Warren Prior, Author at Baha Adventures

13Oct 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

The UHTFC AGM And Festival

Event, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

[caption id="attachment_1421" align="alignleft" width="199"] The New UHTFC Banners[/caption] Once a year the UHTFC host their AGM and, in order to make it more exciting and to improve attendance, they throw in a small fly fishing festival as well. The general format is a meet and greet on the Friday evening (where waters are drawn), fishing on the Saturday, and then weigh in followed by the AGM and dinner on Saturday evening. Not wanting to miss out on any fishing time Neill and I planned to leave Hillcrest at 1pm in order to get in a short afternoon session. Sadly things went a little pear shaped from the start. Firstly, on my way home, I stopped off to pick up some new Baha decals only to discover they weren't finished yet.…

26Sep 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Sad Day Of Exploration

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Yellowfish

[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignleft" width="300"] Testing out my new Fortuner in the Umgeni Valley[/caption] A year has passed since our last Heritage Day but the memories of a day spent fly fishing under snow capped mountains (and the adventure that followed) is still fresh in my mind. It therefore seemed only fitting to spend this Heritage Day in search of yet another adventure and fishing for a purely indigenous fish, the Natal Scaly. Having just picked up my "new" vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner, we decided to head for the Umgeni Nature Reserve knowing they had a 4x4 route down into the valley. I'd last fished the venue with my dad in around 2007 and fondly remember the fun we had with the scalies. As such is seemed like the perfect choice. I…

11Aug 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Long Weekend in Underberg

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...no long weekend should ever go to waste. And since it had just been Nick and Tarryn's birthdays, we decided to do a family trip to Underberg for a little fishing and relaxation. Sadly my Jeep was in the shop so I borrowed my mom's Corolla and quickly packed it on Friday morning before the 7am departure time. Amazingly it almost seemed to fit in more than the Jeep and we easily packed all my fishing equipment, including my float tube, as well as Emma's pram and various other bags. I was truly impressed. [caption id="attachment_1349" align="alignleft" width="300"] A misty afternoon at Lund's Dam[/caption] We met up with Nick, Tarryn and Mila at our usual garage on the N3 and…

21Jul 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Wintery Nyala Pans

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Yellowfish

With the (trout) streams having been closed for almost two months now I was starting to get some serious withdrawal symptoms. I needed to get into a river, and I needed to do it now. So I picked up the phone, gave Nick a call, and we put together a trip to Nyala Pans to fish for the Natal yellowfish (or scaly as it's perhaps better known). Knowing that the fish are a little lethargic in winter I got off to a leisurely start and climbed out of bed at 6am. By 6:30 I was on the road and by 7:30 I was at the water, cup of coffee in hand, and kitted up. The drive had gone by quickly and the condition of the dirt road had been fantastic.…

17Jun 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2013

Event, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

[caption id="attachment_1303" align="alignnone" width="900"] Sunset on route to the Boston Dargle Fly Fishing Festival[/caption] After having taken part in the inaugural Boston Dargle Fly Fishing Festival in 2011 (and having then missed the second festival due to my wedding) there was absolutely no chance that we were going to miss the third running of this (now) legendary festival. So we made sure we got our entries in early and then counted down the days until the festival began. [caption id="attachment_1304" align="alignleft" width="300"] View over Ivanhoe[/caption] When Friday, the day of registration, finally arrived my day in the office dragged. Thankfully I managed to sneak out a little early and headed for my house where two of my team mates, Nick and Neill, were meeting me at 4pm. We threw all…

30May 2013 by Warren Prior 2 Comments

Teach The Teacher With Peter Hayes

Event, Fly Fishing

[caption id="attachment_1256" align="alignnone" width="800"] Sunrise over Eland Dam, Kamberg Nature Reserve[/caption] Thanks to the KZNFFA Peter Hayes spent several weeks in South Africa offering fly casting courses, and in his free time fishing the local waters. As part of his trip he was kind enough to get involved in several upliftment projects involving some of South Africa's local communities. [caption id="attachment_1255" align="alignleft" width="300"] Warren releasing a rainbow trout[/caption] One such project revolved around the Thendela community which is located directly outside the Kamberg Nature Reserve on a stunning stretch of the Mooi River. The long term plan here is to divide their river frontage into beats and to then get the locals to guide tourists on these stretches of river. For the fishermen involved it would provide access to some…

19May 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Family Fishing Trip To The UHTFC

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

Since the birth of my daughter fly fishing has taken a bit of a back seat but, being who I am, that was of course definitely not sustainable. So when I was told that Peter Hayes was offering a clinic to the Aids orphans in Underberg I immediately took Friday off, packed up the family, and headed for Underberg. Neill was meeting us there but sadly Nick was unable to make it. Strange that we fish together almost weekly and yet have never done an Undies trip together. Anyway, moving on. Sharon and I were woken at 4am by a sick daughter. This was not the start I was hoping for as we trolled the internet in the dark working out whether, at 6 weeks old, we needed to worry…

07May 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Freedom Hawk, Freedom 12

Reviews

Having done my fair share of kayaking (including the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the 50 Miler) I've spent many an evening contemplating fishing skis and whether they're fly fishing friendly. The thought of combining the paddle with the rod definitely appealed to me and it made perfect sense for both estuary fishing as well as to open the doors to some "deep" sea fishing in the form of nearby reefs. But was the standard fishing ski (or kayak) a genuine option for a fly fisherman? I'd certainly heard of people fly fishing off of them but it sounded both uncomfortable and inconvenient. And then one day, while browsing fishing websites, I came across Freedom Hawk's range of fly fishing kayaks. My eyes widened and I immediately sent them an e-mail inquiring about availability in South…

01May 2013 by Warren Prior 2 Comments

A Day On The Bushmans

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

It's been a slow river season for the Baha Boys with only a few trips having been undertaken. And of those trips Lesotho is the only one really worth mentioning. A raging Lotheni River over Christmas meant 5 fishless days for myself, and the birth of my daughter also meant a short lull in the fishing. So when Worker's Day rolled around, and both Nick and I had a free day, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands and headed for the Bushman's River. I guess there's no real point in introducing the Bushman's as (almost) every trout fisherman in South Africa knows it as perhaps the best wild brown water in the country. That said there have been numerous recent reports around the vast number of rainbows coming out…

21Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

Two Days, Two 4am Starts, And A Handful Of Fish

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

Although I consider Casino Beach to be a low tide venue, it is actually ideally fished at neap tides. This is when the wave action is not too overpowering and the holes open up nicely. Low tides means a flat beach with fewer holes while high tide means fighting the surf. So when the tides reached neap (or near neap) on a Wednesday we decided to go for a quick pre-work session. Nick picked me up at 5am and we planned to meat Neill on the beach at sunrise. Things took a turn for the worse when we reach the beach and I took my rod tube out the car. It was empty! My only hope was that Neill (who lives nearby) had not yet left home and could bring…

Author: Warren Prior