It's been a fun couple of months and one of the highlights was a mission we made to the Orange River where we teamed up with Jeep Apparel, makers of gritty outdoor/urban clobber, who have come out with a new range of clothing that they wanted to test in the field on us. That was [...]
Single nymphs, long leaders, extreme stealth - fly fishing for Bushveld smallscale yellowfish is usually a delicate affair. Until Craig Pappin started lobbing mice patterns designed for taimen. "It was over a bottle of rum that I got the wild idea of throwing a massive articulated mouse fly fit for taimen at our local [...]
Whether you’re a believer in the divine, dabble in the pseudo-science of intelligent design, embrace the wonder of serendipity, or accept that humans sometimes just get lucky, there is no escaping the fact that some things put on the earth are simply perfect. From humble bass bugs, to the lethal Swiss Army knife utilitarianism of [...]
As published in issue 29 of The Mission, Jazz Kuschke's review of Patagonia's Swiftcurrent Expedition Zip-Front Waders. Zip-front waders are a little bit like an air fryer. Okay, if you don’t have kids then perhaps that analogy may be lost, but bear with me here. You know when there is that one thing that people [...]
What if we can have the best of both worlds – brilliant trout fishing in the mountains of the Western Cape AND new (yet ancient) fisheries for large indigenous species that readily take a fly? If game-changing conservation biologist Dr Jeremy Shelton’s vision for the future is accurate, that will be the reality if stakeholders [...]
Our man in New Zealand, Gerhard Uys, catches up with New Zealand fly guide and video content creator Alex Waller to discuss New Zealand’s North Island, big trout, king fish (yellowtail) on the flats and more. Photos: Gerhard Uys & Alex Waller 5 best things about where you guide? In Taupo, on New Zealand’s North Island, [...]
No stranger to big fish, when Meredith McCord visited the flats of Sudan she was on the hunt for triggerfish, bluefin trevally and GTs. What she didn’t expect was the spaghetti worm. No one expects the spaghetti worm. “What is that?” I asked, awe-struck, as I stood looking in front of the three [...]
In this story from our archives (issue 5), Andre van Wyk finds love and lust in a bar called Providence. Sometimes you don’t know you’re obsessed with something till it smacks you right in the face. Like you never even knew about it, had never thought about it or even seen it, never knew [...]
As far as fishing towns go, there are few places in South Africa that surpass Dullstroom. If he’s not out guiding clients you’re likely to meet local legend John Thoabala behind the counter of Mavungana Flyfishing’s Dullstroom store. Buy him a cup of tea, then ask him where the lunkers are because, if anyone knows [...]
Our main profile in issue 28, freshwater conservationist Dr Jeremy Shelton, is also a member of the band the West Coast Wolves (westcoastwolves.co.za). Take Irish folk, mix in some ska, punk, djembe drums and leftfield percussion and you start to get an idea of their unique sound. The Wolves put together this playlist, which includes [...]
