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Mike Williams gets knee-deep in next year’s river on his way to find today’s trout. Metolius River, OR. Arian Stevens © 2024 Patagonia, Inc.
34. YELLOWTAIL ON MARS
Caught between worlds – that of heathens and clowns, and any puritanical fly-only instincts he might have once held – LeRoy Botha had to make a call. What’s a soul worth anyway?
42. SLAP AND WIGGLE
Beckoned to a remote stretch of the lower Vaal River run by Diamond River Outfitters, Platon Trakoshis and Jazz Kuschke discovered treasure: big, elusive largemouth yellowfish, and other hidden gems.
54. MEETING THE KING
We sometimes tell ourselves that we have no expectations from a trip and that, whatever happens, we will be happy just to be there. That was Ewan Naude’s approach on a recent trip to Gabon, but then tarpon pitched up and everything changed.
66. NEW ZEALAND - RECURRING DREAM
Writing from the comfort of his desk in Spain, photographer Álvaro G. Santillán reminisces about his multiple journeys into the land of elves, orcs and monstrous trout.
96. BIKEPACKING AND FLY FISHING 101
Taking your life with you on a bike means minimising your setup to the bare essentials, and if you’re making films and fly fishing like Will Phelps, then that means making compromises.
Cover: In New Zealand, when people tell seemingly tall stories about trout the size of their legs, they’re not telling porky pies. Photo. Álvaro G. Santillán
The Hunt for Red Kobtober. Conrad Botes nabs a fine Breede River kob off the ledges after dark. Photo. Martin Ferreira
T&T Amassadors Justin Rea and Rob Kramarz in the Florida Keys.
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HERO SHOT
Two of the most famous people (at least in my book) that I have seen in the flesh are Matt Damon and John Gierach.
The Damon non-incident happened in 2003 when I was backpacking around Europe. I walked past him having a coffee on the pavement outside a cafe in Prague. I doubled back, using all my Jason Bourne-esque trade craft to pretend to check out some postcards and read a map, before confirming it was definitely him. Once identified, I did not really know what to do. Ask him what exactly it was that Scotty did not know (Eurotrip)? Grab my nuts and scream, “How do you like them apples?” (Good Will Hunting… sort of.) Tell him I loved his work… meh. So I just shouldered my pack and slunk off in my stinky Birkenstocks wondering if I had missed an opportunity.
I have a feeling that this – leaving celebrities alone – is a typically South African thing to do. We’re quite good at it. Our stars (actors, sportspeople, even the vapid fokken influencers) can walk the streets relatively unhindered. That’s probably why Dave Chapelle moved to South Africa for a bit, for the anonymity and being left the hell alone.
Gierach, well… Outside of the fly fishing world, not that many people know who he is (only the finest fly fishing author of his generation), but (with all due respect to Damon) seeing him and not acting on it is arguably the greater non-event in my past. I was in Denver in 2019 at what was then the IFTD (International Fly Tackle Dealer
show) now re-morphed into the Confluence. After a morning spent trying to convince behemoth US brands that The Mission was going to be “central” to their future success, I was tired of traipsing around the show floor of the massive conference centre, so I went outside onto the balcony to cool my jets and chow a sarmie. There, among a huddle of smokers, I spotted the hat. You know, the John Gierach hat. That worn, tan, mid-brim waxed hat that features in his author photos and that was as much a part of him as sideburns were part of Elvis. I nudged legendary South African guide Arno Matthee who was inhaling a Stuyvie next to me and he confirmed (or played along) that it was indeed Gierach.
I was surprised to see him there, at an industry gig, I’m guessing strong-armed into pitching for a publisher or to show face for a brand. At a previous conference, I’d fanboyed Lefty Kreh and Bob Clouser who were kind and accommodating, but I still felt flat after the encounter. What was I going to do with Gierach, my hero? Interrupt him catching up with equally crusty fly fishing friends to tell him I loved his work/admired his writing/respected him/ wanted to be like him/had been tempted to become a trout bum because of him and wanted to shake his hand on the off-chance some of that magic juju would rub off on me? I get turned inside out with awkwardness at those kinds of situations and would probably have blurted out, like some weird South African frotteur, “Please John Gierach, rub off on me.”
So, in the same way I did not go up to Matt Damon at a Prague cafe, I most certainly did not go up to John Gierach in the convention centre in Denver.
The moment passed, like when you find yourself on a river and you see a magnificent fish in an uncatchable spot. The kind of situation where between its lie, the positioning available to you, the wind and myriad other factors, you just know that you are never going to get a fly anywhere close to it. At best, all you’re going to do is disturb it, so you don’t. You watch it for a bit, then wander off and enjoy the memory.
John Gierach passed away a few weeks ago. I will always cherish his brilliant books and that time I did not go up to talk to him.
This magazine is home-grown, hand-rolled and smoked into being by a bunch of real humans, completely AI-free. If you enjoy what we do and feel you would like to support us in some way, get some The Mission merch from our website, buy us a beer/coffee on Patreon (patreon.com/themissionflymag), or just send us an email telling us how amazing our jaw lines are at info@themissionflymag.com.
EDITOR
Tudor Caradoc-Davies
ART DIRECTOR
Brendan Body
EDITOR AT LARGE Conrad Botes
CONTACT THE MISSION
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CONTRIBUTORS #48
JD Filmalter, Garth Wellman, Christian Fry, Greg Maxwell, LeRoy Botha, Jazz Kuschke, Platon Trakoshis, Ewan Naude, Brandon Collett, Will Phelps, Horst Filter, Álvaro G. Santillán
PHOTOGRAPHERS #48
Garth Wellman, Greg Maxwell, African Waters, Dougie Engelke, LeRoy Botha, Platon Trakoshis, Jazz Kuschke, Ewan Naude, Oliver Santoro, Will Phelps, Erika (Florian) Phelps, Brent Hermanussen, Miles Sebald, Horst Filter, Álvaro G. Santillán
As photographer Álvaro G. Santillán says after several trips to New Zealand, “When in doubt, cast. Sometimes rocks or spots move and yield rewards.” Page 66
RIP...
...COLLEN TSHABANGU. We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Collen Tshabangu, Mavungana Flyfishing’s head guide in Dullstroom. A gentle giant and highly respected fly fishing stalwart in the area, Collen probably took more people from zero to fish-catching hero than anyone else. Our condolences to his family, the Mavungana team and anyone else who had the pleasure of fishing with him.
LISTEN TO... ...THE BONGOS AND ICE JUICE BIKEPACKING PLAYLIST. Put together by fly fishing, bikepacking filmmaker Will Phelps, this issue’s playlist is a festive season banger featuring a bunch of bands and musicians we’ve never heard of before but are fookin’ loving. themissionflymag.com
CHUM
LAST CHANCE TO ENTER THE FEATHERS AWARD, FAREWELL TO A LEGEND, A NEW CLUB, PLAYLIST, BOOK AND STEP-BYSTEP VIDEO
ENTER...
...THE FEATHERS AWARD. Forget the Alta, the Cape Fly Fishers or any other secret, members-only circle jerk – the most prestigious club in our world is the one populated by winners of The Feathers Award, for the most impressive fish caught on fly on the African continent in the last year. Past winners include Ed and Barnes Ghaui (Niger barbs in Nigeria), Leonard Flemming (18.8lb Clanwilliam yellowfish in a place not even his wife knows about), David Falck (Overberg musselcracker) and Franna van Zyl (dorado in Gqeberha). Caught a significant fish in the last year? Send us a pic and the details to info@themissionflymag.com and you might just be immortalised on the Conrad Botes bronze trophy. For a list of the current contenders, check out themissionflymag.com/blog
CHECK OUT...
...THE SOMERSET WEST TROUT AND STOUT CLUB. For fly anglers in the Boland, club events used to mean driving all the way to Cape Town for a Cape Piscatorial Society function, but with the launch of the Somerset West Trout and Stout Club (more of an informal monthly fly tying gathering than a club), there’s a much closer option for residents of Gordon’s Bay, Somerset West, Stellenbosch and Paarl. Sponsored by Stream & Sea (streamandsea. com) and hosted by Gordon van der Spuy, for future SWTSC events keep an eye on Stream & Sea’s social media pages.
Johannesburg - 23 March
Durban - 24 March
Cape Town - 27 March
READ... ...FRESHWATER FISHES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA. Updated and expanded, fish guru Paul Skelton’s definitive guide includes newly described species, the latest taxonomic changes, new photographs and illustrations, and updated distribution maps. It’s the perfect Christmas gift for yourself or other anglers in your life. penguinrandomhouse.co.za
“THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOURSELF OR OTHER ANGLERS IN YOUR LIFE.”
TROUBLED WATERS THE CRADLE OF GREYWATER
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there’s poo river water, there’s usually a negligent municipality. David Bain, owner of Brookwood Trout Farm, flushes away any doubts about the once beloved Bloubankspruit.
The waters
The Bloubankspruit flows through the Cradle of Humankind, passes Brookwood Trout Farm, joins the Crocodile River, and ends up in Hartbeespoort Dam. David says: “Its waters provide life for recreation and popular tourism venues, as well as trout and produce farms along the way. It was always pristine and clear with a healthy ecosystem and provided habitat for indigenous smallmouth yellowfish and free spawning trout. The water was always safe for swimming and household use.” Now however, the river water is grey and dead.
