I've been playing with a new rod and reel combo, a Moonshine Epiphany 10'6" 3 wt (to get yours in RSA, contact Stream and Sea) and a pewter-coloured Predator 4/5 reel (tiny for its size, perfectly suitable for a 3 wt outfit) and it just feels so good. The rod is long and strong, so [...]
Plop. Greedy eyes swivelled towards the commotion. As they focussed, I swear she licked her fat rubber lips at the fry pattern hovering 1.5m away. She stroked her whiskers, cruised over and slurped it down. A plan was coming together and this was a welcome change. No hesitation or suspicion. Since moving to the Netherlands [...]
Carp fishing for fly anglers in the Western Cape definitely slows down in the winter months. The fish seem to hang out in deeper water and the very important sight fishing element is lost - accurately placing a fly in front of a feeding carp is an important part of successfully catching these fish on [...]
We don't waste time on carp flies, because carp aren't exactly kings that only dine on the finest roast, right? They also thrive in mud holes that muck up flies in one outing, so why bother tying beautiful flies for them? Right...And that is also why most of my carp flies look like crap, but [...]
I've been so focused on ticking off a 2020 fly fishing bucket list - trying to fit in special fishing trips in the limited free time I had, rather than squeezing in the regular stuff - that I somehow forgot about the fisheries on my doorstep. For instance, the thoughts of chasing after big Clanwilliam [...]
Is there such a thing as a perfect fly? I believe there are many well tied flies that have a great 'strike rate' among different fishes - these, in my book, qualify as 'perfect' flies. When I say 'well tied' I don't mean 'pretty', but rather clever combinations of materials to create buggy flies that [...]
The Berg River in Paarl is a special place for me and many of us at Feathers and Fluoro. I have fished the river's headwaters for trout and, a bit lower down, for smallmouth bass. That was before the province built the Berg River Dam flooding what was some of my favourite river fishing close [...]
I have often wondered when the original art of fly tying will finally be replaced by its modern incarnation, as fuelled by social media and the fly fashion show: fanatically dressed lures for fishing on fly rods. Much as I admire modern ingenuity and engage in hours of toil behind the vice in order to [...]
You're standing right above them, on a bridge, the water is crystal clear and about a metre deep. Its flowing quite strongly and the carp are sifting along the bottom, nose into the oncoming current. We've all been tempted to drop a fly off a bridge somewhere along the line, we can see fish clearly [...]
Having to channel all my fishing desires into fly tying like many others in these strange times I have been honing some pattern ideas for carp. One fish food source that is abundant in most freshwater bodies is tadpoles and around here they are about all year round. Like many creatures, hundreds are born to [...]
