The Mission Fly Fishing Magazine #Issue 28

ISSUE 28 JULY/AUG 2021

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THEMISSIONFLYMAG.COM

SEYCHELLES SMORGASBORD, GOLIATHS IN CHINKO, RHODES TRIP, BUSH & BARBS, MC COETZER, TIM LEPPAN, BOOZE, BEATS & MORE

FAIL is not an ABSOLUTE TROUT SUPREME FLUOROCARBON TIPPET “Catching big fish in low clear water requires preparation, persistence and the right product. In spring hatches, I might be running 6x to a size 18 dry with size 26 dropper. I need to know I can rely on that tippet to hold when I set the hook. Stealth and strength, that’s why I fish the SA Absolute Trout series.” - Landon Mayer, SA Ambassador

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Nearly 300 species of fish depend upon the massive-but-fragile ecosystems unique to Everglades National Park, including bucket-listers such as tarpon, redfish and snook. © 2021 Patagonia, Inc.

Crush barbs and pick up stream-side trash. Volunteer skills, money and time.

Fight for access and vote your conscience. Even our smallest efforts build a future for wild fish, clean water and an inclusive community. It’s not too late.

It’s never too early. It’s every day. We are all wild fish activists.

WHAT’S NEXT IS NEARLY HERE To witness our newest collab between storied guides and rod designers, get a sneak peek at orvis.com/innovation

Ed Ghaui with an incredible Goliath tigerfish caught at Chinko, Central African Republic. Photo Greg Ghaui

W W W . T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M ISSUE 28 JULY/AUG 2021

CONTENTS Cover: Marina Gibson cycles along a forest path on Alphonse Island on her way to the flats. Photo. Stephan Dombaj of Fly Fishing Nation.

22 UNDERCURRENTS: LEIGH PERKINS Tom Sutcliffe pays tribute to his friend Leigh Perkins, the patriarch of Orvis and an outdoorsman with a strong connection to South Africa.

34 RHODES TRIP If you are into trout, then a pilgrimage to the village of Rhodes in the Eastern Cape highlands is a must as Pierre Joubert and mates discovered when they went to pay homage.

48 SMORGASBORD The Fly Fishing Nation crew spent three and a half weeks in the Seychelles between Cosmoledo, Alphonse and Farquhar.

From the near loss of digits to behemoth bumpies and Geets, incredible gardens and an incident with a belt, these are their highlights.

68 THE FINAL FRONTIER Of all the species, fresh or salt, that you can target on fly, Goliath tigerfish have, historically, been the most elusive. After his first season guiding at Camp Chinko in the Central African Republic, Greg Ghaui reports back on what it takes to get a client on to these magnificent fish.

82 BUSH & BARBS To test the new, wild fly fishing offering at Tintswalo Lapalala we sent two landlocked Indian Ocean fly fishing guides, Milan ‘Mielieboi Mongariro’ Germishuizen and Justin Rollinson to both fish it hard and lap up the luxury.

REGULAR FEATURES 16 Chum 20 Booze & Beats 28 High Fives 46 Munchies

92 Salad Bar 98 Pay Day 99 The Little Guy 102 Lifer

T U D O R CA R A D O C - DAV I ES

HARRY’S HOUSE bitter end of our stream season for trout, with little access to yellowfish, this sounded like a sight-fishing smorgasbord I had to experience. So, I invited myself to go fishing with him at one of his secret spots.

Somehow, perhaps part of my gradual evolution into adulthood, I managed to escape a colossal hangover from the 40th. This was no mean feat considering the history and track record this boozy crowd of mates has from our student days. So, when Harry picked me up in the late morning of the Sunday, I was raring to go. Even if I wanted to tell you where we went I could not, because the sameness of Joburg’s suburban hills gave way to the sameness of dusty farmland and, without mountains and oceans to navigate by, we Capetonians get lost.

We made turns down truly non-descript dirt roads, through weirs and gates, criss-crossing dry farmland, birds munching on the feed left from the grain harvest. After we parked and exchanged a tribute consisting of a pack of Stuvvesant Reds and a 2 litre Coke with the amenable farmer whose land we were on, my highveld Vaal yellows education began.

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n the dip between the second and third Covid waves in South Africa, I flew from Cape Town, where I live, to Johannesburg for a few days. It was a combo trip – a few business meetings on the Friday, a 40th birthday for an old varsity friend on the Saturday and, for once, I managed to tack on some fishing on the Sunday before heading back to the Cape.

Whenever I’ve been in Jo’burg over the last few years, quite often with Conrad Botes, a co-founder of this magazine, we’d stay or hang out with his brother Herman ‘Harry’ Botes and Harry, the most excitable fly angler on the planet, would regale us with stories of his local fishing on the Vaal River and its tributaries. When fly anglers talk numbers, it’s relatively easy to identify the bullshitters (e.g. the guy who claims to catch 33 leeries in a session). Harry catches a shitload of fish, but if you quiz him about numbers, you won’t think he is telling porky pies when he speaks of days with 65, 48, or 73-odd smallmouth yellowfish coming to hand. He’s just not that kind of guy.

This trip happened just at the tail-end of summer/early autumn, which is one of Harry’s favourite times of year on his home-waters. It’s when the highveld gets this late afternoon golden light, the hatches result in Nirvana-level dry fly action, and you can expect catch rates that sound like respectable knocks for middle-order batsmen. For a Capetonian, at the

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I try to approach all my fishing with low expectations so as to be okay with tough days and pleasantly surprised when things go well. So, when within a few casts I’d missed two fish and caught one, I was already feeling cautiously optimistic.

As Harry shovelled deadly flies at me and talked me through the head and tailout of each and every pool, the runs to skip and the runs to fish, I absorbed what I could from his rapidfire verbiage of technical information and know-how gleaned from years spent fishing this tributary. There was the constant adjustment of dropper length, the whoops as a new hatch began and the dries were swopped out, the familiarity with specific boulders and lies and his jubilation with each and every fish I caught. While we didn’t quite hit his cricket scores, no doubt because he was too busy guiding me, I lost count of how many fish came to hand.

Harry’s excitement reached a fever pitch as we started to lose the light and several hatches kicked off at once. Headlights failed, we fell into dongas and cow shit and jackals yapped in the distance. For a last Hail Mary, we changed to Harry’s Airhead pattern that he devised specifically for buoyancy and visibility in low-light conditions on these tribs. I both heard and felt the connection as something large cleaned me out.

On our way off the farm, I walked in front of his car to try to spot a large grass-covered hole we’d negotiated on the way in. Tired and distracted from re-playing each and every take from the day, instead of finding the hole, I fell in it. As both of us laughed at my fail, Harry shrieking with delight, it occurred to me that I had never met anyone quite so happy and at home in a fishery as Herman “Harry” Botes.

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Salty. And Sweet.

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“Gnashers to gnashers, dust to dust.” Bees and butterflies on a goliath tigerfish skull in Chinko, Central African Republic. Photo Edward Ghaui

EDITOR Tudor Caradoc-Davies ART DIRECTOR Brendan Body CONTACT THE MISSION The Mission Fly Fishing Mag (PTY) Ltd 25 Firth Road, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa info@themissionflymag.com www.themissionflymag.com

EDITOR AT LARGE Conrad Botes COPY EDITOR Gillian Caradoc-Davies ADVERTISING SALES tudor@themissionflymag.com

CONTRIBUTORS #28 Stephan Dombaj Jnr, Eeland Stribling, Tom Sutcliffe, Tim Leppan, Greg Ghaui, Pierre Joubert, Kyle Knight, Milan ‘Mielieboi Mongariro’ Germishuizen, Derek Smith, MC Coetzer PHOTOGRAPHERS #28 Stephan Dombaj Jnr, Edward Ghaui, Ryan Janssens, Andre van Wyk, Matt Gorlei, Philip Geldart, Brent Poultney, Pierre Joubert, Milan ‘Mielieboi Mongariro’ Germishuizen, Justin Rollinson, Conrad Botes, Jannie Visser

THE MISSION IS PUBLISHED 6 TIMES A YEAR. THE MISSION WILL WELCOME CONTENT AND PHOTOS. WE WILL REVIEW THE CONTRIBUTION AND ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT IT CAN BE USED AS PRINT OR ONLINE CONTENT. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MAGAZINE OR ITS OWNERS. THE MISSION IS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE MISSION FLY MAG (PTY) LTD. ANY DUPLICATION OF THIS MAGAZINE, FOR MEDIA OR SALE ACTIVITY, ……WILL RESULT IN YOU RECEIVING A THOUSAND PAPER CUTS AND BEING LEFT TO FLOAT OVERNIGHT AS LIVE BAIT OVER THE DEEPER POOLS OF THE VOVODO RIVER, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC.

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@THEMISSIONFLYMAG MEMBER OF THE ABC (AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION)

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CHUM

SOLAR PROJECTS, ECO-FRIENDLY LINE SPOOLS, SHARK FIN FAKES, SANDALS, SUNNIES AND SNEAKERS, PLUS HANDY TIPS AND TACTICS FROM XPLORER

“WITH THIS ONE SIMPLE MOVE THEY ELIMINATE TONS OF UNNECESSARY PLASTIC”

SHOUT OUT… …to Scientific Anglers for their new eco-friendly packaging.

Following on from their 100% biodegradable packaging approach for their new range of Absolute Leaders and Tippets last year, Scientific Anglers have now also transitioned their fly line carton packaging to a single-piece, recyclable paper board spool. Traditional fly line spools contain the same amount of plastic as two 5-weight lines, so with this one simple move they eliminate tons of unnecessary plastic.

The design of the one-piece spool is better than the conventional two-piece design, as it prevents spool separation when spooling lines at high speeds that can lead to massive tangles. The square-shaped flange and paper board surface also keeps the fly line from slipping on the spool and overrunning which can also lead to tangles on plastic spools. scientificanglers.com

CONSIDER… Your child’s eyeballs. If you are fishing with your kid(s) then you are unlikely to want to get them some Costas/Smiths or Maui Jims until they’re a little older.

Still, you do want to protect their eyes from glare and help them see the fish. Consider getting them a pair of Maluuk Eyewear sunnies instead. Not only are do these stylish Wayfarer-style sunglasses (which come in 11 different styles) feature polarised UV400 lenses and tough silicon frames, but they also won’t break the bank when Jnr break or loses them. They come with a microfibre cloth and a zipper felt bag that attaches to backpacks and school bags. maluukexplores.com

CHECK OUT… …the Xplorer Masterclasses on YouTube.

Featuring Bono of the Berg (aka Shaun Dickson), this handy ‘howto’ series runs you through essential skills, tactics and techniques from rolls casts to Dry & Dropper rigging and more. youtube.com

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APPLAUD… … the clever crew at TRAFFIC (the wildlife trade monitoring network), who have come up with a range of 3D printed shark fins created from scans of real dried shark fins of CITES-listed species. This will assist with one of the biggest problems for law enforcement officers trying to crack down on the shark fin industry - the identification of endangered shark species by their fins.

According to TRAFFIC the freeto-download replica fins will, “help improve the accuracy of inspection, identification and the seizure of illegal shark fins the world over.” traffic.org

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Photo. Ryan Janssens

PRAISE BE UNTO…

… Indifly and African Waters for bringing light to villagers along the Bokong river in Lesotho with the Makhangoa Solar Project. When we think about the Bokong and the Makhangoa Community Camp, what comes to mind is a crystal-clear river in the Lesotho Highlands teeming with dry fly eating yellowfish and trout, but there’s more to this camp.

The Community camp was established by African Waters in an attempt to create a sustainable fishery that is looked after by the local people of Makhangoa. They did this by building the project on the basis of educating and empowering the people of Makhangoa village. American non-profit organization Indifly who have invested in similar community-driven eco-tourism projects in Guyana, noticed the work done in Lesotho a couple of years ago and were so impressed they wanted to get involved.

Indifly uses fly fishing as a tool to conserve fisheries, empower indigenous people and create sustainable business for people from rural backgrounds. The biggest issue faced by the villagers has been the lack of electricity.

With Indifly as a financial springboard, African Waters approached renewables supplier Rubicon SA to source and install solar power for the entire village. Rubicon found an elegant solution that would provide light and enough power to charge small

appliances. A total of 65 units were donated and now an entire village of Makhangoa can live an easier and safer life.

Indifly Executive Director Matt Shilling says, “We are honored to partner with African Waters to provide what many consider a basic human need (electricity) to the Makhangoa community.

Now more than ever, we all need to think about how we can support and empower the custodians of 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity.”

Keith Clover, director of African Waters, says, “The Makhangoa solar project has not only added significant improvements to the daily lives of Makhangoa villagers, the timing of the project has bolstered morale in the village as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Makhangoa Council Member Elias Ntlele says, “Really this project is of high benefit to us, and the villagers were very happy about this. They also said that if Mr. Keith was a politician, we would elect him as Prime Minister of this country, because what he says he implements.”

Amen Elias! If Prime Minister Keith campaigned on a ticket of subsidized fly fishing travel, he might just get our vote too. africanwaters.net

FISHIN’ FASHION The mainstream love for fly fishing continues with new offerings from Nike and Chacos

CHACO X THOMAS RHETT Country star Thomas Rhett spends a shit-load of time fly fishing in Montana, getting his inspiration from the outdoors ( She broke my rod Cos I got a dad bod ), so his fly fishing inspired collection with sandal sultans Chaco looks like a match made in country heaven. Available in men’s and lady’s styles for your lover/sister/brother/cousin. chacos.com

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NIKE X DAAN VAN DER LINDEN No, Daan did not pack down with Os du Randt in the victorious Free State U20 side of ’93. He’s a Dutch skateboarder with a huge following who also happens to fly fish, hence this recent sneaker collab with Nike (seen here on the handsome stockie-bashing cankles of Andre van Wyk). nike.com

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FODDER

BOOZE & BEATS THE BEATS – EELAND STRIBLING’S ‘LET’S RIDE’ PLAYLIST Eeland Stribling (aka @blacksteveirwin on Instagram), is one of those anglers who seems to really gets around. We first met and fished with him on the Elandspad river when he was on holiday in South Africa a few years back, but for the most part you’re likely to find him molesting trout on his home rivers in Colorado or chasing bones and snook in Mexico or Honduras.

A Denver-based wildlife educator and biologist, Eeland is also a stand-up comedian and an ambassador for Brown Folks Fishing (IG: @brownfolksfishing), a non-profit community organization created to maximize opportunities by and for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) anglers. That medley of skills, confidence and character makes the man the perfect teacher for the next generation. For this issue’s playlist, he’s served up an eclectic mix of his go-to tunes.

THE BOOZE – ‘TEARS OF THE QUEEN’ No, ‘Tears of the Queen’ is not a whisky inspired by a Meghan and Harry press-conference, but is instead the translation of ‘Izinyembezi Zenkosikazi’, a Zulu byword for Scotch whisky since the British defeat by the Zulu army at Battle of Isandlwana in 1879. A project put together by veteran journalist Anton Harber and friends, in 2004 they clubbed together for a barrel of Islay distillery Bruichladdich’s Port Charlotte new-make spirit. 14 years later, their first-fill ex-bourbon cask was uncorked and the contents put into just 222 individually numbered bottles of 54.3% ABV peaty goodness. The label featuring a minehead and migrant labourers from the goldfields of Johannesburg was designed by lauded South African artist William Kentridge. Considering the history involved, the outside is as layered and complex as the inside. whiskybrother.com

THE FLASK - BARBOUR® 5 OZ. HINGED HIP FLASK There are few joys that compare to the unique thrill you feel when on a freezing afternoon on the water you remember you put your hip flask in your fishing pack. It’s even better when the flask is this beauty made by British outdoor kit specialists Barbour in collaboration with their transAtlantic outdoor friends Orvis. This 5oz hip flask is made from stainless steel and comes complete with a real-leather case featuring a branded stud fastening. The screw-top lid has a hinge for easy use on the go (as if you needed help). Available from Mavungana Flyfishing in South Africa. flyfishing.co.za

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B.B. King, The Crusaders, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – All Over Again Chris Stapleton – Tennessee Whiskey Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay Denzel Curry, Kenny Beats – DIET_ Lupe Fiasco – Paris, Tokyo Khary – Jolly Roger Meek Mill, Drake – Going Bad At’eaze – Away Russ, Ab-Soul – Who Wants What JAY-Z – Show Me What You Got REASON, Ab-Soul – Flick It Up Caleborate – 4 Willem Blackwave, Caleborate – home Sylvan LaCue – Best Me Bill Evans Trio, Stan Getz – The Peacocks The Notorious B.I.G, Junior M.A.F.IA. – Get Money Stevie Wonder – Do I Do Al Green – For the Good Times Al Green – Simply Beautiful Bishop Gunn – Devil Is A Woman Love – Everybody’s Gotta Live Bishop Gunn – Makin’ It Larry Fleet – Where I find God Nana – Heaven & Hennessy Da-P, Mick Jenkins – Lemonade Khary, Pell – Sakura Flor de Toloache – Let Down Stan Getz, Luiz Bonfá, Maria Toledo – Saudade Vem Correndo Slayer – South Of Heaven TO LISTEN PRESS PLAY

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UNDERCURRENTS

LEIGH PERKINS A TRUE OUTDOORSMAN WHO LOVED FLY FISHING AND HUNTING AND WHO HAD A STRONG CONNECTION WITH SOUTH AFRICA, LEIGH PERKINS, THE PATRIARCH OF ORVIS, PASSED AWAY RECENTLY AT THE AGE OF 93. VIA AN EXCERPT FROM TOM SUTCLIFFE’S SHADOWS ON THE STREAMBED, AND TOM’S FRESH TRIBUTE TO LEIGH, WE PAY OUR RESPECTS TO A LIFE WELL SPENT. Photos. c/o Orvis

The passing of Leigh Perkins, former President of Orvis; some random, joyful thoughts amid my sadness What many outdoor fishing and hunting folk maybe don’t get about Orvis is that it is the genuine article. Let me explain. Since 1856 Orvis was, and still is, run by people who actually shoot and fish and totally get what drives us. Leigh Perkins, for example, hunted and fished around 250 days a year all his life into his 90s. And in 1965, when he bought Orvis, he was already a regular customer and wasn’t just looking to buy any business; he wanted a fishing outfit. Orvis was then a quasi-boutique, family-owned company founded in 1856 by Charles F. Orvis and later mainly known for its fly reels (CFOs from the 1890s) and bamboo rods (made by Wes Jordan from the 1940s). Over the next three decades Perkins transformed Orvis into a metaphor for ‘excellence’ and one of the biggest and most respected outdoor sporting and apparel companies in the world. His sons, Dave and ‘Perk’, have followed in their late father’s footsteps, both with a love of the outdoors as firmly embedded in their DNA as the oval tinsel on Goldribbed Hare’s Ears.