...MILAN GERMISHUIZEN (@TRIPLE_M_FLIES) TIE HIS ST BRANDON MERKIN themissionflymag.com
... YAQOOB TARMOHAMMED (@JOZIFLY) TIE HIS VAAL TANDEM NYMPHS themissionflymag.com
The wankers
David identifies Mogale City Municipality, who are allowing neat sewage to flow into the river, as the main root of the issue. He says, “The pollution is due to bad management and zero maintenance at the nearby Percy Stewart Waste Water Treatment Works, where untreated sewage flows into the Bloubankspruit’s tributaries. Additionally, mobile honey sucker tanks are depositing sewage into the river system. Just recently oil, paint, abattoir waste and diesel have been added to the effluent. The pollution has also knocked our business. All the stocked trout have died and even the carp are battling. The smell is horrendous and there is a danger that our dams will go the same way as the river. We can no longer host school camps, weddings and other events due to the smell. Luckily we have a purification system to supply water to the main house and chalets.”
The way forward
The community has appealed to the government, the municipality, the mayor and anyone else that they can think of for a solution. One group, the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site Association, is the main touch point for investigating and communicating with local government on all conservation matters. cohwhs.com
SQUID GAME
DEEP-FRIED CALAMARI RINGS DON’T HAVE TO BE RESERVED FOR AN OCCASIONAL TREAT-YO’-SELF SEAFOOD PLATTER. FISHERIES SCIENTIST (AND SEAFOOD GURU AT LALUNGA SEAFOODS) JD FILMALTER SHOWS US HOW TO CLEAN, PREP AND COOK CHOKKA, AT HOME, LIKE A PRO.
Photos. Matt Kennedy
How to clean a squid
• The goal is to keep the tube intact. First you take the wings off by pinching a thumb between the wing and the tube. Once punctured and loosened, slip all the skin off the mantle (muscular tube) – it’s meant to just peel off.
• Find the backbone-like, plasticky gladius or “pen” inside the tube, and slide a finger all the way down the backside – on the inside, between the mantle and the backbone.
• Grab a hold of all the innards and tentacles in one hand, and the tube in the other, and give multiple strong twists – this will separate everything from the mantle. If anything remains in the tube, you have to invert it by pressing the tip inwards with one finger.
• Leftover ink and guts are easily cleaned with a rub and a rinse.
• The only reason for keeping the tube intact is to be able to cut rings. Laying the tube lengthways, cut roughly pinkie finger-thick rings. Keep refrigerated until cooking.
• With the leftover head and tentacles, cut just in front of the eyes, keeping the beak inside the tentacles. Then you just pop the beak out, throw that away and you’re ready for business.
“LAYING THE TUBE LENGTHWAYS, CUT ROUGHLY PINKIE FINGER-THICK RINGS. KEEP REFRIGERATED UNTIL COOKING. ”
Cook and chow
Squid pro quo
The squid we know as chokka, Cape Hope squid (Loligo raynaudii), is a slender-bodied coastal cephalopod found from southern Angola to South Africa’s south coast. Artificial lights attract them to boats while specialised squid lures are used to hook them. In JD’s case, a short trip to Cape Point means he’s never too far from his next cook-up.
• Layer some cake flour into a big sealable container –preferably more rather than less. Wait until right before you’re ready to cook to coat the calamari in flour – if done too soon the crust can become soggy. Throw a handful of rings around in the closed container, shaking until the rings are coated evenly.
• The tentacles need to be coated more aggressively and for longer, to ensure any captive water is soaked up because water and oil do not mix well.
• Heat cooking oil in a pot or wok – enough to submerge the rings. Balance the heat of your oil by how much calamari is going in. It’s good to test with one ring first; If the ring sinks straight away then it’s not hot enough, and if it erupts immediately then it’s too hot. You want the ring to gently fizzle on the oil’s surface.
• Spoon your calamari rings into the oil in batches and leave to fizzle until golden brown; for usually around 1 to 2 minutes. Eat straight away, with a simple mayo-gherkin tartar dipping sauce.
THE WINE
- Salt Rock Chenin Blanc 2023 Fresh fried calamari screams out for a South African white wine, and Salt Rock’s 2023 Chenin Blanc is our pick. The grapes come from Stellenbosch from old bush vines situated in classic chenin granite soils with good clay compounds. The result is an excellent chenin with a stone fruit profile and great mid-palate tension.
In the words of an ancient Leon Schuster prank, “Smaak my ’n engel het op my tong gepiepie.” saltrockwines.com
“AN EXCELLENT CHENIN WITH A STONE FRUIT PROFILE AND GREAT MID-PALATE TENSION”
Lalunga Cape Wild Fish
Like fish, but like it being sourced by people who understand sustainable fisheries even more? Then keep an eye out for JD’s family-owned wild fishery supplier, Lalunga Cape Wild Fish. With a sea-to-table approach, Lalunga’s phenomenal cold-smoked tuna and yellowtail give you excellent ethically sourced produce that tastes bloody good. lalunga.com
LEADEN LABEO
ENTOMOLOGIST CHRISTIAN FRY AND YELLOWFISH GURU GARTH WELLMAN BREAK DOWN WHY LEADEN LABEO (AKA THE BUSHVELD GRAYLING) ARE A NOTCH MORE SPECIAL THAN YOUR EVERYDAY BARB AND SHOULD BE ON YOUR WISH LIST.
Photos. C/o Garth Wellman
WHAT - Christian Fry
Leaden labeo (Labeo molybdinus) with their inferior mouth parts and well-developed lips with keratinised edges (specialised as scrapers) feed on algae, detritus and animals adhering to the river substrates. With this feeding mechanism, they play an important role in algae control and maintain a balance within the aquatic environment through nutrient cycling. As prey, they are an essential food source for larger fish species, and terrestrial species (birds). L. molybdinus reach about 380 mm with the SA record reaching 1.7 kg (Skelton, 2011). Together with redeye labeo (Labeo cylindricus) they fall within the Labeo forskahlii group, which tend to be more streamlined; they are fleshy-snouted with tubercles (small fleshy appendages) and occur in faster flowing waters.
WHERE - Christian Fry
Leaden labeo are distributed from the Tugela River system to the mid and lower Zambezi. They tend to prefer deeper pools of seasonal rivers, but will move into rapids to feed, often encountered alongside the redeye labeo. They can be found within stillwaters like Lake Kariba, Loskop Dam and Lake Sibaya.
“THEY ARE EASIEST TO CATCH DURING PRE-SPAWN IN SPRING TIME BUT FEED THROUGHOUT SUMMER IN THE RIFFLES AND GLIDES.”
HOW - Garth Wellman
Leaden labeo often occupy and feed in fast-moving water alongside the largescale yellowfish. When they are mooching around in slow water they can be very difficult to entice, as with all labeo species. To target them, I use the same nymphing tactics that are used for yellowfish in fast water: euro techniques and indicator nymphing. They are easiest to catch during pre-spawn in spring time but feed throughout summer in the riffles and glides. Three- to 5-weight rods in 9-10-foot are most effective for nymphing. They are suckers, excuse the pun, for imitations of the usual invertebrates that hail from the zone they feed in. Mayfly nymphs, caddis larvae and more natural imitations with just a touch of hot orange in the fly have worked for me.
WHO – you?
If you’re looking to tick this species off, it’s a DIY kind of thing. WISH LIST FISH
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It slowly dawned on Greg that in his mission to tie his shoelaces, there were at least two critical things he was getting wrong.
GREG MAXWELL
FROM CAPTAINING BOATS IN THE CLIFF WASH OFF THE OMANI COAST WHILE TARGETING AFRICANUS PERMIT TO TICKLING BEHEMOTH NIGHTTIME NILE PERCH IN CAMEROON AND PLAYING WITH DRY FLY-SIPPING YELLOWS IN LESOTHO, GREG
MAXWELL’S GUIDING LIFE IS AS VARIED AS THEY COME.
5 best things about where you guide?
1. There are not many places that I am aware of where you will get as many shots at tailing permit as southern Oman.
2. Slapping Hoppers down on the Bokong in Lesotho for yellowfish. The brown trout upstream are truly special. While I have never managed a good Bokong brown, I have had my chances and I still have nightmares about missed fish.
3. The guide teams and operations I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of have led to meeting and working with some of the fishiest people there are.
4. The Faro in Cameroon. It’s not for the faint of heart. You can fish all day and into the night. Nile perch, tigers, barbs, and vundu are a few of the species on offer.
5. Drift trips down the Orange River. There is a peace and calm that washes over you as you push off the riverbank and begin your journey downstream. I can’t explain it.
5 fishing-connected items you don’t leave home without before making a mission?
1. Fujifilm XT3 with a 16mm f1.4 lens. For me, this has been a winning combination for fish photos, especially shooting on a boat.
2. Boat keys and money for the fuel dock.
3. Patagonia Torrentshell rain jacket.
4. Suncream, glasses and water.
5. Cheap braid scissors. They can cut knottable wire, braid and fluoro.
5 bands to listen to while on a road trip?
1. The Skatalites.
2. The Talking Heads.
3. Morphine.
4. OHGOD!
5. Queens of the Stone Age.
5 things you are loving right now?
1. The Island Bar in Hawana Marina in Salalah, southern Oman. They will happily prepare your mahi or yellowfin tuna while you enjoy a bucket of beer after a long day on the water.
2. Slow pitch jigging.
3. Some downtime with my dogs.
4. Chai karak, a sweet and spicy tea sold everywhere in the Middle East.
5. Honey Badger folding knives. Affordable and good quality.
5 indispensable flies for saltwater?
1. Stu Webb’s Love Mussel. It’s not only for Trachinotus africanus.
2. Pick your flavour.
3. Crazy Charlie.
4. Flexo.
5. Ryan Janssens’ Silicone Hollow Baitfish.
“EVERY DAY IS A SCHOOL DAY.”
Photos. C/o Greg Maxwell, African Waters
Weather it’s smallies on the Bokong River or largies on the Orange River, yellowfish kak themselves for Mr Maxwell.
5 indispensable flies for freshwater?
