I spent Saturday with Mike, a Swedish holiday maker out to sample the wares of our stunning country. February and March is a always a tough time of the year for the lower beats – thin water, wisened trout, warm mornings and hotter days.

The day started well with a beaut rainbow porpoising on the dancing RAB. Unfortunately the fish didn’t stick and we kept moving. As the morning warmed slightly, we fished over several rising fish but to no avail – not even dropping to a 7x and #20 midge helped.

The fishing at this time of year is technical and the fish don’t give you a second cast. After a long day we let a couple of beers slide down at the du Kloof Lodge as we discussed the differences between Scandinavian and South African fishing while Skrtel buried buried the gunners.

Sunday I was back on the streams with Ben, a British business man out on a work trip. And as all good fly fishermen on work trips do, he had to get some fishing in. We were on Smalblaar 3 and had a very slow start to day. It was almost two hours of slow, careful fishing before we spotted the first feeding fish. There were three in the pool. Unfortunately the tempermental nature of the fish was highlighted when a near perfect presentation resulted in a agitated fish. We had a morning snack and waited for the fish to resume feeding.

After a careful approach and great drift, Ben pinned it and brought a plumb little Rainbow to hand. A few near missed at the top of the beat left us exasperated and eventually the heat took its toll and we ducked into the bar for a beer before heading home.