Fishing in Saddam Hussein's lake

Standing by a blown up bridge with Blackhawk helicopters buzzing overhead, the American soldier casts his fishing line into the lake surrounding a former palace of Saddam Hussein just outside Baghdad and waits for something to bite.
Warrant Officer Leslie “Scott” Henry is part of a unique group of fishermen and women that meets every Sunday and on odd days of the week to take a break from the toils of war with their rod and an array of bait.
“It’s a chance to relax and get away from everything else that’s going on out here,” said the 45-year-old, who deals with aviation safety for US military aircraft in Iraq when he is not trying to hook an asp or a bass.
“You’ve got to stay ahead of the fish. You’ve got to be innovative,” Warrant Officer Henry told The Times as he tried out a new form of bait – strips of scrunched up bacon from the canteen, stuffed with cream cheese.
Situated on a sprawling military base next to Baghdad airport, the al-Faw Palace is one of several grand, marble buildings ringed by man-made lakes that have been occupied by American troops since the invasion five years ago.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of fish live in these expanses of water, inspiring several soldiers to drop their guns and pick up a rod.
They formed the Baghdad Angler’s Club and School of Fly Fishing, which has its own Web site – www.baghdadflyfishing.com – displaying shots of men and at least one woman posing with fish of various sizes and shapes.
Last February, the group even helped to organise a tournament, dubbed Operation: Catch Fish, which attracted some 300 anglers. Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Carter grabbed top honours, reeling in a 14-pound carp.
"It's a great feeling," the amateur fisherman, who had competed in smaller contests back in the United States, said at the time. "I can't win one back home, but now I can say I came to Iraq and won a fishing tournament."
Iraq is renowned for freshwater fishing. For centuries Iraqis have cast their lines into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that wind through the country, snaring huge fish such as carp that are barbequed into the traditional meal of masgouf.
Carp is the most numerous kind of fish inhabiting the lakes at Camp Victory but Warrant Officer Henry prefers going after game fish such as asp or bass. “Carp eat off the bottom. They are garbage fish,” he said. “It’s easier to catch carp.”
The angler’s club has about 100 rods that it lends to anyone on the camp who fancies trying their hand at fishing, even visiting journalists.
Intrigued, I and fellow reporter Peter Graff decided to venture to Camp Victory on Sunday to join in the fun with Warrant Officer Henry and one of his colleagues.
My only past angling experience had been opening the fridge door at home as a teenager in Camberley to find a tub of writhing maggots courtesy of my two, fish-mad brothers so I was slightly nervous at the prospect of having a go for real.

Thankfully maggots and worms are in short supply on the base so I had the rather more appetizing choice of bacon, cream cheese, lumps of bagel or grapes.
Warrant Officer Henry patiently talked me through attaching the food to a hook, before demonstrating how to lean the rod back and cast it forwards, releasing the line at just the right moment to send it and the bait shooting out across the water.

Then it is simply a question of waiting.
After a few failed attempts, in which I only caught handfuls of pond weed, I decided to switch tactics and use a thing called a ‘lure’ – a contraption with hooks over it that is built to look and move like a fish when attached to the end of a line.
Unfortunately I found the lure a bit trickier to cast into the lake as it was lighter than the cream cheese and bacon combo, which also came with a weight.
Warrant Officer Henry let me try his largest lure but I prematurely cast it into a clump of barbed wire next to the lake, ensuring that not only did I go home without bagging a fish but I also lost his prize bait and several feet of fishing line.
Mr Graff, also a total novice, had more luck, hooking a decent-sized fish.
“I’ve got one, I’ve got a fish,” he yelled excitedly as he tried to reel the thing in. Alas the white-bellied creature managed to flap free before a picture could be taken for evidence. “It was as big as my arm,” Mr Graff later claimed.

[Picture 1: Warrant Officer Leslie "Scott" Henry fishing in the lake around al-Faw Palace;
Picture 2: Warrant Officer Henry shows Warrant Officer Stormy Ripley how to cast a line;
Picture 3: Novice fisherwoman Deborah Haynes has a go at catching a fish.]

Comments

[Aimen]

Debbie
How much for a kilo of fish
I remember when I have fishing with some British soldiers in Saddam Palaces in Basrah but I was never a good fishman.
Hope you got a big fish

[La.Basra]

Hi Debbie
What a beautiful
article and pictures !Keep on your professionalism in writing ,fishing and everything ,,,you are a great author !

[John]

good to see they can relax...must be stressful over there

[KIM]

THANKS FOR FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM. IT IS NICE TO SEE YOUR ABLE TO GET SOME ENJOYMENT DURING THE DAY..

[Susan Humphries]

Thanks so much for this article. My son fished in this tournament. It was awsome being able to read about it.