1. CDC Elk Hair Caddis.
2. Micro Changers. Bonus points if it only has the trailing hook.
3. Tim Leppan’s Foam Dungeon.
4. PTN with a CDC collar.
5. Speed Cop.
5 favourite fly fishing destinations across Africa?
1. Lesotho. There are plenty of rivers that have hardly been fished.
2. Cameroon. It’s just so far out there in every possible way.
3. Tanzania. Huge, aggressive fish in an amazing setting.
4. Drift trips on the Orange River.
5. Some of the streams and rivers that flow out of the Drakensberg will always have a sentimental appeal for me.
5 of the best things you have picked up from guiding?
1. Tenacity.
2. The understanding that every day is a school day. Always be willing to learn. This is not only related to fishing but to life in general.
3. Always be prepared and be adaptable. Anything can happen.
4. Having a sharp knife handy.
5. Wearing Crocs.
5 of the worst things you have picked up from guiding?
1. Wearing Crocs everywhere.
2. Calling my boss “bru”.
3. A boep (beer belly).
4. Still thinking I can bite through fluorocarbon.
5. Sleeping for three days straight after a big season.
5 of the most underrated species in your book?
1. Yellowfish species historically have been overlooked.
2. Barbel.
3. Wave garrick (three spot pompano or dart).
4. Black seabream, aka the Temu triggerfish.
5. Big-eye trevally.
5 funniest situations you’ve experienced while guiding?
1. When siafu (driver or army ants) got into one of our female guest’s tights when she had to relieve herself on a sandbar in Tanzania. I felt so bad for laughing but she had a great sense of humour.
2. Hiking through the Kalahari with fellow guide Tim Leppan to find a very important bottle of whisky for a guest.
3. Accidentally disturbing a huge hornets’ nest in a dead tree while drifting down the Ruhudji River in Tanzania. It was funnier around the campfire that evening.
4. The panicked and confused yelling when I turned all the lights off for the small bush camp on the Faro River in Cameroon, not knowing that a guest was still in the shower.
5. The swarms of tsetse flies on the drives between camps in Tanzania. Swearing, screaming, slapping flies – some guests even sprayed unhealthy amounts of insecticide on themselves.
5 flies to pack (in the smuggler kit under your driver’s seat) to cover most species?
1. Clouser.
2. Sex Dungeon.
3. Bunny Leech.
4. PTN.
5. Flexo.
5 people you would like to guide or fish with?
1. My father. He taught me to fish when I was young and we don’t get too much time on the water together anymore
2. I had a dream that Matthew McConaughey was a guest on the Bokong River in Lesotho. Another time it was Adam Sandler. Either of those two would be awesome.
3. Mark Murray for barbel (sharptooth catfish).
4. Popping for yellowfin tuna with Oliver Santoro.
5. The list of people I would like to fish with is endless, but you can’t beat a day on the water with a good mate.
5 fish on your species hit list?
1. Tarpon and cubera snapper hopefully in Gabon one day.
2. Any billfish on fly. I have never had the opportunity.
3. Golden dorado.
4. Peacock bass.
5. Northern pike.
5 shower thoughts that have occurred to you while fly fishing?
1. Is my hair receding because I have worn a hat constantly for 16 years?
2. How big can a barbel really get?
3. Do milkfish really eat flies?
4. Did I remember to pack my lunch today? I remember making sandwiches.
5. Why do marlin swim up to a big, noisy, diesel-powered sportfishing boat and not spook?
5 destinations on your bucket list?
1. Gabon.
2. Queensland, Australia.
3. Magdalena Bay, Mexico.
4. Tjuonajokk, Sweden.
5. Bolivia.
“SOME OF THE PLACES I HAVE BEEN PRIVILEGED ENOUGH TO WORK IN SERVE AS A REMINDER THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AFTER OUR NATURAL AREAS.”
“THERE ARE NOT MANY PLACES THAT I AM AWARE OF WHERE YOU WILL GET AS MANY SHOTS AT TAILING PERMIT AS SOUTHERN OMAN.”
5 things (outside of the fishing) that make where you fish so special?
1. The people. From deep in the African bush to lavish sportfishing boats in the Middle East, you will always meet interesting people and some crazy South Africans.
2. Insane birding, wildlife, ocean life and landscapes.
3. Quiet and chilled lifestyle.
4. Coffee.
5. The places themselves. Some of the places I have been privileged enough to work in serve as a reminder that we need to look after our natural areas. They are constantly under pressure from humans. There are only a few truly wild places left.
5 things you would take up if you weren’t always fishing?
1. Overland 4x4 trips in Africa.
2. Conservation. We need to protect and preserve our wild areas.
3. I would hike more.
4. Smoking and slow-cooking on open fires.
5. I’d do more wing shooting.
5 essential ingredients for an incredible mission?
1. Cheap beer.
2. Small crew.
3. Firewood.
4. Luck with the weather gods.
5. Distance from crowds of people.
5 things about fly fishing that you may never understand?
1. Trout and salmon purists.
2. Why a lot of people are against other fishing techniques. You can learn a lot and adapt them to a fly fishing approach.
3. Why stillwater fishing for stockies is more popular than fishing for yellows or tigers.
4. Hyper-realistic flies. They look like they take hours to tie, but a quicker, easier-to-tie, more-imitative pattern is just as effective.
5. What exactly about fly fishing is so addictive. There are easier ways to catch fish.
5 common mistakes that most clients make?
1. Not reading the pre-trip information.
2. Over-packing.
3. Leaving sunscreen behind.
4. Bringing the wrong flies or the right flies tied on the wrong hooks.
5. Forgetting sunglasses or bringing non-polarised glasses deserves a slap.
Your last five casts were to…
1. Africanus permit.
2. Mahi mahi.
3. Dubai queenfish.
4. Jozini tigers.
5. Winter scalies (Natal yellowfish).
Targeting “the 4th Permit” in southern Oman with Ocean Active = mussel flies, surf washing against the cliffs and fish that pull like stink.
www.gkhuigkhui.com
UNDERCURRENTS
YELLOWTAIL ON MARS
CAUGHT BETWEEN WORLDS – THAT OF HEATHENS AND CLOWNS, AND ANY PURITANICAL FLY-ONLY INSTINCTS HE MIGHT HAVE ONCE HELD – LEROY BOTHA HAD TO MAKE A CALL. WHAT’S A SOUL WORTH ANYWAY?
Words. LeRoy Botha. Photos. Dougie Engelke, LeRoy Botha
Have you ever imagined fishing on Mars? The Red Planet as it was millions of years ago when it still had oceans… Can you see it? The sky was platinum-white with splashes of green and gold and violet; the sun and its aura pierced and painted the thick atmosphere with swashes of burning silver and peach and red, all in shades not yet named and impossible to describe. Across the horizon the sky blended into a sea of mercury and turquoise, so vibrant as if someone had turned the saturation dial to 11. It was either Mars or heaven. It was not the sea that I knew. Dancing in the distance, in the blending zone between ocean and sky, was a flock of terns. I squinted to make sure I was reading them correctly, and informed the skipper. He didn’t hesitate. The boat turned sharply to port, and we flew for the horizon.
The skipper, Dougie, and I have been mates for a while. We’ve had endless discussions about fly fishing, music, life and death, but it’s rare for us to fish together. Like most of my friends, Dougie knows that I’d give my left nut to catch a yellowtail on fly. Sadly, I can’t get it back from the previous person I gave it to and would rather prefer to keep the one I have left. So, it was a most fantastic thing when Dougie called to say that the ’tail were firing off Brů’lsyxtrar, which is of course on Mars, and that all I needed to do was grab some flies and a rod and get to his place pronto. He’d do the rest. That’s nuts. I obliged.
To say that Dougie is an accomplished fisher is an understatement. In recent years, he took to fly fishing, but it wasn’t the come-to-Jesus moment it is for some. Fly fishing was added to his arsenal of methods, and, like at least one other great friend of mine, he uses it either when the stakes aren’t all that high, or when they are super-high and the situation demands it. To be fair, he relishes both those opportunities.
In the case of this trip, however, it was essential that we caught fish. We needed to catch a quota, and my own fly fishing ambitions couldn’t get in the way of that. A freezer with a small stack of yellowtail can save a lot of grocery shopping, which is the only real way for peasants like us to justify making the trip. So, excuse me, fellow catch-andrelease fly fisher, when I say that my first yellowtail ever made me feel like I’d whored out my soul.
Clowns
We’d launched later than we wanted to – 9am, not 6am –and then raced penguins and seals out to sea. We found a gathering of other fishing boats and went in for a look. Unfortunately, we couldn’t have known that many of them were clowns. We wondered how they found the fish in the first place:
“I HAD LONG QUESTIONED THE NOTION THAT FLY FISHING STANDS ON SOME HIGHER MORAL GROUND THAN OTHER FORMS OF FISHING.”
It was maddening to realise that soon enough we were not only one of few boats catching fish, but the only one intently working with the birds. And when the other boats cottoned on, they’d simply wait for us to find the action, then race us there when we found it. The problem was that you needed to approach the birds with care and in a very particular way, or they would beat a retreat along with the fish they were shadowing. Therefore, most of the fish we found were spooked by clowns. There was a particularly moronic fool with a rubber duck, who would wait for us to find a school of fish, before racing in and purposefully thundering straight through the school in order to balls it up for us. Keeping your cool when it goes like that is not easy, but Dougie took literal pains to emphasise the importance of doing so. There really are some jerks out there.
