From exotic bucket list locations like Providence to home-based heaven like Lake Jozini and Sterkfontein Dam, Flycastaway guide Brendan Becker leads a pretty shweet life. We caught up with him for this issue’s High 5s.

5 people you would like to guide/fish with?

1. Lefty Kreh. RIP.
2. Matt Scholz (Pelagic Pursuit on Youtube).
3. Eric Ratliff (@catfishric).
4. Dre Van Wyk. A role model in the offline and online world. Fly fishing guide pioneer come fishtagrammer/fishing influencer.
5. Jon B. I’m a bass fishing Youtube groupie.

5 best things about where you guide?

1. Mayas Dugong. It’s a massive fishing uber for Providence atoll, allowing us to unlock the full fishing potential of the place.
2. Tapered banks. There’s nothing quite like a massive turtle grass flat with a rising gradient funnelling the fish in one direction.
3. Fusion boats. Guiding Sterkies on a platform that keeps your feet dry and the beers ice cold. It is the way to fish for high riding still water yellowfish.
4. The team. Wherever you guide, you’re only as strong as the team. The guides, crew, caterers are all connected by the grind.
5. Red meat. No tigerfish experience is complete without a quota of venison in all its beautiful, tasty forms.

5 fishing connected items you don’t leave home without?

1. Anything that plays media. A movie or a series can be really good, but on location or on a fishing trip it can be life changing.
2. I am injury prone and partial to a beer or two. Add darkness to the equation and it’s a recipe for a trip ender.
3. You’re not always going to need it but, when you do…
4. Ziploc bags. A million different uses and many days saved. Don’t use them as a fly boxes and submerge them in saltwater though. Please.
5. Back brace. If you experience the never ending suffering of lower back pain, this thing will save the day.

5 favourite fishing destinations?

1. The great teacher. It sucks when you start fishing it, but seldom does a fishery increase your angling ability as drastically as it can.
2. St Brandon’s. Of all the atolls I’ve guided, this one is in the soul. It has an unmatched energy that, once one tunes into it, fades the rest of the world away.
3. Providence Atoll. The oceanic jungle. An incredibly complex ecosystem that makes everything on it ruthless in its behaviour. The only place where I’ve been left utterly speechless.
4. Jozini/Pongola River. Fishing for the southernmost distribution of tigerfish in South Africa in a properly African setting does not get any better!
5. Wildcard. The potential of this part of the Zambezi is unbelievable as you stand on volcanic rock, casting into the relentless and violent Zambezi with the chance of catching the biggest Hydrocynus vittatus on the continent. All with unfiltered Africa as the backdrop.

Grab the rest of Brendan’s High 5s and more in issue 24, The Mission’s biggest issue ever.

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