Club Waters Trip 2 – Mavela, Again

Club Waters Trip 2 – Mavela, Again

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignright" width="300"] Underwater Trout[/caption] After fishing Mavela last week and only landing one, I decided I needed to give it another try. Bruce and I drove up early to find very different conditions to those Nick and I had fished last weekend. It was overcast, and there was a strong wind blowing, making casting from the bank difficult. Due to the ripple on the water we also couldn't see the fish like Nick and I could previously. Bruce had brought his tube, and after setting it up he got into the water and I headed off down the bank. A couple of hours of tough fishing for me produced nothing. Although I did have two big hits which I somehow missed. Bruce did have more luck in the…
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Club Waters Trip 1 – Mavela

Club Waters Trip 1 – Mavela

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_160" align="alignright" width="225"] Warren With A Small Rainbow[/caption] Since joining the NFFC about a month ago I hadn't had a chance to fish any of the club waters. Thankfully I put an end to this over the weekend. On Sunday morning I picked up Nick Nortje (I write his full name since he likes it popping up in Google) and we headed to Mavela, one of the club waters. We arrived at around 7am and were on the water by half past seven. Mavela is a largish body of water with good clarity. It is relatively shallow (as far as I could see) with a lot of weed beds. All in all it looked like a great spot for trout. While tackling up we noticed a lot of activity…
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Center Bank Bashing

Center Bank Bashing

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_154" align="alignleft" width="225"] Nick Nortje Catching Crabs[/caption] After a long period of no fly fishing, I finally managed to get back into the water, and was more excited than ever. The main reason being that during the week I joined the Natal Fly Fishers Club (NFFC). This means that I now have access to large selection of club waters holding everything from trout, to yellows, to bass. However after all of this I still ended up fishing the salt, and will have to wait a while until I can get out to those waters, since most of August is already booked up for me. Onto the fishing report... On Saturday morning Nick and I headed down to the harbour with the hopes of picking up a Garrick or two.…
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Bait Fishing Durban Harbour

Bait Fishing Durban Harbour

Bait, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_151" align="alignright" width="225"] Nick Climbing The Block[/caption] After having been out of the water for far too long, I finally managed to wet a line in the harbour. Sadly it wasn't a fly line, but having sat out for a few weeks I was willing to take anything. Nick picked me up at 7:30 and we headed down to the harbour where we met his brother. We knew high tide was at 6am, but we figured that we'd still be able to pump some cracker. This turned into a more entertaining experience than expected. Lets just say its rather interesting trying to pump cracker in waist deep water. But being the tough guys we are, we managed the deed and soon had our lines in the water. Standing waste…
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My First Magazine Cover Appearance

My First Magazine Cover Appearance

Fly Fishing, Randoms
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignleft" width="212"] Yes, It's My Hand[/caption]Well, its been a while since the last blog entry on this site, and this one has a little less to do with fishing, and a little more to do with my new-found celebrity status. "What?" I hear you asking. Well take a closer look at the magazine cover on the left. Yes, look closer. Recognise that watch? What about the hand? Yes, you've got it, that's me! Maybe next time the photographer will do a better shot and get my face in too. Tee hee!! On a more serious note, congratulations to Shaun Futter for his first magazine cover. We had a great day's fishing and this has made it even more memorable. Maybe next time I'll get a cover shot. *fingers…
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Pholela River Blanking

Pholela River Blanking

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_145" align="alignright" width="300"] The Pholela River[/caption] I'm not even sure this is worthy of a report, but if I don't fill it in I know I'll have hundreds of disappointed readers. Ja, whatever?! So here goes... Over the weekend a few mates and myself camped at Cobham.It was, as expected, f$%^ing cold. But other than this, we had a fantastic time. Anyway, part of the trip involved me taking a friend of mine up the river for a few fly fishing lessons. I must say, he caught on quickly, and certainly had a good chance of picking up any Rainbows that may be around. Sadly, due to several factors, we didn't manage to pull any fish out of the Pholela. So here's the list of excuses... Firstly, all of…
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Near Death And Fly Tying

Near Death And Fly Tying

Fly Fishing, Fly Tying
[caption id="attachment_142" align="alignright" width="300"] Self Tied Wooly Bugger[/caption] As some of you may have noticed, its been a slow period of fishing for me. In fact, since my trip to the Mooi river over 2 weeks ago, I haven't had a fly in the water at all. Sadly the reason for this wasn't a pleasant one...I landed myself, thanks to Sharon, a bad strain of the flu, and as a result was man down for just over a week. But I suppose the glass is never half empty, and everything happens for a reason...So while I was unable to get out of the house and into the water, I decided it was time to get out the old (and rusted) fly tying vice, and get to work. Step 1: Acquire…
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The Mooi River

The Mooi River

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_137" align="alignright" width="300"] The Mooi River[/caption] Just 2 days after a fantastic morning's fishing on the Lotheni River, I was back in the Berg, this time fishing a section of the Mooi River just below Kamberg nature reserve. Shaun and I left Plantations at around 5:30am, and after a short stop for coffee, were at the river by 7:30am. We kitted up and started our 5km walk downstream, from where we would fish our way back to the car. On the way down we fished a few of the pools without much luck. The weather was overcast, with a cold front approaching, and we figured this could've turned the fish off. Shortly after turning around and heading back to the car, the sky cleared and the sun came out.…
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Lotheni

Lotheni

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_134" align="alignleft" width="300"] Warren Fly Fishing The Lotheni[/caption] After a good trip to the Bushmans River over Easter, I decided I'd give the Lotheni River a bash before the end of the season. So when the offices closed for a week, Sharon and I headed to Lotheni for 3 days. Of the 3 days we spent there I only fished one morning. I hit the river at about 7:30am, Sharon bravely wading the river behind me in an old pair of takkies. I was hoping she would be able to walk on the bank, but unfortunately she had to cross a few times which isn't ideal without boots. The fishing itself was more difficult than the Bushmans, and after fishing 2kms of river over 3 hours, I'd landed only…
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Fly Fishing With My Sole

Fly Fishing With My Sole

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_129" align="alignleft" width="250"] First Sole On Fly[/caption]After a good weekends fishing in the berg for Brown Trout, I gave the harbour a couple of flicks with the rod. My trip down on the 14th produced just one small Flathead, so nothing special there. The trip on the 17th was more planned. A forumite from FlyTalk, who was down from the Freestate, wanted to fish the harbour with me. The plan was to meet him there at around 3:30. We'd wade the banks for a while, and then, when it got darker, would hit the breakwater to go for some kingies. Unfortunately the wind was howling, and so he decided not to give it a fish. Seeing as I was all packed and ready to go, I decided to give…
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