Fish Species of the Murchison Nile : fishing in Murchison Falls
One of the activities that one can do when they visit Murchison Falls National Park is sport fishing. Sport fishing is done on the Nile River giving you an experience of going fishing in Murchison, Uganda’s largest conservation area.
The fishing in Murchison Falls National Park is done on a catch and release method and we recommend that you are accompanied by a trained expert fishing guide. The expert guide guides the anglers throughout the entire excursion and is trained on how to safely catch and release the fish back in to the Victoria Nile.
In this article, we will therefore share types of fish that can be found along the Nile River;
Fish species of the Murchison Nile
The most sought after specie during sport fishing in Murchison Falls is the Nile Perch which is locally known as “Mputa”. The Nile Perch is a fresh water fish species and its scientific name is Lates Niloticus. For most visitors, the Nile Perch is a major highlight during their sport fishing activity.
The Sudan Catfish locally known as “Semutundu” is also another fish specie on The Nile and is smaller in size compared to the Nile Perch.
Other fish species of the Murchison Nile include;
- Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) locally known as “Ngege”
- Vundu Catfish (Heterobranchus longifillis)
- Black Nile Catfish (Bagrus bayad) locally known as “Lanya”
- Electric Catfish (Malapterurus electricus) in local language is known as “Ntera”
- Nile Citharine (Citharinus latus)
- Perinces Barb (Barbus perince) locally known as “Enzuguri”
- Giraffe Catfish (Aucheoglanis occidentalis) locally known as “Bubu”
- Nile Barb (Barbus bynni) locally known as “Kisinja”
- Sudan Squeaker (Synodontis frontosus) locally known as “Kwoke”
- Grey Bichir (Polypterus senegalus senegalus)
- African Labeo (Labeo Coubie) locally known as “Kwangurameli”
- Elongate Tiger Fish (Hydrocynus forskahlii) local name is “Ngassa”
- Egyptian Robber (Alestes baramoze) local name is “Ngara”
- True Large Scale Tetra (Brycinus macrolepidotus)
- Butter Catfish (Schilbe mystus) locally known as “Nzere”
- Assuan Labeo (Labeo horie) locally known as “Chibule”
Above are some of the fish species on the Murchison Nile, sport fishing in Murchison happens in the area at the base of the Murchison Waterfalls and your journey will begin at Paraa or at a designated area along the Nile as you head out with your guide for your fishing on the Nile adventure.
Sport fishing in Murchison Falls National Park can be combined with other experiences like the game drive in the savanna park, a boat ride on the Victoria Nile and a visit to the community where you get to walk through the nearby village and see how the locals go about their day.
For visitors who have more days on safari in Uganda, you can use the other days to visit other national parks like Kibale National Park for the chimpanzee trekking and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for gorilla trekking.
Ready to get started on your sport fishing safari? Send us an email to get started here: info@56africatours.com
