 33 feet, then that's where the layer is just then so try at 30 or 32 feet.

 

Impoundment lakes will have current flow when they need to generate lots of juice and the turbines are spinnining fast. Breaks up the thermocline in a hurry. But slow down the flow and it will reform in a matter of a couple of hours. It also can move 5-10 feet up or down in the course of a day if the weather is hot.

[pete carroll]

cheers newt

 

Is the depth of the thermocline likely to be deeper in warm water?. There does not appear to be much flow in the bay i have been fishing and I am well away from the turbines.

thaks agai or the advice hoping to go next weekend

[Newt]

Interesting question Pete and one I don't have a good answer for. Never thought about it much. I just cruise around slowly to locate where it is on a given day. I know that in 60 feet of water and surface temps up over 80ºF/27ºC I expect to find it at 30-35 feet usually.

 

I suspect that deeper water will find the layer deeper but not sure what effect warmer or cooler surface temps will have.

 

I do know from swimming in a lake when I was a kid that the transition is sudden and shocking. Dive down and the water is warm, warm, warm, COLD and the change over is sudden.

[John Bogle]

Hi Pete,

 

I have fished both Lake Nasser and Lake Victoria for Nile Perch. I have trolled on both, but also shore fished a lot from Nasser. I'm not sure what the terrain is like there but on both Nasser and Victoria it was very rocky, and the perch generally lie in wait amongst the rocks. Despite Nasser being 300ft deep down the old river valley and 100ft deep in places withing casting distance of the shore, we generally trolled in no more than 50ft of water, and quite often around the 15-25ft range which meant we were often very close to shore. My all time favourite lures are Bucher DepthRaiders, Rapala Super Shad Raps, Muskie Manie Big Ernies and Russel Lures for trolling on Nasser. Natural colours like Roach and Mullet were by far the most successful, with Fire Tiger and Red Head also scoring. Also the Goldfish Super Shadraps did well.

 

On lake Victoria the visibility is much less and as a result you need to fish lures right close to the bottom amongst the rocks and troll a lot slower too which means that lures don't run so deep as you would normally hope. Here Russel Lures scored well in silver together with sinking DepthRaiders in Fire Tiger and some unknown thing the guide had with a huge lip that went far deeper than any lure I had seen before. First try with that I had a 75, lost it in a snag soon after and can't for the life of me remember what it was! If you have to fish down near the rocks fish with floating lures, as then you have a chance of getting some back when you hit a snag!

 

From the shore just find somewhere with deep water close in, and big rocks means big crevices for the fish to lurk in. Often we could see a lot of fish from the shore on Nasser. Seeing groups of 100lb+ fish 5-10 ft of the shore is quite an incredible sight. From the shore, sinking DepthRaiders and Rapala CD 11's and 14's were best. Had more success with bright colours from the shore sich as Red Head and Fire Tiger. Also tried fishing with livebaits a couple of times from the shore which was deadly. Talapia was by far the best. Trouble is in hot countries livebait doesn't remain livebait for long, and in the areas full of perch the Talapia weren't too obliging. Never fished from the shore on Victoria as the trees grew right to the waters edge everywhere except sandy bays which were very shallow.

 

On Nasser, the fishing seems to be better when it's windy. Currents occur between Islands which get the fish moving and the waves stir things up a bit in open water too when it's windy. Also I had some good results almost surf fishing from the shore on windy days!

 

They generally say winter is best for big fish on Nasser when it's cooler. In summer the Talapia spawn close to shore and the smaller fish come in close at this time to feed on them so they say. My experiences are that the shore fishing was better in winter than summer, though my only winter trip was to a relatively unfished area, so this could be the reason. My biggest ever fish were in mid-June, which also goes against the theory!

 

Nasser also has tiger fish which are good on small silver spinners or CD 11 lures from the shore. It's hard to hook them trolling with big lures, but I have many lures with the teeth marks to show where they had a good go! There are also catfish too. Deadbaits at night would be worth a go for these. Talapia and other species were also good sport on light gear.

 

Hope this information is of some help!

 

John Bogle