Fishing Lake Malawi

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fish this extraordinary lake on 2 occasions. The first being the 2006 Lake Malawi International Angling Tournament (LMIAT) and more recently the 2008 LMIAT. The lake most certainly rates amongst the most beautiful venues I've ever fished.

Lake Malawi is often referred to as the "Calendar Lake" because it is fed by 12 main rivers, is approximately 365km long and on average 52km wide. Although the lake can be calm and as flat as any of the dams known to us, it can change in the blink of an eye into a stormy sea that is barely navigable. Cases of tourist boats breaking down and drifting around the lake for weeks before being found have been recorded.

On both my visits I was hosted by the very friendly people of Lilongwe and Districts Angling Club (LADAC) whose clubhouse is situated just south of Senga bay on the western shore of the lake. Their club is called Whistler's base and is housed in an old cannery that's been converted into a boat shed. There is nice accommodation on the premises as well as a very cosy bar called Chimimba's. You'll have to go a long way to beat the friendliness and hospitality of the Malawian people. Whether you have major outboard problems or just want to buy curious next to the road, these people will go out of their way to assist you in whatever way possible.

Boat launching is done from the beach, which means that one is dependant on fair weather to access the lake. What makes launching difficult here is the fact that the waves comes running in with very short intervals, thus not leaving you enough time to get your boat swung around to face the waves. Boats were swamped right in front of Whistler's in more

Species

The majority of the species in Lake Malawi are small tropical aquarium species or type of cichlids called Mbuna. The species than can be caught using artificial lures include Sungwa (robustus), Ngumbo, Mpasa (lake salmon), Mcheni (lake tiger), Kampango (catfish), Lyani (Mozambique sun fish), Chambo (various types of Tilapia) and Big Blues.

The Sungwa is a bottom dwelling predator that behaves much like bass in stalking and ambushing its prey. They can be found in shallow rocky areas and around pinnacles in up to 20ft of water. Lyani is a schooling predator that frequents the open waters of Lake Malawi. They can be found in massive schools that will feed on Usipa (bait fish) on the surface of the water. Their feeding frenzies will often attract huge numbers of birds that will give away their location on the lake. Other species like the Big Blues and Chambo normally congregates around boulders that have sandy patches around them or close by. Mcheni is more difficult to find. From my experience I would suggest that you target these species in deeper water and more often you'll find them holding underneath the schools of Lyani. We were successful in targeting this specie by trawling a 9cm Rapala Taildancer about 80m behind the boat.

Tackle

Most of the catchable species can be caught using light bass tackle. It is advisable to carry at least 4 dedicated rigs when targeting species on Lake Malawi. You'll need a 7ft medium heavy rod with a 7:1 bait casting reel spooled with either 9lbs mono or a light braid to cast at the schools of Lyani. A 6.6 ft heavy rod with a 7:1 bait casting reel spooled with 12lbs braid is most suitable to fish for Sungwa. A 7 ft medium rod with a 5:1 bait casting reel is ideal to crank around the rocky areas for Sungwa and other predator species.

Techniques

Because of the vastness of the water, trawling deep diving crank baits is one of the most often used techniques to target especially Lyani, Sungwa, Mcheni and Big Blues. If this technique does not deliver the goods, you can switch to a silver spoon and target the shoreline amongst the many boulders that lines the shores of Lake Malawi. Successful lures includes deep diving crank baits, spoons, in-line spinners, jigs, jig heads with Flukes and the odd spinner bait.

Fishing areas

Fishing on the lake is done mainly in the southern part of the lake in the national waters of Malawi. The most popular fishing areas include Monkey Bay, Foul Rocky coast, Makanjeri Point, Mozambique beacon, Mbenje Island and Chidoola Creek. National Parks boundaries should be respected and is considered "out of bounds" for angling. National Parks areas include the Maleri Islands and most of Cape Maclear, these areas can be fished but not closer than 100m from the high water mark.

The Maleri Islands are well known for the numbers of Lyani that are found in this area. The odd Chambo and Big Blue can also be found here.

The Nsinje river mouth on the eastern shore is a very productive area. Many spieces can be found in and around the river mouth. Species that we caught in this area include: Sungwa, Lyani, Big Blue, Yellow fish, Mcheni, Redbreast Tilapia and Inshore Lyani.

The area around Senga Bay is also very versatile. It offers various habitats to choose from including reeds, rocky outcrops, boulders and sandy beaches. The Chambo is often found nesting around Bird Island which is also in this area. We targeted the reeds for Sungwa and caught quite a few Inshore Lyani around the boulders.

Fishing Lake Malawi is an experience I can recommend to anyone. There are various lodges around Senga bay as well as in the Cape Maclear area that can be used as a base to explore from. Many of these lodges also have boats to rent. Another delightful past time is snorkelling in the Gin clear water of Lake Malawi to see the thousands of cichlids that live in the shallow water. You'll be forgiven for thinking that you are diving in a massive aquarium. I would like to make use of this opportunity to thank the people of Lilongwe and Districts Angling Club (LADAC) for their hospitality and friendliness while hosting the Protea Artlure team during the recent Lake Malawi International Angling Tournament.

2008 Protea Artlure team From L to R: J Steyl, S Sprunt, P de Beer, F Claassen, S Britz

Ruffneck
Bassing.co.za Pro Staff Member

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