In 1975 Orvis was pivotal in developing the graphite fly rod, using unidirectional graphite with individual fibres travelling in the same direction to mimic the fibres in bamboo rods. Graphite was hugely expensive back then and only just emerging from its mantle as a highly classified military secret. Key companies were Shakespeare with their UGLY STIK, Fenwick with their High Modulus Graphite

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(HMG) and Orvis. Hardy Bros had seen the ‘graphite light’ before all of them, but dropped the ball on the try line, maybe one of the biggest corporate blunders of all time!

Other Orvis graphite milestones were the first 2-weight, the Ultra Fine 7’9”, and, in 1988, the first 1-weight at 7’6”.

But I think Leigh’s personal love of bamboo (certainly initially), defined Orvis’s approach to how a graphite rod should behave. On this score, Leigh told me the Orvis Far and Fine, a 7’ 9 “ 5-wt, first made in their Vermont factory in 1976, was the finest trout stream casting instrument they ever produced. Its subsequent seismic popularity speaks for itself. Orvis rod engineer Howard Steere, designed it with Leigh.

Then in 1989, Tom Peters, author of the best-seller, In Search of Excellence, named Orvis graphite fly rods ‘one of the five best products ever made in the United States’.

High praise. I One day, I mentioned to Steere that the boss seemed pretty keen on rod development and he said, “He’s not. He’s passionate, verging on crazy. And he only does perfection.” He then added a telling comment, “Leigh has a better feel for fly rods than anyone I know.”

And Leigh was not just the titular president of the company; he was the totally involved owner, the marketing director and the art director. He oversaw every product the company made and he even personally vetted each item that went into their legendary catalogues. He was also behind a bunch of somewhat unusual Orvis products

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that, in their subsequent histories, became as influential in people’s lives as the arrival of light bulbs or model Ts. These included the first fly-vest zingers, Gore-Tex rainwear, the world’s first fly-fishing school and the Dog Nest, a padded bed for pooches that took America by storm and said a lot about Leigh’s lifelong attachment to birddogs.

On the matter of his dogs, I was in their home when Leigh’s wife, Romi, left on an errand. As soon as she had gone, Leigh opened a sash window in their graciously furnished lounge, gave a shrill two finger whistle, and all his gun dogs bounded through the open window to take up positions on various couches and chairs, nuzzling joyfully into the soft fabrics. Later, when we heard the distant rumble of Romi’s returning car, Leigh smartly opened the window and a cascade of guilty dogs leaped out, Leigh hastily straightening rumpled fabrics. Romi, carrying in a bag of groceries, suddenly stopped in the kitchen and said accusingly, ”Leigh this place smells of dog!” to which he replied, “It could smell of a lot worse.” I just looked the other way.

Bob Mollentze was owner and editor-at-large of the Barkly East Reporter when he arranged a day’s greywing shooting for us over pointers. Leigh dropped the first bird to get up and then, in honour of the event, ate the contents of its crop. Bob’s eyes stretched so wide they seemed ready to leap out of his head. “It’s just a tradition with Leigh,” Romi assured us. His other ‘tradition’ she said was to bring the first wild turkey he shot each hunting season back into their bed. I’m not making that up. Apparently wild turkeys are best shot at first light.

On the matter of wild turkeys, I was at a formal dinner once at the Perkins’s home that, despite their unfailing hospitality, I still try to forget. The many guests that evening were seated around an elegantly decked, candle-lit dining room table and Romi, an accomplished hostess and author of Game in Season – The Orvis Cook Book, oversaw things.

I helped Leigh prepare the turkey in a Weber outside and, after what seemed scarcely 30 minutes, he stuck a thermometer into the bird that to me seemed to hover around ‘lukewarm’ and certainly oozed purple blood, and announced, “About done”. The meat cut like an unripe pear so, under the cloistered cover of candlelight, I surreptitiously fed my portion, piece by secreted piece, to a grateful gundog that had conveniently chosen to rest his head on my shoe.

On top of his ample successes, Leigh was a self-effacing man with a great sense of humour. Once asked by an interviewer what he’d like to be remembered for he replied, “My duck soup recipe.”

That may be, but in my life, and in the lives of many anglers I know, Orvis was close to being the marrow in our fishing bones. It’s still a remarkable company, not only for its

high quality products, but for its range of them. No single company has ever spanned such a cornucopia of desirable fishing tackle and apparel as Orvis and, in my view, no single person has ever been more influential in meeting the composite needs of outdoor converts than Leigh Perkins. It was to me as if Leigh, through Orvis, redefined the global fly-fishing landscape of the 70s and 80s. I must, though, say again, that he was the genuine article. He really did listen to anglers, read their letters, consulted them, fished widely with them, as if he realised that when a fishing company stops listening to its audience, stops being able to interpret what they are really trying to tell them, their days in business are numbered. Perhaps it’s all best summed up by a remark Leigh once made to me; “No good fly rod was ever designed in a boardroom. All the good ones are figured out by people standing in the water trying like hell to catch a fish.”

Great friend. Great family. Great company. Great memories.

Tom Sutcliffe

UNDERCURRENTS

SHADOWS ON THE STREAM BED AN EXCERPT FROM TOM SUTCLIFFE’S BOOK SHADOWS ON THE STREAM BED, FIRST PUBLISHED BY PL ATANNA PRESS IN 2009.

Orvis President Simon Perkins with his grandfather, former Orvis President, Leigh Perkins

P

eople said Colin Campbell didn’t so much ‘fly’ an aircraft, as ‘wear’ it. I know what they meant. He was that experienced, that confident, that cool, that skilled, to him flying was as straight forward as a stroll down a garden path. At least, that’s how it seemed. To us newly-hatched flyers, Colin Campbell was a living legend. The fact that he enjoyed fishing and shooting as much as flying was a bonus to me. In all the time I flew and fished and hunted with Colin we only had one other narrow shave. And it wasn’t something we could have foreseen, or for that matter, done much about. It began when Leigh and Romi Perkins arrived in Pietermaritzburg for a little sport.

Leigh was then the President of the Orvis Company. It was late May and we decided to fly them into Barkly East for some greywing shooting.

Romi had twisted her ankle in London on the way over and had her leg in a fiberglass cast. I asked Colin to join us so that the Perkins weren’t exposed to my flying skills alone. He agreed and we rented a powerful Cessna 210 airplane.

In May the weather in Natal is usually mild, but the day we left the skies were almost solid, thick with bruised clouds threatening rain. There was just one big hole, right over the airport. I called Bob Mollentze in Barkly East. He said the weather down his way was perfect. So we loaded the baggage – suitcases, guns and more Orvis fly rods than you’ll see in one place in your lifetime. Leigh and Romi sat behind with Romi’s outstretched fiberglass cast resting on the top of Colin’s seat. They weren’t the slightest worried about flying in a light aircraft, in fact seemed to enjoy the adventure. We climbed through the hole, popping out above a woolly blanket of clouds in bright sunshine at around eight thousand feet. Wispy strands of cloud spiralling up like smoky stalagmites whipped past the cockpit and gave a sense of speed to the flying. On our right the Drakensberg was decked in snow and I heard the Perkin’s cameras clicking.

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The landscape got more spectacular the closer we edged to the mountains, until eventually we were flying right alongside white peaks, heading south. We had the flight maps out, but we didn’t need them. It’s hard to miss something as obvious as the Drakensberg. At the end of the range, you turn right, pick up the road and fly into town.

Naude’s Nek was clear and in the distance we could make out Rhodes and Barkly East. We throttled back, trimmed the plane and watched some of our favourite fly streams inch slowly by, at first thin, silver strands hemmed in tight valleys, later, as we lost altitude, bold rivers in rolling pasture country. Abeam the tar road from Elliot we went through the landing checklist – breaks, under carriage, mixture, pitch, fuel, flaps – dropped the wheels, fed in power, slowly adding more and more flap, until things felt just right as the fence around the golf course rushed up. The use of flaps is simple. They slide out of the wing, increase its area, and add lift at slower speeds. We touched down feather soft on the fairway and let the plane roll off its speed. As we passed by Bob, Ernie and Billy Mollentze who were waiting for us on the first tee, Romi suddenly shouted, “‘Shit, Leigh, we just landed on a f*&^%g golf course!” *

The shooting was good. Bob took us into some high-country with his pointers. The rivers were out with the snow, but the birds were on and the Perkins bagged plenty. We had around three days of shooting before Leigh and Romi had to leave for Bloemfontein to fly on to the Okavango. They donated a couple of fine fly rods and reels to the Mollentzes. The night they left it rained buckets. We went out to the golf course next morning, but the fairways were too spongy to take off.

Two days later conditions were much the same despite sunshine, but on day three, the ground felt firm. Romi and Leigh had a flight to catch so they got a lift with a farmer to Bloemfontein. Yes, the president and owner of Orvis, with a local farmer in his bakkie, and they loved it.

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

Remote Richtersveld Drift - Namibia

Est. 1997

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tigerfish experience - Pongola Mavungana Flyfishing Center

Main Road, Dullstroom, 013 245 0270

Mavungana Flyfishing JHB, Shop 3B

Illovo Square Shopping Center, 011 268 5850 travel@flyfishing.co.za

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Photo: Jeremy Shelton Co-founder Fishwater Films

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HIGH FIVES

TIM LEPPAN FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF LESOTHO AND THE BOKONG RIVER TO THE NUBIAN FLATS OF SUDAN, TIM LEPPAN’S GUIDING CAREER IS IN THE ASCENDANCY. Photos. Phillip Geldart, Brent Poultney

5 best things about where you guide?

1. The people you get to meet. I never thought I’d have the privilege of meeting the guys and girls that I have whilst guiding on location. Truly it’s been amazing.

2. Seeing angry GTs and happy triggerfish over the course of the last three months has been out of this world. Being able to walk out onto a gin clear flat every day has been a dream come true.

3. A fellow guide and very close friend, Brent Poultney, sat me down prior to guiding and ran me through what I could experience on location. What stood out the most for me was when he mentioned the friendships forged between guides and how tight a guiding team can become.

It couldn’t be more true, I’ve felt a part of a family whilst on location and am incredibly grateful for it.

4. Lesotho and Sudan have been an absolute eye opener for me, not only from a fishing perspective but also from a cultural perspective. Being able to experience polar opposite cultures and countries has been one of the biggest highlights for me, hands down.

5. Lastly, the photographic potential on location has been second to none. I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to pull out my camera this much. Especially from a fly fishing perspective.

5 fishing-connected items you don’t leave home without before making a mission?

1. My trusty Nikon Z7. Leaving my camera behind on a fishing trip is criminal. A good photo means as much as a good fish to me and so having the opportunity to do both is a win-win situation.

2. It sounds clichéd, but sunscreen. Tanned skin is not something I’m familiar with and so leaving sunscreen at home usually ends up being catastrophic.

3. Tying materials. Often I’ve had days where fish have zoned into a specific colour, profile or weight, whatever it may be. There’s nothing more frustrating than running out of a successful pattern whilst away on a fishing trip.

4. Sweets. Sweets are a must. I’ll leave lunch and water behind before I leave the sweets. Orange-flavored Super Cs to be precise.

5. Blister plasters. The quickest way to ruin a great trip is a blister or three.

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

A beefy Basotho brown trout from the Bokong river.

5 bands to listen to while on a road trip?

1. Fleetwood Mac 2. Van Morrison 3. The Beegees 4. Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Can’t go wrong.

5. Dire Straits, once more a must.

3. The many lagunas around Jurassic Lake in search of brown and brook Trout.

4. St. Joe’s near Poirve.

5. Lastly, the flats of Desroches Island. To this day I haven’t seen GTs of that size and magnitude as I saw on those flats.

5 things you are loving right now 1. Hardy rods and reels. I’ve always been against Hardy in a strange way. They are typically over-priced compared to competitors and I often thought it was purely a brand name you were paying for, like most things. But damn my mind has been changed. The Zephrus range of rods and the Fortuner reels are next level tough.

2. Sigma Art lenses. The price point and quality is mind blowing. Cheers to my photographer friend Ryan Janssens for this bit of advice from a long time back. I’ve never looked back!

3. I’ve never been a fan of watches, I’ve just found them uncomfortable and a liability more than anything, until I got my hands on a Garmin. Having a watch and subsequently being punctual whilst guiding is non-negotiable and so a watch was compulsory. I must admit, I don’t think I’d be able to operate without it going forward.

4. Harvest, the only decent fast food outlet in Port Sudan.

The grilled chicken on change over day is revolutionary.

5. Snacks that guests leave behind. Nothing like a bit of Woolworths on the Red Sea. 5 indispensable flies for saltwater?

1.Flash Clousers.

2. Flexo crabs, they’re just that good.

3. Tan brush flies.

4. Silicone mullets.

5. Ice white DMAs. 5 indispensable flies for freshwater?

1. Foam Hoppers.

2. Articulated dungeons of all sorts.

3. The undisputed black muishond.

4. Belly scratchers.

5. CDC Klinks.

5 favourite fly fishing destinations across South Africa/ Africa?

1. The Cederberg for Clanwilliam Yellowfish.

2. The Orange river.

3. The Breede River, Witsand side.

4. Struisbaai, where it all began.

5. Kariega River in Kenton, that place is off the charts.

5 favourite fly fishing destinations globally?

1. Miyum, a tiny white sand island in the middle of the Red Sea, south of Port Sudan.

2. Poivre Island in the Seychelles. Having only experienced the fishery for a day, I constantly think back on the numbers of permit we saw that afternoon. One day when I’ve grown up I’ll be back.

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5 of the worst things you have picked up from guiding?

1. A sock tan that makes cyclists look normal.

2. A coffee and sea sickness medication dependency that will never be rectified.

3. Permanent inner thigh chafe.

4. Worn down teeth from all the 16lb tippet knots.

5. A craving for better internet connectivity.

5 flies to pack (in the smuggler kit under your driver’s seat) to cover most species?

1. White foam dungeon.

2. Flash clousers of all sizes.

3. Foam bass poppers for when times get desperate.

4. Black woolly buggers.

5. Black CDC nymphs.

5 people you would like to guide or fish with?

1. I would do anything to turn back time and have the opportunity to guide the late Mark Moses chasing Atlantic Salmon in the Ponoi River. The father-figure who instilled my passion for fly fishing will never, ever be forgotten. RIP to a true legend and lifelong inspiration.

2. Having an opportunity to guide my father, Chris Leppan, on a white sandy flat for GTs would honestly be a dream come true.

3. Exploring and fishing Socotra, South of Yemen, with Nicola Vitali would be completely out of this world... the GTs that come out of that region are truly cosmic.

4. One day I’d love to fish with both Tony Kietzmann and Marius Rosseau in the Cederberg in pursuit of large Clanwilliam Yellowfish. That would be special.

5. Walking a flat or river with my mother, Fiona Leppan, would be absolutely incredible. She needs to understand why I’m so addicted to this strange sport.

5 fish on your species hit list?