My first ever yellowtail was an emotional challenge, too. Initially, I stood on deck with my fly rod in hand, but the clowns made it clear that I’d never get close enough for a shot before they shat on it. I’d watched Dougie catch three beautiful fish. He said it straight: “I know it’s difficult, but grab a spinning rod, take your shot and enjoy it for what it is, man. There’s not much we can do.” It was indeed difficult, but I picked up a rod rigged with a Shimano Stradic 5000 reel and a stick bait (a heavy swimming lure, not actual bait or even a stick), and took a shot at the next school. Here was my immediate reaction, not said out loud, upon landing my first ever yellowtail, notwithstanding the fact that it put up a ridiculous fight for something its size: “My first yellowtail is a rat, foul-hooked in the top of the head while using a spinning rod. Hilarious.”
Dougie Engelke
Actors
I think Dougie could see that I felt some stupid way, and chose words that in the next few hours would slowly sink in. I’d boated three yellowtail of my own by the time the clown boats realised how futile both their fishing and sabotage efforts were, and one by one they headed back to land. Of course, we’d also encountered guys who came too close out of pure naive bubbliness, and who couldn’t help but strike up an overly friendly chat in an effort to find out “what they’re biting on”. I mean. It’s hard to be mad at friendly dorks like that. And then there were one or two others who played like pros and got fish. By late afternoon, we were practically alone on the water, and I’d given in to thoroughly enjoying myself. Pound for pound, I became convinced, these were the strongest fish I’d ever caught. It was great.
Coincidentally, I found, pound for pound, that the false jacopever taken on jigs during quieter moments were the weakest fish I’d ever caught. I momentarily considered trying for one on fly, but besides their decidedly Martian looks, they more or less exactly failed to impress in every possible way. We quit hassling them.
Eventually, the terns dispersed and the fish seemed to disappear as the wind started picking up. Now, with no other boats in sight, we wondered if indeed the clowns knew what we didn’t, which was that late afternoon was a waste of time. “Of course not! Hell. Obviously their wives expect them home by five.” We reluctantly started our way back to the harbour. All day, the very atmosphere of the place struck me as strange, compared to the sea off Mossel Bay back on Earth, where most of my inshore and offshore fishing had been done in the past. But by now, the visuals were stranger, stronger, more beautiful and more moving than any I’d ever seen or attempted to induce with psychedelics in my distant past. As we headed north, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the vision to the west. In the very centre of it all, a large flock of terns began the hustle.
Earlier, we’d stopped chasing them because it blew our game every time, and our last few fish before the quiet hour were taken by simply sitting easy and waiting for fish to show up near us. We’d pin-pointed the heart of the feeding zone, and in the process we noticed that the yellowtail were accompanied by large Atlantic bonito. We noticed because Dougie caught two of them. Neither species got close enough to throw a fly, though.
Kings
When we saw those birds on the horizon, we silently but surely agreed that we couldn’t ignore them. Dougie turned the boat. It would be just us and the terns. When we reached them in the warm light of the Martian sunset, we could tell that we’d made the right move. Another boat appeared out of nowhere and approached, but they turned out to be one of the friendly ones. In fact, it appeared almost as though they were following simply to watch us fish, and kept a respectable distance so as to not disturb our game plan.
Now, the game plan, may I just say, was lush. A quintessential example of high quality analytical, maximum-effort teamwork, but to tell you all the details would perhaps be a tad premature, if not downright undoable. I can tell you that the way the terns look at you, almost smile at you as they bless your effort, truly is a thing to behold. Once in position, Dougie and I threw our stick baits, and two turns of the reel handle later the water exploded around mine. We both went tight. I could instantly tell that the fish I’d hooked was something special, as I had already upgraded my first fish substantially, size-wise. This one was on its own level. Our battle was legendary. Upon landing it, cheers erupted on the spectator boat and ours. It was a fine fish for Mars.
Out of breath and high as a kite, I relented, “This is real, Dougie. Holy shit. I’m struck.” I had long questioned the
notion that fly fishing stands on some higher moral ground than other forms of fishing. In this moment I told myself it was all horseshit, that we’re all full of it, and that everything would be OK.
We waited for the birds to line up our next move, and repeated the procedure. We pitched our lures and both of us hooked up in no time. This time, however, the school came to within fly-casting range as we fought our fish. I almost threw up. Turns out it would not be OK. I held out, we boated our fish and then I told Dougie: “Go again,” I pointed at the birds, a small group of which were doing the required behaviour, so to speak, “but if I don’t do this round with a fly, I’ll never forgive myself.”
I stashed the spinning rod, grabbed my 9-weight and
hopped onto the casting deck. Earlier in the day, while both of us were fighting fish, Dougie laughed his ass off as I manoeuvred myself around the boat in the style of Emily Rose working a staircase. At that point, any previous experience I had on boats was about as easily spotted as a leopard hiding in the undergrowth. I was, undeniably, rusty as hell, but it was all in an effort to not get hooked by the myriad lures pointing out from rigged spinning gear in rod holders, not fall overboard and to not allow my fish to tangle up with Dougie’s one.
But now with my fly rod in hand I rode that casting deck, surfing over the waves like a man with the sea legs of Captain Teach, and felt as steady and confident as I simply couldn’t earlier on. I stripped a cast off the reel as we moved into position.
The terns winked and smiled, and I clutched my fly as we waited for them to signal the yellowtail’s presence. I’d take my shot as soon as they were close enough. You could say it went down without a hitch. I sent the fly, by luck and determination, as well as I could. It landed true, and three or four strips in, a fish ate it. I strip-set and leaned in. Dougie hooked up, too, and immediately we could tell that his fish was another big bonito. We could tell because it almost launched itself into orbit when it attacked his lure. As my fish sped off, ripping into the backing, I tightened the drag as much as I dared and quietly prayed, “Sure, I’ve caught bonito. If this is another one, it’s proper and I swear I’ll be happy.”
It wasn’t a bonito. Another unforgettable dogfight later, we boated my yellowtail on fly. Dougie gripped me for a bro hug as we yelled hallowed expletives of pure victory. We’d done it. The spectator boat cheered and applauded. And because of a clean hook-up, quick photo session and an already filled quota, I could release my fish. We were stoked to watch it swim away strong.
The strange atmosphere on Mars lulled us into a state of bemused wonder, and we could tell that Whoever governs this place was smiling upon us. For a few more minutes we watched the terns, and as they turned and smiled, signalling another round, we turned towards land instead. One bird came right up to us repeatedly throughout the late session. This last time, as he flew low overhead and looked down at me, I said, “Thanks for the help, bud. Pass it on.” I wished I could take a picture of the brazen young tern. Then again, often when you take a photograph of something, the still picture becomes the memory, replacing the recollection of the moment itself. So, maybe it’s a good thing my phone’s battery was pushing daisies and that Dougie was occupied handling the boat. We’d planned to do two days of fishing but having done what we just did in such fine style, we called it off. The spectator boat followed us in; it was just about dark. On shore, one of them ran us down to enquire, “Hey, guys! What did you catch that last yellowtail on?”
“Fly, brother!”
“Yoh, I could see you were pulling that line all like this,” he shook his head and laughed as he gestured a fly cast and a line-stripping hand, “No ways. Well done, guys.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared. Not really, but it would have been apt as hell if he did. Not even a friendly dork. Just a friendly dude. Not mad. What a day. We were back at Dougie’s house by 3am.
SLAP & WIGGLE
- A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE
A REMOTE STRETCH OF THE LOWER VAAL RIVER RUN BY DIAMOND RIVER OUTFITTERS (DIAMONDRIVEROUTFITTERS.COM) – WATERS, BEJEWELLED WITH HISTORY, THAT ONCE LURED PROSPECTORS AND MINING COMPANIES – BECKONED PLATON TRAKOSHIS AND JAZZ KUSCHKE WITH AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KIND OF TREASURE: BIG, ELUSIVE LARGEMOUTH YELLOWFISH, AND OTHER HIDDEN GEMS.
Photos. Platon Trakoshis, Jazz Kuschke, Rob Jeffrey, Eddie Rall
The air was still heavy with the night as I lay buied beneath a thick duvet and three blankets to ward off the zero-degree chill in the Diamond River camp. Outside, the Green Kalahari bush slowly unfurled into dawn. The ubiquitous doves cooed their urgent morning song, while Cape francolin called out like sentinels of the scrub (is there a more classic African bush morning sound?).
A jackal’s eerie howl cut through the stillness before dissolving into the gentle murmur of the Lower Vaal River not 20 metres away. Then came the sudden sploosh of water – a violent splash: unmistakably a predator at work, not the schooling surface ripple of a baitfish – a reminder that the river is always awake, always moving.
In the predawn cacophony, the place felt timeless, yet human hands had shaped it. Alluvial diamond mining had once scarred these channels and banks, roughing up the land in the hunt for wealth. Now, nature had softened the wounds, reclaiming its space and creating varied yet ideal pools, riffles, and runs for small- and largemouth yellowfish, along with a few other choice species.
In the other cot of our shared safari tent, Platon “Pla” Trakoshis muttered in his sleep. Had he subconsciously heard the largie eat and was now fighting it on his 7-weight in dreamland? Or was he dreaming about the grassie-ondry action to come later that day?
Turns out, it was none of those.
“I’m a bass guy,” Pla muttered, still groggy but straight into the kind of conversation that skips over morning pleasantries, only possible by day three of bunking together on a trip. He rolled over, sounding almost offended by the thought of who he had become. “And I’m pushing 60 now.” There was a pause before he added, “I’ve wiggled a lot in the past, but never like this – or this much.”
Lesson 1: How to wiggle
Now, Pla used to be a bit of a party cat, but the “wiggle” he was grumbling about isn’t some kind of twerk you’d show off after double brandy number four. No, this one’s all about subtlety, patience, and just the right amount of finesse. Despite its name, it’s a very particular technique for freeing a snagged fly: You give the rod a series of careful, deliberate, loose-lined twitches – left, right, up, down. Don’t stop. It’s part art, part negotiation, all while praying you don’t spook the largie holding deep on the
submerged structure below. It’s a necessary skill to fish these waters effectively for largemouth yellows because, as the saying goes, “If you’re not getting fouled, you’re not fishing close enough.”
