Botswana's massive, pristine Okavango Swamp, where once near-legendary professional hunter John Kingsley-Heath faced down huge lions (read John's gripping Hunting the Dangerous Game of Africa), remains to this day a place like something out of a National Geographic special. Come to think of it, it is a place out of a National Geographic special. A sprawling warren of labyrinthine channels, lagoons, islands, lakes, and rivers, the Okavango is an adventurer's dream. If you are a flyfisher or normal angler, what you will find in the Okavango are some of the planet's most aggressive, ferocious, and beautiful freshwater game fish.

So there you are, deep in one of the world's great wetlands. Want to know precisely where you are? Get out your map. Look in the index for"Middle of Nowhere." There you are. Yes, folks, you are a bit remote, somewhat off the beaten path. Try to find yourself with that silly GPS and it will just blink at you with a dazed look.

And the wildlife! At any given moment you could be looking at elephants, lions, a leopard, giraffes, warthogs, red lechwe, waterbuck, crocodiles, Cape buffalo (cranky things), baboons, a ridiculous array of birds and so many other species that space prohibits my listing them all.

The Ross Canyon makes for
a great tigerfish fly reel

The tigerfish is the glory species of game fish hereabouts, of course. Listen, I fish and write about it for a living and can attest that tigerfish are one of the most criminally vicious fish south of Saskatchewan's Scott Lake. The tigers of the Okavango average two to three pounds, but catching some that weigh between five and eight pounds isn't uncommon, and the largest tigerfish ever caught on rod and reel weighed just shy of 22 pounds. Still, a three-pound tigerfish hits a fly or lure as if it hasn't eaten in weeks and the fish it is about to attack just called the tigerfish a sissy. I mean, we're talking sheer brutality here.

African pike, which look a lot like northern pike but are not related, are the second most feared fish in the Okavango (not only by other fish, but by me). Although they attain a max weight of only about four and a half pounds (compared to 55 pounds plus for northern pike), these aquatic hit men account for themselves very well when it comes to fight. They are quite abundant, too.

One of the most treasured game fish of the Okavango is a cichlid called a nembwe, also known as a yellow-bellied bream. Although the IGFA all-tackle record weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, they do get bigger than that, with a South African specimen going more than 13 pounds. In the Okavango they average about three pounds. This fish is a good fighter and makes superb table fare. They are also beautiful, with bright green bodies and yellowish bellies.

The author tempting fate—and
crocs—just for a photo to amuse his
GORP readers. Don't do this!

Now, for some reason flyfishers have a hard time resisting the call of the water, which tells them that they should be wading rather than fishing from a boat. Here's a little survival tip for you: DO NOT WADE. If you do, you might very well find yourself starring in one of those Faces of Death movies that were so popular back in the 1970s and 1980s. Let the crocs catch something else to eat. If someone dares you to wade, push them in instead.

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African Adventure Botswana - Experience top game viewing away from the crowds in beautiful Botswana. Kenya - The classic African destination, Kenya has Kilimanjaro, savannah, and plenty of safaris. South Africa - One of Africa's hottest destinations, this stunning country offers bush, beaches, and more.

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