BEST TACKLE RESULTS

TACKLING UP

Never underestimate the strength of a big Nile perch; they can bend an extra strong 5xx treble. If you are using your own lures please check with the guide to make sure hooks and split rings are strong enough.
Simplicity and strength are the key rules. We suggest you do not use spring lock swivels for heavy trolling it is better to tie the 80lb monofilament directly on to the lure using a special knot, which the the guides will show you how to tie.
Three treble hooks attached to one lure can give a big perch enough purchase to throw the lure or bend the hooks. Two treble hooks set close together is much more effective and does not damage the fish as much.

Don't underestimate the strength of Nile perch when it comes to destroying lures most lures are not strong enough and require replacement hooks and split rings. The bigger Rapala lures are fitted with hooks and rings, which are strong enough.
There are many lures that work well on Lake Nasser, some better than others. Following are some we recommend. Lures marked with an * are currently the best selection and we recommend that you bring two or three of each in assorted colors.
You might like to check our page News From Lake Nasser because from time to time we will send out an electronic newsletter about field tests we do on new lures we find. We buy most of our lures direct from the manufacturer and as a result get sent a lot of new prototype lures for testing.

TROLLING LURES

Rapala Magnum Countdown CD18MAG * Many regulars use a CD18 instead of a CD14 for shore fishing. Both the CD18 & CD22 are also good trolling lures, which run at 12 foot plus.
Good colors - Purple (PM) Fire Tiger (FT) Mackerel (SM)

Buchertail Depth raider, Straight & Jointed * A good lure especially for winter trolling but the hooks and split rings must be changed. Comes in sinking, floating and jointed versions as well as jointed. The sinking lure runs to 14 foot plus and produces big fish from the shore but needs a powerful rod to cast it.
Good colors - Shimmerin'Shad (69) Black Perch (76) Natural Perch (75) Fire Tiger (55)

Musky Big Ernie Deep Diver* Hooks and split rings must be changed. The big Ernie has a natural fish shaped body a rattle and a good darting action. Efficient trolling lure which dives to about 15 feet.
Good colors - Green Perch, Black perch, Tennessee shad, Fire tiger

Russelure 6.5 inch * An excellent lure, which has strong hooks, split rings and comes in sizes from 1 to 6.5 inches. This is a wobble type lure with three attachment locations, which allows for a selection of excellent swimming actions. The 6.5-inch lure performs well for trolling during October through to January. The smaller sizes 2.5 to 3 inches are a good shore lure for perch to 50lb.
Good colors - Gold, silver and black (paint at home)

Nielsmaster Invincible 25cm A big trolling lure which dives to about 14 feet. Its tough, but you must replace split rings and hooks.
Good colors - Red Head, & Silver Shad.

LURES SHORE FISHING & TROLLING

Rapala Super Shad Rap (SSR14) **
A must for Lake Nasser this is one of the most effective lures for Nile perch. The hooks and split rings are strong but the hooks have been known to fail. The floating 14cm long SSR is a rigid bodied, slow swing lure, which can dive to 7 or 10 feet.
The Super Shad Rap has a good fish shaped body and a great swimming action. We have been asking Rapala to make a sinking deep diving version - if they did it would be a real killer?
Great for both shallow trolling and shore fishing especially during the summer months when the perch are in shallow water.
Good colors - Mullet (MU), Red Head (RH), Shad, Perch, Stainless Steel Blue Mackerel (SSBM), Fire Tiger (FT)

Rapala Magnum Countdown CD14MAG * Another great lure from Rapala is the CD14, which is an excellent lure for shore fishing in deeper water - they can be counted down to where the fish are lying. Also used for summer trolling this lure runs at 10 to 12 feet. Almost identical to the CD18MAG please see top lure picture.
Good colors - Purple (PM) Fire Tiger (FT) Mackerel (SM) Pearl Black (SSH)

Musky Little Ernie Deep Diver* Smaller version of the Big Ernie very effective shore fishing and summer trolling lure. Change split rings and hooks.
Good colors - same as for the Big Ernie

Buchertail Baby Raider Smaller version of the Buchertail Depth Raider it is an effective shore fishing lure. Change split rings and hooks.
Good colors - same as for the Depth Raider.

Halco Sorcerer 150 XDD - Crazy Deep ** The Crazy Deep is believed to be the deepest diving lure of its size in the world. It will dive to 8m on 8kg line! Designed for Barramundi it's a great shoe lure off deep drop offs.
Good colors - Mullet, Orange Chartreuse, Green Tiger, red head

TIGER FISH LURES

Tiger fish like bright flashy lures we suggest the following.
Rapala weed less minnow spoon RM6 for Tiger fish.
Sea Meps sizes #2 & #3, in Silver.
Meps Aglia in Silver or gold. The #0 size is a killer for small
Tiger fish. Sizes #3 - #5 are great for larger Tiger fish.

Useful Tip:     You'll get a better hook up ratio if you use single hooks rather than trebles.

NILE PERCH AND TIGER FLIES

Flies For Nile perch
Our experience is that home tied flies are the most successful. Try and copy a small prey fish. Flies should be big with a heavy side profile. Fast sink flies are a must they therefore should be heavily leaded.
Commercially produced Tarpon patterns on 3/0 & 4/0 hooks that must be very sharp are reasonably successful.


Flies For Tiger Fish
Tiger's favorite food is small minnow type fry. Flies should be bright and flashy.
Crazy Charlie's, Small Deceivers and various reservoir lures on sharp hooks work well.
Best colors, hot orange, red, white and silver.

