The Magazine: Issue 44
It’s easy to look abroad at fly fishing’s most famous hatches and think the grass is greener elsewhere, but don’t overlook what Herman “Harry” Botes calls The Halo Hatch. When you know, as Harry does, how to fish the Vaal River’s metronomic afternoon caddis hatches, local can be very lekker indeed. In this issue we go deep with Harry, covering the bugs, the tactics, step-by-steps of the flies, and the dangers of smallmouth yellowfish viskoors (fish fever).
We also get the story behind “Hugging the Bear”, FlyBru duo Matt Gorlei and Nick van Rensburg’s account of a trip deep into the Drakensberg with Xplorer Fly Fishing’s Shaun Dickson involving bows, scalies and (WTF) possible sightings of cutthroat genetics. Then there’s the world premier of Gabriel Botha’s new film, “Sette Cama“, with African Waters; a Seychelles species smorgasbord in Ewan Naude’s “Meet the Farquhars”; a Lifer with Dr Fish; a High Fives with Roelof Botha; an insider look at DIY fishing in Grand Cayman with Richard Langford; Brendan Body’s rod review of the Thomas & Thomas Paradigm 4-weight; a review of the new Ahrex Beast Fleye hooks with Andre van Wyk; The Little Guy with RadBag; plus new rods from Scott and Orvis, new Magnitude clear lines from Scientific Anglers, a new fly shop in the Boland, beats and a new mag from Fisho, and tons more.
On the cover: Herman Botes on the Vaal River, South Africa. Photo by Paul Botes.