THE END OF 2011 AND THE BEGINNING OF 2012 – A PHOTO-ESSAY OF THE LAST OF THE FISHING FOR THE YEAR

I well beyond seeing in the New Year with anything like the pace I set myself many years ago when midnight came in a wash of loud music, fireworks and champagne. In fact, this New Year’s Eve I was in bed with a good book at an embarrassingly early hour – never mind which side of 10 pm.

2011 ended on a happy note fishing wise when I packed into the last week of December a lovely day on the Lourens, a hot day on Beat 6 of the Holsloot and then a long day on Beat 2 of the Smalblaar (all one and a half kilometres of it).  Generally the fishing was good given that this time of year in the Cape it often isn’t.

The Holsloot water began at a cool 16 degrees C and ended in mid-afternoon at 18. We were pretty early onto the Smalblaar when the temperature was  18, then gradually migrated up to 22, though I was still getting rainbows on a Zak – between more than a few bass.

On the Holsloot the little Mirage dry fly was pure magic, drifting the runs with a jaunty attitude as if were a real mayfly. In fact a tidy rainbow ate a Mirage third cast of the day.

But on the Smalblaar the fish were down and those we pumped only had small Baetid nymphs or else empty stomachs. So nymphs ruled a day when I didn’t see a single mayfly leave the water.

Tomorrow I have another day planned on a private stream so I spent a good part of New Year’s Day tying up a few more Zaks and one or two more Mirages.

The Lourens River, Somerset West with Frederick Mostert

Here Frederick used his Steve Boshoff bamboo and I brought along my Mario Geldenhuys landing net.

The Mario Geldenhuys net

The Holsloot River with Darryl Lampert and Robin Renwick

The going is a bit tough on Beat 6 where you cross the bridge and walk downstream for half an hour, sometimes through thick bush.

The Smalblaar with Darryl Lampert

This is the longest beat of the Smalblaar and your legs will talk to you on it because the wading can be tiring. The fish are bigger than on most Cape streams so I brought along my Stamer landing net.

Fishing the beginning of Beat 2. Darryly Lampert took the photo

I wish you all peace, prosperity, good health and a happy new year.  Not to mention good fishing,  of course!