Perfect weather and no sign rain again this week. Although we were crying recently for the rains to stop, things are now drying up fast! I was lucky enough to have a couple of guiding appointments this week – two half days on The Mooi River in the vicinity of Trout Bungalow, followed by a full day on The Bushman’s River up in Giant’s Castle Reserve.
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The Mooi River below Trout Bungalow
I had the heads up on water flow when on The Mooi – there is a still wet ‘high tide’ mark about a foot above the current water level, indicating how the level has dropped in the last 7-10 days. The Mooi still has a wee touch of colour, but a good introduction to river fishing was had by visitors Mark (from Johannesburg) and David (from the U.K.).
A brownie from the Mooi
Dry fly action was on the slow side, with only the first fish on each of the days being taken on dry (Elk-Hair Caddis), and the remainder on nymphs (a synthetic Zak variation of my own, and GRHE). Total tally was 8 fish for Mark and 6 fish for David, the biggest being around 9” / 23cm.
The Bushman’s, a tad low but crystal clear
The Bushman’s, while also a tad low already, is running crystal clear. After spending the day with Morne and his 8 year-old son Kyle, I had better forewarn the current set of SA Junior fly fishers that there will be somebody knocking on their door very soon. His casting might still need some work, but this young man already has an acutely developed fish-sense!
Morne and Kyle on the Bushman’s River
Conversely to the days on The Mooi, the action was pretty much all dry fly and we rose fish to a variety of flies (Elk-hair Caddis, Rubber-leg Stimulator, Royal Coachman aka ‘Bushman’s Special’, and F-Fly CdC caddis). Young Kyle got a solid take from an 8” / 20cm fish on the Stimulator, and after warming up on a couple smaller specimens, Morne landed a well conditioned 10” / 25cm brown trout on a Coachman.
Kyle with his Bushman’s River brown trout
Brown trout on a Royal Coachman aka ‘Bushman’s Special’
The Bushman’s day was also one of prolific wildlife:
$1- driving out, we were lucky enough to spot a Serval cat crossing the Kamberg Road;
$1- while on the water, we had a small snake come swimming down river towards us, and while trying to get my camera out in time to snap it (which I didn’t), it nearly swam right between my legs;
$1- Kyle then found a Water Spider which, while taking a photo of it, decided to run across the water and up Morne’s leg, causing much consternation!
Water spider from the Bushman’s River
The stillwaters in KZN
I am pleased to report that stillwaters are also coming online with the waters cooling and clearing nicely. Local anglers Wayne Stegen and Matt Swemmer reported fishing through a caddis hatch on Saturday, and plenty minnows about.
Matt Swemmer
Wayne Stegen
They report bringing two great fish to hand of 55cm and 58cm (22” and 23”) respectively taken on a GRHE and an olive dragonfly pattern.
There is rain forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday which will help ease the onset of the winter dry spell, clearing later in the week.
Jan Korrubel
