WHAT TROUT WANT – The Educated Trout and other Myths by Bob Wyatt
I enjoyed this book as much, if not more, than Bob Wyatt’s previous work, Trout Hunting – The Pursuit of Happiness.
In What Trout Want, Wyatt demolishes two long held beliefs in fly fishing that had their origins way back in the Halfordian era and were perpetuated by the likes of Schwiebert, Marinaro, Swisher and Richards and a heap more famous anglers besides. The author convincingly disproves the concept of selectivity as we anglers know and understand it and does a remarkable hatchet job on the so-called ‘educated’ trout.
Click in images to enlarge them
Our beliefs – well more like ‘articles of faith’ really – convinced us that trout are mostly selective eaters and get more educated and more street smart the longer or harder we fish over them.
These fat chunks of fly fishing doctrine go straight out the window in this book. Rather Wyatt concentrates on the value of presentation over imitation and underscores the doctrines of simplicity, impressionism, and yes, some untidiness, when it comes to fly pattern design and construction.
And Wyatt has the pedigree to float his contentious conclusions. He is widely fished, including the USA, of course, but interesting to me, he now lives in New Zealand and fishes for the traditionally testy trout of that country’s South Island. He is hugely respected as an angler and reading Trout Hunting will tell you just why. I found his book well researched, well argued, extremely well written and thoroughly compelling.
This is a book you do not want to miss out reading, believe me!
222 pages with many colour illustrations. Headwater Books (Stackpole).
Available from Craig Thom 021 551 4248 or NetBooks http://www.netbooks.co.za/
A CAP MAKEOVER
On our recent trip to Rhodes we had a few afternoons rained out and we mostly tied flies on the Birkhall veranda because that’s as near as fishing as you get without actually wading. But on one of the afternoons I noticed Billy unpicking the Jeep logo on his cap with a sharp-pointed pair of fly tying scissors. He said he just wanted to ‘clean the cap up a bit.’
On a whim I offered to do him a sketch on the cap with a black permanent marker and he ended up with an Adams dry fly on the front and a profile of a trout on the peak.
Billy with his son Banie and fly fishing mad Jack Russel, Mally
So if you have the same feelings about your cap as Billy had about his, just unpick it and send it to me in a prepaid, return-post envelope. I’ll do the rest.
GATESHEAD LODGES MAKEOVER
Gateshead Lodge has to be one of the prettiest places in the world to fish a dry fly. It’s an ancient cottage and I always found it plenty good enough as it was, but the owner, Carien Vosloo, had different ideas. She, with the help of Billy de Jong, of cap fame no less, has done the place up and it is now as fresh and as comfortable as you will ever hope to get this deep in mountain country.
She also installed a solar water heater and a solar fridge that works wonderfully well. This is where Billy came in. He’s an electrical engineer specialising in alternative energy sources. He probably describes me as a has-been doctor specialising in cap restoration.
HISTORICAL SOUTH AFRICA FLY PATTERNS
Well known fly tyer, Gordon van der Spuy, has tied up a set of historically important South African fly patterns. There are 33 patterns in all, including 18 dry flies, the rest made up of wets, nymphs, attractors and yellowfish flies. It is a remarkable and valuable collection.
Don Lort's Adolf
He made them for a dear friend of mine, Sharland Urquhart, in return for a little help she was able to give him in realising his ambition to become a master at tying traditional salmon flies – meaning flies tied to the exact original specification with precisely the right materials.
Eben Dowd;s shrimp
As you would expect, the flies are beautifully tied and I will be posting them in a series of articles on my website starting next week.
Hugh Huntley's Orangeade
CLASSIC ANGLING –No 82, March/April 2013
The latest issue of this great magazine carries plenty of news, but two things stood out for me.
The first was the reported imminent sale of Farlow’s. No final announcement has been made yet and there is no clarity as to what will happen to perhaps the most gracious fly shop in the world, Farlow’s of Pall Mall, London. Don’t you sense the end of an era here and feel, like me, a tinge of sadness and slight dread?
In fact, in the same magazine there are announcements that fly box makers Wheatley will be taken over by REC, the American rod component company, and that reel maker Abel is to be taken over a private investment firm. Both these also made me feel vaguely uncomfortable. Like when, many moons ago, I heard the Johnson Wax Group had bought out HL Leonard the bamboo rod makers. In fly fishers you will find generally poor tolerance thresholds when it comes to tampering with traditions.
The second bit of information is sad. That is the reported passing of John Merwin, fishing editor of Field and Stream and author of one of my favourite books, Stillwater Trout. He was 66.
KAMBERG FESTIVAL
Just a reminder that the annual Kamberg Trout Festival is due to be held on the 30th May 2013 to the 2nd June 2013.
Following the link below also gives you an idea of the incredible accommodation options, including one of mountain favourites from my KZN fly fishing days, Jo and Pieter Moller’s lovely farm Riverside.
http://www.kambergtroutfestival.co.za/
THE KZN REPORT FROM JAN KORRUBEL
After quite some rain last week, 24mm on Wednesday, the rivers are back on form. Midmar Dam was only pushing over with a mere trickle, but is storming over the wall right now. And there is more rain forecast for Wednesday.
Although not yet complete, the new Spring Grove Dam (on the lower Mooi River outside Rosetta), has started filling and reports are that with all the water coming down at present, daily changes are visible in the rising waters. I haven't been to see as yet for myself, but will rectify that this week.
I haven't received a direct report on the Mooi as yet, but it was looking decidedly low two weeks ago, so I am pretty sure that the rains in the catchment have put things back on track. Ian Cox of Durban Fly Tyers (DFT)stopped by this afternoon on his way home after the DFT weekend on the Bushman’s River at Snowflake Cottage just below Giant's Castle Reserve. He asked (politely) to be addressed as "Mr Pig", because they had made such pigs of themselves on the fishing! Predominantly rainbows (the water is below the hatchery), but he did show me a snap of a magnificent brown - all taken on his bamboo 2wt.
The stillwaters are also producing the goods, with the cooler weather bringing out the anglers in full force.
Last week brought the 1st report of a local stillwater cock fish that was in full spawning colours. Ian reported the same from The Bushman's, the fish were in "follow" mode.
600th SUBSCRIBER!
The sketch below of one of my trout over pebbles was won by a lady fly fisher from Randburg who was the 600th subscriber to my newsletter!
Tom Sutcliffe
