WOMEN IN WADERS - My flyfishing journey

Lyndall Blaikie

Fishing has always been in blood, from my Dad going down to the Transkei on fishing trips once a year as a bachelor to my Mom helping her uncle during the sardine season as a teenager, the question was not if I would fish but rather when!

Freezing conditions in the Boston/Dargle but not enough to keep me off the water

Growing up, my family had a beach cottage down the South Coast, and I had a fishing licence probably before I could even walk. To be honest trying to get a 5-year-old to fish isn’t the easiest thing to do but none the less my parents and eventually my brother persevered with varied success. As I got older, my school holidays were spent tagging along with my big brother to some mill dam or another to catch bass, barbel, and anything else that was willing to be caught. Most of the time I didn’t even know what I was supposed to be doing but I knew that throwing and reeling in spinners and lures was quite fun, and certainly much more exciting than throwing a piece of sardine into the rolling waves of the Indian ocean and hoping for the best.

My great uncle Van was a fly fisherman and I recall visiting him and him showing us his many flies and being in awe at the creations. As my brother was keen, he eventually passed some of his flies, books and rods on to my brother (and to me).

Once my brother left school and was not subject to school holidays he went on a holiday with my Aunt and Uncle up to Lake Navarone where he went on a fly-fishing course. Although he had been fly-fishing for a few years this was a turning point in my fishing journey. Yet again I wanted to copy my big brother and being the young teenager that I was, I begged him to teach me which I eventually succeeded in doing as he gave me a lesson on casting in early 2010 on a family trip to Lake Navarone. This did not go well, my casting was horrific, but he tried and although I did not catch a fish, I could at least get a few metres of line in the water.

My family has always enjoyed the outdoors and as Derek was keen on fly-fishing, I had the opportunity to learn more. We did not have our sea-side cottage anymore, so our family holidays moved inland to the Drakensberg where we could walk, fish and marvel at the beauty of the mountains.

Fishing during this years TCC Leg 1 competition

I caught my first trout on a family holiday up to the Northern Berg at the Royal Natal dams under the careful tutelage of Derek in 2011. As I had now managed to catch something, he took it on himself to buy me a fly-fishing starter rod set for Christmas. I was convinced the rod was cursed as for several trips I never caught a thing. My skills were never questioned of course.

I got tired of being told my casting was not long enough, or accurate enough and I found myself booking a casting lesson with Murray Pedder up in Johannesburg. I learnt so much and probably the most important lesson of all being that you do not need to cast to other side of the dam to catch fish. Start close and work your way further out to avoid scaring the fish under your nose.

By the time I was in my late twenties I realised that “I can fly-fish” was quiet impressive to the male population and when I moved to Durban in 2016 very quickly did one of these “males” decide that I was the perfect a catch and we started dating. Our dates were not the normal wine and flowers and fancy dinners but early wake ups, coffee in the car (if I was a lucky) and a day at the dam with a packet of chips and pie for lunch. Our fights were fishing orientated – what time we were leaving in the morning to go fishing, who stole whose fly, why I was taking so long to get ready and who caught the most/biggest fish; generally, Brett (but not always).

I fished the Boston Fly fishing festival with my brother a few months after moving down and was amazed to see the skill of the other women that took part and I secretly wished that I could get to their level. For the competition I bought a pair of waders and borrowed a float tube of which I had never used before. I do not think using a float tube for the first time on a competition is the best idea but none the less I tried, unsuccessfully. Thank goodness we had some really amazing team members on the team because my participation was definitely a severe handicap at that stage.

On my way to 3rd place overall at the TCC Competition Leg 1. Photo: Grant Robson

After that I knew I wanted to improve my skills and I joined the Wildfly club so that Brett and I could fish on the Wildfly waters in the Kamberg area and eventually I joined the NFFC as well. As time passed on, I bought myself a new rod, a Xplorer guide II, and some intermediate line and a CRX reel as well as my own tube. The more I got out on the water, the more my fishing improved, and I even started out fishing Brett and Derek once or twice.

The next step on the fly-fishing journey was when Brett bought me a vice and my family bought me a variety of fly-tying materials for my birthday and I started tying my own flies. I was so proud of my first woolly bugger; I had copied it off a YouTube video and when I caught my first fish off it, I was ecstatic. In hindsight there was probably more wrong with that fly than what was right, but it still caught a fish. My first few flies had a very limited lifespan and unravelled shortly after catching a fish or two.

As the weeks went by, I started reading the older books by Tom Sutcliffe, ones that my great uncle had passed down, I started following Gordon van der Spuy on Facebook and tried to get advice from anyone that would be willing to give it and slowly my fly tying improved. I still shy away from dry flies but am confident with my wet flies and streamers. I have caught many fish have been caught off them and they last significantly longer than my first attempts.

I joined the Women in Waders’ group as it was a great way to meet like minded women in an extremely male dominated sport. They organised a river clinic with Peter Brigg and I went along which resulted in one of the most memorable days out on the water. Although I did not catch anything it was great to learn a new style of fly-fishing from an incredible fisherman and to get to know some of the women that I had admired since the first Boston challenge a few years prior.

It was at this point that they asked me to join the “The Finance Team Women in Waders” in the Tops Corporate Challenge leg 1 competition. Not only did we have a fantastic time fishing (and not fishing) but our team also made it to the finals. It was an incredible experience to be a part of such an extraordinary competition and I’m looking forward to the finals and fishing alongside some incredible fly-fishermen…. and women.

Note from the Editor: More to follow on the goings on of the Woman in Waders at the Tops final.

Yes this caught fish. My first woolly bugger