Along with the wiggle, what was clear from session one is that this section of the Lower Vaal holds the potential for “firsts” for anglers of all skill levels, provided you have a teachable spirit. You could cast your first fly rod here. Catch your first fish on a fly. First 100 smallies in a day. First sighted common carp. First grass carp on dry fly. Your first largie. First largie over 20 pounds. 40 pounds… 50? It’s possible here.
“THE LOWER VAAL HERE IS QUITE UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE ON THE VAAL AND VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE LOWER ORANGE TOO. IT FELT LIKE MONTANA –CRYSTAL-CLEAR RIFFLES STRETCHING FOR KILOMETRES.”
“BECAUSE OF ITS HISTORY, THE LOWER VAAL HERE – A CONCESSION OF BUSHVELD CECIL JOHN RHODES ONCE WALKED –IS UNIQUE.”
Lesson 2: When (and how) to nymph
My own learning curve started steep and climbed well beyond the wiggle. You see, somewhere between Gqeberha and the Jozi-to-Kimberley transfer on my twoflight trip to this remote wilderness, my gear went AWOL, leaving me to fish the first two days in borrowed kit and with loaned rods (shout out to Diamond River Outfitters head honcho Rob Jeffrey and Pla, I’m eternally thankful). It was a valuable experience to roll with the punches.
As part of making the most of the situation, I delved deep into the technicalities of euro nymphing on an unknown rod. Again, thanks Rob. Because of its history, the Lower Vaal here – a concession of bushveld Cecil John Rhodes once walked – is unique. It’s quite unlike anything else on the Vaal and very different from the Lower Orange too. We dredged teams of nymphs on a section of the river that, at times, felt like Montana – crystal-clear riffles stretching for kilometres. If you’re a numbers guy (which I’m not), you can comfortably stop counting here, content in the knowledge that you’ve bested your PB cricket score. I prefer swinging streamers and sight-fishing the smallies with small jig buggers and MSP-style flies. And then, of course, coming from a Cape streams background, yellows on dry held huge appeal too. It was this aspect that first opened Rob’s eyes to the possibilities of the section when he first explored it in 2019. Pla and I far from exhausted the smallie options but opted to forego some of the “guaranteed” sessions to go prospecting for real treasure. We both wanted a trophy largie.
Who wouldn’t, if there was the possibility to tangle with a 20-plus pounder Labeobarbus kimberleyensis? The kind of fish that, had it been included in the late, great Douglas Adams’s Last Chance to See, would’ve been described as: “A creature that swims through a select few of South Africa’s west-flowing rivers with a sort of grumpy grace, like an underwater commuter who’s been inexplicably late for work for the last several millennia and has given up entirely on arriving on time. Its scales shimmer with a golden hue, as though it’s constantly reminding the other fish that it has a very important appointment somewhere else – just not here, and definitely not now.”
“IF YOU’RE A NUMBERS GUY (WHICH I’M NOT), YOU CAN COMFORTABLY STOP COUNTING HERE, CONTENT IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU’VE BESTED YOUR
Lesson 3: Slap (and then tickle it)
We wanted it “now” and spent countless long hours on the boat, willing the largies to keep an appointment with us by employing “the slap”. This technique feels a bit like ringing the dinner bell for kimberleyensis. You take a heavy, big-bodied Muishond-style fly, with at least 4.8mm tungsten dumbbells, and smack it on the surface – not once, but three times in the same spot.
It might sound a bit like calling catfish, but if that is a cubic zirconia, then you’d better believe this is a black diamond. Guide Eddie Rall is highly particular about it, right down to the exact sound of the fly hitting the water. If it (and the sink rate) is not to his liking, he gets very persuasive about changing your fly. Eddie learned a lot of what he knows from largie maestro Marius “Straightstick” Rousseau and then went on to evolve many of his ideas in this section. He’s been guiding for Rob on this water for four years, and no one is more in tune with the largies. And how to slap and wiggle them into submission.
The idea is to get the fish’s attention, to make it think something is struggling, then let the fly sink, hoping to tempt that behemoth lurking below into striking. Simple but explosively effective and satisfying when it works.
Alas, the river’s proper-sized largemouth yellows, elusive and wise, remained hidden like undiscovered buried treasure. We had the map but just couldn’t pin spot X. We caught a couple of small ones (me popping a cherry) but only caught glimpses of the true brutes rolling on structure and drop-offs. There was a lesson in there somewhere.
Lesson 4: Other lessons
Did I mention the grass carp? Grass carp on dry fly? Biggest you’ve ever seen. We thought of them kind of like kimberlite, an important by-product of diamond mining. While diamonds are the primary target of mining operations, kimberlite itself has various industrial applications and can also contain other valuable minerals, like chromite and garnets.
Pla had just landed a tank of a grassie – beautiful fish. Sight-fished from shore over a diamond-clear sandbank with a tiny dry, the afterglow was almost engagementceremony like, until he realised his phone was missing.
He was not sure if it fell in the river while he was posing with that ridiculous grass carp or if it slid out of his pocket during that graceful tumble down the bank. Might have left it in the car. Or at camp. Could be anywhere, really.
I offered to help because what else can you do when someone is too deep in the weeds – literally and figuratively? I trekked up the nearest hill to get a bit of signal (the reception is beautifully non-existent on most of the river) and tried calling his phone.
Miraculously it rang. Rang and rang, but we didn’t hear a peep from the bushes, the river, or even the ether.
“GRASS CARP SIGHT-FISHED FROM SHORE OVER A DIAMOND-CLEAR SANDBANK WITH A TINY DRY, THE AFTERGLOW WAS ALMOST ENGAGEMENTCEREMONY LIKE.”
“THE LOWER VAAL HOLDS THE POTENTIAL FOR “FIRSTS” FOR ANGLERS OF ALL SKILL LEVELS, PROVIDED YOU HAVE A TEACHABLE SPIRIT.”
I tried again, half-expecting to hear his ringtone faintly echoing off the water. This time, though, someone answered – a woman, calm as you like, saying, “Hello, Jazz.”
Now, I’ve been around a bit, but hearing a stranger’s voice on Pla’s phone in the middle of nowhere made me blink twice. A sweet female voice no less. For a moment, I thought, “Not today, Satan.”
Turns out Pla had left the phone in the one place at camp with any shred of signal – the toilet basin. And the voice? That was Eddie’s girlfriend, who works as the camp chef, just casually answering like it’s the most normal thing in the world to find a phone in the loo. Lesson learned: The river’s got enough mysteries. Keep track of your phone.
Lesson 5: Put it all to practice
As the first rays of light filtered through the tent’s bug screen, I lay back and closed my eyes again, answering Pla’s sleepy grumble about the wiggle with little more than a grunt. There’s something about this place – the ancient history woven into its banks, the wildness that whispers through the bush and the mysteries hidden in the water – that draws you in, and makes you want to learn more.
Pla sat up, half-asleep, but already thinking about camp coffee number one.
“I suppose even an old cat can learn a new move or two.” For more information, visit diamondriveroutfitters.com
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GABON
MEETING THE KING
WE SOMETIMES TELL OURSELVES THAT WE HAVE NO EXPECTATIONS FROM A TRIP AND THAT, WHATEVER HAPPENS, WE WILL BE HAPPY JUST TO BE THERE. THAT WAS EWAN NAUDE’S APPROACH ON A RECENT TRIP TO GABON, BUT THEN TARPON PITCHED UP AND EVERYTHING CHANGED
Photos. C/o Ewan Naude, Devon Naude, Ollie Santoro
We had just cracked our first quart of Régab – “la bière du Gabon!” – at Hotel Tropicana in Libreville and, like the name of the city (Libreville meaning “free town”), I felt light and unencumbered. The trip had begun in earnest and all thoughts of the real world started to fade. By the second Régab the tightness in my shoulders had completely disappeared. I need fishing travel. It makes me a better father, husband and colleague and this trip came at the perfect time after a particularly busy period at work and a brutal Cape winter.
Having visited Sette Cama in 2012 in the infancy of African Waters’ operation, I had been meaning to get back for a while, specifically to throw a fly after so much had been pioneered and learned in the interim. Guys like African Waters’ partner/pioneer/head scout Ed Truter had fly fished in West Africa for many years. However, it wasn’t really until a pioneering trip in 2016, which included Conrad Botes and Arno van der Nest, that shore-based fly fishing in Gabon became a realistic option. Building on those initial experiences, an incredible fly fishing destination emerged in the years that followed.
This trip was a slight gamble in that it was before the arrival of the summer rains in Gabon which are so vital for the ecosystem and the fishery, but we had a great tide timetable and were confident that, if we worked hard, we would find some fish. There was also the hope that the “mullet runs” that happen at this time of year would coincide with our week and bring the predators close to the estuary mouth. Personally, I had no fishing goals for the trip and just wanted to fish the conditions and hopefully catch some of Gabon’s iconic species
which include the cubera snapper, giant African threadfin, longfin jack and of course the tarpon. Of all those the tarpon is undoubtedly the toughest to hook, let alone land, but I wasn’t fixated on catching one… until I saw that beautiful bastard of a fish for the first time.
