In my last newsletter I wrote about the bamboo-ferruled, 7ft 3-wt rod built for me by Capetonian Stephen Dugmore. If memory serves me correctly, it was Bjarne Fries, the Danish rod maker who first brought the concept to international attention with an article in the April 2002 issue of the…

– including Steve Dugmore's new bamboo ferrule system, a Cape stream mayfly identified, a tribute to the late Keith Miller, trout in Spring Grove Dam in KZN, a new idea for picking up beads, Andrew Fowler's book 'Stippled Beauties' reviewed, Lee Wulff's 'Bush Pilot Angler reviewed, Sage rod for sale,…

Says Gijsbert Hoogendoorn: I am currently conducting an online survey into the impact of fly fishing on Sterkfontein Dam in terms of economic impact and conservation issues.  This work will ideally be published in an academic journal which will hopefully have broader relevance in terms of planning and policy issues. Click…

September is always a time of great excitement for the stream anglers, as the 1st heralds the official opening of the river season after a long wait of three months when our season closes for winter spawning, although I suppose that a three month wait is better than the four…

For a change the weather in the Western Cape has been passable and the rivers are looking in good shape. I hear reports of some good trout coming out of the Smalblaar, but with a bout of plantar fasciitis in my left heel – it feels like you're walking with…

While researching my recent article on the chronology of convex leaders I came across a few paragraphs in a book by Al McClane that I thought made a worthwhile contribution to the debate on whether tippets should float or sink. When I could still fish, I visited the small mountain…