1. Atlantic Permit 2. Gabonese Tarpon 3. Louisiana Redfish 4. Peacock Bass in British Columbia 5. Atlantic Salmon from the Alta River in Norway 5 shower thoughts that have occurred to you while fly fishing?

1. How does fishing cause such distain amongst housing estate home owners? It’s just fishing, not drug dealing.

2. How can a fish break a 150lb leader in a split second, but two humans struggle for ages to pull it apart.

3. Why does every fish in the world gravitate to bread?

4. Am I truly the only one who’s stepped foot on this exact rock?

5. How many times have I caught the same fish twice?

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

5 of the most underrated species in your book?

1. Skipjack (Ladyfish). Those fish are unbelievable... they’re like a bonefish that jumps.

2. Bohar Snapper. They have everything you need in a fish.

3. Smallmouth Bass. They’re totally invasive here in South Africa and cause serious damage, but as an angling species, they are crazy.

4. Nembwe. If they weren’t surrounded by Tigerfish, they would be a fan favorite for many more anglers!

5. Bluefin Trevally. Strange that many anglers consider them a trash fish.

5 things (outside of the fishing) that make where you fish so special?

1. The lack of internet connection (whilst not guiding).

2. The people you meet in far flung places. I wouldn’t of met the most interesting people in my life had I not gone fishing.

3. The skills you are forced to learn just getting to the water. I never thought I’d become a wizard at changing a car tyre.

4. The many incredible encounters I’ve had with wildlife outside of the fish themselves. Like coming across numerous schooling whale sharks on a recent trip in Sudan.

5. The serenity and peace of mind is unparalleled whilst fly fishing.

5 destinations on your bucket list?

1. Scorpion Atoll in the Gulf of Mexico alongside Brent Poultney.

2. The Wessel Islands in Australia.

3. I would do anything to fish the Faro River alongside Stu Harley and Brent Poultney, that would be biblical.

4. Kau Tapen with one of my closest mates, Nick van Rensburg.

5. Cosmoledo and Providence in the Seychelles.

5 things you would take up if you weren’t always fly fishing?

1. Bow hunting would be my first priority.

2. Videography. The trade-off between shooting photos and casting flies at fish is huge and videography is just a bridge too far, the sacrifice is just too large. So, if I were to put my rod away permanently, I would certainly pursue videography.

3. Clay pigeon shooting would be another big one. Fly fishing has always taken time away from other outdoor activities such as this one.

4. I doubt I’d be any good at it but I’d like to try my hand at surfing and see what the buzz is all about.

5. Lastly, general travel. I find myself strictly traveling to find fish. I would enjoy spend some time on the move experiencing as many cultures as I could.

5 things you have you have learned about the Nubian Flats?

1. I’ve learnt that not one Triggerfish on the Nubian flats is the same. Generally you know how a certain species

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will react, however, with Triggerfish there’s no set recipe.

I recently had an experience on the flats where a guest made a cast to a tailing Titan Triggerfish, as the fly landed the tailing fish spooked faster than you could imagine whilst another unseen Titan flew over out of nowhere and ate the fly on the drop. Typical Triggerfish.

2. Don’t be afraid to try new things, we had a 95cm GT eat a Nubian Spaghetti (basically the saltwater version of a San Juan worm) like it was its last meal.

3. Guiding has gifted me the opportunity to take on scuba diving in the Red Sea. The way the fish behave underwater was unbelievable to witness. We had sightings that drastically changed the way we targeted certain species.

Dogtooth Tuna being a big one...

4. When a Triggerfish refuses, the answer’s not always no.

5. I’ve learnt not to dredge with 150lb leader... nothing pulls harder than a reef.

5 essential ingredients for an incredible mission?

1. A sufficient amount of cold beer. It’s amazing how a shortage of alcohol puts a downer on a trip.

2. Good music and a charged speaker. There’s nothing like background golden oldies around a campfire.

3. A solid group of close mates. Once more, it’s amazing how a good fishing trip can be affected by one angler.

4. Multiple lighters. It’s crazy how lighters die on fishing trips. There’s nothing worse than having bread rolls for dinner after a long day on the water!

5. A reliable off-road vehicle is essential. I’ve learnt the hard way many a time behind the wheel of a VW Polo.

5 flies that to look at make no sense but that catch fish all the time?

1. A bed head. A popular fly uses for triggerfish and other flats dwelling species, it’s basically a cotton wool ball with legs but man it catches fish.

2. A flash clouser is another. Zero profile just a shed load of flash. I’ve never seen fish switch onto a fly like I have with a flash clouser. May it be saltwater or freshwater.

3. The one and only Nubian Spaghetti. Long story short it’s merely a a hook with 4mm dumbbell eyes and a two inch piece of chenille. I’ve seen fish move ridiculous distances, in turbulent water, to eat a spaghetti. Absolutely mind blowing.

4. A Tarpon toad. What does it actually replicate?

5. A local favourite in South Africa, the Mrs. Simpson. How do fish recognize that fly as a food source?

5 things about fly fishing that you may never understand?

1. Why do die-hard fly fishermen handicap themselves as much as they do? They would experience a lot more fish if they just picked up a spinning rod from time to time (it’s amazing how much more can you learn by simply throwing a lure).

2. Why do we always tie a thousand flies too many for a respective trip? You only end up using a handful of them, usually.

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

“BEING ABLE TO EXPERIENCE POLAR OPPOSITE CULTURES AND COUNTRIES HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHTS FOR ME, HANDS DOWN.” 3. Why do we need so much gear simply to catch a fish?

Fly fishing is seriously gear intensive. Whether we need all that gear is up for debate. Yet we still do.

4. Why do we walk for hours in the searing heat just to throw feathers at fish?

5. Why do predatory fish swim through baitfish to eat feathers?

5 common mistakes that most clients make?

1. The first and biggest is hitting the fish on the head.

Staying calming is one of the most important skills one should have, thinking clearly and presenting the fly where it needs to be. Rather take a bit more time and do it properly the first time, than make many casts and finally get it right.

2. A common one is trout setting or lifting the rod to set the hook, especially whilst fishing the saltwater regions.

A good strip set is vital.

3. Another important one is knots. Leave that to the guides. You’ve paid for their service and at least you have someone to blame when a knot fails!

4. Forgetting to lock the reel, with regard to saltwater fly fishing and hardy fish species. Either that or giving fish too much room to move. Once they’ve built up momentum it’s super difficult to stop them.

5. The last one is just to listen to your guides and trust their advice. You may have fished other regions in the world for the same species but it doesn’t mean they’re all the same.

At the end of the day the guides have spent days upon days on the same flats.

Your last five casts were to….

GTs and Triggerfish on the Red Sea.

EASTERN CAPE TROUT

RHODES TRIP I F YO U ’ R E I N T O T R O U T A N D YO U L I V E I N S O U T H A F R I CA , YO U H AV E T O M A K E T H E P I L G R I M AG E T O R H O D ES , A S P I E R R E J O U B E R T A N D H I S M AT ES DISCOVERED WHEN THEY MADE THE JOURNEY TO T H E M O U N TA I N S O F T H E E A S T E R N CA P E .

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E

arly in the new year, I started a WhatsApp group with the opening message: “I really need to go to Rhodes.” While I’ve never been there myself, the tales and photos of perfect pastoral streams and immeasurable miles of fishable water have gripped my imagination since I was a kid. It was time to put a peg in the ground.

A couple of months later, Wit Blits pulled up at my place in Paarl at the crack of dawn, her small petrol engine purring with anticipation of what lay ahead. Kyle, on the other hand, was less optimistic once he saw my gluttonous supply of fishing equipment and booze that had, somehow, to fit in the back of the van. That morning, needless to say, some tough choices were made.

We met up with the rest of our group on a farm between Barkly East and Lady Grey. Carlo the ice skater, which is a story for another day, and Rob, the country singer.

They had fished the Karringmelk Spruit the day before and tales of more than 100 fish in a morning had Kyle and me frothing like two mad dogs. We had to get on the scoreboard, even if we only had an hour or two of light left.

Threedrifts Rods set up, waders on, and a couple of cold yeasts packed, we set forth. Kyle treated us to some freshly burnt CDs for the trip (yes, we still rock CDs). Inserted disc two and selected track four. The characteristic twang and rhythmic pulse of Run Through the Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival elevated the excitement levels to the max. We had arrived.

The four of us dropped down into a small valley where the river cuts through the farm. It wasn’t long before trout started rising everywhere and, soon after finding the correct caddis pattern, all of us were in with good numbers.

I remember spotting a couple of small fish hammering adult mayflies off the surface. They reacted positively to my fly but wouldn’t stick. They were way too small, or like the choir on the bank suggested, I’m kak at catching fish. I flung the fly back to the boys and asked them to put something on the end of my line that would catch something decent: the logical choice – a black Woolly Bugger.

Now, what always blows my mind is how well a large fish can hide itself, even in the shallowest water. I chucked the fly into this tiny trickle, and after the third strip, I was in with my best river fish of the trip.

Left: Carlo de Castro with a perfect bow caught on a big-ass RAB

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Kyle Knight working a side stream inlet on the upper Bokspruit

Diepspruit We spent the following two days fishing the Diepspruit. If I could choose one river to fish again, the day before I die, this would be it. The river structure constantly changes.

One moment you’re picking fish just off the edge of a pasture’s bank, and the next you’re trapped in a deep gorge where time and trouble seem to forget you. The number of fish we saw was staggering.

Bokspruit We left for Rhodes early on the fourth day of the pilgrimage, and seeing that old Wit Blits was so heavily loaded, Carlo and Rob put foot to make up time. Our destination was only around 80km away, but we still had to make a turn in Rhodes itself to book our beats for the remainder of the week and pick up half a lamb for the evenings’ braai and Kyle’s legendary potjie.

We casually walked past an extremely shallow run with our eyes fixed on the first pool of the day. Glancing to my right, I saw a fish hovering in water at most three inches deep. It was feeding in broad daylight, completely unaware of our presence.

We estimated that we would arrive at around lunchtime, but how wrong we were. The last stretch was slow going, and we were already tired out by the previous three day’s hard fishing. I reckon all that pulled us through was that scratched Bruce Springsteen CD with I’m On Fire put on repeat. After what felt like forever, we finally turned into the old farm gate; we were there. Bothwell.

A quick round of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and it was my shot.

I drifted a size 14 hopper over its head, and it didn’t flinch.

After the second cast, it veered off slightly to the right but kept on feeding. Kyle took the next cast. A lekker parachute mayfly tied Gordon van der Spuy style, with CDC and all.

Nothing. Like they say, not even an utter. My next attempt, in the form of a small black Klinkhammer, also got the middle finger. After three flies in such shallow water, the fish kept going about its business. Kyle’s following approach was more daring, and it paid off. The first time the chunky Tabanas skated over the fish, it reacted and murdered the fly.

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If you’re looking to unplug yourself from the world and sort some shit out in your head, this is the place. No electricity, no cellphone reception, and a stone’s throw away from a healthy trout river. Living in such an elementary place forces you to follow a different rhythm. Here you’re woken up by the sound of birds, and you only start fishing once the warm sun hits the water. Time moves along at a different pace here.

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

“IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO UNPLUG YOURSELF FROM THE WORLD AND SORT SOME SHIT OUT IN YOUR HEAD, THIS IS THE PLACE. NO ELECTRICITY, NO CELLPHONE RECEPTION, AND A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM A HEALTHY TROUT RIVER.” On the Bok, I witnessed with my own eyes what an incredible fly the original design of RAB is. Time and again this fly out-fished everything else throughout the entire day. Slow water, fast water, pocket water, or pools - it slayed. And, to me, it seemed the wonkier it looked, the better it fared.

The Rifle The Rifle is a tributary of the Bokspruit. We booked the two upper-most beats for the day, thinking we’d take a chance seeing that the river levels were relatively low. You get sporadic bursts of signal on the road, so everyone quickly used this to touch base at home or the office. Carlo even made a quick sale while wearing waders and sipping a beer – what a tough life we live.

Let me tell you about the upper Rifle; it has some of the most incredible pocket water you’ll ever find, and the pools are, well, literally filled with trout. We were fishing a long pool with a steep embankment on the right-hand side and trees on the left. After pickup up some smaller fish in the tail, we spotted some nice fish further up in the pool. Carlo, being the gentleman that he is, insisted I make the move. There was a lateral line running through the head where bare white bedrock and gravel met. And then I saw it. A big fish was holding on the dark bottom, right in the shade, occasionally breaking its cover to eat something over in the sun. This was a unit.

I managed to put a cast right on top of its pip. Thinking I must have spooked it, I started lifting the rod. Then, suddenly, the small Klinkhammer disappeared under the surface, and I was on. Immediately one could tell this was a fish of sizeable proportions. The sheer weight and raging pulses as it shook its head were completely different. I had it on for a good minute or so but, let me tell you, rainbows can be complete pricks. As I unclipped my net, the fish swam straight at me and passed through my legs. That nifty old Klinkhammer is so bloody effective at hooking things, it got caught on my trousers, and bam – the fish was gone!

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

Sterkspruit Getting access to good water on the Sterk proved to be a little tricky, and that’s primarily thanks to us fly anglers. The Oom whose farm we were fishing on had given us special permission. Usually his land is closed for public access because, previously, some anglers made a fire and left all their booze bottles lying around. Idiots.

Rob and I decided to trek about two kilometres downriver, which we estimated would give us enough water to fish for a day. We started fishing at two long pools sitting right behind each other. I didn’t move more than ten metres in the first hour and a half. The fishing was bonkers. On dries, on nymphs, on streamers, you name it, and they’d eat it.

Rob hiked upstream about 100 metres from where I was having the time of my life. While giggling like a little girl about all the crazy eats I was getting while skating a caddis on the surface, I heard a faint call. I paused, then, there it was again.

Honestly, my initial thought was that Rob was hurt.

Chucking my backpack off my shoulders, my camera off my chest, and my rod on to the bank, I turned to run. For a second, I hesitated and decided maybe I should take my camera. Breaking the crest of the hill at full speed (well, this is a relative term, I guess), I could see Rob holding his net in the water and a big tail flapping on the surface.

A stunner of a fish measuring 47 cm caught off a densely overgrown bank; it doesn’t get much better than that.

Loch Ness We decided to mix things up a little on our last day and fish a stillwater aptly known as Loch Ness. Here’s another road you shouldn’t take for granted. Its steep gradient and unlevel surface make for very slow going. At one stage, I thought Carlo’s Duster was going to do a backflip. I just took a sip from a cold Zamalek and listened to Uncle Lucius doing their thing and hoped for the best – what else can you do?

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

Rob Jeffrey on the Diepspruit hoping that that boulder is done moving.

“THE TALES AND PHOTOS OF PERFECT PASTORAL STREAMS AND IMMEASURABLE MILES OF FISHABLE WATER HAVE GRIPPED MY IMAGINATION SINCE I WAS A KID.”

Poplar-lined banks offer great cover for fish.

We arrived at the dam alive and soon we were all standing in a line, casting our flies in the same direction. The wind was pumping. ‘Did it bother us?’ No. ‘Why?’ I hear you ask.

Because the fishing was ridiculous.

Kyle was the first one in with a proper fish weighing between five and six pounds. It was a short stubby thing with broad shoulders and incredible colouring. Shortly after that, I too caught a decent fish of about the same size. All fished extremely slowly in the channels between the weed beds.

I took some pics of a solid fish Rob had landed, and while putting the camera back into my chest pack, I just heard: “Holy f$!k!” The fish didn’t take line but, judging by the splashes on the surface and the size of the tail, this was big.

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

RHODES

SHOP THE MISSION

Skout Sun Hoodie - Made right here in South Africa for our conditions.

Ortlieb Aqua Zoom Camera Chest Pack - Keeps your camera dry and protected

Stroft GTM Tippet - Reliable and supple tippet material

The Mission Yella Fella Trucker - Basically a great looking, wearable fly patch

JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth Speaker - I pack this thing before I pack my undies.

Hoya Circular Polarised Filter - Crunches out that extra bit of feeling from every image.

By now, freezing his nuts off because he’d left his waders at home, Rob finally netted the big girl after a nerve-racking fight, and oh was she beautiful.

Now, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been on a good number of trips in my life and firmly believe that the success of these endeavours relies on a relatively simple recipe. Good food (that’s why we’re friends with Kyle Knight, owner of The Shop in Seapoint), good friends and good music. The music sets the tone for the entire trip. It goes without saying that you also need to catch a fish or two during the expedition. Cherish a group of good friends who pull in and make a memorable mission.

Treasure these people, and those memories with them, more than gold.

MUNCHIES

THE RHODES POT F R ES HLY R E T U R N E D FR O M A T RI P TO R HOD ES I N T H E E AST E R N CAP E , C HEF KYL E K N I G H T O F T H E S H OP ( THES HOP RESTAURA N T. C O. ZA ) W EIG HS I N WI T H T H I S BR I LLI ANT COMFO RT FO O D R EC I PE .

