FISHING PONDS - A photo-essay

The Western Cape had rain these past few days and the streams are full and typically peat-coloured. But I was able to spend time on a cluster of pretty ponds yesterday adjacent to the Kraalstroom River as a guest of Sharland and Gavin Urquhart on a farm called Fizantakraal. The ponds were clear enough for sight fishing to mainly big trout, say from 14 to 16 inches. The day was bright and cool with snow on the mountains and just a hint of a breeze. The fish were really nervous and leader shy, but Tim Rolston, a South African national team fly fisher, fooled more than a few using a tiny parachute dry fly. He cleverly tied a Brassie nymph half way up the leader to sink it.  All the trout he got took the dry fly, but only when he twitched it as a fish approached for a closer inspection. I got trout using a size 16 Zak fished on a 7X tippet. I was dropping the fly well ahead of cruising fish and took them when I moved the nymph to induce a take. You could call the technique a sort of Leisenring lift I guess. Dulcie Kirby got the best fish I saw that day fishing a nymph on an Intermediate line, a beautifully coloured rainbow . It was a day surrounded by lovely landscapes, good company and it was topped by a quality lunch prepared by Jenna Weaver whose husband, Ryan, manages the Fizantakraal Estate. 

Sharland Urquhart

Tim Rolston

Trout in a Steve Boshoff net

Dulcie Kirby

Dulcie's trout

For information on Fizantakraal see http://www.liquidhorizon.co.za/CapeTown_fizantakraal.html