Destination: South Africa on the Fly, Bru!

By: NICK VAN RENSBURG Photos by: NICK VAN RENSBURG and MATT GORLEI

When the average angler thinks about South Africa, tiger fish or tropical saltwater destinations are generally the direction that most conversations go. When guiding at international destinations, it’s always really exciting to be able to describe, and chat about the various fish species, and varieties of fly fishing that can be done down there on the tip of Africa. We’ve been lucky enough to sample quite a bit of this, and can assure you, that there are some very cool fish in these waters.

The first thing that most people are caught out by, is the fact that we have trout in South Africa. Both rainbow and browns can be caught in many of our rivers. We have the well-known Cape Streams, situated up in the mountains, where a few crystal clear, freestone streams, harbouring mostly rainbow trout, and a couple of known rivers with the odd buttery brown. These rivers have some epic dry fly fishing, which is generally more focused on sighting the fish, and can prove to be somewhat of a trout fisherman’s dream.

Further up, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, one could find some pretty damn good stillwater trout fishing, where the prospect of landing a fish over 10lbs is feasible, and stripping large streamers in and around weed beds can be the go-to technique. The river fishing here is mostly made up of brown trout, which can also reach significant sizes. The saying “Trout don’t live in ugly places” is more accurate than ever in South Africa.

Yellowfish One of the more fabled freshwater species, would be the large-, and smallmouth yellowfish. These radical fish live in the Orange, and Vaal river systems, and can be targeted with a variety of techniques. From nymphing through to chucking streamers into structure, and swinging long lines in tails outs. Whilst smallmouth are generally known to eat heavy amounts of caddis in the rapids, they’re more than willing to decimate a streamer zipping past them. Sight-fishing to them on sandbars is pretty cool too, and we’re convinced they hit a dry purely to see how hard they can kill the fly. Its nuts…!

The largemouth yellow, somewhat similar to India’s mahseer, is more prone to holding tight in structure, demanding accurate casting, adequate fly and line selection. They say this is a fish of 1000 casts, but there are some places where a double figure fish can almost be guaranteed. A 15lb – 20lb largemouth yellowfish is a seriously epic fish, but the overall experience of targeting these magnificent creatures is what makes this one of the coolest fish to travel, and fish for.

Days spent drifting down long slow pools prospecting possible lies, and frothing for the line to go tight will never be old, it can totally pass as a world-class game fish, and again, they live in some radical places. Our favourite has got the be the Orange river, an oasis paradise flowing through the Kalahari Desert. It’s absolutely stuffed with fish!

The coastline

Of course, South Africa has 2,798 km (1,739 mi) of coastline, which offers a unique, and challenging prospect for chucking a fly. South Africa is also in the situation, where our Western coastline is surrounded by the ice cold Atlantic Ocean, the Eastern side is covered by the warm Indian Ocean, which pretty much allows us to access and target quite a number of warm-, and coldwater species.

The most fun has got to be wading the mudflats of these southern estuaries, targeting a fish known as a spotted grunter. These somewhat bream-like fish can be found tailing on the mud flats, where the most common technique is drifting a floating prawn imitation over the flat, in the hope that one will pull a sneaky, and inhale it off the surface. Other times you can sight fish to cruising fish, and tailing fish alike, dependant on the activity and tide. Very rarely is the fishing on fire, because grunter are generally assholes, so we receive the proverbial “middle-fin” almost every time we target them.

Leerfish – a local favourite

Another exceptionally exciting fish to target here, and one of our favourites, is the garrick/leerfish (Lichia amia). Similar to queenfish, but with less acrobatics, and more picky the bigger they get. The garrick is a formidable fish to target, and to land one over 1 meter on a fly rod is a pretty sweet experience. Generally, they’re caught stripping baitfish and popper patterns from 2/0 to 6/0 over moving, or hydraulic water. The eats are almost always extremely visual, but intermittent. So you’ll often find yourself casting for hours, and perhaps raise a few fish. But of course, when they eat, they delete.

Ambush predators

The kob, aka. mulloway in Australia, is also a fairly popular target, but demand time on the water, and perseverance. They’re a magnificent silver fish, with a strong spotted lateral line, and a violet sheen that make each encounter that much more addictive. They are very specific to the tide, and conditions. But, when you’re lucky enough to find yourself at the right place at the right time, it can be a very special experience.

These fish are just happy to engulf a large streamer stripped slowly through deeper water columns, as they are to destroying a surface pattern. These fish are generally ambush predators, making drop offs, rock shelves and sandy channels some of the more specific areas to target them.

Eastern coast fishing possibilities

Further up our Eastern coast, the warmwater species start playing a role, where reef fish, pelagic and trevally species start making more of a presence in targeting on a fly rod. Aside from estuaries, much of the waters up here are quite turbulent, making for tough fishing.

The estuaries, of which many are hard to access, can make for an exciting trip. The Transkei region of South Africa is very special, having a very strong traditional and cultural feel to it. Often, the places we fish here are very remote, and can really make you feel like you’re in a jungle of sorts.

Come to South Africa, Bru!

South Africa may not be at the top of your bucket list, but there is most certainly some seriously cool fishing to be had. If you’re an adventurous angler, looking for a very unique fly fishing experience, then this should definitely be something you should look into.

Over the seasons, there is always something weird and wonderful to target, with our favourite species taking top priority dependant on conditions. Many of these places have vastly different landscapes and auras, and it’s largely these small appreciations that keep bringing you back, keeping the passion, and lust for adventure strong.

If you’re not visiting for the fly fishing, then come for its vibrancy, and uniqueness, it truly is a spectacular part of the world and will be well worth the trip!