O

ther than beautiful rivers and trout, Rhodes has some great lamb. Local legend Basie Vosloo’s farm is the place to go for your whole or half carcass.

Conveniently, you can collect it neatly portioned for you on your way in and pick another supply up on your way home… it’s that good! After a long day out on the streams you get properly hungry and, when the sun goes down and the temperatures dip, there’s nothing better than a lamb potjie (stew cooked over a fire in a Dutch oven) to refuel. This is how I make mine.

Ingredients 3kg of Basie’s mixed lamb portions (knuckles, shanks, neck) 2 x onions, diced.

6 x large carrots, peeled and diced.

3 x cloves of garlic, chopped.

3 x sticks of celery, chopped.

3 x potatoes (optional), quartered.

2 tsp of tomato paste.

1 x 400g can tomatoes.

Chicken stock cubes (one per litre of water).

Papsak of your choice of red wine, 500 ml.

If you don’t drink it, then don’t cook with it.

Sunflower oil, salt, pepper, and sugar.

Large potjie pot, wooden spoon, and a pair of braai tongs.

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Method 1. Season and brown lamb pieces; set aside.

2. Using the same pot, add your onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sauté slowly until translucent. Season the veggies.

3. Add tomato paste and cook it out for 2 minutes.

4. Add tinned tomatoes.

5. Season with 2 tsp sugar and give it a good stir.

6. Place meat back on the veggie bed and deglaze with 500ml of red wine. Reduce for 3 minutes.

7. Add enough chicken stock to cover the meat and bring to boil.

8. Add quartered potatoes and cover with lid.

9. Place in preheated oven (160 degrees C) or on a low heat over the fire for 3 hours and go fishing!

10. Check after 4 hours. If it needs a bit longer, give it another hour.

11. Check seasoning and serve with cooked rice and freshly chopped Italian parsley.

12. Wash down with a lekker glass of red, like Steel Wines’ brilliant Cabernet Sauvignon.

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

SEYCHELLES

SMORGASBORD WHEN THE FLY FISHING NATION CREW OF STEPHAN DOMBAJ, PAULO HOFFMANN, MARINA GIBSON AND JASPER PÄÄKKÖNEN JOINED DEVAN VAN DER MERWE, KEITH ROSE-INNES AND THE ALPHONSE FISHING CO. TEAM FOR AN EXTENDED TRIP TO COSMOLEDO, ALPHONSE AND FARQUHAR IN THE SEYCHELLES, WE KNEW THEY WERE LITERALLY IN FOR THE MISSION OF THEIR LIVES. WE ALSO KNEW IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO GET ONE OF THEM TO SUM IT ALL UP IN A SINGLE STORY. INSTEAD, WE WENT ALL IN WITH FIVE TOP MOMENTS FROM FIVE ANGLERS WHO HAD THE ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SALTWATER FLY FISHING BUFFET.

Photos. The Flyfishing Nation

ALEX’S GOODIE For Paulo Hoffmann, getting to grips with GTs for the first time at Cosmo was a baptism of fire. Fortunately, he was in good hands.

“Paulo, I’ve got a goodie for you.”

That’s what Cosmoledo guide Alex Quatre said when the fish we had been waiting for made an appearance. A wellknown figure to most GT anglers, Alex is the guy from the Yeti film Cosmo. I had a cool connection with him from the very beginning because he immediately got me into my first smaller GT at Cosmo. I loved the way he was guiding, from his energy and intuition, to the way he was dialled into the place and also his way of communicating.

This Seychelles trip was actually my first time fishing for giant trevally (GT). I have fly fished in the salt a bunch, but never in the Indian Ocean and never for GT so going to Cosmo, the most famous GT destination on the planet.

It was very humbling and a little overwhelming at first.

The first three days were all from the boat because weather conditions were not ideal - the tides weren’t pushing in quite as fast and, most importantly, we had a lot of clouds so sight fishing in the reef wasn’t really happening. The fourth day was the first day with clear skies and really good visibility so Stephan and I went out with Alex.

The plan was to wade the reef. It was an outgoing spring tide, pushing out fast so we anchored the boat and started wading out, patrolling the reef line, looking for GTs. We didn’t see many fish on the outgoing tide so we went back to the boat, had lunch and then saw the water coming back in on the incoming tide. We went out again and, with the tide pushing in quickly now, we started walking to a favourite spot of Alex’s where we could patrol the reef line.

All of a sudden, Alex stopped and started scanning the water, waiting for something. It was an interesting change in energy. He knew there were a couple of fish patrolling on this particular tide every time. So, every few weeks he would see the same few fish, coming along the same edges of that exact reef. It was interesting to see him getting a little nervous with anticipation, inspecting the same spots. I stood with him while Stephan fished on. Sight-fishing, we caught a couple of smaller fish but, for the first time, it started to feel like what most people had spoken about before, when describing GT fishing – patrolling the reef, waiting, wading, sight-casting, being one-on-one with the fish. Alex wanted to wait for a while for one or two fish that he predicted would come along the edge of the reef … “like old friends” was his description. That’s when “the goodie” appeared.

Alex was pointing in the direction of the fish but, initially, I could not see it because I was not looking far enough.

When he told me it was 200-250m out, I saw the fish in the waves, basically just sitting there. Every time the waves came in, the fish would ride them, visible in the surf, swimming in a couple of metres and then dropping back again. We started running with the rods, trying to get there before we lost it. Just as we got close enough to cast, the fish actually started surfing in on the waves pushing over a very shallow ridge. It seemed to know exactly what it was doing, waiting till the water was just high enough to get it over a shallow weed bed and into the lagoon. On the lagoon side, we lost him for a moment because he was now in slightly deeper water. We didn’t want to blind cast and spook him. There was a little white spot of sand where all of a sudden, we saw a fish over it, but that wasn’t the one. Then a bigger fish went over it.

That was him.

It was tough because I didn’t want to put out a cast and have the small fish eat it and lose my shot at the big fish, but that was the only shot we had. I just had to hope that the bigger one would eat. I was very, fucking nervous and everything happened so fast. I made two strips, the fish flew out of the water and in the most brutal GT take I have seen so far, it obliterated my fly. The fish flew completely out of the water, its massive bucket mouth engulfing everything. I wasn’t even sure if it was eating my fly because it was so violent. I was in such shock I couldn’t even strike, I just ran backwards trying to keep tension.

The fish ate the fly, turned around and tried to get out of the lagoon, but there was this ridge in the way that he had used the waves to get over before. He beached himself on that grass bed, flapping around. It looked like a shark attack. It took him about 15-20 seconds flapping around on that ridge before he could get washed out on the next wave. It was lucky for me because it was a 110cm fish and, because the fish tired itself out on the grass bed, it gave me time to get the tension on my line sorted. By the time the GT got into the deep and ran off, I had my line on the reel and it was safe. For a first time GT experience with the biggest fish by far, it was very helpful.

After that the fight was pretty much done and I could just pump the fish in.

The whole experience was amazing - seeing the fish from 250m away, in every wave, passing over the ridge, into the lagoon pool, the violent smashing of the fly – I have never seen anything like it. It was humbling. I was done.

After that I did not really fish much from the boat again, because this was the only thing I wanted to do. Sightfishing for GTs in the waves is the best thing out there.

“SIGHT-FISHING FOR GTS IN THE WAVES IS THE BEST THING OUT THERE.” 50

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

“THE FISH FLEW COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WATER, ITS MASSIVE BUCKET MOUTH ENGULFING EVERYTHING. I WASN’T EVEN SURE IF IT WAS EATING MY FLY BECAUSE IT WAS SO VIOLENT.”

SURF & TURF Marina Gibson’s highlights are divided between those on land and those in the water.

THE FISHING This was the most insane trip I have ever done in my life so the fishing highlights were numerous. I caught my first GT in the surf at Cosmo and some nice 50cm plus triggers too.

The weeks in Cosmo and Farquhar were particularly intense fishing weeks. Alphonse was a little more chilled but it was also amazing and that’s where I caught my first sailfish on the fly.

If I have to pick a favourite fishing moment, I’d have to go with the bumphead parrotfish (bumpies) on Farquhar. I had seen these things online before going to the Seychelles and I was super obsessed with them.

The bumpies were targeted on the flats. Depending on what tide it was we would always check out the flats first

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for the bumpies and then just stay on the edges and start fishing for GTs as well. It was great to have the best of both worlds. Most of the bumpies we caught as a group took the orange Alphlexo. I used a 10-weight rod, just because it was lighter, the line was lighter and they are quite spooky fish so stealth mode was very important. Before my trip I was thinking ‘I am going to catch bumpies’, but then once we started fishing for them, I realised that it might not happen.

They are actually extremely difficult fish to catch. The one thing our guides were saying was that once you hook one, you have to try and keep them on the shallow flats because when they get into that deeper water they just break you off on coral pretty much straightaway, which happened a couple of times with our group.

Fortunately, I caught my incredible bumpie on one of the last days. The fight was nuts, but different to something like a GT. It took me straight to my backing so quickly. Then it was just like battling a really heavy weight. It was mega.

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“THIS WAS THE MOST INSANE TRIP I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE “

THE BELTING

I had never drunk with South Africans before, so I definitely learnt a few more drinking games while I was out there, one of which was …BELTING. To give you the broad strokes, this is where people, usually quite a few drinks down, challenge each other to bend and take turns hitting each other with a belt.

It’s all a bit of silly fun really but, when you’ve been together for several weeks on an adventure like this, things tend to get silly. In the beginning, when Devan started doing it, I was asked if I wanted to have a go and my response was, “Absolutely not.” Then, when we were on Farquhar, we were getting pissed on one of our last nights. Everyone was giving me a hard time to, “have a go,” so after ummmhing and aahing about it for a bit I said okay.

I said to Chucky (Brian Chakanyuka, Alphonse Fishing Co’s media producer), “Do you promise that you will not hit me that hard?” He duly promised to be really nice to me. I had

my turn to whack Chucky. Poor guide Cullan Ashby was sitting to the left of where Chucky was waiting. My belt strike was one of those standard, ‘Have you seen a girl throw?’ kind of scenarios.

It’s like your golf swing or fly casting - if you put a spike of power into the wrong place, you get a tailing loop or you get a golf ball that goes completely in the wrong direction.

I put a spike of power in at completely the wrong time.

My swing just followed through and landed up hitting Callan perfectly in the face so it was kind of like two birds with one stone – Chucky’s arse and Callan’s face with one belting. Hopefully I cast better than I can belt! Then it was Chucky’s turn, so he whacked me pretty hard and it hurt a lot. And then Stephan decided that he wanted in, so he thrashed me super hard. Obviously, I had some pretty bad bruises the next day, same as everyone else. The guys were walking like John Wayne.

“THE WEEKS IN COSMO AND FARQUHAR WERE PARTICULARLY INTENSE FISHING WEEKS. ALPHONSE WAS A LITTLE MORE CHILLED”

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A HORTICULTURAL INTERLUDE

Stephan Dombaj could tell you about the GTs, the bumpies, the milkfish and the many other species he caught or lost over his weeks in the Seychelles, but instead he chose to focus on something a little different that made this trip extra special.

The organic garden at Alphonse is one of the most amazing details about the entire operation and, just like other operations that work flawlessly and have made it to the upper echelons of destination angling, it’s what goes on behind the curtains that makes it so unique and special.

First of all, Alphonse Island is a pile of sand in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In other words, it has very little fertile soil for people to grow anything on. There are a couple of palm trees, a little bit of tropical vegetation and, maybe, mangroves and, really, that’s about it. Most plants are struggling because it’s not a fertile environment.

In order to streamline all the little processes to make the lodge as sustainable as possible, the guys are using an apparatus to turn organic waste and paper into compost and rich, fertile, dark brown soil. They use this to grow their own vegetables and fruits and cut the supply-chain short. Otherwise, everything else has to be flown into the island and, obviously, the carbon footprint of every little piece of food that is flown in and gets consumed on the island is higher than whatever they manage to grow there.

They do kitchen runs – most (if not all) of the fish served on the island is caught off-shore. They keep away from reef fish because they take much longer to grow. Most of the vegetables on Alphonse Island are grown on the island.

They have a gardener, Latif Abdul, that does all this, he’s the master of all the crazy stuff that’s going on and it’s just beautiful to see. You can take a walk and actually witness this which is part of the programme for us. It makes you understand why Alphonse is as expensive as it is. You get to appreciate it on a deeper level when you understand that they are trying their very best to be as sustainable as possible, even if it is a luxury lodge.. That fact that as much as possible is sourced locally, makes you appreciate the food that much more. Papayas, salads, tomatoes and gorgeous, delicious eggplant. We had a tour of the fruit garden and they prepared fresh smoothies for us. It was just the best and it makes sense.

The garden guru of Alphonse, Latif Abdul, and the bounty of his harvest.

“THE ORGANIC GARDEN AT ALPHONSE IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING DETAILS ABOUT THE ENTIRE OPERATION” 60

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

PERKS OF THE JOB On occasion (e.g. during a once-in-a-century pandemic), Alphonse Fishing Co.’s General Manager, Devan van der Merwe, is allowed out of the office to fish. He joined the FFN crew on their week at Farquhar.

Alphonse Fishing Company is known to have some of the best saltwater guides in the world and specialises in operating around extreme logistical destinations. Each location has its own unique challenges and specialty species. This, combined with mind blowing natural beauty, makes it the perfect backdrop for my chosen lifestyle. I have been living, fishing, and guiding in the Seychelles for over 13 years now and have been very fortunate to encounter some life-changing, fly fishing moments around the world. I have ticked off numerous saltwater species, except for the elusive bumphead parrot fish.

Nowadays I’m known as the ‘Alphonse Office Jockey’ but, while I rarely have the opportunity to throw a line, I can still get it done when needed.

Having received the remarkable news that we had the green light on the Farquhar trip and that we were able to bring our buddies from Fly Fishing Nation along, I stocked up on all of the orange Alphlexos and anything else that could potentially assist me in my lifelong dream of catching my first “BUMPIE”.

Thanks to global travel restrictions, Farquhar had not been fished for several months. We knew that this would be a special trip. Yeti duffels packed, fresh produce sorted and enough Seybrew (Blue Fanta) to drown an entire Alphonse guide team - we were all set.

At the last moment, we had a payload issue and I opted to stay behind.

After a quick handover of safety gear, sat phones, looping material and all the orange crabs, I saw the team off.

Shattered.

After this rollercoaster of highs and lows and dreaming of bumpies the entire night, I was grateful to find that long-time friend and business partner, Keith Rose-Innes, diverted a plane the next day for me to join him and the team on Farquhar. Bumpie time! Next stop Farquhar.

First day on the water, I was stunned. I have never seen so many bumpies in my life. They were everywhere! After my first few casts at the first school, I hooked up. With excitement and knees shaking, I went all GT on this guy and broke off. Keith laughed and said, “That’s just the beginning.”

Later that week, we poled up to a beautiful island called Depossè. On the shallow white sand, we spotted a herd of these tailing monsters. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is it, just stay calm, Dev. Keith got me into casting range and I fired the first shot - too short. I calmed myself down and laid up again in front of the school. I went tight on an absolute monster fish. It dragged us into the lagoon and tried to get us in the first two coral heads. Miraculously, we survived that bit. Two hundred yards from us was another coral head. He was heading straight for it. We stayed on top of the beast and pulled as hard as one can with a 9wt and 25lb. He got me in the coral. GAME OVER. But Keith immediately abandoned ship and swam down with the net.

A few seconds later, the fish swam out from underneath the coral head, straight between Keith’s legs and he netted it like a salmon, but with more charisma.

A 165cm bumpie in perfect condition and a memory that will last a lifetime.

Thank you, Farquhar, you beauty!!

“KEITH IMMEDIATELY ABANDONED SHIP AND SWAM DOWN WITH THE NET. A FEW SECONDS LATER, THE FISH SWAM OUT FROM UNDERNEATH THE CORAL HEAD, STRAIGHT BETWEEN KEITH’S LEGS AND HE NETTED IT LIKE A SALMON, BUT WITH MORE CHARISMA.” 64

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

PINKY & THE BRAIN Actor Jasper Pääkkönen’s highlight on this trip revolved around a lost behemoth of a fish and the relief that he would go home with his digits intact.

For me, this trip was a lifesaver because I had just been shooting a film in Finland from October to February, almost half a year. It turned out to be the most horrendous, most exhausting film production I have ever been involved in. I was a complete wreck by the time I flew to the Seychelles.

To be able to spend five weeks there and experience Cosmo and then Farquhar where I enjoyed one of the most incredible week’s fishing I have ever had in my life, anywhere.

The timing could not have been better for me or my mental health, to recharge the batteries.

