High Fives

HIGH FIVES MARLIZE ‘BLOM’ HEYNS

FROM THE FLATS OF SUDAN TO THE RIVERS OF TANZANIA AND THE WORLD CHAMPS IN NORWAY, SOUTH AFRICA’S TOP-RANKED WOMEN’S ANGLER MARLIZE ‘BLOM’ HEYNS IS KICKING ASS AND TAKING NAMES.

Photos. Marlize ’Blom’ Heyns

5 best things about where you fish?

1. The places we fish are so diverse and each place has its own method of madness. I guess that is what intrigues me the most. 2. The people I travel and fish with. What a bunch of mad, crazy peeps with never a dull moment. 3. Clear freshwater streams in the mountains and knowing they’re pristine. 4. Croc and hippo-infested rivers in Africa. There is always a sense of danger and adrenaline flowing at an all - time high. 5. Saltwater walking and stalking. Knowing that we are the only people in that area for miles and miles.

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

1. “Fishing Crew” (they are as important to me as my fishing gear, with someone carrying the big JBL Boombox in tow). 2. Some currency and smokes in my pocket. 3. My lucky cap (blue, red and white Simms). 4. Proper polarized sunnies (Bajio or Costas). 5. A bottle of Moët.

5 thing you are loving right now?

1. Love my job as an executive Chef – creating food with my own twist. 2. Being home when I’m not on the water.

Blom and a Sudanese triggerfish compare dentistry.

3. My two cats Yeti and Rafiki. 4. Pro-create app on my iPad. I can spend hours drawing on it. It keeps me out of trouble when I’m not fishing. 5. Prepping mentally and physically for Norway (the first ladies fly fishing world championships).

5 indispensable flies for saltwater?

1. Tan Alflexo/alphlexo crab for that lovable but infuriating trigger fish. 2. Golden knight (killer of a fly) for bone fish. The most fun to catch. 3. Any squid imitation. 4. Brush fly- Ferrari red for slaying the GTs on Astove. 5. Spawning shrimp.

5 indispensable flies for freshwater?

1. Blowtorch. 2. Carrot fly. 3. Very secret fly (Heh heh). 4. Brush fly. 5. Game Changer.

5 favourite fly-fishing destinations across Africa?

1. Bushman’s River. 2. Cape streams. 3. Tanzania. 4. Sudan (Red Sea). 5. Orange River.

“Squeeze those delts and gimme 10 reps!” Blom practices her lateral tiger raises with Dan Factor.

5 favourite fly-fishing destinations globally?

1. Astove Atoll, Seychelles. 2. Nubian flats. Sudan- Northeast Africa. 3. Tanzania – the Mnyera and Ruhudji Rivers. 4. New Zealand. 5. Okavango (not big fish but an unbelievable experience).

5 of the most difficult competition experiences so far?

1. Probably going into the Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand 2020, when Covid, the globe and everything was unknown. 2. Catching over twenty fish but not one got measured because of the size limit. 3. Losing all my fly boxes in the Diablo River in Canada after a big fall. What a f##$@@ck up. 4. Getting drenched in a very cold session can be very unpleasant, and I’ve had a few of those. 5. Doing so well in a comp for four sessions and then not catching a fish in the last session (ahhhh).

5 of the best things you have picked up from competition fishing?

1. Making a shitload of friends with the same competitive vibe and passion. 2. Working efficiently on the water. 3. Reading water and different situations and adapting accordingly 4. Not overcomplicating anything. 5. Shit happens - deal with it! Be creative.

5 of the worst things you have picked up from competitive fishing?

1. Still being competitive even if we are fishing in “down time”. 2. Being too hard on myself. 3. Sometimes my airtime runs out and the signal is lost. All English becomes Afrikaans. 4. Not appreciating the beautiful surroundings in these wonderful places while you are trying to beat people. 5. Forgetting to follow my process and just having a good laugh (game face).

