Hillbilly Catfishing South African Style

Normally, when someone mentions the word “catfish,” I cringe and turn up my nose. In my home state of Florida, saltwater catfish are slimy nuisances that can deliver a painful barb sting full of neurotoxins if you’re not extremely careful about taking them off your line.

However, during a morning chat over “special coffee” (a concoction of coffee, cocoa and Amarula) with Rangers James and Wayne during my recent travels to Phinda Forest Lodge on safari in South Africa, there was mention of catfishing from the dam amongst hippos and giraffes. My ears perked up since I knew that this would be a very unique fishing experience. So my five “safari sisters” and I declared ourselves game for the first unofficial “Lynxx USA Ladies Versus Men 2012 South African Catfish Tournament.” We all seemed determined. Even a heard of wild rhinoceroses wouldn’t stop us from outfishing the guys and relaying tales of victory during our afternoon session of sundowners later that day… or would they?

We jumped into the dusty Land Rover with Ranger Wayne and drove out into the bush until we found an ideal spot on the bank of the dam. Wayne parked the vehicle and started to unpack the tackle box and fishing rods, when a few of us noticed a large pair of hippo eyes surveying us from about 50 to 60 feet away. Since hippos can be quite territorial, Wayne told us to be mindful of his whereabouts and back away if he came much closer. Ummm, yeah, not a problem considering it’s fairly hard to ignore a 3,000 to 4,000 lb mammal snorting at you from your new fishing hole.

So we all kept an eye on Mr. Hippo and he kept an eye on us as we finished unpacking our gear. There were only two spinning rods available for us to use, so we would each have to take turns honing our South African catfish angling skills. My fellow online advertising pal, Craig Morson of SuperMedia, was first up for the guys and I was first up for the ladies. We eagerly dug our hands into a bag of kudu steak bits (leftovers from dinner the night before), put the juicy morsels on our hooks, navigated around a few piles of hippo dung, and then promptly tossed our monofilament lines into the brown soupy water.

The competition was ON! Who would win? Sure, the ladies outnumbered the men six to two, but the men were fearless and had brute strength on their side (I’m quite sure that Craig was just testing his reflexes by running back to the Land Rover at the speed of light when the hippo surfaced). I admit, I had my concerns. How in the world would these five perfectly polished Texas belles pull in a bunch of smelly, nasty, dung-covered catfish? I invite you to register on our blog and comment on this post with your bets. Team Craig and Byron or the Ladies of Lynxx? Exclusive tournament photos and the final scorecard will be posted on the blog tomorrow, so stay tuned!