The highlight of the trip was a fish that got away. I was with Brad Simpson, the head guide of Cosmoledo, and we were fishing in these deep channels around coral bommies, fishing and fishing, blind casting. During the day, Brad and I had talked about tarpon fishing and, specifically, what it’s like when a tarpon rolls and eats the fly. I’ve fished for tarpon mainly in Cuba, Jardines de la Reina, but also in Key West and Belize so I have experienced these eats.

I was casting a big, black, huge profile fly over deep water when out of nowhere this fish ate the fly in a way that resembled a tarpon eat, so much that I went, “What the fuck is that!?” It was this slow-motion roll, like a tarpon eats, almost sideways and, as it happened, it seemed like this silver fish continued and continued forever. The length of the fish seemed so freaking massive that in my mind I could not help thinking, ‘That’s a big fucking tarpon.’ Even though that was impossible, in that split second, that eat was so different to any GT eat I have experienced before and the fish just seemed so massive, that my expletive question referred both to the fact that there are no tarpon in the Seychelles, and, simply, “What the hell is that? What is that fish…really?”

Bringing me back to reality, Brad shouted, “It’s a Geet! It’s a massive Geet!”

I struck. The line I was using was the Cortland GT/Tuna line which has a lot more stretch than your average GT line. As the fish took off, the line got all these rings and bounds in it, so I had this big ball of fly line flying in at me fast. I almost managed to clear all of it, until the last two metres shot up and wrapped around my hand. I’m right-handed so, naturally, I was holding the rod in my right hand trying to clear the line with my left hand. As the ball of line got tighter and tighter, I was trying to shake it off my hand. Eventually, it was just the last loop that I could not quite shake off, because it was wrapped around my left pinky finger. In the meantime, this massive fish had just taken off and was swimming in the opposite direction.

Brad could see what was happening and shouted at me, “Jump!” as loud as he could.

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Keep in mind that all of this was happening in a few split seconds. With all of that adrenaline your mind goes into overdrive and you process a whole lot more things in a shorter period of time than you usually would. It was probably eight metres deep where we were, so when Brad shouted “Jump”, I looked down and saw the water was way too deep, in my opinion, to jump.

I was thinking, ‘If I jump and try to unwrap it from around my pinky finger but fail to pull it off, this fish is going to pull me under and I will die.’ It was such a massive fish that there was nothing I’d be able to do. I had to make a decision - choose to save my life and lose my pinky or lose my life. I naturally chose losing the pinky. I remember looking at it for a split second, going ‘bye bye left hand pinky, it was nice knowing you.’ I even had time to think about coming back to the set I was shooting on with this missing finger. I was already in trouble with the make-up artist because, when I left Finland I was pale from the winter and I knew, when I got back, I would, naturally, be tanned as a person is after spending five weeks in the Seychelles. If I showed up with a tan and without a pinky finger, that would have been a problem.

Fortunately for me, the fly line exploded.

The Cortland’s core has a breaking strain of 50lb - whereas other GT lines can go to 70lb to 100lb. Had I been using one of those other lines, I would probably have lost the finger, as it would have cut all the way to the bone and then stripped all the meat out leaving me with a bare bone finger like in a Loony Tunes cartoon. What happened was that the line went tight around the pinky right below my first joint and then it cut straight in, through the skin diagonally for about two and half centimeters towards my finger nail, going deeper and deeper, almost to the bone, but not quite. It was a big enough cut for me to be concerned that if it got infected I would have to cut my trip short. Luckily, that did not happen. As digits go, the left hand pinky would have been by far the easiest finger to lose. In my career, I don’t think it’s ever done anything important and I don’t think it ever will. That said I am happier to still have it attached.

We were speculating about the size of the fish - as you do - and on the day Brad said it was one of the biggest fish he has ever seen in the atoll. To put it into perspective, a few days later I went out fishing with Brad again and we caught what turned out to be my biggest GT so far, a 116cm fish.

When we landed it, I was in the water with the fish in my lap, taking some photos. Luckily I did not have to say it, because Brad said it first.

“Now that we see this fish and we have measured it, I can tell you that the one we lost was 130cm plus plus.”

I had never held a GT of 116cm before so while it was huge, at the same time I realised that the one we lost was just a whole different creature in a totally different size category.

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“IT’S A GEET! IT’S A MASSIVE GEET!”

CHINKO

THE FINAL FRONTIER O F A LL T HE GIANT FISH SPECIES T H AT CA N BE TARGETED ON FLY, T H E RE A RE FEW THAT ARE QUITE AS M YST E RIOUS AND COV ETED AS T HE G O LIATH TIGERFISH. THEY A RE FO U ND IN THE CON GO RIV ER BAS I N, I N REMOTE AREAS THAT ARE I NCRE D I BLY DIFFICULT TO ACCESS FO R T HE L AST FEW Y EARS THE TEAM AT CAM P C H INKO (CAMPCHIN KO.COM) H AS BE E N WORKING, WITH AFRICAN PA RKS , I N T HE CHINKO RESERVE AREA O F T H E CE NTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CA R) TO CR EATE A V IABLE FISHERY FO R T H O S E WITH THE BUCKS (AN D T H E BA LLS). WE SPOKE TO HEAD G U I D E , G R EG GH AUI, ABOUT WHAT HE EXP E RI E NC ED DURING THEIR FIRST EV ER SEASON.

Photos. Edward and Greg Ghaui

In a sentence or two, sum up the entire first season as a guide there.

It was both the first and my first Chinko season and I can sum it up as “perpetual relentless motion”! Two and a half months on location, six different camp set-ups, nine intimate Goliath tigerfish encounters and countless kilometres covered on foot and by boat and plane. All of this effort to try and shine some light on the hidden secrets of the Chinko system while catering for one fly fishing client, a scientific river research team and training with a ranger unit.

How do you get there?

The simple answer is by air. There are no other really feasible options. The basic formula is a combination of commercial flights to Bangui and either a charter with the African Parks (AP) Cessna 208 Caravan into the Park HQ, or a direct line to the strip nearest our camp in the private charter operated by my cousin Ed Ghaui and the Central African Adventure Company. We took the scenic route flying all the way from Kenya via Uganda in the private charter with the bulk of the safari supplies.

We understand getting planes in and out can be… challenging? What was your experience?

Getting planes in and out of the CAR and Chinko specifically is actually a relatively straight forward process.

Our experience would be the exception! We had a forced emergency landing on our initial entry flight and managed to extract ourselves and still complete the whole season.

That has to count for something. Flying is such a critical and established way of operating there that it is very well catered for. The number and quality of the airstrips and the knowledge, experience and back up on hand is immense.

When all of that was aligned with what we needed to do and within a few basic parameters such as weather and load capacity, it was phenomenal what we could pull off. It is the default mode of transport and core to Parks’ operations but it also provides an unbeatable perspective to appreciate the Chinko’s size and force of character. Pilot chat almost matched fishing chat for volume over the season!

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Central African Republic has seen some conflict over recent years. Between the logistical challenges of getting clients in and the prospect of conflict, how do you ensure client safety?

We monitor the situation in and around Bangui carefully.

Chinko is a 60 000 square km area with no human habitation. This is patrolled by air and on foot within the park and a large team of transhumance rangers work with neighbouring communities well outside the park to ensure that information of movements of poachers etc is fed back to the operation. We only operate within the core area and are in close contact with the AP team.

You have a partnership with African Parks in Chinko.

What do you do for them and what do they do for you?

It’s a working partnership where our company is a concession holder. The concession is granted by the government and AP. They provide a pristine game reserve and river and we provide a camp. They help with logistics where they can.

How specific is the season for Goliath tigers?

The single most influential factor deciding the Goliath tiger season is accessibility - as in being able to reach the river, and finding fish once there. The rainy season and seasonal river level fluctuations are formidable. The Chinko receives a full dose of rainforest precipitation in just six months. Optimising the lowest, cleanest water conditions for fly fishing against navigable water levels and healthy temperatures means that it will be pretty specific to a fourmonth window of prime fly and fish-friendly conditions.

This season saw you welcome your first guest, legendary Kenyan angler Jeremy Block. What was he hoping to achieve and how did his report card look at the end of the trip?

Jeremy is a pioneering fly angler and he certainly reinforced his reputation on the Chinko. I think what he was essentially hoping for was that we weren’t all completely mad and that it was indeed perfectly possible to travel to the Chinko in the hope of enjoying an incredible fishing experience. Proof of concept was what we were all hoping for - that would mean at least one Goliath tigerfish caught on IGFA specifications by Jeremy, and some indication that the whole procedure was possible, feasible and repeatable for us.

Jeremy hooked and landed a superb Goliath tiger fish of 33lb on 20lb tippet on his first full morning. This catch is currently pending IGFA world record status recognition.

He then spent the rest of the trip trying to repeat the feat on 16lb tippet, and tangling with bucket loads of Nile perch. There were a good number of very solid hookups to some strong Goliaths but, for reasons simply ‘tiger fishing’, they did not stick. One other smaller fish was landed by Jeremy. Considering the very singular focus of his particular mission, and his commitment to the light tippet challenge, I thought his report card was excellent,

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“THE SINGLE MOST INFLUENTIAL FACTOR DECIDING THE GOLIATH TIGER SEASON IS ACCESSIBILITY - AS IN BEING ABLE TO REACH THE RIVER, AND FINDING FISH ONCE THERE.”

people and move them by pure, brute, human force out the steep valley to the nearest airstrip. Shuttle all the gear and personnel in multiple flights to the airstrip nearest to the next survey site over 100km away, and then porter it all back down to the river by hand and on foot and set it all up in time for setting survey nets again, often in pouring rain!

It was a very stark combination of amazing technology and mechanical sophistication with the airlift aspect, and the basic and brutal manhandling of gear in between.

and surprisingly well-balanced with Nile perch, Vittatus sp tiger fish and Alestes sp. It was such an exciting and ground-breaking ten days and it was even more successful than we might have hoped. Jeremy was deep among the Goliaths and we were able to cover a huge distance along two rivers, the Vovodo and the Chinko, with the mobile fly camping model that proved to be a great way to unlock some special corners.

We understand some advanced logistical manoeuvres went down in the bush. For example, you were assisting the AP Chinko team with some scientific surveys. For those of us sitting at home on the couch, can you explain how exactly one airlifts a camp?

How often did you need to do it? How big would the satellite camps be in relation to the main camp?

To stay and fish or prospect in only one (or a handful of places) with just so much quality water along both the Chinko and Vovodo Rivers, would be massively underselling the potential of this place and ourselves as self- respecting fishermen. Mobility is key and that means finding a way to get to all these places with everything you will need to do them justice. And then moving on to the next one.

The premise for each Scientific Survey camp relocation were complete madness: First, finish the cataloguing of the previous day’s net samples, pack the laboratory, tents, beds, entire kitchen, food, drinks and personal gear of 15

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We moved the Scientific Survey camp three times, and those were three of the most physical and tough working days I’ve ever known but, somehow, we always found a way. The key was a hugely impressive capacity for work from our crew of CAR nationals assigned to help us, and a very clear understanding of what needed to be done and by whom. The battle was always to get enough gear up to the airstrip in time to keep the Caravan in circulation, as it had to do many flights of reduced loads on the bush strips. The hard yards were getting it up to and down from the airstrips, with a smooth, quiet, quick, tranquil flight in between! The focus of a lot of the attention around these moves, and what went a long way in deciding if it would be successful or not, was on the availability and state of repair of a simple, single-axle, hand-pushed cart called a ‘pousse’ (push). This trebled the amount of gear (approximately a ‘pousse-load!!) that could be carried up or down the valley per leg, and became the symbol of a successful move for me, more so than the shiny 208 Caravan ferrying us between strips.

The camps were basic and robust fly-camping setups: camp cots with a full bedroll (mattress, sheets, duvet, pillow) with either a mosquito dome cover in dry weather or inside a two-man dome tent in the rain (the default weather for the entire three weeks of the survey). There was an open mess under a canvas tarpaulin with camp chairs all round, where all the meeting, eating and drinking happened. There was a portable pulley shower with hot water every evening, and a freshly dug pit latrine with a wooden seat. We had a portable generator charging equipment, running a fridge and freezer, and running a battery charger that topped up a battery bank that was also fed by three solar panels. The kitchen has an amazing coal fired oven for bread, roasts and even pizza, and the rest of the cooking was on a grill over a flame, done by an experienced safari chef.

What did the scientists discover in their time there?

I couldn’t believe my luck in being present on the inaugural biomass and biodiversity survey of the Chinko River during my first season as a fishing guide there. Through their sampling, we were able to fast track so much knowledge accumulation, and get a much more complete picture of the whole system. The Mormyrid (elephant fish) analysis, using a specially designed probe technique to register the unique electric pulse that each species produces, was fascinating and there are a few interesting results pending on that front. Otherwise there was a pretty comprehensive

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Camp Chinko’s first guest Jeremy Block, with a solid Nile perch (above) and a pending IGFA world record Goliath tiger (below) of 33lb on 20lb tippet

cataloguing of known Congo drainage species, marking off suspected species. The sampling techniques (gill nets) were designed to be very repeatable and were probably slightly more biomass than diversity orientated beyond a pretty broad spectrum. Really niche habitats were not really tapped, and the electro fishing aspect was very disappointing as the machine the scientists brought along was not suitable for the very low conductivity of the water.

Their samples did still reflect a stunning array of size, colour and diversity of incredible fish, and there were a few holes in the nets from big fish that refused to be collected!

How many of the fish species found by scientists are viable targets on fly?

From a fly targeting point of view it was very informative analysing the sample catches, as we had the scientists examining the stomach contents of a few interesting looking specimens! There are the obvious and known candidates: Goliath tiger, Common tigerfish (Vittatus), Nile perch, the very large Chrysichthys cranchi (Kokuni or Suni catfish) and Vundu (Heterobranchus longifilis). Then there are the abundant and aggressive Large Scale Tetras (Brycinnus macrolepidotus) and Alestes macrophthalamus, a very distinct but reportedly viable ‘Makelele’ (Entropiellus, family Shilbeidae). There are some huge leaf eating Labeo lineatus that need more attention for sure, as well as another very dark Labeo that is easily sighted.

What sort of game did you see?

Game was an interesting one. Chinko is remarkable because, as one of the continent’s great game areas it is almost devoid of the macro fauna that earned it its reputation. There is a distinction between savannah species which have been severely depleted, and the forest fauna which has remained largely intact. All game numbers are only on the increase now. We saw Red River Hogs, Giant Forest Hogs, Blue Duiker, Yellow Backed Duiker, Bushbuck, Oribi, Red Flanked Duiker, Water Chevrotain (aka the fanged deer) and good primates: Colobus, De Brazza’s Monkey and Putty Nosed Monkey. We heard Chimpanzees vocalising a couple of times in the forest which was pretty surreal. We were also in very close contact with the head of research at African Parks, Thierry Aebscher, who would update us on camera-trap sightings and carnivore-calling results. These show stable and rising numbers of lion, abundant leopard, wild dogs, golden cats, caracals and servals. We saw roan antelope, the distinctive buffalo that is a hybrid between our Cape buffalo and the forest buffalo, and signs of the giant Lord Derby’s eland. We covered a lot of ground on foot and saw abundant signs of bongo but never actually laid eyes on one, which was one of the major targets! Natural mineral licks or ‘salines’ in the forest are truly magical places to which animals are drawn and all sorts of interesting tracks and signs can be found. The birds are worth more than a mention, and are spectacular, but the bees and butterflies might be what really set it apart.

Are Nile perch considered by-catch or do you spend time targeting them?

Nile perch could be considered as by-catch only because the allure of a Goliath is so strong, and they are picked up while targeting the big tigers. I was blown away to find how loose they are in the Chinko and the Vovodo Rivers especially. I’ve guided for them in Cameroon and know what it can take to get consistent shots at fish, so it was a real bonus to find them in a variety of hold ups and in long, loose windows throughout the day. We haven’t hooked anything the size of the Faro in Cameroon but, in a productive system like that, there is no reason why there won’t be some absolute specimens. I am a fan of perch in their own right and to find them in these rivers was a surprise for me, and I’ve loved having everything I thought I knew about them being tipped on its head!

Which barb/labeo species have you identified? What worked when fishing for these species? Streamers, nymphing…?

The barb question is an interesting one because it is a big black hole at the moment. The bizarre thing is that we didn’t come across an omnivorous or insectivorous barb dominating a zone that one would immediately throw a nymph at and expect some action. The barbs that came up in the research nets (Labeo linneatus) were all distinctly vegetarian with long convoluted stomachs, and the visible holding sighted fish have refused standard nymph patterns.

I did hook a huge labeo that I had watched consume a floating dead leaf, and then inhaled my dead drifting baitfish which was in the leaf line! Unfortunately, with all the disruptions, we didn’t mount a dedicated assault on this quest but it is a priority and in the sights for the next chance.

Did you encounter any cool catfish species?

