Warren Prior, Author at Baha Adventures

17May 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Near Death And Fly Tying

[caption id="attachment_142" align="alignright" width="300"] Self Tied Wooly Bugger[/caption] As some of you may have noticed, its been a slow period of fishing for me. In fact, since my trip to the Mooi river over 2 weeks ago, I haven't had a fly in the water at all. Sadly the reason for this wasn't a pleasant one...I landed myself, thanks to Sharon, a bad strain of the flu, and as a result was man down for just over a week. But I suppose the glass is never half empty, and everything happens for a reason...So while I was unable to get out of the house and into the water, I decided it was time to get out the old (and rusted) fly tying vice, and get to work. Step 1: Acquire…

02May 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Mooi River

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_137" align="alignright" width="300"] The Mooi River[/caption] Just 2 days after a fantastic morning's fishing on the Lotheni River, I was back in the Berg, this time fishing a section of the Mooi River just below Kamberg nature reserve. Shaun and I left Plantations at around 5:30am, and after a short stop for coffee, were at the river by 7:30am. We kitted up and started our 5km walk downstream, from where we would fish our way back to the car. On the way down we fished a few of the pools without much luck. The weather was overcast, with a cold front approaching, and we figured this could've turned the fish off. Shortly after turning around and heading back to the car, the sky cleared and the sun came out.…

30Apr 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Lotheni

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_134" align="alignleft" width="300"] Warren Fly Fishing The Lotheni[/caption] After a good trip to the Bushmans River over Easter, I decided I'd give the Lotheni River a bash before the end of the season. So when the offices closed for a week, Sharon and I headed to Lotheni for 3 days. Of the 3 days we spent there I only fished one morning. I hit the river at about 7:30am, Sharon bravely wading the river behind me in an old pair of takkies. I was hoping she would be able to walk on the bank, but unfortunately she had to cross a few times which isn't ideal without boots. The fishing itself was more difficult than the Bushmans, and after fishing 2kms of river over 3 hours, I'd landed only…

17Apr 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Fly Fishing With My Sole

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignleft" width="250"] First Sole On Fly[/caption]After a good weekends fishing in the berg for Brown Trout, I gave the harbour a couple of flicks with the rod. My trip down on the 14th produced just one small Flathead, so nothing special there. The trip on the 17th was more planned. A forumite from FlyTalk, who was down from the Freestate, wanted to fish the harbour with me. The plan was to meet him there at around 3:30. We'd wade the banks for a while, and then, when it got darker, would hit the breakwater to go for some kingies. Unfortunately the wind was howling, and so he decided not to give it a fish. Seeing as I was all packed and ready to go, I decided to give…

12Apr 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Priors Dominate The Bushmans River

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_122" align="alignleft" width="225"] Clive Prior With A Wild Brown[/caption] Over the Easter weekend Sharon and I hit the berg, namely Giant's Castle, with my dad and Cassia. Of the three days we were there, my dad and I spent one day punishing the Bushman's River. I must admit in advanced, that I really wasn't expecting much. Looking back I'm not really sure why I thought this, because the fishing was absolutely fantastic. If I learnt one thing from this trip, its that I'll be back there in a hurry. I suppose the sad thing is that the rivers get closed from the end of this month. (Everyone go AWWW) Anyway, on Sunday morning my dad and I took a leisurely strole down to the river. Well, he took a…

08Apr 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Lone Ranger

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

Being on leave I decided to go and give the harbour a quick flick with the old fly rod. When I got down there the wind was blowing good guns, but being as tough as I am, and due to the fact that I'd driven all the way down there, I decided to give it a bash anyway. I fished the main channel for a while, before deciding to take shelter behind the big concrete block near Wilson's Wharf. This meant fishing the smaller channel, where some of the private fishing charters launch from. There was another fly fisher nearby, who had also elected to fish this spot, so together we flogged the water. The fishing was tough, and after an hour of so I got into a small Bartail…

27Mar 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Blood Sports

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_116" align="alignleft" width="300"] Small Pickhandle Barracuda[/caption]Having Friday off has the added bonus of being able to fish without too many other people around. So off I headed to mt local hunting grounds, the Durban Harbour. Surprisingly, there were more people around than I expected. Clearly I'm not the only one on short time. Either that, or South Africa has a lot of lazy bastards. Hmmm... I waded the banks and was quickly into a gurnard which I landed without much trouble. Shortly after that I was into another. Gurnards never let you down. At this point I decided to try an area I had targeted too much in the past... What a great decision! On my second cast I was into a small Pickhandle Barracuda; A first for me.…

21Mar 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Exploring Inanda Dam

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water

This week I decided I'd explore some of the local water, rather than hitting the salt. So when Saturday morning arrived I grabbed my 5 weight, and headed down to Inanada Dam to try and pick up a few Bass. I'd fished the dam once before with Nick, and we'd managed to pull out a few Bass, so I figured I had a good starting point. WRONG! Since the dam is now full (and clearly wasn't when we last fished it), the area we'd been successful in was now completely underwater. I didn't let this deter me, and headed off on foot into the unknown. There was a bit of a path, but it got more vague the farther I went. Eventually I was just bashing my way through the…

13Mar 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

Springer Action (Just Not For Me)

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_110" align="alignleft" width="225"] Springer On Dropshot[/caption]Another weekend, and another trip to the harbour. I should probably try and toss a fly elsewhere, but its just so convenient. Plus fishing some of the beaches on a Friday evening just isn't safe. Added to this is of course the fact that fish have been coming out there, and the beer. I arrived at the harbour around 5:30, and was in the water shortly after that. It was still a tad early, but you can't catch without a fly in the water. High tide was at 7pm, so I fished an incoming tide, followed by and outgoing. As the sun started to set suddenly the water came alive. Although I've only fished the harbour a handful of times in the last 2…

06Mar 2009 by Warren Prior No Comments

More Harbour, Less Bashing

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignright" width="225"] Nick Playing Silly Buggers[/caption] Due to a very busy weekend, it was going to be tough to try and fit in a trip to the salt. As a result Nick and I braved what were far from perfect conditions, and fished after work on Friday. I picked Nick up at 5pm, and we headed straight for the harbour. We arrived at 5:30 and had our lines in the water by 5:45. Low tide was at 7 so we fished a pulling tide in the last remaining light, and then a slight pushing tide in the dark. We had decided not to brave the Durban Harbour sand banks at night (apparently there are a lot of sharks around) so we fished off the jetty by the yaght…

Author: Warren Prior