THE LIFER: DALE STEYN

THE LIFER: DALE STEYN

A is for the Andamans, B is for Bangladesh and C, well C is always going to be for the Chobe river when Dale Steyn goes fishing. In The Mission Issue 08 (Mar/Apr 2018) we spoke to Proteas fast bowler about life, travel and his obsession with fly fishing for tigerfish. Photos courtesy Dale Steyn (@dalesteyn).

I can’t remember the first fish I ever caught but I remember the first largemouth bass I got (aged about seven or eight) in Phalaborwa. I remember the lure, green with a curly tail and a bass hook. – threw it close to the jetty and “bang!”, I was on. That’s when I knew I was hooked on fishing.

I grew up in Phalaborwa, then I moved to Pretoria for a couple of years – even bought a house there – and now home is Cape Town where I’ve been for 11 years.

“The most natural fly fisherman I know is Quinton de Kock”

I’ve never waited tables but when I was in the Duiwelskloof cricket academy in Limpopo we had to work in the bar to make money because we had no cash. It was not just for yourself, but also for the academy and the team. Other than that, from a work point of view, it’s always been cricket. I’ve either coached it or played it.

Advice that’s always stuck with me came from a guy I used to live with called Francois Upton. He said, I would have more bad days in cricket than I would have good days, and if I was willing to take those odds, I would have a fantastic career. I heard that and said, “I’ll take it.” Fourteen years later, I’ve probably still had more bad days than good days, but I’m doing okay.

The other bit of advice was something my gran used to say. “Keep your feet on the ground,” implying, don’t get a big head.

What I am most proud of is being able to help those that have helped me. My grandparents, my mom, my sister and everyone who drove me to practices. I’ve been able to buy both my grandparents and my mom a car, bought my dad a bike, helped my sister out with one or two little things – stuff that they could never do for themselves because they put everything into me. I like those little things.

I took my best mate to Bali last year and now we are going fishing in the Andaman Islands. We are going to DIY it, do it our own way on a shoestring budget.

“I got taken on a fly fishing trip to Chobe once and since then I have personally been back eight times.”

I’ve also been to the Chobe River with that mate and another friend four times now. It’s a lifetime thing I’ve wanted to do since I was small. My grandfather always told me I had to go and catch tigerfish in Kariba. I got taken on a fly fishing trip to Chobe once and since then I have personally been back eight times and taken my friends four times (Ed: Dale’s dog is even named Chobe).

On the Chobe. Photo: @dalesteyn

At Chobe, I generally use a 9-weight rod and a sinking line although the best thing is topwater action in the early morning and late afternoon. Don’t be shy to throw poppers on a floating line. There’s nothing more exciting.

My go-to tigerfish fly when I get to Chobe is a sort of stripped-down Clouser. Rip everything off it.  It doesn’t even look like a fly when you are finished with it. It looks like a hook with two eyes, a little bit of red and a little bit of black bucktail. Quite big, super heavy, very sparse. Get it deep down. You can throw the biggest, hairiest flies and they are not interested unless it’s on the top like a popper. Otherwise, this fly is it.

Tanzanian tigerfish, peacock bass in the Amazon and dorado are the next fish on my list. I’ve been looking it up, and the only problem with peacock bass is that the best time is February/March and that’s cricket season.

Dale made it to Bolivia for dorado. Photos: @dalesteyn

Anything to do with sport has come naturally to me. Board sports like surfing have also come naturally for me. I had a couple of stories in Blunt magazine back in the day. 

“My go-to tigerfish fly when I get to Chobe is a sort of stripped-down Clouser. “

I’ve really had to work at playing guitar.  My dad sounds like Jimi Hendrix on the guitar so I decided to pick it up and learn with him. He rubs it in that he’s so much better than me.

Something I have changed my mind about is sun block. Besides brushing my teeth, it’s the one thing I do every day. When I was younger I never did it, but I realise now that skin cancer is not funny.