Team Sette Cama
Flying over the Loango National Park in a Eurocopter EC135 owned by the Gabonese military en route to Sette Cama, you can’t help but be awestruck by the landscape and sheer vastness of the waterways and tropical jungle. On landing we were greeted by Rob Scott, one of the owners of African Waters who had a few ice-cold Régabs in the cooler, and our spirits were high after a memorable flight. The crew for the trip included Paul Robinson whom I had fished with in Farquhar, my brother Devon and Nic Hubner, a friend and colleague whom I had never fished with before. We were also joined in camp by Kyle and Jess Reid (ex-Alphonse Fishing Company in the Seychelles and The Delphi Club on Abaco) as well as their friends David and Jeanne Paddison from Georgia in the US and Tom Hradecky, another former Seychelles guide.
As a bonus Ed Truter, who is also a Sette Cama shareholder, was in camp during our trip and his knowledge and experience of this fishery was a great resource. To hear Ed speak in the dulcet tones of the Eastern Cape is a thing of great marvel. It is rumoured that French spoken in a lower Albany accent is one of Africa’s most powerful aphrodisiacs and if bottled would create wealth beyond one’s wildest dreams. All I know is that when Ed “talks foreign” best you keep your lady away from him because she will lose all self-control.
Running an operation in a remote area in Francophone West Africa is difficult and I witnessed first-hand the daily challenges that the African Waters team faces. Despite this, the product is world class, and the team deals with challenges in a calm and efficient way. The venue is not for everyone. Fishing there is tough and it’s physical and fly fishing success often requires casting a 12-weight non-stop for hours, often in the dark. The rewards, however, can truly be out of this world. Fishing at Sette Cama typically revolves around fishing the light transitions as well as considering how the tides affect baitfish and predator movement. This often involves very early mornings and fishing into the night. A lot of the fishing is centred around the estuary mouth and the adjacent surf zone that can be fished from both the north and south banks, again, depending on the tides. The estuary itself can also be very productive and jacks especially can move through in big numbers as the baitfish move in and out with the tides.
From a conservation perspective, African Waters have a good relationship with Gabon’s National Agency for National Parks (Parcs) and together they try and navigate the fine line between protecting the resource from overexploitation while ensuring the subsistence needs of the local village are met. It’s an incredibly difficult job that requires resolve, diplomacy and a genuine care for the resource and, due to their vigilance and care, we were about to experience this incredible place.
“FISHING AT NIGHT IS AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. WHAT WE LOST IN SIGHT HEIGHTENED ALL OUR OTHER SENSES AND VERY SOON OUR EARS PICKED UP THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUNDS OF MULLET BEING MASSACRED.”
Ewan Naude, ‘Die man van staal’ out-boets a longfin jack above, while his brother Devon gets tight with a Cubera snapper below.
“WHAT WE LOST IN SIGHT HEIGHTENED ALL OUR OTHER SENSES AND VERY SOON OUR EARS PICKED UP THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUNDS OF MULLET BEING MASSACRED BY HUNGRY PREDATORS.”
“THE CHALLENGE WITH ALL THE BAIT AROUND WAS TRYING TO GET THE EAT.”
Carpe Rouge
Day one of a trip is always a learning day. Feeling out the tides, fine-tuning tackle and making some observations about the fishery to set up success for the week. We all managed to get stuck into the jacks which was a great way to dust off the cobwebs and get into the swing of things but, as the evening approached and knowing that the fishing can really come alive at night, anticipation grew. Fishing at night is an amazing experience. What we lost in sight heightened all our other senses and very soon our ears picked up the unmistakable sounds of mullet being massacred by hungry predators. With the lack of air and light pollution, even on a dark moon you can see well, and the fridge-size craters being left behind in the starlit water indicated that there were some proper fish around. Other than the tarpon fishing, our run-ins with cubera snapper were special.
Through the week the pattern was always very similar with a large school of mullet congregating in the estuary mouth at a certain point in the pushing tide at night. The challenge with all the bait around was trying to get the eat but we figured out that fishing on, or very near, the surface and casting behind the bait made the difference, and we managed to pick off some beautiful specimens. Hearing a deer hair mullet being slurped off the surface like it’s a juicy oyster while simultaneously having the fly line wrenched from my grasp was exhilarating and one of the real highlights of the trip. However, as special as fishing for the snapper and other species was during our trip, they were the aperitif to the tarpon main course.
Bending the knee
The second morning started well with an exciting jack smash in the estuary. Devon and I chased down the shoal as they ploughed into schools of mullet at our toes while the pelicans gorged themselves on the scraps. Once the jack action had subsided, things got slow in the estuary so I decided to check out the surf south of the mouth. As I got there I could see that the formation was looking good with a nice trough flanked by two sandbanks and a clear exit to the ocean. Almost immediately, I saw a large threadfin cartwheeling on a school of mullet around 40m out. Out of range with the fly I lobbed out a paddletail and immediately went tight on a good fish and Devon followed suit but, as the tide receded, I was able to wade the bank and get a fly into the zone. Two strips, solid resistance and a few minutes later I had a surf-caught threadfin flapping in the shore break. I was really chuffed that a plan had come together.
Although it was only the second full day of fishing, we had yet to see any sign of tarpon while all the other Gabonese usual suspects had already made an appearance. After landing the threadfin I was straight back to casting into the trough and almost immediately hooked up again but this time the take was a lot more subtle and gentle. Almost immediately, a chrome missile erupted a few metres from the rod tip, shaking its head furiously and expelling the fly within seconds of the hook-up. Devon and I stood there dumbstruck, having not expected to see a beautiful tarpon at close quarters. All talk before the trip about not needing to catch a tarpon to have a successful trip was thrown out
Ewan with a giant African threadfin that feels a little small in his rugged paws.
“OLLIE DIVED ON THE FISH LIKE KWAGGA SMITH SCRAMBLING AFTER THE LOOSE BALL AND I HOWLED IN DISAPPOINTMENT AS THE TARPON WRIGGLED FREE.”
the window as we resumed casting in the same area. We learned some lessons that morning jumping four more tarpon, and I got very close to landing my first when a fish chewed through the 1mm leader in the shore break. The bite faded as the morning went on and we decided to call it a day and return to camp and regroup. We met the king that morning and he had made us bend the knee.
Rinse and repeat
Armed with what we had found and learned the day before, Devon, Nick, Paul and I made our way to the south bank with Oliver Santoro as our guide. Coming over the sand ridge separating the surf from the lagoon we all squinted at the surf to see if we could catch a glimpse of tarpon activity. As we approached the beach they gave themselves away and so did the bull sharks swimming in thigh-deep water. Three of us rotated in and out of the prime spot as Nick cast his spinning rod a little way down from us. Very soon, I was hooked-up again. The fish jumped several times and stayed attached as I tried to tire it out using the incoming waves. Everything was going
according to plan. Roughly 10 minutes into the fight the fish seemed to be tiring, but by this stage it had dragged me closer to the estuary mouth. Luckily for me the tide was pushing, and I was able to walk the fish around the sand peninsula into the relative safety of the estuary. The tarpon beaten, I was finally going to be able to cradle my dream fish, caught in dream circumstances and, despite the nervousness, I was enjoying the last minutes of the fight. By now the fish was on the edge of the drop off and I was holding off trying to beach it on the shallow sandbank until the next small wave lapped over it. The moment came and I applied pressure as Ollie grabbed the leader with the fish pretty much beached. What happened then, happened in slow motion. The hook pulled, Ollie dived on the fish like Kwagga Smith scrambling after the loose ball and I howled in disappointment as the tarpon wriggled free of Ollie’s grip and slowly slid back into the channel. I was obviously bummed but, all things considered, I thought I would have been more gutted. Despite not having a photo nor being able to admire the fish up close, I felt surprisingly relaxed. Maybe it was just the adrenaline.
Time to convert
In Gabon you quite easily slip back into the repetitive motion of casting a 12-weight fly rod and methodically working an area of good-looking water. It becomes a form of meditation while locked in your own thoughts and focus. The next person to jump onto the tarpon rollercoaster was Paul who went tight shortly after I gave my fish the long line release. Paul was well on top a few minutes into the fight and applied max pressure on a fish. I would have bet the house that this fish would end up on dry land but I should have known better as another fish in the shore break was lost, this time to a straightened hook. Being a ginger, Paul is used to disappointment and adversity, so he shrugged off the loss and continued fishing hard, getting battered by the shore break and ignoring the presence of the bull sharks in the shallows. It’s safe to say that by this stage the tarpon had given our team a fair PK (if you know you know). The sounds of a screaming drag, huge splashes and expletives too horrific to repeat told us that Nick was also being given the middle finger. Our team needed a momentum shifter.
THE RELIEF I FELT WAS LIKE NO OTHER I HAD EVER EXPERIENCED AS A FISHERMAN. IT WAS, QUITE SIMPLY, THE FISH OF MY LIFE.
I rotated into the “hot spot”, which was thigh-deep on the end of a sandbank draining into a trough. Ollie was positioned on the elevated beach keeping an eye out for bull sharks while we focused on trying to get a cast into the zone. Fishing was tricky with the side wash and a light breeze making a 20-or-so metre cast into the zone difficult. I waited for a lull as the surge receded and made my cast which landed a good 10 metres off the sandbank into the trough. I tightened up the slack and commenced the retrieve. Just before the fly reached the sandbank it stopped dead, and I knew I had hooked my fifth tarpon. The fish took off and I managed to safely clear the excess line as I moved onto the beach to get some elevation. I was confident that only a pulled hook would stop me from landing this tarpon so I applied maximum pressure as the fish tried to exit the trough into the open ocean. Ten minutes later I was in familiar territory with another fish in the shore break and I wasn’t quite as relaxed as I was with the previous few. This one would hurt if I didn’t beach it. Finally, after a few agonising minutes the perfect wave came through and I deposited the fish on the beach with the surge as Ollie grabbed the fish gently by the lower jaw. The relief I felt was like no other I had ever experienced as a fisherman. It was, quite simply, the fish of my life.
