The Orange River - go big or go home by Andrew Mather

We awoke to a scene of a thin ribbon of green vegetation and turquoise water threaded through a backdrop of bare twisted rock mountains, glowing in the early morning sunlight. Stark, hot and unforgiving anywhere away from the water. Lurking in the turquoise water are the quarry we have come to find. Labobarbus kimberyensis or Large Mouth Yellowfish is the apex predator in these waters. Amongst these Largies are Small Mouth Yellowfish as well as Barbel, Kuiper, Mudfish and a few barbs.

The put-in point is one of the few roads in the area and was created by diamond miner actively mining the river deposits along the floodplain. From here down the next 27kms there was no road access or cell phone reception. You can only come out downstream. Camps were set up by the advance party and consisted of individual tents with stretchers that sleep two and a lounge/ kitchen tent for meals and somewhere to sit out the sun.

The first morning we were all introduced to the GOLDEN SPADE. An essential piece of kit. It was placed in a prime spot with an accompanying roll of toilet paper that left you with no doubt as to its purpose. Clear instructions were given about its use including the stick to mark the scene of the crime! All went well for the first two days then disaster struck. The camp’s supplies of toilet rolls got wet! Well of course the joke about using only one square of toilet paper was told. Fortunately several of us had brought along a spare roll packed in our dry bags like good Boy Scouts and the day was saved.

Since I’m on the subject, bathing had its own hazards. Our trip did not have a special shower cubicle, nor did we have hot water. The river provided for both. It was a common sight after a day’s trip to see one of the guys stripped off and lathering himself in the river. To rinse off one had to submerge one’s self in the river. This is when you are the most vulnerable. Small tilapia or yellows nibble your feet and once submerged proceed to nibble the softer extremities dangling in the water. Well you pretty much finish rinsing as quickly as possible.

The Orange is a special river. Sometimes is wide and riffled and other times its narrow and raging through rocky gorges. The water flow is fast and water depth is deep, exactly where we were to find the biggest largies. The challenge is to get down, impact a natural action to the fly and swing it across the current.

Stelios with his 84 cms largie

A cast across the river followed by mends while keeping in touch became the adopted technique. An erratic retrieval and hopefully you feel weight…dead weight… just before the line goes screeching out again. Let it run. Then start bringing line in again. Don’t expect a short fight. One of the lads took 40mins to land his 95cm largie. Not bad for his first Largie! It’s going be a long time before he breaks that…well unless he goes back on the Orange again. Rumours abound of over 100cms Largies.

I heard the shouting before I saw it. At first it was not clear what was going on. I had just gone to refresh my Gin and Tonic when it happened. Rushing outside drink in hand, the scene that greeted me in the dying light of day was a surprise. The drone that had been launched to capture footage of the

Nick with a trophy largie Photo: Stelios Comninos

camp was on the far side of the Orange and in the water. Repeated attempts to lift out the water failed until the drone disappeared below the water.

Quick as a flash the guide stripped off all his clothes and ran down to the river to swim downstream of the crash site. The others quickly launched an Arc to get across. Searching downstream of the crash site didn’t yield anything…and it was not from a lack of trying. By this stage the Arc had made it over the river and there in the depths the drone’s lights continued to flash underwater. The owner threw himself over board and grasped the drone. Frantic stripping of the battery and drying out began but we didn’t hold out much hope of it working ever again. These are just some of the antics on the mighty Orange.

Sometimes things can go wrong once the Largie figures out the hook pain. Invariably they take off like an express train. Two things to have done before this happens…one ensure you have enough backing and two that the backing is not rotten. Names have been withheld to protect the individuals concerned.

Angler 1 had only 100m of backing on his reel. He started screaming when he started to see the inner spool of his reel. Quick as a flash the guide picked him up and ran in the direction of the fish shouting ”reel… reel…reel”. Thirty metres downstream, with at least some backing the angler could fight the fish and successfully landed a

Angler 2 wasn’t so lucky. The fish set off at pace taking his fly line and then a substantial amount of backing before the backing snapped. He lost the Largie in the blink of an eye. The line was subsequently recovered the following day about 1 km downstream sans the Largie! Moral of the story in both cases is make sure you have enough backing and that it is in tip top condition.

(Editors note: names have been withheld to s a v e t h e a n g l e r s f r o m a n y f u r t h e r embassasment!)

Photo: Stelios Comninos

Bycatch…. often a problem if you are targeting specific species with a particular rod set up. I fished a 7 weight for largies and while dragging a streamer pattern, I’d get Smallies as bycatch. Look I’m not complaining. The biggest Smallie was 70cm long.

The problem becomes apparent when one is nymphing with a 3 weight. Smaliies are manageable but Largies are just unplayable. Well maybe my angling skills aren’t the best and a better angler might have been more successful or not. Before the trip I had a chat to Richard Gorlei (current World Master Flyfishing Champion –

Stelios in action

see last edition of this magazine) about tactics as he had recently returned from the Orange. He was quick to point out that he struggled with his three weight and it’s another lesson to remember for next time. Pack a 4 or 5 weight for nymphing. You just don’t know when a Largie or a record Smallie will test you.

There are about eight operators running trips along the Orange from near Augrabies down to the coast and each of these operators has structured slightly different packages to suit both budget and degree of luxury wanted. One is spoilt for choice. Take it from me…you won’t regret an experience like this!

You need to pack only essentials as boat space on a drift is minimal. I suggest two bags, a dry bag for camp every night and a day bag for the river.

Bag 1 - A boat bag (or a dry bag) with the stuff you need on the river.

I used a dry bag this trip but these suffer one major issue. The very thing you need is always at the bottom of the bag! Everything has to come out as you mine the contents. The suggestion made to me by a seasoned drifter is to use a boat bag. This can be zipped open and contents accessed much easier.

Tippet, tippet rings and leaders Spare Reels Rain jacket Sunscreen Spare cap and buff. Medicine and a small waterproof first aid kit. Spare toilet paper in a waterproof bag. Flies

Bag 2 – Camp bag (a good dry bag of approximately 50 liters)

Sleeping bag Pillow (inflatable or feather - personal preference) Toiletries Washing line cord and clothes pegs Biodegradable soap (use to wash yourself and clothes) Thermals/tracksuit/kikoy and T-shirt for wearing around camp and sleeping Warm jacket Crocs or similar footwear for around the camp

Optional extras

A second set of quick dry longs and shirt. This is not essential as each day it’s easy to wash and dry your fishing clothes overnight. This is a fishing trip after all!