The worst fly fisherman I have ever fished with is my mate Brett Soulman. 1. He doesn’t have a lot of patience. 2. He doesn’t have that necessary understanding. I have taught him how to fish but he doesn’t have that childhood background. He doesn’t look. It’s a sharp hook and if you’re not looking you will hook someone. If you are not looking where you cast, you will land up in the trees. He’s not very coordinated either. He’s horrible. You end up spending more time having to help him than doing any fishing.

The most natural fly fisherman I know is Quinton de Kock (Proteas wicketkeeper). He makes it look easy. When he casts – I don’t think he knows what he is doing – but he makes it look like he has been fishing for years. He’s got stease. Style with Ease. But he is not a big fly fisherman so when he is retrieving he doesn’t know what speed to retrieve at, so he lacks the fishiness.  But when he is casting he nails it and looks like he has been fishing his entire life.

“Every angler should know how to tie a decent knot. My go to is the Palomar knot.”

For my favourite drink I mix lemonade and a bit of beer to make a beer shandy.

Every angler should know how to tie a decent knot. My go to is the Palomar knot.

Growing up in the bush in Phalaborwa, I fancy myself as someone who can survive in the wild. My best survival skill is probably my sense of direction. My mates are useless, they get lost all the time but I have that memory; I can always find my way back.

I believe you should face your fears head-on. You’ve got to dive into it. Whether it’s arguments or something physical, if you backstep, you are never going to be able to overcome it.

I would love to travel more, but I would like to do it more on my terms. I have been to India 26 times with cricket teams, but I would love to go to India when I want to go and to see the things that I want to see and not have a time limit to have to be somewhere. Fishing and surfing are big things, but I want to be spontaneous. My mates both love and hate it when I come home and I have two weeks free, because I want them to pack their bags and go to Mauritius or wherever with me for five days. I hope to continue doing that when I am finished with cricket and have more free time. 

“I’d go to the Chobe over and over and over again for the rest of my life.”

One place, never again? It’s not a physical place but an experience, a bad relationship. I don’t ever want to go back to something like that. I’m a better person now than I was then.

Photo: @dalesteyn

One place again and again? I’d go to the Chobe over and over and over again for the rest of my life. It ticks all the boxes from fishing to game viewing. I love the bush.

What I get out of fly fishing has not changed over the years. That thrill is still the same. I’m more experienced in terms of what I want to target and what to use and, also, equipment has improved.  I go to better places to fish.  From that first bass until today, the excitement and the screaming and the shouting will always be the same. That’s why I carry on fishing. I will go on tour to Bangladesh and go fishing with a stick, a line and termites – it doesn’t matter to me.

“Fly fishing is an incredible skill and once you get into it, it teaches you a lot more about life than actually catching a fish.”

If I could change one thing in fly fishing, it would be how it is perceived; the ‘boring’ tag that comes with it. When you speak to some people who say, “I could never fish. It just seems so boring”, what they don’t realise is that there’s more to fly fishing and fishing than what meets the eye. When fly fishing, you get to experience some of the most beautiful places on earth and with a partner or children you can take them with you and share it. And when you are fishing but not catching any fish, it teaches you patience.

When you are not fishing that’s when you enjoy the bonding time with your kid or partner. You can either enjoy catching fish or enjoy learning how to wait patiently to catch fish. These are things you can take into your normal life. Fly fishing is an incredible skill and once you get into it, it teaches you a lot more about life than actually catching a fish.

When I look at my future, I would love to have a nice piece of land with a beautiful dam on it that I can stock with some bass and trout and have loads of dogs. So looking back, say, 15 years, if there is one thing I would do differently, it would be to find that place, get someone to buy it with me and be working towards paying it off today because, 15 years ago, it would be a lot cheaper than it is today. 

The last fish I caught was a small bass caught off my float tube at Princess Vlei in Muizenberg.

Check out The Mission Issue 08 in full below. It’s free – always has been, always will be.

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