5 flies to pack in smuggler kit to cover most species?

1. A variety of PTN Nymphs – yellows, trout, grayling. 2. Cdc elk hair caddis – yellows, trout, grayling, 3. Jig buggers – good all rounded pattern, from swinging to stripping. 4. Spawning Shrimp –various saltwater species. 5. Brush fly - GTs, tigers, blue fin trevally and big-ass trout.

5 people you would like to fish with?

1. My mother. I will fish with her any day. 2. Captain Jack Sparrow - the version that never dies and always has rum on hand. 3. Bear Grylls. 4. Pablo, the mysterious man. Daniel Factor would say he is, ‘the Godfather of nymphing and dry fly fishing’. 5. Simone Sharman because she protects me from sharks while diving and fishing.

5 fish on your species hit list?

1. Golden Dorado, but with a sweet take in clear water. 2. Siberian Taimen, “The BEEEEEEEG ones”. 3. Permit – I always see them, but have never had a shot at one. 4. 100cm plus GT somewhere in the salt - hopefully it happens one day. 5. Sight fishing to big tarpon and not knowing what hit me after it takes off.

5 shower thoughts that have occurred while fly fishing?

1. That there is a Sasquatch watching me. 2. How unbelievably lucky I am! Blessed and cursed because tackle is so damn expensive. 3. How nature is one of the toughest things. Some days I will look at a shrub or tree and wonder WTF. How did it get there and what did it have to go through. 4. What is for dinner because I’m always hungry. 5. What mood is Mother Nature in today? I probably talk more to the wind than anything else. “Maar Hoekom?” (But why?).

5 underrated fish species?

1. Smallmouth yellows. 2. Needlefish because they are feisty and fun. 3. My goldfish because each one of them has their own personality. 4. Carp on fly. 5. Muddies, they are little tanks.

5 things outside of fishing that makes where you fish special?

1. The people and their cultures. 2. Traditional foods. 3. Scuba diving in the Red Sea an hour after catching a trigger fish. OMG it was unbelievable! 4. When walking on the salt flats and seeing and feeling the different tides from day to day. 5. The sunrise and sunset in Africa.

5 bucket list destinations?

1. South America – Golden Dorado. 2. Cameroon – Nile perch. 3. Farquhar Atoll. 4. Costa Rica - tarpon. 5. Providence Atoll.

“THERE IS A SASQUATCH WATCHING ME”

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

1. Photography and videography because we see so many untouched places but don’t document them as we should. 2. Learning more about the things surrounding me, like plants and birdlife. I’m always too busy fishing and I’ve learned that I need to be a part of the experience and not just a passenger. 3. Write an adventurous cookbook involving earthly ingredients and my personal fishing experiences in collaboration with former guide, Brent Visagie. 4. Probably go crazy. 5. Anything to do with art.

5 things about fly fishing I might never understand

1. One is never enough. 2. Seeing any fish take a fly out there, releasing it and still not understanding how it continues to make us come back for more and more. 3. Was that luck or technique that made me catch that fish? 4. So grateful that everyone is not into fishing but also, why are they not into fishing? Because it is so sacred for me. 5. The wind is always blowing in the wrong direction.

5 essential ingredients for a mission

1. The people you are missioning with. 2. Good shampoo and conditioner. 3. Flip flops- there are thorns out there, people! 4. iPhone and sat phone (videos, pics and in case you are in big shit). 5. Ice (lots) and booze.

5 flies that makes no sense but work

1. Blob. 2. Mop fly. 3. Bung. 4. Spaghetti fly. 5. Fritz fly (Christmasy sparkle fly)

Your last 5 last casts were to?

1. Brown trout while training for the 1st WLFFC (World Ladies Fly Fishing Championship) in Norway. 2. Bonefish – Astove. 3. GTs - Astove 4. Trout – at Dan Factor’s new trout farm in Johannesburg. 5. Triggers - Astove (favourite fish ever - so far).