So, I didn’t make it back to Cape Town today. The fishing is totally to blame! After yesterday’s purple patch with the spinning stick, I had had to get back on it. There were bigger fish to be caught. So Dad and I dusted of “The Guppie Tub”, a tiny little Boston Whaler Bass Boat, checked the Yammy Enduro and headed off this morning on a sheet of glasslike water.

The beauty of this little, funny looking boat it looks particularly funny with two men in it!) is that it is less than 3m long. In South African waters that means no licensing, no floatation regulations and a freedom to launch and use wherever, whenever (give or take a few exceptions). It’s quick and easy to launch and is easy to use. It does at times bring chuckles from those observing but serves the purpose beautifully! And its seen some fish go through its bows…

We hit the area I wanted to focus on and started fishing. Dad was fishing surface lures while I started stretching out the the fly line. Second cast, a big chase on the old man’s retrieve. That fish was missed but it got us keen as! It did give the old man an advantage, being able to cast a good 15m further than me, but it didn’t really matter in the end. There were fish all day long.

The clear lagoon water allowed us to watch fish after fish chase our presentations, and crash into them. There were a few great fish lost; Dad got smoked by one in particular – I saw it eat his lure and can honesty say that it was by far bigger than the rest we had seen and landed. There are big fish still to be caught in this lagoon.

We continued repeating our drift with the tide, each time covering new water and almost every time finding the fish. We landed fish after fish and laughing watched them swim off. The coloured fisherman on the bank weren’t so impressed with our Catch and Release efforts though! We had one of those days where we stopped taking photos of all but the biggest fish. More than once fish hammered my fly within a couple of strips from my rod tip.

Despite the fickleness of this lagoon, when Knysna produces, it does in a manner worth remembering. My Grandfather always said that Knysna does not give up its fish. Today, however, it did!

It was the very best way to finish the holiday (especially considering I had planned to be in Cape Town two days ago!). But who wouldn’t want to spend the day catching Garrick after Garrick with their old man. Mom even took a paddle in the Jolly Boat to come and say hi. It’s a special place filled with memories and we added more to the bank today.

I’m lucky to have fished all over the world. I’ve cast flies in places that many only dream about, to fish that many only imagine. But today I had it all right on my doorstep. Truly world class fishing right here in the Garden Route. I love it when Home produces. It feels so good!

Oh and yesterday, according to Pete and Leonard I was negative 8 Garrick for the holiday (thank to my landing a whole lot on conventional tackle) – today I’d say that definitely broken even…

Enjoy the photos… We enjoyed taking them!