Trout Archives - Page 7 of 10

24Sep 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Lotheni’s Sneaky Browns

[caption id="attachment_364" align="alignleft" width="300"] First Wild Trout On The New Rod[/caption] At 5am on Saturday morning we climbed out of bed, packed the car and headed for the Drakensberg. Stopping for petrol proved annoying when the standard garage told us they were out of diesel and we were forced to head into Pmb to find some. Otherwise all went well until we reached the Underberg turn off when I forgot that it was shorter through Nottingham Road and we headed for Underberg on my 111km worst road. After passing through Himeville the road turns from tar to dirt for the last 40kms. The dirt was in good condition bar the fact that they seem to be working on it. This meant large piles of rubble for long stretches leaving only…

18Sep 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Mooi River, Kamberg

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_359" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Mooi River[/caption] Sunday morning started at the normal 5:30am for me when I packed the car and headed for the Kamberg Nature Reserve. Nick was heading up Sani Pass and so I'd decided to take the opportunity to explore the Mooi River which we'd always ignored for some unknown reason. Sharon was originally going to join me but ended up working at a golf day her company was sponsoring and hence I explored alone. When I arrived at the reserve I parked at the picnic site near the gate and walked down to the river. My first impression was "WOW, what a fantastic water!" Carefully I climbed into the crystal clear water, which was flowing steadily, and began the trip upstream. The upper Mooi River…

04Sep 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Open Season (For Rivers Anyway)

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_354" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Nick Nortje On The Mooi River[/caption] Sunday saw Nick and I head out fishing once again. The rivers opened on the 1st September and we thought we'd go and look at a section of the Mooi River I'd fished two or so years ago. After the usual 5:30 start and mandatory cup of Wild Bean coffee we hit our first glitch...road closure in Pietermartizburg. A "quick" divert through town saw us arriving somewhat later than planned. We kitted up quickly and began the 5km walk downstream to the start of the beat. The water was surprising clear for Reekie Lyn and was low as expected. That said the higher than usual winter rainfall (and snow) meant the river was at least flowing. As an added bonus…

28Aug 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Old Faithful, Kamberg Nature Reserve

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_346" align="alignleft" width="200"] Warren Prior With A Kamberg Trout[/caption] On Sunday morning I picked up Nick and Clinton and we made our way (via the coffee shop) to Kamberg for some Trout fishing. It was Clinton's first time with a fly stick so we were all hoping he'd pick it up quickly and get into at least one fish. By 8am we were all on the water. I headed for the shallows where I'd dominated on a previous visit while Nick and Clinton fished our famous jetty where it was easiest for Clinton to cast. Thankfully he picked it up amazingly quickly and, despite not having a long cast, he was definitely getting far enough to pick up a fish. Conditions seemed good for Trout. The pressure had been…

19Jun 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2011

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

[caption id="attachment_332" align="alignright" width="300"] Warren Prior At The Boston Fly Fishing Festival[/caption] Over the long weekend in June 2011 the Baha Boys headed to the Boston\Dargle area to fish the first ever Boston Fly Fishing Festival. Having never fished a competition before the drive up was with filled with both excitement and questions. We were unsure of the format of the competition and were left wondering how we would be monitored, what there would be prizes for, and whether the bar would have enough bottles of rum. Upon arrival at 4pm on Thursday we entered the hall to be greeted by an Xplorer branded tent, the registration table and a very enthusiastic Pete who was in charge of the whole thing. We chatted to him about some of the waters…

05Jun 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Nick’s Uitzicht Curse

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_318" align="alignleft" width="300"] Morning Over Uitzicht[/caption] Sunday's fishing was as exciting as always. Nick's (read Tarryn's) Terios had gone in to have the tow bar changed but he had luckily been lent another Terios. After picking me up we stopped for the usual cup of coffee before heading for Uitzicht in the Kamberg area. The temperature was -1 when we passed through Nottingham Road which always makes me feel a little manlier. We set up the tubes, sipped down that final cup of coffee and kicked out onto the dam in what seemed like pristine conditions. The water was a chilly 9 degrees, crystal clear and looked like a mirror. My only real concern was that the fish would see us coming from a mile away, and for some…

15May 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Bushmans Battling

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_314" align="alignright" width="300"] Fly Rods At The Bushmans[/caption] Thankfully, on Sunday, I woke up feeling somewhat better than I had when I fell asleep. I packed up my kit, got into the car, and headed for Nick's place. Two hours later and we were pulling into Giant's Castle Nature Reserve. It was 6 degrees and the water in the Bushmans River looked chilly. After quickly kitting up we opted to give the bottom section of the river (from the gate upwards) a fish since we’d never fished it before. It certainly looked promising, but would it produce? Stepping into the water immediately confirmed our earlier fears...it was FREEZING. In fact, it was the first time I could remember where my legs were actually burning while wading upstream. Thankfully this…

17Apr 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Granchester In The Rain

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_306" align="alignright" width="225"] Ali G?[/caption] Nick and I headed for the Berg on Sunday to get in a last fishing trip before we both headed to opposite ends of South Africa for the Easter holidays. The venue was once again Granchester and the weather was once again ominous. That said things looked good when we arrived - there was a nice cloud cover, a good chill in the air, the water was cold and there was the slightest of ripples on the surface. We fished our way towards the inlet each missing a fish on route. Nick then got into a nice Rainbow which he fought feverishly mocking me all the way. Then an amazing thing happened. While photographing the fish on his stripping net the fish jumped off…

03Apr 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Blanking Over

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_303" align="aligncenter" width="900"] A Misty Granchester[/caption] After a couple of blank still water sessions I was far less confident than normal as Nick and I drove the 130kms to Granchester. It was the third time we'd fished the water and success had been greatly varied. On our first attempt we'd punished the water and landed 8 decent Rainbow Trout. The next attempt however was somewhat disappointing with both of us blanking. We were a little disappointed when we pulled into the parking only to discover another fisherman already on the water. What? We'd book the water early and he definitely shouldn't have been there. After a few attempts to phone the booking line to find out what was going we gave up and kicked out onto the water. It…

27Mar 2011 by Warren Prior No Comments

Prairie Weed And Uitzicht Grass

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_300" align="alignright" width="300"] The Parking at Uitzicht[/caption] With Nick having purchased a new float tube on Saturday (the Xplorer Journey) we decided to break it in and headed for one of the NFFC club waters. Being the adventurous type we opted for a dam called Prairie which we had not fished before. Everything about this water looked fantastic right up until we actually got down and started to fish it. From the bank we could see there were a fair number of weedy patches in the water. At first we took this as a good sign since there appeared to be ample fishable water. However once we paddled out we quickly realised that 80% of the dam had thick weed less than a meter below the surface (there's nothing…

Category: Trout