TACKLE ADVICE
Selecting fishing tackle is very much a matter of personal choice, there is a wide selection of suitable equipment available on the market, what we have outline below is only a guideline for what you might decide to bring.
Setting yourself up with the correct rods, reels, terminal tackle and lures is expensive and you might consider hiring this equipment from the African Angler see Tackle Hire
Fishing tackle and lures are cheaper in America than they are in UK even when they arrive by mail order and customs duty is paid.
For a wide selection try www.basspro-shops.com .

NILE PERCH

Trolling Rods & Reels
Trolling rods are generally a boat or up-tide rods of 20 - 30lb class and between 7' and 9'. These should be teamed with medium sized multipliers capable of holding 200 yards plus of 30lb line. Abu 7000 and 10000, Shimano TLD 15 & 20 and Penn GLS 25 are suitable.
Experienced anglers might prefer to use slightly lighter rods for trolling because many of the fish they will be catching are in the 15lb to 30lb bracket and there is not much sport involved in cranking this size fish in with a heavy rod. Lighter trolling or boat rods will be much more fun until you connect with a fish from 75lb upward, then you will have your work cut out; fighting from a boat, so long as the fish is kept in deeper water, a good angler will be able to cope.
Shore Fishing Rods & Reels
To land a big fish from the shore, you need to fish heavy. Americans and Australians generally prefer shorter casting rods of 6' to 8' and the British and European anglers will use rods from 9' to 12'. Our advice is to bring the rod you are most comfortable with. Rods should have a test curve of 3.5lb - 4lb. or a line class rating of 30lb. The reel can be either fixed spool or casting multipliers, they should be big enough to hold 200 yards of 25lb monofilament.
Line
Don't underestimate the strength of Nile perch, and the terrain they inhabit. We recommend a minimum of 30/40lb b.s mono for trolling and 20/25lb b.s line for the shore. For Tigers and smaller perch 10/15lb b.s monofilament is fine.
The debate about which line is best to use, braided line or monofilament, is still open. Two important points to consider are first braided line has no stretch. When you are fighting a strong fish that drags you over the rocks; braid brakes much more easily than mono. Mono line has the slight advantage being able to bounce off the rocks because it can stretch. Second, when braid line gets frayed it's hard to see where the damage is and you can often end up fishing with a very weak braided line with damage you do not know about. With mono it is much easier to see or feel the damaged area. We do not discourage braid type lines but it is well worth keeping in mind the disadvantages.
For the past two years I have been using Spider line Saltwater Fusion, which is an expensive braid type option but well worth the investment.


· Saltwater Fusion is an exceptionally tough line with outstanding tensile strength that remains reliable for a far longer time than monofilament.
· This line has a fine plastic type coating, which makes it easy to see when the line is damaged.
· The small diameter allows me to use reliable line strength for both trolling and shore fishing. For trolling I use 80lb b.s that has the diameter of 25lb mono. For shore fishing I use 50lb b.s that has the diameter of 17lb mono. Having 50lb line on my shore rod gives me a huge advantage with big fish that need to be stopped when they are heading for the rocks.
· Then there is also the advantage of the lines sensitivity. Because this line has no stretch I can instantly feel when there is weed on the lure even when trolling a very long line.
· When using this line for shore fishing the sensitivity makes working lures and jerk baits easier and more efficient.
Whatever line you prefer, please bring enough - at least 200m. A 30/40lb Nile perch crash-diving through rocks can easily trash 50 yards of line.

Leaders / Traces

You have a choice of materials for your trace. Heavy monofilament or fluorocarbon line, nylon coated wire, or standard multi strand wire.
Our preference is monofilament, 80 to 100lb b.s for trolling and 60 to 70lb b.s for shore fishing. Mono lacks finesse and is difficult to knot, but is strong, better camouflaged and is reliable. It also has the ability to stretch and bounce over rocks.
For heavy shore fishing we prefer either monofilament or fluorocarbon line for traces, use a minimum of 60lb b.s line, 80lb is better. If you prefer wire, which has the advantage of being thinner, use 50 to 60lb b.s for shore fishing.

Swivels & Links

We recommend Berkley, Rosco or Sampo in 100lb + b.s for heavy work, and 70lb plus for lighter shore fishing.
Even the best snap links are sometimes ripped open by big Nile perch. Although an opening snap links is rare, it happens enough times for us to recommend that snap links are not used. Our method is to attach a monofilament leader direct to the lure using a Rapala type knot, which works very well.

Hooks and Split Rings

Most lures are supplied with split rings and hooks that are totally inadequate for big Nile perch. The only reliable trebles available are Owner, Gamakatsu, Mustad 5XX and the VMCs used on Rapala lures. Bring sizes from 1 to 3/0.
Rapala, and Wolverine split rings are trustworthy in the bigger sizes. Bring spares, as even the best hooks and rings can get damaged.
Owners ST51 treble hooks 4X strong are the toughest treble hooks on the market. We use them as an automatic upgrade for most factory-rigged lures in our hire tackle box. Features include a short shank, three super sharp "power points," and a corrosion-resistant vacuum-tinned finish. Size 2/0 and 3/0
Most split rings have only two turns; the third turn on the Wolverine split rings make all the difference.

TIGER FISH

For Tiger fish and smaller Nile perch, you can use much lighter tackle. A carp or spinning rod of 9' - 12' with a test curve of between 1.5lb and 2lb with a good medium fixed spool is ample. Line class should be 10 - 15lb b.s. For Tiger fish and smaller Nile perch use 20/30lb b.s multi strand wire.

LAKE VICTORIA

LAKE NASSER

FISH TYPES

FISHING METHODS

BEST TACKLE RESULTS

PHOTOS