The catfish really came into the spotlight when we hit the ultra-clean water upstream on the Chinko towards the end of our stint - the lowest and clearest water conditions. In the shallow tail-out of the huge pool at the base of a gorge section there were some large Chrysichthys that were obscenely visible, but very difficult to surprise. These cropped up again just cruising in the rapid pools of the gorge while we watched from the rocks six metres above. I cast to a vundu that was also in the same mix, hooked it and had the large catfish shadowing the fighting fish for a spell which was very memorable. This specific section of river with shallow, sandy bottom and clear water should surely produce some almighty encounters as, for whatever reason, they are there in consistently good numbers.

How consistent have you found the fishing? Is it too soon to throw around averages of fish caught both in terms of daily numbers and size?

Consistency while talking about any tiger fish is a sensitive subject. The fish there seem to respond conservatively to all the usual disruptions and changes in a relatively

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“ON THE VOVODO, WE ENCOUNTERED PLENTY OF HIPPOS, WATERBUCK AND SOME CROCODILES. WE ALSO SAW PLENTIFUL SIGNS OF BONGO, BUFFALO, RED RIVER HOG, FOREST HOG, BUSH BUCK, SEVERAL DUIKER SPECIES AND CAME ACROSS AN ENORMOUS FRUIT BAT COLONY”

small system. What became pleasingly consistent was identifying potentially promising Goliath water, based on a few specific criteria, that increasingly delivered positive results. We either hooked or saw fish throughout the sections of river we covered, including a lot of new water.

We seem to have a pretty solid knowledge base on which to fall back and also to launch from and to add a lot more to, which is hugely reassuring! It is too soon to be talking about potential daily numbers at this stage and, probably, sizes too. There is quite a tight grouping at the upper end of the scale of the fish that have been caught - in the 3040lb bracket - but I don’t for a minute believe that is the ceiling. Finding a solid answer to this question is going to be a journey to keep an eye on.

How much pressure do these fish get from local communities? Is poaching a problem?

Amazingly, the Chinko is completely uninhabited for all except the last 40km of its 700km length before it joins the Mboumu River. Until pretty recently, in the last five years, sections of the Chinko have been fished by local communities established far downstream. These were the most opportunistic and dedicated people who would push as high as to where the core park area is now, and they would only have done so periodically and seasonally.

They would have been able to exert some pressure on a number of links in the food chain, but this has been tightly controlled for four years now, and the current and forecasted poaching pressure is completely negligible for the entire core park area.

What does your tackle look like for Goliaths? Is most of the fishing on foot wading or do you fish off boats too?

What sort of tactics do you employ?

A Goliath tiger fish setup is exactly what you would expect for targeting the biggest tiger fish you would hope to catch - 10-weight rod, robust reel, definitely a tropical fast sink tip line, but also an intermediate line. The leader material would be in the 40-60lb range, with a long trace section of coated multi strand knot-able wire. Anything less than huge flies are comprehensively consumed, so biting over a short trace is a risk. Large, but not outrageously big, baitfish patterns are a good starting point, although there have been indications that there is plenty of room for exceptions on both the large and small ends of the fly size spectrum. Big eyes really seem to be a trigger, and seeing many of the baitfish and what they have to avoid, it adds up pretty quickly.

Proven patterns from other big predators are a great starting point, although I have been fascinated having to rule out some of the best tiger flies I know from Tanzania as nonstarters for these Central African specimens. I am determined

to find something they will eat with the same conviction that they refuse these trusted patterns. I would want to cast at water attached to a significantly deep pool (6-20m deep) whether fishing the deep pool itself or some of the features such as rocks, a sand shelf or tail-out nearby that might concentrate baitfish and could be buzzed by a patrolling Goliath. I prefer to sink the fly down and fish from deep just to cover the column, although a take often comes most of the way through a retrieve. A surprisingly benign and steady strip will do a job for you, making for really taut and suspenseful fishing rather than a rabid frenzy of casting and ripping! There are some very different and dynamic sections of rapids and pools, or gorges that throw things wide open. These can be fished on foot off the rocks and fish can be found deviating far from ‘predictable’ behaviour. If you have found the right water to fish, you will often be rewarded with a visual of a Goliath slowly and deliberately rolling on the surface, usually just unmistakably enough to short circuit some hard wired synapses. This, for me, is their most distinctive and signature behaviour and emphasises how unique and enigmatic they really are.

Tell us about a few specific special fish that were caught this season.

In a low intensity fishing season, with all the other projects happening, there were not huge numbers of fish caught and, being the first season, all of them were an event and pretty special. We did hit a genuine article purple patch that turned up some gold. Deep into an unchartered section while on the Ranger training mission, we made a strategic campsite on an island at the base of a ridiculously tight and narrow gorge channel that we immediately went to work fishing. It was stacked up with fish against the edges of the pumping channel, and we were raiding the Vittatus hard. Ed was dangling his fly directly below him trying to get a small fish to ditch caution, when suddenly the decks cleared and a Goliath appeared and picked his fly off the surface! I was metres away when I heard his shout and watched him hold onto the biggest fish I saw all season. It performed three full body breaches before it fell over the leader on the last one and broke off. What it was, where it came from and the way it went back there were all just awesome and, seeing Ed have to sit down on the rock right behind him and gather himself, summed it all up perfectly!

After two and a half months on location, when you get out of the jungle, what’s the first thing you treat yourself to?

We returned safely via Bangui with a quick stop at Relais de Chasse for an Ubangi Pizza and some passion fruit sorbet (if you know, you know!). There we were taken in once again by the Mararvs, friends of ours who are behind the Chinko Project, and given some serious post-season feeding and comfy beds while waiting for Covid tests before we could go home.

“IT WAS BOTH THE FIRST AND MY FIRST CHINKO SEASON AND I CAN SUM IT UP AS “PERPETUAL RELENTLESS MOTION” 80

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LIMPOPO

BUSH & BARBS WHEN TINTSWALO LAPALALA (TINTSWALO.COM) INVITED US TO SEND SOMEONE TO CHECK OUT THEIR WATERBERG LODGE AND THE NEW FLY FISHING OPTION THEY HAVE ADDED TO THEIR ACTIVITIES, WE KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED. A ROMANTIC COUPLE. INSTEAD, WE SENT THEM TWO INDIAN OCEAN GUIDES, MILAN GERMISHUIZEN AND JUSTIN ROLLINSON, WHO HAVE BEEN LANDLOCKED IN GAUTENG SINCE SA FIRST STARTED GOING IN AND OUT OF LOCKDOWN. WHILE WE HAVE FELT A BIT SORRY FOR THESE GUYS OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO (THEY NORMALLY SPEND THEIR DAYS STALKING FLATS FISH IN PARADISE SO BEING STUCK AT HOME IS NEW TO THEM), WE ALSO KNEW THAT, TO DO JUSTICE TO TINTSWALO’S NEW OFFERING, WE NEEDED TO SEND ALONG TWO ANGLERS WHO KNOW HOW TO CATCH FISH WHEREVER THEY ARE. THIS IS THEIR ACCOUNT OF THE FISHING AND OF BEING, FOR ONCE, ON THE OTHER SIDE. Photos. Milan Germihuizen, Justin Rollinson and Tintswalo

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river has carved large cliffs and rapids through the rocks, meant that it also seemed to have a lot less sediment in it, which made the clarity very good considering the wet summer we just had in the northern parts of SA. The reserve is looking amazing after the rains and the number of animals seen, both around the main lodge and on game drives, is an indication of a very healthy ecosystem. All we needed to discover was what the river had in store for us.

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ith all the travel restrictions recently, it’s been pretty bleak for an Indian Ocean guide. Being stuck at home, missing that sense of the wild and adventure, has been kak (shitty), to say the least. There’s been little to look forward to as we wait for some sort of normal to return. So, when my fellow FlyCastaway guide, Justin Rollinson, and I were invited to stay at Tintswalo Lapalala for a few nights and fish their virtually untouched river for indigenous yellows, it was a no brainer. Fly fishing and the bush, fly fishing IN the bush…there are very few things better than that. Plus, we were going to fish a stretch of river that’s hardly been fished at all and has definitely only been fly fished a few times.

As guides and fly fisherman this is what we chase all the time… finding the wild places and fishing them.

We started researching the area and the excitement grew as we realised where we were going. I’ve always wanted to fish smaller streams in the African bush, so this was a first for me. As guides we love the fish and the fishing but, mostly, we were just looking forward to getting to live it up for a change as guests in a 5-star private safari lodge. Plus, during our stay, we’d have our own game vehicle and three rangers at our disposal to take us fishing and look after us.

Counting down the days, we were tying flies like mad men trying to find out as much as we could about what would work for small scale and large scale yellowfish.

Tintswalo at Lapalala is situated in the Lapalala Nature reserve just under three hours drive from Pretoria.

The Palala River flows for 30kms through this massive 50 000 ha Big Five reserve in the Waterberg. Before the trip we were concerned about water clarity as most rivers in South Africa run chocolate at the best of times. However, this section of the Palala seems to be spring fed from the surrounding hills and mountains. That, and the fact that the

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We were met at the gate by Daniel, a ranger from Tinstwalo Lapalala who helped us load all our gear and gave us snacks and drinks for the 45 minute game drive to the main lodge.

Like typical guides, we both got stuck into refreshments and we were on our way. We then pulled a solid ‘client’ move and proceeded to grill Daniel about the reserve’s animals, about the river, the fishing, even guessing how many leopard there might be roaming around looking for something to eat. We soon realised that very few people had actually fished here before, a fact that got us super excited. It was only once we reached a bridge that we appreciated how pristine the Palala River is.

The clarity was the best I’ve seen from a bushveld stream in a long time. We could easily see many little minnows swimming around the slack back waters and there were bugs popping off the river. We were now very keen on getting rigged up and down to the water. About 15 mins later we arrived at the lodge where we met Dave the GM and Morné, the head guide, as well as the super friendly hospitality staff waiting for us with an exotic looking welcome drink and refresher towel. After a quick check in, orientation and a great lunch with a few beers we were taken to our rooms.

Now, where Justin and I currently guide on St. Brandon’s atoll (430km north-east of Mauritius), the island we stay on is about 400m long and 100m wide, so we are naturally used to living in smaller spaces. At Tintswalo Lapalala we were given the Xhosa Family suite which had been divided into two, one room for each of us. The rooms were out of this world… everything from the biggest bed I have ever seen to my own private pool and a shower that looked out onto the bush. The room alone was the size of the whole upstairs of the house I grew up in. Justin and I had a brief freak-out about how epic our rooms were and from there we just relaxed and let all the good things come.

The rooms were kept immaculate throughout our entire stay and we had everything we could possibly need: from a fireplace to a well-stocked mini bar. As soon as we got back from our morning fishing sessions and after a solid breakfast, having relaxing ice cold beers next to our pool was a daily thing. Speaking of breakfast, the food during our entire stay was top quality and this was the first time ever where I went home heavier after a fishing trip.

With three-course dinners, great lunches and breakfasts that kept us going all day, there was never a single moment where I wasn’t happily fed and satisfied.

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EVERY NOW AND THEN I’D HAVE TO REMIND MYSELF TO LOOK AROUND ME CAREFULLY, WONDERING ‘AM I BEING STALKED?’ ‘WHERE’S THE NEAREST BIG ROCK OR TREE TO CLIMB UP?’

But, the fishing was always the main reason for us being there. Tintswalo Lapalala has recently decided to offer fly fishing as an activity for guests staying at the lodge, so we realised that we could help the guides out by actually figuring out what kind of fishery they have there.

We were certainly not disappointed. On the first afternoon Dave, Daniel and Morné took us to a spot they had been to before and where they had caught a fish or two. The water looked superb with everything from riffles and laminar water to epic pool tail-outs and short rapid sections.

The reason we had three guides with us was because two of them were carrying rifles, while the third fished with us.

This is a wild area and we had to look out for things like hippo, crocs, buffalo, leopard and the rest of the Big Five.

They also have all of the “mean” snakes you can encounter when in the bush so, having guys who know what to look for and how to keep you safe from the animals, is very important. As uneasy as it is knowing you could be stalked by a spotted death cat or croc while tying on your size 16 nymph, it’s also great knowing there’s an experienced guide who has your back when there’s trouble. At very least there’s someone with you who is potentially slower than you so you can make it back to the Land Cruiser in time. I suppose it’s similar to what Justin and I have to do while out on the flats, i.e. making sure nothing eats the clients and making sure they come home at the end of the day in one piece and preferably with smiles on their faces.

While it may look like he is having his way with the pool filter, Milan Germishuizen is in fact wearing boardshorts while enjoying the view from his chalet’s private pool.

I decided to cross the river at a low water bridge while Justin went upstream looking for some faster flowing water.

Before the trip we had concluded that Euro nymphing would probably be the best way to catch the yellows we were targeting, as both the small scale and the large scale yellowfish tend, predominantly, to be bottom feeders because of the structure of their mouths. I had set up a drydropper rig on a floating line as well as two small streamers on an intermediate line to swing in the larger pools. Justin went for the Euro Nymphing rig and the intermediate line with two small streamers set up. We fished separately for a while and did a bit of exploring, checking out what bugs we could find and trying to spot fish moving. Every now and then I’d have to remind myself to look around me carefully, wondering ‘am I being stalked?’ ‘Where’s the nearest big rock or tree to climb up?’ Once that paranoia passed it was back to focusing on the fishing.

I met up with Justin a bit later as he was nymphing a beautiful run where we had rapids dumping into a large, deep pool. I had a feeling it was pretty deep when Dave noticed a big bull hippo in the bushes on the far side of the river. Luckily we were all safe higher up on the opposite bank. I was fishing the head of the pool when my dry shot under water and I went tight. The fish shook its head and went straight up a very strong part of the stream at a serious speed. I put a bit of pressure on it, but this fish just kept on going as if it didn’t even feel the tension.

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“WE ENDED UP WITH 14 LARGE SCALE YELLOWS, TWO SMALL SCALES AND A LOT OF CANARY KURPER.”

The fish made one more powerful surge before snapping my tippet. I dropped a few F-bombs because, whatever that was, it was big. A minute later Justin went tight on the nymphing rig and landed the first two yellows of the trip, hooking two small scales. He was very stoked by that as hooking two fish at once usually means losing both. This first afternoon session gave us some good insight into how we would target these fish in the coming days. The key was to find deeper flowing water where the fish could feed and be comfortable, while still being safe from the predators both from above and in the river.

with orange gill plates and an almost royal blue shine around their eyes. It’s really amazing to be able to catch these wild native fish where they’re meant to be. After a while I saw the rangers head downstream to check if it was clear for us to fish. I’ll never really get used to standing with a fly rod in my hand while listening to a game ranger telling me what to do if the buffalo (that just left a very fresh turd next to me) comes charging at us out of the bush. We found lots of signs that the buffalo were in the area -some a bit too close for comfort - but luckily they moved on and we were safe.

We fished a new section on the second day that the guides called Rapids, an epically breath taking spot with massive Jurassic Park-like cliffs and thick bush. This was my favourite spot as it’s where I landed two yellows and dropped a bunch more on the dry fly while working seams with my dry/dropper rig. The one fish ate a size 6 Chubby Chernobyl, which I usually fish during golden stonefly hatches in Idaho. So this meant that, even though these fish feed mainly on sub-surface aquatic invertebrates, they will still try eat the legs off a drowning grasshopper. This was all very exciting considering this trip was right at the ass-end of summer. If the yellows are still looking up at this time of year, things could get very exciting in a few months time. In the meantime, Justin was slaying them on the nymphing rig in the run just above me and landed another beautiful large scale yellow. These fish are really stunning

We were convinced we had found the spot so we decided to head back to the rapids for the afternoon session but, before we did that, Justin spotted a very tasty piece of water down stream from where we had the buffalo scare.

We crossed the river at the rapids and made our way down stream using hippo trails that were littered with hippo and leopard tracks, all our senses on high alert. You could smell the animals, that’s how wild a place it is. The only footprints I saw were Dave’s from where he was walking ahead of us with the rifle.

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Eventually all this walking through thick bush would be worth it when we found what was waiting for us downstream. Perfect water lay in front of us in the form of long fast-flowing sections with deep water where we knew the fish would be holding. I was awestruck by the

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T I N TSWA LO L A PA L A L A

SHOP THE MISSION

Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket - packs up small, perfect for chilly mornings on the water. patagonia.com

surroundings and missed a fish because I wasn’t paying attention. The further I headed downstream, the better it looked and I eventually found a spot with a high cliff on one side and thick bush on the other where I could see fish moving and sight fish them from a higher spot (away from the things that wanted to eat me). From up there I could quietly sit and sight fish to the yellows holding in the current below. This is what I had been looking for.

I caught a few decent large scales and called Justin and Dave to get in on the action as I was still seeing more fish.

