Fishing in the swamp

Last Sunday I went fishing in the old swamp in my ancestral village at Khadoda village, Kisoko. It is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but given my busy schedule I’ve been unable. It wasn’t until last Friday when I was catching this lovely show on TV of guys going out fishing that I finally made up my mind to do it.

You always make time for things you love, right?

I settled on this particular Sunday. On this day I open my electronic and phone accessories shop in the afternoon, and since I rarely go to church, there was enough time for me to go on this fishing expedition.

Why I chose this swamp

I know many, especially those who know me personally will be wondering why this particular swamp? My home is centrally located between two rivers: Sio and Lekekwe and I know you are asking why leave all these to walk almost five kilometers to fish in a swamp?

To answer your questions, it was only recently that I learned of the existence of the swamp on my late grandfather’s land. The recent obsequies in that village have given me an opportunity to traverse the land and fully appreciate it. There’s this day I escorted my cousin to do some scouting on his sugarcane plantation at the furthest end of my grandpa’s land, near where Rivers Walatsi and Sio meet. While wandering down there, I stumbled upon the swamp. I was surprised and my cousin found it amusing.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know this swamp was here?” he asked smiling.

“I’m seeing this for the first time bro,” I said. “And look how big it is!”

You can also read: Harvests and Hearses: The Overlooked Cost of Funerals in Farming Communities

And later on when I returned home, I asked my mother about it. Of course she knew about the swamp. It was already there when she married my dad long before they emigrated to our current home across the Sio in the early 1980s. People used to go fishing in the swamp using specially prepared concoction that would be poured into the putrid water and make fish unconscious. But those village people would only wade into the swamp in shallow ends.

“The swamp can swallow Okuveh. The mud in there will eat you alive!” She said.

Okuveh was the tallest man in our village, and maybe even in the whole county and in other words mother was trying to caution me from ever wandering down there. She knows how curious I am.

How the swamp was made

My mother said River Sio used to pass there and the swamp was formed when the river found its current path. In other words the swamp is an oxbow lake. Because of stagnation of the water, it became deeper and a quick sand in some places hence one has to be careful walking there.

Well, I also picked this swamp with some hope that there could be some lost species of fish still existing in the pond you wouldn’t find in either Sio or Lekekwe which have been greatly damaged by farmers and Sand harvesters in recent years.

For more on this read: River Sio: Busia sand harvesters destroying its ecosystem

How the day began

By first light I was already on my way, on my back a bag packed with bread, left over cookies, a packet of milk, a bottle of drinking water, a pocket knife, a bar of soap and some Vaseline. There was also some loose money for some boda boda incase I got tired of trekking, and there was my earphones. In the outer pocket there was a small bottle with earthworms.

My left hand carried two rodes, one from a reed and the other bamboo with fishing lines with different sized hooks. The right carried a lit flashlight.

I left that early to avoid running into my mother to avoid unnecessary Sunday morning flights over religion. She would be furious to know that I was going fishing while the whole village was preparing for church. And I hadn’t even traveled long before I ran into my mother’s catechist who was always trying to make me go to church — I know it is mother sending him — on his mountain bike headed to church. Wasn’t it too early! Maybe he was going to do his thing before the congregation showed up, who knows.

Anyway to cut the long story short, I finally got  to the swamp drenched wet after cutting my way through a sugarcane farm that now covers the land nature had decided to steal from the other village and gift my grandfather. The size of that parcel of land was almost an acre, can you imagine! Nature is interesting!

I left at noon when the sun had become unbearable and I had very little to show for my efforts apart from the fact that I had had a very peaceful and tranquil time alone with my thoughts and nature. And God knows we all need that sometimes. Just alone time from all the noise.

Final thoughts

I think it is important for all us that from time to time we just drop everything and just visit the wild and connect with nature. Go fishing like I did, hiking, visit a game park or whatever interests you. And as you do that, sometimes take the young ones with you. They have to grow up with such passions.

Also, we have to conserve and protect our natural resources such as swamps, wildlife and rivers. Don’t cut down the reeds and those trees around the swamp so you can plant more sugarcane!