THE HARD YARDS
Having glimpsed first-hand what goes into running a remote operation like Sette Cama, I have even more respect for what African Waters does and how they do it. On a pure, monetary level, the contributions made by African Waters’ visitors to Sette Cama and the Loango National Park through taxes have a massive impact on Gabon Parks’ war chest and their ability to protect the country’s unique wildlife. For example, for the 2022/23 sportfishing and tourism season, €66,038 (approximately R1,3 million) was raised, money that went directly to the Gabon Parks treasury.
Beyond tax revenue, and in keeping with their approach to ecologically sustainable and economically stable projects, African Waters has a 71% success rate in recruiting and training staff from communities immediately adjacent to them and at present they employ half the families of Sette Cama Village.
Ed Truter says, “One of the positive impacts of this is that local people who might otherwise have to involve themselves in less-sustainable activities, such as commercial fishing, now have livelihoods founded upon much more.”
Last but not least is the 50 Pristine Miles initiative. Gabon’s coast, like so many countries on the continent’s Atlantic seaboard, is strewn with plastic pollution coming out of the Congo River, from ocean currents, fishing trawlers and elsewhere. 50 Pristine Miles started with cleaning up a 9km stretch of Sette Cama beach and is set to expand across a 50-70km expanse of coastline. 50pristinemiles.com
NEW ZEALAND
RECURRING DREAM
SOME PLACES CHANGE YOU FOREVER, BECAUSE WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED THERE IS SO TRANSFORMATIVE YOUR MEMORY PLAYS THE HIGHLIGHTS ON AN INFINITE LOOP CALLING YOU BACK TILL THE END OF YOUR DAYS. FOR GUIDE AND PHOTOGRAPHER ÁLVARO G. SANTILLÁN THAT PLACE IS NEW ZEALAND’S SOUTH ISLAND.
Photos. Álvaro G. Santillán
Often, the achievement of a dream, of a goal in life, marks a turning point. Sometimes, even a point of no return. I cannot deny that the experiences New Zealand has given me have changed me forever, a fisherman and as a person.
After all, when you’ve spent 20 years imagining yourself there, only two things can be expected: either the place doesn’t live up to expectations, which happens more often on fishing trips than we might imagine (possibly due to the high expectations we set for ourselves), or the experience itself is of such a magnitude that you don’t return the same as you were when you embarked on your journey.
Few things are as personal, unique, and diverse as dreams. They come in all colours and shapes. In general, in fishing we all tend to dream about the same thing: big fish in abundance, heart-pounding fights… You know what I mean. However, I find richness in the nuances, in the how, in what surrounds those fish. Those ingredients are, in my opinion, what make the difference between a good dish and a delicacy. The fish are no more than an excuse to travel to and get lost in some of the most beautiful landscapes on our planet. Isn’t that so?
New Zealand is a land rich in those nuances: landscapes, nature, people… and of course, fish. Yes, big ones too, but we’ll get to that later. I invite you to join me in my dreams, to explore the South Island and experience through these lines the small things along the way that captivated me forever. We may not share a taste for our dream ingredients, but if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that in New Zealand and its infinite network of rivers and valleys, there’s a dream for you too.
“THE FISH ARE NO MORE THAN AN EXCUSE TO TRAVEL TO AND GET LOST IN SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES ON OUR PLANET.”
New Zealand, the catalogue of the perfect waters
The trout was introduced into New Zealand waters back in 1867, from Tasmania, where it had been introduced a few years earlier and where it had travelled to from the British Isles. Nearly two centuries later, New Zealand has become one of the world’s premier fishing destinations. Its unique geography, abundance of water, and temperate climate are joined by other no less important factors, such as a truly low population density and a great respect for nature and outdoor activities, offering fly fishers from around the world a sort of theme park for trout fishing. Its two main islands, separated by the Cook Strait and spanning about 1 600km from north to south, offer a variety of river ecosystems that can only be described as infinite.
And there is no scenario that doesn’t find its perfect expression among New Zealand’s catalogue of waters. What motivates you? A mountain river? We have it. A plain river with riparian trees? No problem. A river of blue waters in the middle of a tropical jungle? Of course. Chalk streams? Take your pick. Shallow lakes where you can sight fish? Please…
“IN A COUNTRY WITH SO MANY TROUT WATERS, AND WHERE FISHING UNTOUCHED WATERS IS KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL DAY, DEEP RESPECT FOR FELLOW ANGLERS PREVAILS.”
New Zealand’s peculiar geography, with mountains exceeding 3 700m in altitude, means that the country not only boasts an immense variety of landscapes but also climates, which have shaped the character of its water bodies and provide us with the opportunity to enjoy all kinds of scenarios in a relatively small territory. A whole universe to explore. In general terms, New Zealand is reputed to be a demanding destination with few fish. And, at least on the South Island, if we generalise, it lives up to its reputation. Densities per kilometre are not high. The fish are large, and the conditions are usually demanding.
We are dealing with wild fish, perfectly adapted and aware of their environment, with an extraordinary ability to detect any foreign element. A glimmer, a noise, a false move… game over. A bad presentation, a false cast too close, a drag… sorry, try the next one. The conditions often favour them. We will face adverse weather conditions and wind that will test our casting technique. We will face physical exhaustion. Getting out of the car to stalk a fish is not the same as when you’ve walked 15km with a heavy backpack on your back. And we will have to be capable of handling fish much larger than usual. If we emerge unscathed from all this, we may manage to avoid blanking regularly. And as the local guide Chris Dore told us: Sometimes that is what the game is about.
“LOAD YOUR BACKPACK ON YOUR BACK AND COVER THE DISTANCE THAT SEPARATES YOU FROM YOUR NEXT OPPORTUNITY.”
Solitude, adventure, and freedom
There are still places in the world where you can get lost with a rod in hand and not see anyone for days. New Zealand is full of them. The price to pay – there is always one – is to be willing to accept certain risks and discomforts.
Now, writing this piece from the comfort of my place in Spain, I kind of miss some of those: the weight of the backpack with everything needed for a four-day expedition. The hours spent looking at maps and weather reports. Driving at night to fish during the day. I miss the austerity of my mattress. The sound of rain on the tarp and putting on wet socks in the morning. Heating up coffee on the stove. Dehydrated food and energy bars.
Even the hunger and the kilos lost. Also, the pain in the legs on the return day to the car after fishing 30 or 40km of virgin waters. The damn blisters and the sunburned face. Quick “showers” in the river. Sunsets searching for a place to camp, in rain and sleet. And the wind? That northwesterly! Damn, it even felt strange when it wasn’t punishing us. With a smile on my face, from a distance, I even feel nostalgic about the times we ventured into a river and walked for days without finding any trout. That’s fishing, too.
Sight-fishing
New Zealand is synonymous with sight-fishing. Its waters, whether amber, turquoise, green, or blue, are as clear as crystal and provide a unique setting for the angler eager for
sightseeing thrills. However, you should not be deceived by YouTube videos or Instagram stories. Anyone can spot an unsuspecting fish in a crystal-clear pool or one moving from left to right in shallow water under the sun, but those are the exceptions. Most of the fish rest or hide in much less obvious places: strong currents, riffles, changes in depth… and we don’t always have visibility on our side. The sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind tends to ripple the surface almost constantly. And as incredible as it may seem, for most people, those fish go unnoticed.
There is no way to explain how to locate fish. Half practice and experience, half innate talent. However, certain guidelines can always be followed. Valid in New Zealand and anywhere in the world.
“DENSITIES PER KILOMETRE ARE NOT HIGH. THE FISH ARE LARGE, AND THE CONDITIONS ARE USUALLY DEMANDING.”
Fish and walk slowly. Analyse the most favoured areas, where they can find shelter or a greater supply of food, and there, fish even slower.
Try not to touch the water. Avoid making noise, moving stones, or squeaking nails.
Always advance using the terrain and light to your advantage. Use elevated areas to get a better angle. Look for the orientation where the sun creates less glare or reflection.
When in doubt, cast. Sometimes rocks or spots move and yield rewards.
“WHEN
IN DOUBT, CAST. SOMETIMES ROCKS OR SPOTS MOVE AND YIELD REWARDS.”
A simple cast
A trout weighing over 5kg in the soft spot between two veins. Finally, you’re there: you’ve located it without it noticing you. You’ve managed to get into the most ideal position to make a “simple” cast without making mistakes. You’re where you’ve imagined yourself so many times.
You just have to present the fly at 10m. A cast that, on paper, would be within anyone’s reach.
With midges biting you and the wind blowing gustily, you gather all the calm you have inside to execute that cast. You pause, the loop extends, and the fly lands gently 4m away from where it should. Or you hit it on the head. Or you land it and it passes, dragging like a jet ski.
Or, by some stroke of luck, everything goes well, the fish raises its fins and decides to delicately take the imitation. You hurry to set the hook and… nothing. Believe me, I’ve been all those fishers and have made all those mistakes and some others. And it’s because nothing is as simple as it looks in the videos. All that’s left when it happens is to load your backpack on your back and cover the distance that separates you from your next opportunity. And learn from mistakes.
Mice, an unexpected ingredient
Having the opportunity to fish in New Zealand in a year of mice is something that cannot be planned. This cyclical phenomenon occurs every several years, sometimes up to 10, and is related to the flowering and formation of
beech trees, which in turn are influenced by weather and temperature. When these trees produce seeds, the rodent population explodes, and with it, predator populations skyrocket. The trout’s weight, too.
Does this mean that we will enjoy surface fishing with mouse imitations? No, at least not during the day. Mice are predominantly nocturnal rodents, and if we want to have results with this technique, we must fish during the hours of darkness. It is during these hours when mice, either accidentally or in search of other areas, fall into the water, and the Kiwi trout make good use of them. Trout weighing about 3kg have been found containing more than a dozen mice in their stomachs. A heavy digestion, no doubt.
