In Pursuit of the Goliath Tigerfish

Deep In The Congo Jungle “Heart of Darkness” is a short novel written by English author Joseph Conrad. In it a young officer, Charles Marlow sails up the Congo River and goes deeper into a dark, wild and primitive Africa. In a hostile jungle he meets the mysterious Kurtz, commander of an ivory trading post. This is why, when Raymond Neuville, director of the Tigerfish’s Camp, suggested that I accompany him on the mythical Congo River in pursuit of the legendary goliath, the largest of all tigerfish, I immediately accepted this unique opportunity to follow the path of the young Marlow. The quest for goliath Tigerfish are part of the large family of the Characins, gathering more than 1 000 species among which their famous cousins, the Amazonian piranhas. Exclusively carnivorous, they are characterised by stripes not unlike that of the tiger, sensational speed and above all by an awesome jaw containing 32 razor-sharp teeth that they love to exhibit. Like sharks, replacement teeth are available inside the jaw, ready to substitute an original tooth when necessary. Tigerfish fishing is extremely popular in Africa and several international competitions have already been held. All five species of tigerfish occur in Africa - Hydrocynus vittatus is found in the Congo River but also in the Nile or Zambezi River. Hydrocynus Tanzaniae, brevis and forskahlii live in different streams and lakes of Africa and their size remains relatively small in comparison with the goliath. Actually, the king of all tigerfish, the largest and also the most famous, is the wonderful Hydrocynus goliath. The natives call him M’Benga (pronounced “benga”) which means “the dangerous fish”. According to Raymond Neuville, this merciless killing machine that lives exclusively in the Congo Basin can weigh up to 200lbs for a size of approximately two metres. The goliath forms part of a very particular category of trophy fish, namely those that not everyone can catch. No. You have to deserve the goliath. First you have to make it bite, then you must fight this pugnacious adversary. Indeed, as Raymond likes to say, for each boat of two anglers, a day with one bite is a good day, a day with two bites is a very good day. Anything more than that is considered an exceptional day. However, thanks to the experience of the Tigerfish’s Camp guides, each fisherman can hope for three bites in five days of fishing. He will then have the heavy burden of bringing the fish back to the boat. Once this fish has taken the bait, it will use a strong defence consisting of strength and tactic – ferocious and extended rushes to the deep, full-throttle returns towards the boat and numerous jumps and turns around the boat . . . The goliath will give you a hard time and you will not be allowed the smallest mistake during the 20 to 30 minutes of fighting. Following an attack, Raymond estimates that each fisherman only has a 50% chance of catching the fish. The goliath grows very big. Catching a 40lbs fish is a magnificent reward while 60 lbs is outstanding. Regarding the 88lbs specimen presented in this article – it has been years since such a fish could be brought back to the boat, although they are fought regularly. For these reasons the goliath is considered by many experts as one of the hardest fish to catch in the world. Diamonds are forever There are many legends about the goliath, the most popular probably being the legend of the diamonds. In the Congo, many people believe that if someone can find the M’Benga, he will become rich since he will also find the diamonds. According to folklore, the M’Benga with its long, sharp, white teeth feeds on diamonds. Raymond immediately laughed it off as he is still looking for his first diamond after 45 years of fishing! The behaviour of the goliath is similar to that of other big freshwater predators such as the giant snakehead. The juveniles group together in shoals and will attack any animal they encounter. They can hunt for hours on end. Then, little by little, the group breaks up and the adult goliath hunts alone. Although it is a very territorial fish, it is able to travel very long distances to feed. Along the Congo River, several adult goliath fish can be found in each creek, each one in a particular territory gained from past ferocious confrontations. The goliath spawns in July, the only time of the year when this great predatory fish approaches its own species after violent fights between males. The M’Benga is also a very suspicious type of fish, attacking its prey with outstanding accuracy and cleverness. It will for example only attack the accessible part (the tail) of the kamba (also called the 3-thorns catfish by locals). Take note of the small adipose appendix behind the dorsal fin on the photograph. Very little information is available on this. According to Raymond it is probably used as a sonar to “feel” the waves in the same way catfish use their whiskers. David with a smaller goliath tigerfish. An 88lbs goliath caught during our stay! During our 2011 stay in July, I had decided to fish only with lures as I always do. I had chosen a