Matoya Fishing Lodge

Each chalet enjoys its own breathtaking view of the upper Zambezi River. Rooms are luxuriously furnished and fitted with air-conditioning units. Each chalet has two three-quarter beds with individual mosquito nets. Bathrooms are fitted with a washbasin, flushing toilet and shower with hot and cold water. Electricity is supplied to the Lodge through a solar system, which has a generator as back- up.

The Lodge offers a variety of local as well as international cuisines the chefs produce homemade pastries, desserts, breads, and a large variety of hot and cold dishes. The experienced chefs are able to cater for vegetarians and serve various halaal dishes. For any special dietary requirements of certain food and intolerances kindly inform the Lodge when making your bookings. The Lodge is open from mid to late April until mid November when the fishing season closes.

Matoya is located on a section of the Upper Zambezi on the Barotse Floodplains and has acquired a fishing and tourism license to operate in this area. This species, well known for its fierceness and leaping ability, has earned the reputation of being one of the world’s toughest freshwater fish to restrain.

The boats fleet

Fishing is undertaken on the 17-foot fibre glass boats which are customized to suit your every angling need. The boats have a flat deck at the front as well as at the back, ensuring a spacious area for the fly fishermen. The angling boats can accommodate a maximum of two fly fishermen or a total of three lure anglers, accompanied by an experienced guide.

The Lodge has a fleet of six boats, powered by 60HP four-stroke motors which are guaranteed to minimize carbon emissions into the environment. Twenty (20) litres of fuel per boat per day is included in the daily rate. Each boat is equipped with storage facilities for your tackle and equipment, a cooler box compartment and live-wells for drifting bait. Based on your personal needs, snacks, local beers, non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks) and bottled water are pre-packed and made available in the morning when setting out for your fishing trip.

All the guides are experienced, local Zambian guides who are knowledgeable in basic, conventional and fly-fishing techniques, and are familiar with the river and birdlife in the area. They have developed various fishing tactics which they employ, depending on the time of year, to ensure that their guests do not leave with an empty rod! The guides are able to teach and assist both inexperienced, as well as experienced anglers. They will ensure that the correct tackle is being used and assist with the setting up of rods and tackle.

Fishing method

Matoya offers the following types of fishing methods (depending on guests’ requirements, fishing conditions, and the time of the year):

• Fly-fishing, spinning, trolling and drift baiting for tigerfish.
• Fly-fishing, spinning and worm fishing (the lodge supplies the worms) for bream.

At Matoya, the follow a strict catch-and-release policy to preserve the precious fish resources of the pristine Upper Zambezi River and Barotse flood plains. Guests are allowed to remove their fish from the water to be weighed and photographed provided the fish are handled carefully, under the supervision of guides.

Guests are welcome to bring their own fishing tackle, although you may hire fishing tackle (suitable for trolling spinning and drift baiting) from the Lodge. The lodge recommend that fly fishermen bring their own fishing tackle.

The following fish species can be found in the area around Matoya:

• Tigerfish
• Nembwe (Olyfkurper)
• Redbreast tilapia (Rooiborskurper)
• Threespot tilapia (Driekolkurper)
• Greenhead tilapia (Groenkopkurper)
• Pink bream (Ligroos-kurper) – ‘Pink Happy’
• Green bream (Groen-kurper) – ‘Green Happy’
• Thinface largemouth (Smalkop-kurper)
• Humpback largemouth (Kromkop-kurper)
• Sharp tooth catfish

Bird watching

The Zambezi River system and Barotse floodplains offer more than 300 species of bird life. With such a huge variety, you are likely to spot waterfowl, raptors, hornbills, heron, fly-catchers, bee-eaters, the shy African fin-foot as well as the predominant African fish-eagle around the lodge.The nature trails offered will increase your chances of spotting dozens of other species.