The trip had began in ernest a few weeks before our departure to Bloemfontein.   Ewan had confirmed our booking at VD Kloof dam where we would hunt DIY style for Largemouth Yellowfish, our very own African Mahseer.   The dire situation of the Lesotho rivers Ewan was meant to fish could mean a possible extension of our trip, where we would fish the fast waters of the Vaal and Orange River systems.

Gulp.  I am no freshwater fisherman or freshwater fly tier and began my education on techniques and tactics.  “Im warning you ahead of time I’m going to be bothering you a lot for advice” I messaged Ewan.  “Lets hope we can break the dreaded Ewan/Peter curse”.  We’d been on numerous day excursions, and had blanked against all odds.

We were in a pensive mood on the flight up to the Northern Cape.  We really wanted to do well,  and a 100km long body of water was a daunting prospect.

The rental car transfer happened smoothly as we set off on the 3 hour trip South.  We both used this time to close off our work commitments and try to anticipate any fires that may have occured from our pre-holiday holiday out of cell range.

Then we crossed a bridge.  Cruising sharp tooth Cats on the surface!  We managed to drive slowly past that one, but the next bridge blew our minds.  A lattice suspension bridge and our first glimpse of the vast Orange river.  Down below were massive Smallmouth Yellows in the pools and rapids in clear sight, tailing on rocks and rising in turn.  It took every ounce of strength for us to just take photos and not rig up, we didn’t want to arrive at camp too late.

One more transfer awaited us in VD Kloof town and another few hours later (30min VD Kloof time) we arrived in camp just after sunset.

Tomorrow we fish.