When he doesn’t have his hand half way up the rear end of a horse (he’s an equine vet), Garth Nieuwenhuis is a Protea (South Africa’s national team) fly angler. As such he gets to go all over the country and the world for competitions and he’s learnt, the hard way, what works and why. For the What’s In My Bag page in issue 21, we asked him to show us what he puts in his fly fishing gear bag when he heads out for stillwater trout.

The Craft

Horizon Troutstalker V-boat Deluxe float tube – best bang for buck float tube around.

Ark Fishduc FD 350 AF (2-person, air floor) – the best small inflatable money can buy for drift boat competition fishing.

The Rods

All but one of my rods are 6-weight 10-foot rods. My bread and butter rods are my Scott Radian and Vision Onki. Both are incredible all-round rounds. I carry an old Hardy Zenith as a backup.  It’s also a more beefy rod should the need arise to bomb DI5 lines all day long. Lastly, I have a Sage One 5-weight 9-foot rod for single dry fly should all the planets align out on the water.

The Reel and the Lines

I currently use the latest Orvis Clearwater Cassette reel and it’s an absolute winner. (Someone in South Africa please start importing it). Once you get serious about your competition fishing you realise how important it can be to have various lines to keep your flies in a particular zone or matched to a particular technique. In all, I generally carry about 18 different lines with me on the water, almost all are Airflo (available from Iron River in South Africa).

The Lucky Caps

I have an assortment of various caps imbedded with layers of good fishing omens and sweat. For a true blank saver nothing can beat the old Simms six panel.

For the rest of the preferred fly fishing gear from Garth Nieuwenhuis (from the net to the Fish Finder, the basket, fly boxes, waders, bags, sunnies and more, check out The Mission Issue 21 below for free.