Shongweni Dam Fail

Shongweni Dam Fail

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water
[caption id="attachment_387" align="alignleft" width="300"] Shongweni Dam, Kzn[/caption] For the first fishing trip of the year Nick and I found ourselves at Shongweni Dam. Personally I would've preferred Inanda but the general consensus was that Shongweni would be far less busy on the second day of the year. Sharon and I arrived first, just before 9am, and were greeted by hordes of people. Never have I seen the dam quite so busy. Thankfully we were just early enough to secure the last decent picnic spot with both shade and a braai. Nick and Tazz arrived shortly after us and, after setting up, Nick and I were on soon on the water. There was a buzz of activity on the surface but sadly it wasn't from fish. There were kids swimming in…
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Kamberg Bliss

Kamberg Bliss

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_384" align="alignright" width="300"] Another Rainbow Trout Release[/caption] Having spent the morning stocking some of the club waters Sharon and I decided to spend the night at the Kamberg Nature Reserve. We drove through the gate at 12am and I immediately became aware of the storm clouds which were already forming overhead. Worried that I wouldn't be able to fish later that day I cut a deal with Sharon which allowed me to fish while she unpacked the car. I fished the usual spots around Erskine for about 30 minutes with no luck. It was midday in summer and I wasn't expecting a lot so I continued fishing while enjoy the pair of Crested Eagles nesting in a nearby tree. It was at this point that I noticed a few…
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Trout Stocking

Trout Stocking

Fly Fishing, Randoms
[caption id="attachment_381" align="alignleft" width="300"] Stocking Rainbow Trout[/caption] With Friday being a public holiday I'd agreed to monitor the stocking of several NFFC waters by Bushman's River Trout. So at 6am Sharon and I took a leisurely drive to the Giant's Castle area where we met John. He'd stocked the 3 dams with 3" (or 5”) fish the previous morning and it was now time to put in a few 10" fish to kick start the process of rehabilitating these Mondi waters. The whole process was surprisingly fast and started by looking for a place to safely release the new fish. The obvious choice was along the dam wall into deeper, safer water. There was however a small problem in that we could see the previous day's smaller fish shoaling along…
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Lake Naverone (My 30th Birthday)

Lake Naverone (My 30th Birthday)

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_378" align="alignright" width="300"] Dragon Fly Nymph Comparison[/caption] Sharon decided to take me fishing for my 30th birthday so we drove up to Lake Naverone on Friday evening amidst the mist and rain. I didn't set an alarm but was awake by just after 6am on Saturday. We lazed around a little so I only made it onto the water at around 8am. I fished the large dam in partly cloudy conditions starting close to the inlet. Almost immediately I missed two strong hits which got me rather excited. Sadly I saw no more fish for the next hour. The inlet was heavily weeded so I made my way to the far bank which appeared to be the deeper of the two. I picked up one tiny rainbow but wasn't…
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Kamberg, Catch, Repeat

Kamberg, Catch, Repeat

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_369" align="alignright" width="225"] Clinton Nortje's First Trout[/caption] On Sunday morning I woke up at around 5:30am to far more light than I expected. By 6am I was at Nick's place where Clinton picked us up and we headed for Kamberg, stopping of course for a cup of coffee and a doughnut. We arrived at Kamberg at around 7:30am in thick mist and a little drizzle. From afar conditions were looking good and we quickly spotted two other fishermen on the water. A brief chat to them revealed they were staying there, had been fishing for a while, and had caught no fish. Not a good sign but nothing to worry about. Since the other fishermen were fishing Eland Dam we headed down to Erskine and got to it. Both…
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Lotheni’s Sneaky Browns

Lotheni’s Sneaky Browns

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_364" align="alignleft" width="300"] First Wild Trout On The New Rod[/caption] At 5am on Saturday morning we climbed out of bed, packed the car and headed for the Drakensberg. Stopping for petrol proved annoying when the standard garage told us they were out of diesel and we were forced to head into Pmb to find some. Otherwise all went well until we reached the Underberg turn off when I forgot that it was shorter through Nottingham Road and we headed for Underberg on my 111km worst road. After passing through Himeville the road turns from tar to dirt for the last 40kms. The dirt was in good condition bar the fact that they seem to be working on it. This meant large piles of rubble for long stretches leaving only…
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The Mooi River, Kamberg

The Mooi River, Kamberg

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_359" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Mooi River[/caption] Sunday morning started at the normal 5:30am for me when I packed the car and headed for the Kamberg Nature Reserve. Nick was heading up Sani Pass and so I'd decided to take the opportunity to explore the Mooi River which we'd always ignored for some unknown reason. Sharon was originally going to join me but ended up working at a golf day her company was sponsoring and hence I explored alone. When I arrived at the reserve I parked at the picnic site near the gate and walked down to the river. My first impression was "WOW, what a fantastic water!" Carefully I climbed into the crystal clear water, which was flowing steadily, and began the trip upstream. The upper Mooi River…
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Open Season (For Rivers Anyway)

Open Season (For Rivers Anyway)

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_354" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Nick Nortje On The Mooi River[/caption] Sunday saw Nick and I head out fishing once again. The rivers opened on the 1st September and we thought we'd go and look at a section of the Mooi River I'd fished two or so years ago. After the usual 5:30 start and mandatory cup of Wild Bean coffee we hit our first glitch...road closure in Pietermartizburg. A "quick" divert through town saw us arriving somewhat later than planned. We kitted up quickly and began the 5km walk downstream to the start of the beat. The water was surprising clear for Reekie Lyn and was low as expected. That said the higher than usual winter rainfall (and snow) meant the river was at least flowing. As an added bonus…
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Old Faithful, Kamberg Nature Reserve

Old Faithful, Kamberg Nature Reserve

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_346" align="alignleft" width="200"] Warren Prior With A Kamberg Trout[/caption] On Sunday morning I picked up Nick and Clinton and we made our way (via the coffee shop) to Kamberg for some Trout fishing. It was Clinton's first time with a fly stick so we were all hoping he'd pick it up quickly and get into at least one fish. By 8am we were all on the water. I headed for the shallows where I'd dominated on a previous visit while Nick and Clinton fished our famous jetty where it was easiest for Clinton to cast. Thankfully he picked it up amazingly quickly and, despite not having a long cast, he was definitely getting far enough to pick up a fish. Conditions seemed good for Trout. The pressure had been…
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Clansthal Shorebreak

Clansthal Shorebreak

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_343" align="alignright" width="300"] Nick At Clansthal[/caption] I was up early on Sunday and Nick, Clinton, Neville and I headed down to Clansthal to try and bash a few Wave Garrick. After diverting our route to pick up a garage pie we got somewhat lost and ended up discovering that Clansthal has more than just a beach and campsite. Sadly the shore break was massive and fly fishing was just not an option. Clinton slid out a bait while the rest of us chilled on the beach. We did also take a walk north where we found some nice ledges for fly fishing at low tide. While exploring we also stopped to chat to a group of fisherman who'd been there since 3am. Turns out that in 8 hours they'd…
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