Pholela Rainbows

Pholela Rainbows

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_295" align="alignright" width="300"] Warren Fly Fishing The Pholela[/caption] With a long weekend upon us Sharon and I planned a last minute trip to Cobham. Why Cobham? Well I wanted to fish a river and this was the only venue available on such short notice. That said I'd fished the Pholela in the past and had gone home empty handed, so this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to change that. We arrived at Cobham on Saturday morning and set up camp. By the time we'd set up and eaten lunch the weather was looking somewhat ominous. None the less I opted to head out for an exploratory trip up the river while Sharon relaxed around camp. The river was flowing both high and quickly but was definitely fishable. As…
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Under Pressure

Under Pressure

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_284" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Granchester Panorama[/caption] After a superb trip to Granchester in January we decided that it was time we hit it again. Expectations were high after landing 8 fish on the previous outing and not even the dropping pressure could lower our spirits. After all, I'd fished a falling barometer before and I'd usually caught. This had, perhaps incorrectly, lead me to believe that this was generally a myth even if there was a small amount of scientific evidence to back it up. So at 5am on Sunday I was in the car and on my way to fetch Nick. Our only real concern was whether the X-Trail would make it the 130kms to Granchester without over-heating. It did. [caption id="attachment_285" align="alignright" width="300"] Pressure Drop[/caption] Having all but…
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Kamberg Sight Fishing

Kamberg Sight Fishing

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_279" align="alignleft" width="200"] Warren Freeing A Fish From The Reeds[/caption] On Sunday my 5am alarm was followed by the normal cries of "Why Warren, Why?" Thankfully Sharon and I were soon on the road and had quickly filled up with the normal cup of Wild Bean coffee. We arrived at the Bushman's River at around 7:30am and even though I'd been looking down at the river and had seen how fast it was flowing, I was still optimistic. After quickly kitting up we headed down the path to get the fishing under way. When we arrived at the swing bridge where I usually start fishing it became quite clear that the river was flowing far too fast. However despite the heavy flow it was still crystal clear and this…
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Exploring Granchester

Exploring Granchester

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_274" align="alignright" width="300"] Fish Eye View Of A Trout[/caption] Sunday was a day of fishing and Nick and I headed to Granchester at 5:30am. The Proteas loss soon became a distant memory as we pumped the tubes and kicked our way out onto the water. Having not fished the water before we both made our way to what we considered the good spots. I fished the weed beds while Nick fished the deeper water. Within 30 minutes I was into my first fish, a nice 1kg Rainbow picked up off a bank. Shortly after this Nick picked up a similar sized fish near the inlet. I paddled over to him to take a photo or two and left my fly dead drifting in the water a meter or so…
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Reekie Lyn And Kamberg Bashing

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…
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Mavela Double Up

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…
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Baha SUCCESS!

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…
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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…
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Uitzicht and Bracken Waters

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…
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Baha Bushmans

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…
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