Flyfishers have one week of river fishing before the river trout season closes for three months.
News from Jan at The Kingfisher in Pietermaritzburg: “As mentioned in last week’s report, there was some wet stuff that made it’s appearance. — not just some, but rather a lot! Rainfall reports for the greater Midlands ranged from 30 mm and up, with one report noting some 140 mm for the weekend. No wonder Midmar Dam went from a slightly damp wall to gushing white water literally overnight …
We mentioned that it would put a “damper on things”, and it sure did — there were no fishing returns listed from the Natal Fly Fishers Club (NFFC) for the weekend, with only a couple of brave souls ventured out on a couple of the stillwaters on Sunday when the weather started lifting.
Season prematurely closed
“Who dares, wins” as the adage goes, and these intrepid anglers managed to raise some fish. The cracker was a fish of around 50 cm; just shy of the 2 kg mark. Great fish after a dismal weekend.
The weather system also dumped some serious snow on The Berg (some 75cm recorded at Sani Top), which sent temperatures plummeting at the start of the week. This kept anglers indoors, but with a better run of weather in the forecast for the week ahead, we’re petty sure it won’t be long before the anglers are out again. While we still have a week (at time to writing) left of river fishing before the river trout season closes for three months, I would suspect that the rivers took a proper hit with the weekend’s rainfall, and one might even go so far as to say that the season is (prematurely) closed.
With no river reports coming in from the weekend, one cannot be sure of course, but if one is to make a last run for it over the coming week, head upstream, probably as high as you can go for the best likelihood of finding some fishable running water. No reports received from Midmar Dam, and apart from two absolute lunkers landed in the past week at Albert Falls Dam, the bass fishing has been a bit quiet.
Big bites reported
Out last week before the weather hit, Alistair Moores-Pitt landed a PB of 5,43 kg and his biggest five fish bag ever at 19 kg! Braving the cold and pouring rain of the weekend, Clifton Bridge also managed to pin a 5,4 kg! Congrats gentlemen, those are some proper numbers.
This weekend sees a Cast-for-Cash event being held at Albert Falls Dam, hosted by SA Bass Magazine and Major League Fishing. This is an open tournament, all welcome — for info on the event, contact 065 849 3264. Wishing all the anglers Tight Lines, and looking forward to see the results next week.
Just as I started hearing mention from some local yellowfish (scaly) anglers about gearing up, that weather system rolled in and pretty much stopped any ideas of getting out just yet. If rains stay away now, and river levels drop and clear, there is some fantastic winter angling to be had, so keep your finger on the pulse and ears open for the first mentions
Few late season yellowfish
There have been a few late season yellowfish (small and largemouth) reports from Sterkfontein by guide Mark Yelland, but as guide David Weaver reports, it was a really tough season for a number of reasons, most notably for the high water — the highest Sterkfontein has had in its entire history.
David said the high water has changed the dynamics of the dam, with the water now reaching new heights of bank and soil. Sterkies is well known for the clarity of water, but this has resulted in a fair amount of (new) erosion, causing the water to be dirty.
The weather certainly hasn’t played ball, and with the exceedingly high number of overcast rainy days, the fish were inactive, swim deep and (very) difficult to catch. Fingers crossed for more sun days and a better season next year!
I mentioned that fly angler that was looking for a 9wt to target barbel — if you’re reading this, come and let me know…” Thanks Jan.
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