Not wanting to give up on a fly fishing trip too easily, Lourens made some on-road enquiries and was told about a fly fishing option that might save the day. They swung off the N 6 and headed instead for a place he’d never heard of!
The Angler & Antelope
Alan Hobson and his wife Annabelle, run a unique destination, the Angler and Antelope, in Somerset East, a picturesque village in the Eastern Cape, not far from the Addo Elephant Park and right on the edge of the Karoo. Not the place you would expect to find a trout stream and a bunch of fine stillwaters.
The Hobsons were able to accommodate Lourens and his family on what turned out to be a very successful trip. Lourens spoke about beautiful scenery, excellent fishing, comfortable accommodation and faultless hospitality.
The landscapes are special, comprising no less than four biomes – savannah, grassveldt, Karoo and indigenous forest. The accommodation is four-star graded, and includes a pub in a 100 year old church.
The Boschberg Mountain hugs the town of Somerset East and creates a microclimate, which, under normal circumstances, provides an average of 30 inches of rain per year.
This is a national heritage site offering small stream fly fishing for trout in an indigenous forest under a 50 m high waterfall.
Although the indigenous smallmouth yellowfish have been in the Little Fish River for some time, the locals have only recently cottoned on to the fact that they are great to catch on fly in summer as well as in winter.
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The Angler & Antelope has exclusive access to fly fish on over 25km of the Little Fish River and offers excursions as far as Cradock for targeting these fantastic indigenous fish. They also have exclusive access to several dams and stretches of river in the district.
(See www.anglerandantelope.co.za or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call +27 (0) 42 243 3440.)
In addition, the local Bankberg Troutfisher’s Club manages six still waters and a section of the Little Fish River. http://www.anglerandantelope.co.za/pages/bankberg-troutfishers-club,55.html
