Bulldog
Marcusenius macrolepidotus
A small, shoaling elephantfish with a fleshy chin, caught on worms along weedy edges at dusk and night, and a top live bait for tigerfish.
Size: Most are hand-sized, under 20 cm. It grows to about 32 cm and 500 g.
Where: The true bulldog lives in the middle and lower Zambezi, from Victoria Falls down into Mozambique, including Kariba. Very similar bulldogs, now named as separate species, live in the upper Zambezi and Okavango, the Kunene, and the Phongolo and other rivers from the Limpopo to Kosi Bay.
How to spot it
A small, slim, flattened fish with a rounded head, small beady eyes and a fleshy lump on the lower jaw that sticks out past the upper jaw, like a bulldog's chin. The dorsal and anal fins sit far back, almost opposite each other, in front of a forked tail on a thin tail stem. It is olive to dark brown with a coppery or brassy sheen and darker grey blotches.
Varieties and look-alikes
-
Bulldog - Short and small, with a fleshy lump on the chin that sticks out past the upper jaw.
-
Cornish Jack - Long and slim like a pike, with a long head and snout and no lump on the chin.
What it eats
It eats insect larvae and pupae, mainly midges and mayflies, picked off the muddy bottom and plant stems. Shoals move inshore after dark and find food with a weak electric field.
Where it feeds
- Weedy, muddy-bottomed edges of rivers, lagoons and floodplains
- Shallow margins at night, when shoals move inshore
- Flooded side streams and floodplains in the flood season
- Among roots, reeds and water plants by day
How to catch it
Use light tackle and a small hook (size 10–12) with a piece of earthworm. Fish it on the bottom with a light running sinker, or under a bobber set just off the bottom, along weedy edges at dusk and after dark. Once you find a shoal you can catch several quickly.
| Way of fishing | How well it works |
|---|---|
| Bait on the bottomA sinker holds your bait still on the bottom. | Best |
| Under a bobberA bobber is a small buoy on your line: it holds the bait off the bottom and dips under when a fish bites. | Works well |
| Pap, mielies, boilies and floatsSweet baits on the hook (pap, mielies, boilies or floats), with more thrown in around them. | Not used |
| Natural or dead baitReal food on the hook: worms, liver, sardine, chokka. | Best |
| Live baitA small live fish or other live creature on the hook. | Not used |
| LuresArtificial baits you cast and reel in: spinners, spoons, plastics. | Not used |
| Fly fishingLight artificial flies, cast with a fly rod. | Not used |
Baits and lures that work
- Earthworms
- Crickets, grasshoppers and other insects
Flavours it likes
No flavours needed. A small, fresh, wriggling piece of worm works best.
When it bites
Time of day
| Time | Bite |
|---|---|
| Dawn | Good |
| Day | Slow |
| Midday | Slow |
| Dusk | Best |
| Night | Best |
Dusk and night are best, when shoals move into the shallows. In murky water and thick weed they also bite during the day.
Best months
- Best: April, September, October
- Good: January, February, March, May, August, November, December
September–October, before the rains, and April are best. In the rains they move onto flooded shallows to breed, and in the cold winter months they slow down.
What affects the bite
| Condition | What it likes | Effect on the bite |
|---|---|---|
| Water temperature | Best at 21–30 °C | High |
| Time of day | Best at dawn, dusk and night | High |
| Air pressure | Best when it is falling | Medium |
| Cloud cover | Best on overcast days | Medium |
| Wind | Best with a light breeze | Medium |
| Rain | Best after rain | Medium |
| Water clarity | Best in murky water | Low |
| Moon phase | Best around new moon | Low |
| Spawning | Feeds hard before and after spawning | Medium |
High means it makes a big difference to whether this fish bites. Low means it hardly matters.
Tips
- Keep a few alive in a bucket of river water: bulldogs are a favourite live bait for tigerfish on the Zambezi and Okavango.
- Use small hooks: the mouth is tiny and big hooks miss the bites.
- Fish close in after dark: shoals come right into the shallows along weed edges.
Good to know: Like the Cornish jack, it senses its way with a weak electric field, which is why it feeds well in the dark and in muddy water.
Are they biting today?
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