Fly Fishing Championship

Shaun Dickson & Gillies McDavid

"We have coffee in the morning, some brews different to others, and put our wading boots on one foot at a time."

It’s six in the morning, the outside temperature is six degrees and there are fifty-five anglers congregating in the parking area and road of the only street in Pilgrims Rest, enjoying a cup or two of fine coffee.

We’re all waiting to get the go ahead from the competition organiser for us to collect our marshals and head off to our beats for the first session of the 2019 Senior A South African Fly-Fishing championships.

There are strong opinions about competitive flyfishing, yet only a small percentage of flyfishers have ever even witnessed a competition. Just like you and I we love to fly fish.

We have coffee in the morning, some brews different to others and put our wading boots on one foot at a time. The only real difference is that we are after numbers of fish, keep accurate records of catches and tally the results at the end of the day.

Preparation takes place throughout the year whether it be at local league events or just a social day with mates on the water. As time approaches the start of the event the anticipation is almost unbearable. The local materials stores grew accustomed to seeing us coming through their doors with regular monotony to replenish supplies as flies were being churned out at a commercial rate from hours spent at the vice whilst burning the midnight oil. It is not uncommon for teams to visit the area well in advance to get an idea of the river conditions and the general environment.

start of the competition to fish the available practice waters on the Blyde River. Many anglers had not seen, let alone fished, the river. It had so many varied water conditions from tight runs where you get the feeling your 6’6” rod is too long to open runs glimmering with resident chiselmouths and open deep laminar water where wading and even swimming abilities can be put to the test.

The KZN team arrived three days before the start of the event to settle into their modest accommodation and to start the more serious and final preparation work for the competition. The Vine Restaurant, Johnnies Pub or the Royal Hotel (which had the feeling that the miners that roamed the hills many moons ago had just checked out) is where most congregated in the evenings to talk tactics or just about the ones that got away. From there we were self-sequestered in our chalet armed with enough bottles of fermented grape or hops to last a further six weeks. ,

With the intense final preparations being thirsty work, there was really only enough fine fermented nectar to get us through the upcoming nights of flytying preparations, reel and line cleaning and anything else that we thought might give us the edge not only over our fellow competitors but over the wily and ever elusive chiselmouth (labeobarbus nelspruitensis). Chisels formed part of the trio of fish which were scoring species in this particular event, the others being yellowfish and rainbow trout. We had to be on our game though as the minimum size for the competition was 120mm.

The opening day was finally upon us and the captains participated in a closed meeting to determine the groups into which anglers were to be allocated, the sector and beat draws for the event along with any lastminute rule modifications. The opening formalities were held at the Pilgrims Rest Golf Club with a fantastic dinner (laid on by The Vine Restaurant) and an obligatory drink or two. Anglers did not spend too much time mingling (attempting to lure a few last-minute secrets or patterns from the unsuspecting large-mouth) but headed off to their abodes for final prep, good luck rituals and of course, to tie a few more flies.

Mornings were crisp and found anglers gathering in Downtown Pilgrims dressed as if they were off to do battle. With 40 kilometres of river available some anglers had an early morning drive while others had that extra cup of coffee before heading off to their beats. The Mpumalanga Flyfishing Association, chaired by Lyle Smith, did a fantastic job with the help of the local community to make beats accessible for anglers and marshals alike. The marshals were a group of very enthusiastic members of the local community who were not only very well versed in how to handle and measure the fish landed, but who also always met us with wide smiles and superb eagerness to perform their duties over the five three-hour sessions that laid ahead. Morning sessions, which ran from 08:30 to 11:30, ended with everyone meeting at The Vine for what I can only say was some of the best lunch options around (even if you are vegan☺ ).

Body language can tell the tale of laughter, tears and like several folk, including

dry out kit from the unintentional swim before it all kicked off for the afternoon session. Afternoon sessions commenced at 14:30 and ended at 17:30, allowing us to enjoy some spectacular dry fly fishing in the shadows of the surrounding mountains in the late afternoon.

As quickly as it started it was over, just like that evening rise on your favourite water, with the camaraderie and banter continuing right up until the final hooter. The hours between the end of the final session and the closing ceremony are typically taken up by making sure all your kit is dry before packing it away and more importantly working out final positions with the last counts of fish still being added to final scores.

The closing function was once again held at the chilly Pilgrims Rest Golf Club with anglers sharing their experiences from the past few days around the fire.

As with any competition there has to be an end result:

Final Results saw Western Province taking the team Gold, followed by KwaZulu-Natal in silver position and Central Gauteng with a bronze.

The winner in the individual competition was Brett van Rensberg (Central Gauteng), Matthew Rich (Western Province) took silver and Shaun Dickson (KwaZulu-Natal) took bronze.

Various techniques were used during the duration of the competition with most anglers chosing to employ Euro-nymphing technique - a remarkably effective way of catching fish. Although it is a relatively simple method to use it does require a tremendous amount of focus but this fortunately generally results in more fish being caught and landed.

Competitive anglers are just ordinary anglers that keep accurate records of everything they catch and compare notes at the end of the day. In a competition of this nature, the rules and regulations are governed by FIPS-Mouche (Fédération Internationale de Peche Sportive Mouche) or in English the The International Sport Flyfishing Federation. The rules and regulations as defined by FIPS-Mouche are aimed at making competitive angling as fair and equal as possible as well as making sure that flyfishing is an eco-friendly and conservation-orientated as possible.

Competitive anglers can be a source of valuable information, so contact your local Flyfishing Association and get involved - whether you are a seasoned angler or just starting out.

As a final word, if you are in the Pilgrims Rest area stop in for a bite to eat or stay the weekend for a spot of fishing. Ask Johnny at The Vine restaurant to make you one of their legendary meals or even pop around to his pub where their “Soup of the Day” is always Tequila. From there you can take a trip up town en route to the Royal Hotel taking in the relics reflecting a time gone by where picks, shovels and mine wagons were the order of the day.What a beautiful part of the world it is and it will definitely always be on my list for a revisit.