THE MISSION ISSUE 40

When he’s not catching large sharks, rays and geelbek on fly, saltwater fly fishing maverick Jimmy Eagleton climbs for a living on offshore oil rigs. So, when it comes to accessing hard-to-reach gullies, caves, and cliffs to target small feisty species that most of us ignore, Jimmy’s in his element. Photographer Ryan Janssens tagged along on a recent mission to document Jimmy targeting ‘cliffhanger bream’, jutjaw, fransmadam and John Brown in places we wager no fly anglers have gone before. In the process, Ryan shot this epic photo, his fourth cover for The Mission.

Then we’ve got our big “Community” piece, looking at the fly fishing clubs, festivals, informal get-togethers, syndicates and secret societies you need to know about; “A Longa Way From Home” Johann Rademeyer’s Angola tarpon story from the Rio Longa; Conrad Botes’s tribute to a lucky cap in “Makhulu Baas”; an Alaskan sheefish adventure with Brent Flack-Davison; a High Fives with Seychellois guide Alex Quatre, a Lifer with the well-travelled Yuri Janssen (currently of Gleneagles in Scotland), Platon Trakoshis‘s Vision Rivermaniac rod review, Nkulunkulu for a Wish List Fish with Robert Gordon Kyle, tons of excellent new clobber, a horny whisky, beats and a whole lot more.

Read The Mission Fly Mag Issue 40 online for free or, if you live in South Africa, you can grab a free copy from your nearest stockist when they hit the shelves this week.

Cover: Jimmy Eagleton dangles off a coastal cliff in the Western Cape. Ryan Janssens