When we eventually turned back towards the Cruiser, the light was beginning to fade. If that wasn’t a reason for us to pick up the pace, then the hippos calling from very close to us downstream definitely did the trick. We ended up with 14 large scale yellows, two small scales (one of which was an absolute beaut caught by Justin) and a lot of Canary kurper. There are also bass in the system but we weren’t super focused on them and caught a few as by-catch.

Tintswalo Lapalala is set in a very special place. The Palala River flowing through the reserve is pristine and I think that, with a little more exploration, it can be an amazing destination to target these indigenous species in a stunning setting. That, along with a world class lodge and the staff they employ, makes this a unique getaway and a must for anyone who has a passion for both the bushveld and fly fishing.

Costa 580 lenses in Sunrise Silver Mirror - the best lenses I’ve used for shade or low light. costadelmar.com

Vision Nymphmaniac 10’3 fly rod - delicate enough to feel slight takes with a serious backbone. tacticalangler.co.za

Sapmok Vellies- perfect bush shoes, the best Vellies around. sapmok.com

Orvis Tactical Sighter Tippet easy to see in high and low light conditions. flyfishing.co.za

Shilton CR 3 - Large arborpicks up line super fast. shiltonreels.com

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SALAD BAR

FISHPOND – NOMAD NETS Carry a net – that’s some of the best advice we can give you. Not only will a net help you successfully land more fish, but it will also help you take better care of the fish you do catch so you can return them to the water in good health. In the case of Fishpond’s Nomad range of brilliant carbon-fibre nets, they’re designed to work with Fishpond’s system of packs, belts, slings and bags, so they are seldom a bother when it comes to finding or stashing them. They just fit in and when you need them they are there. Now in stock at Frontier Fishing, you’ve got options from the

Nomad Mid-Length Boat Net (44.75” length), the Nomad Emerger River Armor Edition nets (32” length), the Nomad Hand Net (26” length) and the Nomad Native Net (25.5” length). Made from a carbon fibre and fiberglass composite (except for the River Armor Edition which also has Kevlar in the mix), these nets sport rubber nets, are UV-protected/ weatherproof, float like a cork and have a matte finish for a stronger grip. Available in a range of colours from Original to Riverbed Camo, Tailwater, River Armour and Brown Trout. fishpondusa.com, frontierflyfishing.co.za

REDINGTON - TILT EURO NYMPH FLY REEL Of all the sub-tribes of fly fishing, few nerd out to the same degree as the Euro nymph and comp clans when it comes to balancing their rigs. Redington’s TILT Euro Nymph Fly Reel was designed to give Euro Nymphers the control they crave by incorporating three one-ounce (28gm) removable weights so you can balance any rod perfectly. Featuring a fully machined, full-frame narrow large arbor design (which prevents narrow comp lines from slipping in between the frame and the spool), the TILT’s carbon fibre drag system will quickly put the brakes on any fish and let you retrieve line quickly. redington.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za

“DESIGNED TO GIVE EURO NYMPHERS THE CONTROL THEY CRAVE”

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XPLORER - CLASSIC 3.0 In a crowd of fly anglers in South Africa, it’s inevitable that someone owns or has owned an Xplorer Classic, they’re such a mainstay of the rod canon here and a pillar of the Xplorer brand. Launched over 20 years ago in 1999, over the decades they have progressed with the technology and the times from a 2-piece, to 3-piece and 4-piece, until last year the range was discontinued. Now they’re back with the Classic 3.0, which is a totally revamped new rod, featuring the latest advances in rod technology but with some retro finishes in the way of a nature-inspired Matt Blue blank with silver tipped wraps. The four-piece blanks have been totally redesigned and are light in the hand with a moderate to fast action.

Fitted with Pac Bay stripper and shard chrome snake guides, AA grade snub-nose cork grips, simplistic matt black double up-locking reel seats, they also feature a line weight indicator on the sliding hood, for easy recognition. A simple feature that we really like is the measured markings at 30cm, 40cm and 50cm along the butt section of the rod, so as to facilitate a quick indication of fish length, allowing you to focus on a quick and stress-free fish release. Available in a ‘Small fry’ 7’0” 5-weight, an 8’0” 4-weight and 9’0” 5-9-weight rods, with a protective Cordura-covered rod tube. xplorerflyfishing.co.za

“A TOTALLY REVAMPED NEW ROD, FEATURING THE LATEST ADVANCES IN ROD TECHNOLOGY BUT WITH SOME RETRO FINISHES”

CLIFF OUTDOORS - BUGGER BEAST JR. FLY BOX One of the OG fly box brands, Cliff Outdoors have a reputation for building large, hardy fly boxes that can handle pretty much any flies and any abuse. The Bugger Beast Jr. Fly Box is built with two pads of slotted foam for carrying a solid selection of big streamers. At 16.5cm x 26cm x 7cm, it’s perfect for saltwater flies or for those foam dungeons you have been tying for a float down the Orange river. cliffoutdoors.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za

UMPQUA - UPG HD MEDIUM DAYTRIPPER You get fly boxes and then you get FLY BOXES, boxes that do not break, that do not fail or leak or crack or get replaced after a couple of seasons. Umpqua’s range of bomb-proof and water-proof boxes belong to the latter category. Take the UPG HD Medium Daytripper for example. Highly durable and functional it has see-through lids to allow maximum visibility of contents while HD inserts provide strong fly-grip storage. From micro midges to terrestrials, this box is a great all-rounder on rivers and stillwaters. umpqua.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za

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SALAD BAR UMPQUA - ZS2 STEAMBOAT 1200 SLING PACK A sling that packs about as much as a backpack, yet gives you that easy swing-around access to all your stuff when you need it - what’s not to like about Umpqua’s Steamboat ZS2 sling? A thumb-loop allows for easy “slinging” from back to front for quick access to essentials. While a large main compartment easily holds a light rain jacket, lunch and a big fly box, the secondary face pocket is great for accessory organization and storage of smaller fly boxes. “Feature-rich” is a favoured description of tech writers when describing the latest, new phone to market, but it’s the perfect description for this sling, because it has or does just about everything you could think of.

1 x ZS Retractor Stations – with hypalon attachment band - check. 2 x ambidextrous ZS Hemostat Grab Tabs – check. 2 x ZS Foam Fly Patch Station – on shoulder and body, including one foam fly patch – check. 1 x Net Slot which runs full length of back panel – check. 1 x “stowable” ZS Cord Tippet Holder, 2 x Stretch Mesh Pockets, 1 x Vented Back Panel, 2 x Molle Modular Attachment Station and closed-foot zipper sliders (to minimize line-snag) – check, check check, check and check. Then, if you stay within the Umpqua ecosystem, there’s a bunch of compatible products from extra fly patches to floatant, tippet and water bottle holders that will slot in too. umpqua.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za

SIMMS - FLYWEIGHT WET WADING SHOE Big, toe and ankle-protecting boots are great, essential even, but for certain applications – like charging up a mountain in search of skinny streams or getting in and out of boats on a float trip - they can be cumbersome, heavy and overkill. Sometimes you want to be able to keep things light. That’s where the Simms Flyweight® Wet Wading Shoe comes in. A lightweight, hiking-inspired, wet wading shoe for moving fast on warm days, these hardy trudgers shave excess ounces in exchange for pacesetting comfort and hard-charging traction in pushy water and across slick, unforgiving terrain. Designed to be worn next to skin or with a thin knit sock, they have a low-profile, lightweight, synthetic, highly abrasion-resistant mesh boot upper, a welded TPU film in high abrasion zones for added durability, a web lacing system for lightweight comfort, a comfortable, high-cushion midsole and a Vibram® outsole for outstanding grip. simmsfishing.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za

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RIO - PREMIER OUTBOUND SHORT THERMO-NUCLEAR MISSILES INCOMING! For those that love casting colossal flies long distances to big fish (a satisfying pastime even if no fish were involved) – Rio’s Outbound Short with its short, aggressive taper and powerful head design is a go-to line. It loads deeply and quickly and serves up incredible distance with each cast. Now, this favourite is available with SlickCast, Rio’s new ultra-slick and durable coating, so you can expect even more performance. Available in Floating, Intermediate, Float/Hover/Intermediate, Int/S3/S5, Int/ S5/S7 and an extra fast sink Dredger S7. rioproducts.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za

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Distributed by Xplorer fly fishing www.xplorerflyfishing.co.za contact 031-5647368

L AT ES T R E L E A S ES

SALAD BAR

THE MISSION - SKULL ISLAND CAPTAIN’S CAPS Behold! We give you the loose, unstructured goodness of our new range of 100% cotton twill Captain’s caps featuring our Skull Island logo and peak rope. 100% made in South Africa, they come in the orange and blue or grey and orange iterations. Artwork by Conrad Botes. themissionflymag.com

“LOOSE, UNSTRUCTURED GOODNESS”

ORVIS - VINTAGE WAXED COTTON BALL CAP If you’re a ball cap guy, you’re a ball cap guy. No wide-brimmed or floppy will change your mind. But, in cooler temps or when rain is forecast, it helps to have a cap that can take a bit of weather. Orvis’s Vintage Waxed Cotton Ball Caps both shed the rain and shield your face all day from the sun. And, as is the way of waxed cotton, the more you wear it, the better it will look. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za

SIMMS - GORE-TEX INFINIUM HALF FINGER When it’s colder than a snow leopard’s scrote on a frozen stillwater, give frostbite the middle (half) finger with these Simms half-finger fleece glove from Simms. Designed to keep your digits warm enough to keep functioning, but to allow your fingers to still tie knots, grip line and pick your nose, these gloves are made with GORE-TEX Infinium™ stretch fleece with TPU palm overlays and feature webbing pull tabs for quick and easy removal, a stretch gasket cuff for DryCuff™ outerwear integration and pairing snaps. simmsfishing.com, frontierflyfishing.co.za

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SIMMS - EVERYDAY BEANIE When your significant other says that your choice of camo clothing kills their libido faster than a full album of Cannibal Corpse in the boudoir, they don’t mean it. After all, who would not want to wear a camo beanie as shweeet as this? Made from knit polyester, with a stretch fit for everyday comfort no matter how massive your melon is, it can also back-up as a reel case when needed. Available in Dark Moon too at Frontier Fly Fishing if you do believe your significant other. simmsfishing.com, frontierflyfishing.co.za

SIMMS - GORE-TEX INFINIUM NECK GAITER You’re used to wearing a buff or gaiter for warm weather (or to the supermarket under Covid-times), but it’s definitely worth getting on the cold weather gaiter train if you haven’t already. The GORE-TEX Infinium™ stretch neck gaiter from Simms is a windproof, breathable fleece with DWR coating, a polyester/spandex backpanel for a comfortable, stretch fit and TPU coated laser cut breathing holes so you can wrap up, continue to breathe AND not fog up your shades. simmsfishing.com, frontierflyfishing.co.za

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ORVIS - HORSESHOE HILLS QUARTER-ZIP FLEECE A heavy fleece or puffy jacket can leave you sweating like Marcus Jooste after 1000 stick fights in Hades, which is why in-between layers are such an essential part of your fly fishing wardrobe. This polyester/spandex quarter-zip fleece from Orvis hits the Goldilocks Zone perfectly. The fleeced back’s air pockets trap heat and wick moisture to keep you warm and dry. Raglan sleeves ensure a comfortable range of motion, while the smooth exterior (with no side seams) helps reduce chafing when you’re busting out full-range casts. A shaped back hem provides full coverage, while the quarter-zip neck allows you to control the temperature as you please. A large zippered vertical pocket lets you secure valuables. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za

ORVIS - MEN’S ULTRALIGHT STORM JACKET This ultralight waterproof storm jacket packs into your daypack or carry-on for anything from a sudden downpour to a constant drizzle. It features a stretch 2.5 layer waterproof breathable nylon shell with raised dry-touch coating interior that increases comfort and air flow. Then to keep the water out, there’s a YKK AquaGuard® water-resistant zipper, zippered pockets, an adjustable storm hood with laminated brim, cuffs with hook-and-loop closures, and a hem with dual cinches. Best of all, it rolls and packs into its own hood so it’s there when you need it, but stows away when you don’t. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za

HOWLER BROTHERS - MATAGORDA FISHING SHIRT .With a simple pocket configuration to keep essentials close at hand, a button-down collar, roll-up sleeve tabs, and a vented rear yoke for air flow – Howler’s Matagorda shirt is a technical garment but the cut and under-stated style means you could wear it when you’re not fishing too. Constructed of light, quick drying nylon-poly blend with engineered stretch, it also features UPF 35 sun protection and sunglass cleaning microfiber sewn in at the hem. It’s a shirt to fish in, travel in or hit the bar in. howlerbros.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za

SKOUT - SUN HOODIES We love seeing the rise of local South African fly fishing apparel. The side hustle of chef Kyle Knight, Skout is a new, homegrown fly fishing gear brand who make great sun hoodies with a twist. Made from recycled materials, the fabric is UPF 50 (blocking 98% of the sun’s UV rays), breathable, lightweight, quick drying and locally produced.

Available in camo, charcoal blue and sky blue in ladies’ and men’s’ sizes and cuts, they’re suitable for most conditions from fresh to salt, warm or cold. streamandsea.com

DEEP WANTS

PAY DAY FIND BAL ANCE WITH AN EXERCISE AID TO GET YOU BACK OUT THERE, A PIPE AND A SOME NIFTY PINT GL ASSES ZLAANTBOARD The early season wobbles. If you’re under 35 you may not know what those are, but if you are a little older or have had some serious injuries over the years you will know exactly what we’re talking about. It’s when your ageing meat-bag of a body struggles on the water with things you used to take for granted. Leaping from boulder to boulder in a small stream, keeping your balance on a wobbly rock while executing a cast at rising fish, lowering yourself down into a pool without sending bow waves across it scaring the fish - these simple actions get harder the older we get because of 1) ageing, 2) sedentary lifestyles where we spend too much time sitting on our arses and 3) injuries.

That’s where the ingenious Zlaantboard comes in.

Conceived by chiropractor Dr Jess Bruins Roberts and Dr Sean Gomes (the man behind Wellness Warehouse), the Zlaant is a strength and recovery tool (beloved by trailrunners and mountain-bikers) designed to get you back out there stronger and more flexible than ever before.

From ankles to knees and hips, there’s a vast range of proprioceptive exercises you can do on the board that are designed to work those mysterious stabiliser muscles, improve your flexibility, help you recover from injury and supplement any other training you’re doing. If you put in the time and effort, when river season opens, or that big trip you have been waiting for finally rolls around, you will be in such tip-top shape even your 20-year-old self would be jealous. zlaant.com

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DANGLE SUPPLY - TI COBB TITANIUM PIPE Just to even things out a little on the health front (it’s all about balance, right?), we love the look of these titanium pipes made by Dangle Supply. At 70mm the Ti Cobb is the smallest of the range, perfect for your fishing pack stash. Those with Gandalf or Liewe Heksie ambitions (and more pack space) should check out Dangle Supply’s WizardStix and WitchStix, which feature bigger bowls and much longer pipes to keep things cool and tasty. danglesupply.com

ORVIS - ANGLER’S PINT GLASS Whether you go for the permit glass (for your yacht moored in the Seychelles), the brown trout (for your cabin in the mountains) or the rainbow (for your for home bar), these nifty 21.5 ounce/ 625ml Orvis pint glasses with full-colour, scientific fish and fly rod illustrations by artist Karen Talbot are perfect for cheersing frothy success or drowning ‘the one that got away’ sorrows. Available in permit, brown trout or rainbow trout iterations at Mavungana Flyfishing. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za

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THE LITTLE GUY

DEREK SMITH A S O N E O F S O U T H A F R I CA’ S T O P ROD BUILDERS, RETIRED BANKER DEREK SMITH’S WORK ON SAGE, E P I C A N D C T S B L A N K S I S H I G H LY S O U G H T A F T E R BY A N G L E R S I N T H E K N O W. Photo. Derek Smith

Who are you?

I was born, schooled and worked in Johannesburg. I am married to Dalene and have two kids, Gavin and Megan.

I finished school at KES, and then studied chemistry, IT and business management at Wits Tech/UNISA. I recently retired from Standard Bank where I had worked for 27 years.

Derek Smith on the left with yellowfish legend Horst Filter.

I started building fly rods more than 30 years ago after buying a rod-building kit from Roger Baert at the Fly Fisherman in Pietermaritzburg. My first rod was an Orvis Superfine 7’9” 2-weight’. This was the lightest fly rod around and quite a revelation at the time. I built a few Orvis rods for friends, but was blown away by the first Sage blank I saw at the old Laxton’s shop. I’ve been on a Sage mission ever since.

During the 90’s, I built many rods for various shops and private customers. These days I build mainly for private customers, many of whom have become good friends over the years.

