Our issue 16 Troubled Waters. Whether it’s trout, carp or saltwater species you are in to, one of the Western Cape’s great rivers is struggling like never before. The Waters We love the Berg. It’s one of our closest rivers and it has a storied history in the annals of Western Cape fly fishing. Primarily [...]
"My approach to split screen imagery is based very much on a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach. I’m typically fishing and shooting at the same time so, while I would love the time and luxury of hauling around a big beautiful DSLR and a full size housing to try and shoot the best imagery [...]
Here is a little carp home movie I recently made - special thanks to Andre van Wyk and Tudor Caradoc-Davies for their contribution with camera work. The theme of the movie is 'Carp Giant' because they are not celebrated as much as they should be in the fly fishing scene - carp are in fact [...]
When I first heard about the resurgence of fibreglass rods I imagined floppy, noodly fly rods like older rods that I started fly fishing with a while back. But not that far back that I ever experienced the old fibreglass rods. I was sceptical, then some of my fishing buddies bought Epic fibreglass rod kits, [...]
In the previous post, ‘As long as it’s black and red’, I discussed the use of a fairly light-weight hook, the Dohiku #12 wet fly hook (type 644) to tie relatively sparse Zulu’s with variable sink rates – I have more recently also started using the Hanák #12 stillwater & wet hook (H 260 BL) [...]
This is a follow-up post on Dubious Distinctions, going into more detail about how I catch carp on fly in the Western Cape. I put emphasis on the Western Cape as carp seem to be a lot more reserved, generally taking smaller patterns, in the waters of this province. This is as technical as I [...]
I have friends that boulder non-stop; even after getting injured. When a finger is tweaked or a leg hurt the zinc oxide tape is wrapped around the finger or limb for tendon or muscle support and climbing continues. When they chat they talk about bouldering; when they take a photograph it involves a boulder, someone [...]
I find it strange how quickly one’s perception of ‘good fishing conditions’ changes when you learn something new about fish behaviour. Total confidence in my ability to predict good fishing days was doomed by forced outings in ‘bad’ weather due to a serious lack in free time of late. Balmy, sunny days (according to the [...]
“No entry”. I drove around the bay to the next access point and it was fenced off with a barbed wire barrier that would stop a zombie brigade. My heart sank. I had been fishing Theewaterskloof Dam’s shoreline for more than two decades and had to wave goodbye to some of my favourite and best [...]
I sat in the sun, uncomfortable amongst poking sticks. A few carp, maybe five, were feeding hard stirring up a mud cloud below my perch on the high bank; but instead of casting I was trying to untangle my fly line from a mesh of twigs. These things can test one’s patience, but the fish [...]
