Fresh Water Archives - Page 12 of 14

02Jan 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Sterkfontein

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Yellowfish

[caption id="attachment_247" align="alignright" width="300"] Flies For Sterkfontein[/caption] Sterkies was to be the first official fly fishing trip of the Baha Boys. That said, there were only 2 fishermen amongst the 6 of us so it was going to be tough to get in a lot of time on the water. Even after a difficult drive to Sterkies (thanks to some car troubles) Nick and I were in high spirits as we discussed the mornings fishing plans over a rum at midnight. Despite being the last to bed we were the first up and were ready to go. Sadly we got off to a rather slow start, sorting out the boat etc, but this was to be expected on the first morning. When we eventually got into the water we headed…

19Dec 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Reekie Lyn And Kamberg Bashing

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_235" align="aligncenter" width="900"] An In Flood Reekie Lyn[/caption] I picked up Bruce and Nick at 5:30am and we began the long journey to Reekie Lyn, a 5km section of the Mooi River just below Kamberg, which we would be fishing for the day. Sadly things got off to a bad start when the rain started bucketing down before we'd even reached Cato Ridge. None the less we pushed on, stopping only for our regular cup of very average coffee from the Wild Bean Cafe. An hour later, and nearing Nottingham Road, the rain was still pouring down. Bruce had taken to dropping hints about stopping for a cooked breakfast and Nick was starting to nod in agreement. [caption id="attachment_236" align="alignright" width="300"] Warren Fishing Erskine[/caption] Thankfully, just as the two…

13Nov 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Mavela Double Up

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_210" align="alignright" width="300"] Nick And Warren Double Up[/caption] Saturday's fishing saw the normal 4:30am alarm call followed by an attempted twosie. This of course never works, so after picking up Bruce and Nick at 5am, I was careful with the morning's cup of coffee. We reached the dam at around 6:30am and were on the water by 7am. Things really were looking good...the water wasn't too warm, we had a good cloud cover with a little mist, and there was a ripple on the surface of the dam. Sadly this lasted all of 30 minutes before the sun beat away the clouds and the wind vanished without a trace. Before we knew it we were bobbing around on a piece of glass, in 30 degree heat, with very few…

11Jul 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Baha SUCCESS!

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_207" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nick Nortje At Mavela[/caption]The plan for Sunday had been a fishing trip for Nick's birthday, but WeatherSA (those bastards) had predicted cold fronts and Armageddon so we'd called it off. Then an amazing thing happened, we woke up to the most beautiful day. WOW! They’d gotten it wrong...when has that ever happened before (where's the sarcasm font). Anyway, Nick gave me a call and we ended up heading for the dam at 9am. The girls joined us and picnicked on the side of the damn while Nick and I went about missing fish after fish. I suppose the good news is that there were fish around, and after missing 2 or 3 fish each, we eventually both landed one which ended Nick's dry spell with the…

16Jun 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Baha FAIL!

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

Youth day was upon us, as was a lot of snow, so Nick and I grabbed the fly sticks (and float tubes) and headed for the berg. We opted to fish Mavela for the normal reason...its closest. After a lot of bitching from Nick, I picked him up at 6am and we were on the water by 7:30. Sadly my eagerness didn't pay off, and 6 hours later I hadn't even had a knock. Nick missed one in the morning, but other than that I would've sworn the dam was barren of Trout. I'm not really sure what it was? I suppose a lot of things were against us, namely: A cold front had passed over the day before The water was crystal clear, there was not a ripple on…

06Jun 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Uitzicht and Bracken Waters

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_202" align="alignleft" width="225"] Warren Fighting A Trout In His Tube[/caption] During the week Nick had taken a bold step and joined the NFFC (Natal Fly Fishers Club), so on Sunday we jumped in the Paj and headed for Uitzicht, a club water in the Kamberg area. Neither of us had fished this water before, but due to a rather humorous Butt Farming sign, we both knew exactly where it was. A cup of coffee and toilet break later (which involved me getting locked in the gents by an excited Nick) and we were inflating the tubes on the side of a great looking dam. We waded into the chilly water and just after kicking out Nick realised he'd lost his net. He sulkily headed back to shore and as…

16May 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Baha Bushmans

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignright" width="225"] Warren Prior With A Bushman's Brown[/caption] With only two weeks remaining in the river season I was beginning to feel the pain of having only had one outing, mostly due to a snapped Achilles. Thankfully I managed to get a pink slip on Sunday and recruited fellow Baha Boy Nick Nortje for a trip to the Bushmans. I picked up Nick at around 6am in Pietermaritzburg and continued the long drive to Giant's Castle. We arrived at 7:30 and started kitting up. It was Nick's first time on the rivers so this took a bit longer than usual. We whipped off his intermediate line and wound on a new floating line, eager to get onto the water. The river was flowing at a good rate as…

04Apr 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Silverhill

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_193" align="alignright" width="300"] View Over Silverhill[/caption] Sharon and I spent the Easter weekend at Silverhill (Kamberg) with my dad, sister and Cassia. Silverhill is a 4 star resort offering various activities including fly fishing in several, small, stocked dams. Upon arrival I looked at the photos they had stuck up...there were none of fish. I then looked at the brochure...fishing was mentioned, but again no photos. At this point I perhaps should've been more suspicious. On Saturday morning I planned to be up and on the water early, but after a severe outbreak of hayfever (I'm guessing due to the thatch) and very little sleep, I ended up only hitting the water after breakfast. Although the dam I fished was small, I took the opportunity to make use of…

21Mar 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Technical Lotheni

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_190" align="alignleft" width="225"] Western Fly Fishing The Lotheni[/caption] Thanks to a not very cooperative Achilles, it had been a long wait for me to get into my first river of the season, some 6 months after they opened. Western, Karen, Sharon and I headed up to Lotheni for the first long weekend, hoping for a combination of some relaxation and epic fly fishing. Now I've always known that the Lotheni River was very technical wild Brown waters, but this weekend really just emphasised that point. At around 2pm on Saturday Western and I walked from the campsite, back towards the main camp, rods in hand, and eager. We entered the river at the small feeder stream the road crosses, and I carefully chose my first fly for the trip...the…

24Jan 2010 by Warren Prior No Comments

Float Tube Bliss

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_183" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nick On His Float Tube[/caption] On Sunday morning Nick and I headed out to Mavela to do some Trout bashing. Although we knew the conditions weren't going to be ideal (they never are in January), I had to get out there. I'd bought a float tube, which had been sitting in my cupboard, unused, since September. Not only are ruptured Achilles expensive, they're also a pain in the ass. Anyway, I picked Nick up at 6am, and we were in the tubes and on the water by 7:30am. It was already sweltering hot, and the water was far too warm for my liking. A fisherman who arrived a little after us measured it at around 25 degrees. Looking back, I think we were lucky that the…

Category: Fresh Water