Angola: Fisherman's Paradise!

For fly fishermen, Angola is the final frontier of fishing with unchartered waters waiting to be discovered.  Fish such as tarpon (as pictured at left), dorado, Atlantic threadfin and Crevalle jack can all be found in abundance in Angola's estuaries, and in weights and sizes rarely seen elsewhere.

Part of the reason for the attraction to Angola is that the war kept fishing levels down and allowed the seas and rivers to restock. The current boom is in inshore fly fishing, particularly on the River Kwanza and on the River Longa, which joins the ocean at its base.  Here coastal fish enter the estuaries at different times of the year creating an angling paradise where record weights are regularly recorded.

Tarpon, known in angling terms as a prize catch, are regularly caught in Angola at lengths of two meters long and weighing hundreds of pounds.  During the months between November and February, the large tarpon swim as 80km upstream the River Kwanza to grow to abnormally large sizes.

Additionally at the lower reaches of the rivers, abundant number of dorado, as pictured at left, are found among the large drifiting islands of grass and weeds in the river mouth.  Dorado, a favorite among anglers because of their playful acrobatics and neon coloring, are regularly hooked at weights of more than 20 kgs.

At present, government protection programs are in place to protect this sport fishing and ecotourism resource.  These programs protect from over-fishing, the removal of mangroves and stop poaching and polluting of this economic, environmental and tourism resource that can provide a significant economic income for the country.  (Adapted from Sonangol, Universo Magazine 2009)