big 8” softbait with seven treble hooks as Raymond wisely advised me. My South African fishing partners Karl, Victor and Peter had decided to use natural baits. This first day ended with no bite for me and one strike for Karl that broke his line. During the second day, I experienced my first strike very early in the morning in a shallow area of 3 metres with no wind. I could see the M’Benga suddenly attacking my lure with an incredible speed and ferocity. The fish damaged my softbait but did not hook up. We returned a quarter of an hour later and after about a dozen casts, the fish attacked again at the precise moment that Raymond was starting the engine. That was our first (small) goliath but it was far from finished . . . The next day Lioven was guiding us and the boat was close to a cliff that he knew well. The water there reaches a depth of 60 metres and the stream runs very fast – the perfect place for big goliath to start the spawning period. Peter had put his two rods at the rear of the boat and I was in the front casting in every direction to attract the fish. I was very focused on my casts and saw that Peter was stuck on a rock. I stopped fishing and joined him. I then realised that the rock was moving! Surprisingly, the goliath had eaten the bait peacefully and then decided to start a tardy fight. We then devoted our efforts to a magnificent ballet on the boat – the fish forced us to turn the boat around three times, then it tried to take us off the coast. After 25 minutes, it was tired and started to jump around the boat. Good teamwork was required to pull the fish on board. We then had a look at our position (in the middle of the Congo River) and realised that we had followed the fish over one and a half miles against the stream! When we returned to the camp, we weighed the fish. It turned out to be a big female of more than 88lbs. Peter with the 88lbs (about 40kg) goliath tigerfish. This amazing fish is without fail one of the 15 biggest caught up to now. The record of the camp is 123lbs and was caught in 2007. The second biggest fish was 99lbs in 1981. It gave us much happiness although we caught no more goliath for the rest of our stay. We had a few bites but the fierce goliath always managed to escape after a strong fight. David and Peter posing with the big goliath tigerfish. Victor, David and Peter with the big one. Natural and artificial bait Fishing lures and dead/live baits are two different techniques, but to optimise the chances to catch a M’Benga the enterprising fisherman will have to master both of them. The most effective way of fishing is to have a lure fisherman in the front of the boat. His job is to cast in every direction to attract the fish to the boat. The goliath is then likely to take the dead/live bait of the other fisherman. Some areas have to be investigated more than others, for example ahead of the cliffs or in the middle of the large whirlpools of the river. The M’Benga likes to hunt near these places, looking for small fish that got lost in the strong stream. They feed close to the surface and systematically attack their prey from below, hiding in 5 to 10 metres of water, making them completely invisible. In areas up to 30 metres deep, the lure can be retrieved from 20 centimetres to 1 metre below the surface. In other areas it is better to fish a little deeper (2-3 metres). The choice of lure is important: an 8 to 9-inch softbait with a good rolling action (wide movement of the tail) is recommended. The colour should be as natural as possible and should resemble that of the elephant fish, one of the favourite prey species of the M’Benga. Dead bait and live bait give similar results. The best baitfish in the Tigerfish’s Camp area is the elephant fish (M’besse). Local catfish also yield good results. When it comes to the power of the rods, 30 to 50 lbs test curve is required. A certain quantity of sleeves, steel leader and good-sized treble hooks is required. It is absolutely crucial to spend a few hours carefully preparing for your M’Benga fishing trip and to come armed with the right equipment. Navigation on the turbulent Congo River is very technical. It is therefore mandatory to have a trusted guide with a powerful boat. The M’Benga can be fished all year long as it is not seasonal. The best time for fishing is early in the morning, at dawn (6:30 to 10:30) and in the evening (17:00 to 18:00) before dusk. Some periods have to be avoided, such as full moon – during full moon the M’Benga also hunts during the night and the bite rate is lower during the day. Finally, Tigerfish’s Camp practises catch and release whenever possible. Raymond estimates that each year 70% to 80% of fish is released. In order to give the M’Benga as many chances of survival as possible, so it is necessary to be well prepared – hooks have to be removed quickly with pincers and cameras have to be ready to capture the moment. Although the goliath can be a very tough opponent during the fight, the fish usually is exhausted when brought into the boat and extremely weak. *Attempts to contact the Camp during January 2020 on Internet was not successful.