Lockdown - I'm tired of hearing it and avoid the subject these days. But during the lockdown, my fly tying station was my psychologist. Years ago my tying desk was in something close to a cellar, the living space was two floors up. My wonderful wife, Belle, wouldn't have any of this so she bought [...]
On fly fishing on the Orange River... Were we going to get lost? That was one of our main concerns leaving Cape Town. Our mode of transport was Warwick Leslie's Alu-Cab Hilux, the ultimate overland machine, we could have gone to Cairo in it. But we weren't, we were on our way to the Orange [...]
Consistently holding pole position as South Africa’s top-ranked competition angler, Dan Factor of X-Factor Angling (www.xfactorangling.co.za), is also a fly fishing coach and a guide, taking clients all over the world. We caught up with him for a rapid-fire High 5s. Dan Factor on the Orange River 5 best things about where you [...]
While the rest of us went through Netflix re-runs this year, freelance guide James Kirsten escaped to Red Rock River Camp on the Orange where he lost himself in the gorge. The Gorge near Red Rocks on the Orange river "Lockdown!! The world gone mad. Everything is locked down; cities, suburbs; public transport [...]
A Fishwater Films movie about the Orange River, showing the current water clarity, the fish and catching them on fly.
Glossy, durable, flexible and perfect for fly tying. In Pattex 100% Platon Trakoshis believes he has found the ultimate fly tying glue for building baitfish heads Glue. It’s always such a big question and discussion with fly tiers. “What did you glue the eyes on with? How did you make that head? What are you [...]
"You won't land that fish", said Piet. A sense of finality from the first glimpse of the huge shape passing under his canoe. The most bitter sweet fishing event I have experienced. A family trip floating down the Orange river is magical. Relaxed, social, happy. The fishing pretty good too. The water was ultra [...]
With international air travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, many South African fly anglers will be looking closer to home for their trips in 2020 (if you were not doing that already). Assuming that both inter-provincial and regional travel will be allowed relatively soon (a big assumption we know), one of the most obvious options for your freshwater yellowfish fix is the mighty Orange river. A few months back, one of our own Peter Coetzee, joined up with the Mavungana Flyfishing team, plus esteemed reprobate Francois Botha, on a drift targeting smallies. To whet your appetite for the world class fishing available under our noses here in SA, here's Mavungana's great little flick from that float.
In issue 21 Tim Leppan wrote about 'The Foam Dungeon,' his go-to articulated streamer fly pattern for largemouth and Clanwilliam yellowfish. Here's Tim with the Step-By-Step. "After sharing this pattern with a group of mates, I received a lot of questions back about how one ties it and how to fish it. In saying that, [...]
Over the last few days I tied a small army of Skeleton Minnows to try out on our larger, more aggressive yellowfish and bass over the next year or so. In the process of tying them I enjoyed playing with different colours of flexo tubing, fluorescent beads (which may add the desired colour and weight [...]
