It was a joyous day yesterday; I landed my first through fourth tigerfish off the dock at the Senanga Safaris Lodge. None were more than 15 or 20 centimeters long, so after carefully removing the hook from their jaws [which are no joke] with a pair of hemostats, I'd put them back in the river. This was much to the dismay of the audience watching me; they kept asking me to give them the fish.
The old saying "blah-blah-blah ... Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime." wouldn't work here. First off, they are too good by half at fishing; Zambians haul up everything they can catch, because they eat just about everything they catch (or sell it to others). It's partly because fished are usually gutted, scaled, and pan-fried with the head, skin, bones, and tail still intact; this method a) saves preparation time and b) allows one to consume any size of fish, right down to those as small as my index finger. Unfortunately, the broad range of sizes is worrying; there is simply nothing done in consideration of sustaining the catch into the future. But, who am I to say anything ... look at the cod, the Atlantic halibut, and every other wild fish species we've ever happened upon seem to disappear despite being "endless".
Oh well ... at least they fight like the Dickens while they are still around. Any fish that size that can bend a rod rated for 15 lbs. test strung with 25 lb. Fireline is a shoo-in for Gamest Fish Ever.
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