Rod building is not difficult but does require dexterous fingers and lots of patience. You’d be surprised how many of my friends can’t wrap a single snake guide onto a blank within 30 minutes. I wrap and varnish my rods by hand. I have found this to be the best method. I turn my cork grips on a mandrel and never on the blank. It takes about eight hours to build a rod with 24 hours drying time between the two coats of epoxy. Basic rod-building consists of making the grip and reel seat, wrapping guides and varnishing.

Currently, finding decent cork is a big issue and the cost of good cork is about 1€ per half inch ring.

What do you specialise in?

I only build fly rods, some fibreglass but mostly carbon fibre fly rods. I love the performance qualities of modern day materials. I did play around with bamboo a bit, but was not passionate about the material. I think modern glass rods are better than bamboo rods in every sense. Glass rods are great in 6-8’ length and 0-5 weight space. Anything heavier is probably better in carbon. Fibreglass can also be dyed different colours to allow for some amazing-looking rod blanks.

What should we watch out for?

Each year I’ve tried to master a new skill with the intention of improving the quality of my rods. I’ve tried new guides, threads, varnish and cork. I’ve been collecting local and indigenous burls for reel seats for many years and now have an awesome collection. Fibreglass fly rods are great fun and, if you haven’t tried one, it’s a must. Recently, there has been a move away from ultra-fast rods and medium fast rods are more fun to fish and cast.

Currently finding a line for a new rod is a real challenge.

Many new rods are super-fast (read stiff) and require a line weight one or two more than indicated on the rod.

To compensate, some line manufacturers have made their lines heavier and it’s now really important to cast a new line on your rod before buying it.

Over the years Sage has been the standout blank manufacturer with many generations of great fly rods. Sage recently replaced a Sage LL 279 blank that I built 25 years ago at a nominal cost - not many fly rod companies could do that after five years. Over the years I’ve built many different blanks but I am super impressed with Sage, Scott and Winston rods. More recently I’ve been building lots of Epic and CTS blanks (NZ) both of which are top quality and compete favourably with the best that comes out of the US. I’ve also seen some quality blanks coming out of Asia and the gap is narrowing quite quickly.

Now that I’m retired I’m building more rods and intending to travel and fish a lot more.

To check out Derek’s work, visit facebook.com/dereksmithcustomflyrods

LIFER

THE ALL ROUNDER FROM REPRESENTING, C A P TA I N I N G A N D C O A C H I N G S O U T H A F R I C A N F LY F I S H I N G TEAMS ALL OVER THE WORLD, TO WHISPERING TO SPOTTED GRUNTER ON THE SANDBANKS OF THE BREEDE RIVER, FIGHTING GEETS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN OR SNAPPER IN GABON, WE KNOW VERY FEW ANGLERS WHO C A N M AT C H M C C O E T Z E R F O R ALL-ROUND SKILLS. MASSIVE STREAMERS, MICRO-NYMPHS, S A LT, F R E S H , B I G O R S M A L L , M C W I L L O U T- F I S H U S A L L .

Photos. Conrad Botes, Jannie Visser and Matt Gorlei

Nobody else in my family has any interest in fishing so, as a kid, getting to water was always a challenge. I can remember my Dad buying my first solid glass fibre bait fishing rod with a grinder when I was probably about six years old. I used this rod to catch canary kurper on worms in the Hartebeespoort Dam. When you grow up in a nonfishing family your fishing only really starts when you get your driving licence and I was no exception. All of a sudden, I could go and fish as often as I’d like.

I grew up in Pretoria and lived there until I finished varsity in 1995. Varsity wasn’t so much about studying law as it was about catching as many barbel on fly as possible.

I used to take a drive out to Hartebeespoort Dam to catch barbel almost every single day of the season and most weekends were spent chasing trout in Mpumalanga or yellows on the Vaal River. The day that I wrote my last exam paper I jumped on a plane to Mozambique and lived there for about two years before moving down to Cape Town in 1997.

While studying I worked as a waiter and, to fund my fishing tackle, I also tied flies commercially for Solly’s Anglers’ Corner. Owner Ebrahim Mia kept a book where he recorded all the flies I delivered to him and the cost of my fly fishing tackle was simply deducted from the

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value of flies I had supplied. I tied only four patterns. For barbel it was the good old Half Chicken and for saltwater it was Surf Candies, Deceivers and Clousers. After varsity I spent two years guiding on Bazaruto Island, Mozambique.

I was supposed to go there to start a fly-tying factory for Flyfishers Unlimited but guiding offered me more time to fly fish, so the factory idea quickly fell way. I moved to Cape Town where I ran a fly fishing store for Flyfishers Unlimited for a couple of years before getting married and, due to severe spousal pressure, started a real nine-to-five job as an attorney.

In terms of routine, I get up before five every morning and every day starts with a cup of coffee at the fly-tying desk before heading to the office. When I was a kid I told my folks that I would never do the whole nine-tofive work thing the way they did. They remind me of this as often as possible.

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Smokin’ MC Coetzer busting out casts on a remote estuary in Gabon.

Cape Town, where I live, offers a pretty diverse range of fishing options. You can be fishing a dry fly for trout in a wild freestone river; casting at yellowfin tuna; walking a sand flat for grunter or catching Cob in the surf all within two hours from home. My first choice would, however, always be to wade a white sand flat at Infanta for cruising grunter.

The best advice I have ever been given was, “You only live once, make the most of it.”

When it comes to the most satisfying fish I have ever caught, many fish come to mind but one that stands out is a parrot fish I caught at Bassas da India (a French atoll in the southern Mozambique Channel). We were getting loads of hook ups on these parrot fish that weighed probably seven to ten kilos, but we were hooking them on the edge of a sharp coral drop off where almost every fish

would pop the forty pound fluoro. After three days I finally managed to land my first fish and even that one would have reefed me if my friend, Jannie Visser, hadn’t run out ahead of the fish to block its route to the edge of the coral.

Proper happiness!

One place I have to return to on the saltwater side is definitely Bassas da India. From a fishing perspective Bassas is like a snap shot of what all our waters must have been like a thousand years ago. I had dreamt of fishing Bassas since learning of it back in the 1990s but it was only in 2011 that we managed to get a group together to actually go there. The trip was littered with incidents where things could have gone horribly wrong but, despite our skipper, our group of friends made it through with some serious memories and fish. Unfortunately, it’s virtually impossible to get to Bassas anymore but if the French government should fall or go broke to the extent that they

cannot afford to patrol the waters around it, I’ll be on the first yacht out there. On the freshwater side it will have to be the Ribnik River in Bosnia. I have not seen a better and more technical sight fishery for large grayling and brown trout anywhere else. This is unquestionably a river that everybody should get to fish at least once in their lives.

I don’t regret going fishing anywhere in the world but I’d be very hard pressed to fish a commercial trout fishery.

As long as the company is good you can put me on any piece of water.

I’ve been involved in competitive fly fishing since 2001 and in that time I’ve avoided the debate between guys who are in favour of or against comp fishing. It’s definitely the safer space to be in and I do not believe that it’s possible to change the views expressed by the small group of very vocal fly fishers on either side of the debate.

I can understand that a lot of guys believe that our sport is not one that should be competitive as it goes against tradition or the ethos of the sport. It makes absolute sense and to an extent I agree with this attitude. Comp fishing is however much more than simply seeing who can catch the most fish to get bragging rights. If that is your goal, then you are definitely in the wrong place.

Only a very small portion of fly fishers in South Africa take part in competitive fly fishing and I believe that the guys who do not take part are missing out on the best learning experience available. In other parts of the world comp fishermen are seen as the driving force behind the development of new tackle and they’re certainly at the forefront of developing new techniques. The relationship between European freshwater comp fishermen and the development of tackle and techniques is very similar to the relationship between saltwater guides and the development of saltwater tackle and techniques. If you are opposed to the idea of competition in flyfishing, then don’t compete but, do yourself a favour and spend a day with somebody like Daniel Factor or Maddy Rich. You will learn more in a day’s fishing with them, than you will learn in many years of fly fishing on your own or from speaking to somebody in a tackle shop. Their knowledge and enthusiasm will definitely have a positive impact on your fishing. The vast majority of comp fishers take part in the sport not to win a competition, but simply to get better at what they enjoy because of the knowledge that is shared freely between even opposing teams. Non-competitive fly fishers seem to believe that the competition guys only use Czech Nymphing techniques and that this is not “real” fly fishing. To do well at competitive fly fishing you have

to learn how to fish all the techniques out there and these include fishing tiny dry flies, swinging wet flies, dry-anddropper techniques and every other available technique.

Technically the fishing is now extremely refined and there is a lot to learn from the competitive guys. If you don’t like one or the other technique, then don’t use it, but go and experience what they have to offer before you knock it.

Comp fishing has allowed me to fish for trout and grayling on some of the best rivers and still waters in the world. Not only do you get to fish these waters, you do so with the most knowledgeable local fly fishers and, after the actual competition, you get to fish with and discuss the fisheries with the best international competition guys. Besides being exposed to different waters and techniques that I would never have learnt, it’s taught me to pay attention to those aspects that you have control over. Always do proper research (even for a social trip), get your rigging and fly-tying spot on and work hard when you’re fishing. You cannot control the bad weather or the cold water but if you prepare well and work hard, you can make the most of the shitty hand that you’re dealt or you can really knock it out the park on those days when the stars align. I’ve been coaching the junior Protea fly fishing teams since 2008 and through the years I’ve met and fished with some incredibly talented youngsters. Guys like Daniel Factor, Matt Gorlei, Christiaan Pretorius and Nick van Rensburg come to mind but there are many more. It’s been such a privilege to fish with all of them and it’s great to be able to watch them grow older and wiser as they go about their lives.

Modern nymph fishing techniques (as a group of different styles) are commonly referred to as Euro Nymph fishing. When somebody explains the basic ideas to you it seems fairly simple but believe me, it’s not that easy at all and I work at it at whenever I get to fish for trout or yellowfish. For the past number of years I’ve enjoyed fishing a single micro nymph most of all. The challenge is to control the sink rate and remain in contact with small #18 or #20 nymphs at long range. This is an ongoing process that I may never get quite right but I catch enough fish while trying.

The best way to face one’s fears is with an attorney and a doctor.

I am very happy with life in general. If I can spend more time with my family and go on a few more incredible fishing trips with close friends I’ll die a happy man.

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“FISHING WITH GOOD FRIENDS IS NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT FOR ME AND I’LL HAPPILY WATCH MY MATES FISH WITHOUT THE NEED TO RUSH ONTO THE WATER”

“WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THE ONLY REASON WHY WE CATCH MORE FISH THAN OUR FRIENDS IS THAT WE HAVE ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE IN THE FLIES WE FISH.” I have no doubt that spotted grunter on sand with clean water is the greatest challenge on a fly. Up until about five years ago it was a rarity to see anybody fish for grunter on fly and we pretty much had the mud flats to ourselves.

Sight fishing JAMs to tailing fish was challenging but we got enough fish to keep us interested. This all changed when Floating Turd flies started popping up and all of a sudden every Tom, Dick and Harry was catching grunter by the dozen. The mud flats were crowded with fly fishers and everybody was catching fish. Make no mistake, I also fish Turds a lot, but it’s a pretty brainless pursuit. I always think of it as being the same as fishing a small lake stocked with a single hatchery-bred trout. You keep on casting and eventually he’s going to find the fly and when he does he’s going to smash it like there’s no tomorrow. Sometimes fish are just dumb like that. On sand, grunter are a completely different kettle of fish. Most people consider permit to be the ultimate challenge on a fly. I’m no expert at catching permit and, in fact, I’ve only ever caught one, so take my opinion on this with a big pot of salt. As I see it, the “problem” with permit isn’t so much to get them to eat as it is in actually getting enough shots at them. With grunter you can sometimes get hundreds of shots at cruising fish per session but these fish on sand are generally not there

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to feed. They are simply waiting on the tide or moving along the edges of slight depressions to get to deeper channels. Convincing one to eat a fly that they’re not expecting to find on sand is a proper challenge. Jannie and I spend a lot of time chasing Grunter on sand and we are relatively successful. We firmly believe that the only reason why we catch more fish than our friends is that we have absolute confidence in the flies we fish. The flies are no better than anybody else’s flies, it’s just that we believe that we will find the “right” fish and that he will eat the fly when we cross paths.

In the early days fishing was, for me, only about catching fish… as many big fish as I could lay my hands on and the flavour didn’t matter one bit. Over the last number of years the whole experience has however become more important. Fishing with good friends is now the most important aspect for me and I’ll happily watch my mates fish without the need to rush onto the water to get my fair share of pulls. Rough trips down the Orange River in the Richtersveld or to a jungle fishery in Gabon with close friends is as good as life can get.

The last fish I caught was a yellowfin tuna off Cape Point.

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E: fish@upstreamflyfishing.co.za

SEYCHELLES

www.upstreamflyfishing.co.za

ORANGE RIVER

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NEW RANGE COMING SOON

Visit the shop: 274 Main Road, Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa, 7708

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Stephan Dombaj Jnr. of Fly Fishing Nation

POP QUIZ D O YO U H AV E A B E A U T I F U L M I N D O R D O YO U N E E D T O R E W I N D ?

TA K E O U R Q U I Z T O S E E W H AT YO U M A N A G E D T O P I C K U P F R O M T H E PA G ES O F T H I S I S S U E .

2. The tributary of the Bokspruit fished by Pierre Joubert and his mates was (page 34) A. The Bokdrol B. The Snotkop C. The Bothwell D. The Skepskop E. The Rifle F. The Bomb 3. The pinky finger on Jasper Pääkkönen’s left hand, which he almost lost to a GT incident in the Seychelles, is famous for (page 48) A. Fokkol.

B. In Vikings, during the second Battle of Kattegat, just as his brother Harald impaled him on a spear, Jasper as Halfdan held up his pinky to mock his brother’s manhood one last time before heading to the all you can eat buffet in Valhalla.

C. As KKK zealot Felix Kendrickson in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, while his right hand pointed a gun, the left pinky operated the polygraph test that Kendrickson forced Adam Driver’s character, Flip Zimmerman, to take because Kendrickson suspected Flip of being Jewish.

D. In Da 5 Bloods Jasper played Seppo Havelin (a name derived from Jasper’s father’s first name and his mother’s maiden name), a

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member of landmine removal experts LAMB. His left pinky stirs a drink in a Ho Chi Minh City bar, before later getting blown up with the rest of him when he ran over a landmine.

4. Which of the following is not a viable target on fly in Chinko (page 68) A. Carassius auratus B. Hydrocynus vittatus C. Lates niloticus D. Chrysichthys cranchi E. Heterobranchus longifilis F. Labeo lineatus 5. Which animals were Milan Germishuizen and Justin Rollinson not worried about while fishing the river at Tintsawalo Lapalala in the Waterberg (page 82) A. Snappy flat-dogs B. Spotted death-cats C. Vindictive danger-cows D. Eagles of Death Metal E. Slither-Me-Timbers F. Ill-tempered aqua-pigs 6. If the French government were to fall or go broke tomorrow, MC Coetzer would (page 102) A. Hold them to account in court and recommend the guillotine.

B. Light a smoke, pour a glass of red and ask Brigitte Macron for a date.

C. Storm the Bastille, fly rod in hand.

D. Be on the first yacht to Bassas da India.

E. Challenge the intellectual copyright around French nymphing.

Answers: 1. A & E, 2. E, 3. A, 4. A (goldfish), 5. D, 6. B (probably) and D

1. Which of the following was not something Leigh Perkins was known for (page 22) A. Wearing a freshly butchered deer skin to dinner.

B. Eating the contents of the crop of the first bird dropped on a shoot.

C. Bringing his first turkey of the season into the bed he shared with his wife.

D. Letting his dogs through the lounge window so they could climb on the couches.

E. His chicken soup recipe.

W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

KOBTOBER! EVERY YEAR ON THE BREEDE RIVER, FROM SEPTEMBER INTO OCTOBER (AKA KOBTOBER) AND NOVEMBER, THE KOB FISHING MOVES INTO ANOTHER GEAR, WHILE THE SPOTTED GRUNTER ALSO COME OUT TO PLAY. HAVING CONSULTED THE LOCALS, EVALUATED THE TIDES AND SACRIFICED TO THE GODS, LUCKY BASTARDS HAS SECURED THE PRIME WEEKS AT KAROOLSKRAAL FLY FISHING CAMP OVER THIS PERIOD. ACCOMMODATION IS IN COMFORTABLE SAFARI TENTS (YOU CAN STAND UP IN THEM) AND ALL MEALS ARE INCLUDED. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS ROCK UP AND FISH TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT. BOOK NOW TO JOIN LUCKY BASTARDS FOR SOME OF THE BEST SALTWATER FLY FISHING IN SOUTH AFRICA. EMAIL INFO@THEMLUCKYBASTARDS.COM TO SECURE YOUR SPOT. VISIT THEMLUCKYBASTARDS.COM FOR MORE.

SIMM_2021

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