Beyond the weight that trout gain during these seasons, which in my experience can increase the average size in many rivers to around 2kg, a year of mice has more implications for fishing than we might think.
Firstly, fish modify their behaviour. They become more nocturnal, and if the hunt went well the night before, it won’t be uncommon to find completely inactive fish digesting at the bottom of a pool. You know how it goes: joyful nights, sad mornings.
Secondly, the abundance of easy food makes them much more reluctant to make efforts to ingest insects. Let alone on the surface. When in a normal year we fished dry flies and the fish responded with generous movements to our presentations, in a year of mice we were forced to fish tandem or nymphs sight-fishing, often with relatively heavy nymphs that would sink to the resting fish’s water layer.
To be in the Mecca of sight-fishing and fishing blindly at night is not really for me, but not even in my wettest dreams could I have imagined being able to hold such a quantity of trophy fish, above the 10lb/4.5kg mark, in my hands.
“I EVEN FEEL NOSTALGIC ABOUT THE TIMES WE VENTURED INTO A RIVER AND WALKED FOR DAYS WITHOUT FINDING ANY TROUT. THAT’S FISHING, TOO.”
The River X
I refer to it as River X because in New Zealand, there is a special emphasis on protecting waterways. It’s rare to see the name of a river published on the internet. A foreign angler might view this as excessive zeal, but it is a good practice that I have been following in Spain and other countries for many years – and it wouldn’t be bad if we all adopted this practice. Our rivers and their fish may appreciate it. Let’s not see this as a selfish act, but rather as an act of respect and protection for one of our most precious resources.
Fishing in New Zealand with my girlfriend Leticia was another dream come true. I had been to New Zealand twice before. We are both outdoors enthusiasts and we dreamed quite a bit about a trip together. After almost 30 years of fly fishing, half of which I spent guiding, I have learned that sharing the experience with others makes it twice as enjoyable. There are no words to describe how it feels to help others make their dreams come true. However, what I didn’t expect was how fulfilling it could be to share my dreams with others.
Leticia and I parked the van in the parking lot just as the first light of morning broke. The access to River X requires a good trek of about 15km, and we had planned a threeday mission, using most of the first day to approach the waters we wanted to fish. We left a small note on the
dashboard of the van, as is customary in this country: “Two fishers fishing upstream for three days,” along with the date. In a country with so many trout waters, and where fishing untouched waters is key to a successful day, deep respect for fellow anglers prevails, and efforts are always made to minimise the chances of meeting other fishers.
“Prepare for the unexpected,” they say. Sometimes it’s easier said than done. At dawn on the second day, rain and wind battering the tent woke us. One of those rain fronts, faster than the forecast predicted, had decided to complicate our fishing trip.
With snow falling on the peaks that surrounded us, rain, and wind lashing the valley, we were on the verge of being forced to turn back without even making a cast. Wet wading in these conditions is physically demanding; it drains your energy levels, you run out of food faster, and quite often, you forget to drink enough, leaving you in a pretty miserable state after just a few hours of fishing. Moreover, from a fishing perspective, these conditions are incredibly tough, and the chances of success drop drastically.
In the tent, over breakfast, Leti and I discussed our options and decided we had to give it a try. Despite knowing that every kilometre upstream would have to be retraced the next day, and that the water and cold were penetrating our bones, we pushed on, devouring kilometres upstream. Each pool, each bend, each current was more enticing than the last. The reward was immense: kilometres of crystal-clear water and solitude. The whole world for us.
That night, as we prepared dinner around the fire, trying to warm our bones again after an intense fishing day, we didn’t think about the distance separating us from the car, the blisters, or the soaked tent we were about to sleep in. What we couldn’t get out of our minds was what we had found in those waters. We sealed the best possible ending to over a month of tramping the rivers of the South Island. That day, on that mysterious River X, under the New Zealand sky pouring down on us, we both managed to catch the best trout of our lives. I reckon there is no other fish I’ll remember more than those Leti and I shared together – for me, they were weighed and measured on a scale of dreams. And they were invaluable.
There is a destination, a dream, a journey, and a way of fishing for every fisher. In New Zealand, I found mine. For someone who has lived and felt fly fishing since childhood, rediscovering those sensations, those emotions, that thirst for exploration, those nerves, that anxiety, and even those beginner’s mistakes, is priceless.
It’s like being a child again, going back to when you spent nights awake thinking about the day ahead, when the rivers stimulated your imagination and the fascination for water was born. That’s reason enough to keep dreaming of New Zealand and every now and then, whenever I am able to come back, become the little kid with a rod that I was.
Matoya Lodge on the Barotse floodplain of Western Zambia is renowned for dishing up the Zambezi River’s biggest tigerfish (20lb+), as well as less common, sought-after species like Humpback Largemouth Bream and Nembwe.
Open from May to November, whether you choose flood season (May-June), run-off season (July-August) or low-water season, a week at Matoya offers you your best shot at a record tigerfish on fly and memories that will last a lifetime.
PLAN AHEAD AND SECURE YOUR 2025 WEEK NOW
SALAD BAR
SIMMS - M’S FREESTONE WADING JACKET
There comes a time in most semi-serious, four-seasons fly anglers’ lives when they ask themselves if they want to keep stuffing around with flimsy rain jackets worn over various other layers, or… if they want to get a proper wading jacket. With a motion-enhancing cut, ample pockets and a full-time hood, Simms’s Freestone Wading Jacket answers that call. Made with three-layer Toray laminate for waterproof, breathable protection against any storm Mother Nature serves up, you can also expect a single point adjustable storm hood with high collar and bonded brim to shed rain, a YKK water-resistant front zipper with storm flap, waist-high zippered hand warmer pockets with micro brushed tricot liner and drain holes, as well as an interior stretch-woven zippered chest pocket and adjustable stretch drawcord at the hem for a secure fit. simmsfishing.com, frontierflyfishing.com
SCIENTIFIC ANGLERS - ROD SLEEVES
AIRFLO - SUPERFLO RIDGE 2.0 SNIPER 4 SEASONS
You don’t have to be a hobbit or the Dark Lord to appreciate the appeal of “one line to rule them all”. In Airflo’s Superflo Ridge 2.0 Sniper 4 Seasons, we have just such a contender as it will do duty in the salt, for tigerfish, and for largemouth yellows on the Orange and Vaal river systems. Why? In short, thanks to Airflo’s excellent Ridge 2.0 tech, the Sniper 4 Seasons throws bigass flies long distances. Plus, with their special polyurethane formula, this line is adaptable across cold waters (the Vaal in winter) and hotter climates (the Zambezi 90% of the year). With an extended rear taper and hard-wearing haul zone, this is a line you can “mos fokken gooi” with massive confidence at most predatory fish. airflofishing.com
“THE SNIPER 4 SEASONS THROWS BIG-ASS FLIES LONG DISTANCES.”
The other day our art director Bod’s dog (a small street mutt called Khimba) jumped on his broken-down estuary rod in the back of his car and it broke. If Bod had domed up with Scientific Anglers’ rod sleeves, he would not be crying over a broken 7-weight. These sleeves allow you to protect your investment and keep tangles to a minimum while transporting multiple rods in your truck or boat. The unique braided construction is perfect for storing fully rigged rods or even rods broken in half. scientificanglers.com, frontierflyfishing.com
STEALTH - VEST FEST
Fresh vest drop from Stealth covering all your vest requirements! Going for lightweight, minimalist vibes? Then the breathable yet durable modern stylings of the Stealth Lite will be just your speed you slinky racing snake, you. With five well-organised pockets, two vertical chest pockets, and padded shoulder straps for comfort, it’s made from durable polyester fabric and an airy mesh back to keep you cool and dry. Fully adjustable to fit all sizes, this vest also includes a rear storage area and a D-ring for net attachment. Need a bit more storage?
YETI - SIDEKICK AND SIDECLICK STRAPS
You’ve seen Yeti’s epic and ingenious waterproof Sidekick Dry gear case range, which Upstream Flyfishing have in stock in 1L, 3L and 6L sizes in Charcoal and Navy. If you’re a fan, you’re going to want to get the nifty new side-click strap too, which helps you transform your Sidekick into a cross-body bag or a belt bag. Man bags never worked this well or looked this good. yeti.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za
Then perchance the Stealth Session is made for you. The high-grade polyester construction allows rapid access to zippered compartments which include eight organised pockets, two vertical chest pockets, dual lanyards, and side tool storage. The breathable mesh back promotes airflow and a D-ring for net attachment is included. Are you the kind of angler who needs the kitchen sink? Then the Stealth Omnia is your vest-vehicle of choice. Blending technical performance with lightweight comfort, it features 14 strategically placed pockets, including four vertical, two zippered side-access, and two flap cargo pockets on the chest. Made from premium polyester with cushioned shoulder straps and a ventilated mesh back that keeps you cool and dry, the fully adjustable design fits all sizes. It also includes a rear storage compartment and a net attachment ring. stealthfishing.co.za
TOIT - FISHING TOOLS
Toit like a toiger? You will be with these schweet tools perfect for a tigerfish trip, saltwater and other applications. Made from stainless steel 410 J1 drop forging, with brazed tungsten carbide inserts, and with a spring-loaded, ergonomic, hand-finished design, Toit’s side cutters, short nose pliers and haywire twist tool will cover all your tigerfish+trace+fly needs. Get the double-barrel plier sheath made from vegetable-tanned buffalo leather to give your handiest tools a home. toit.uk, upstreamflyfishing.co.za
Lite
Session
Omnia
FULLING MILL - MUST HAVE DAMSEL NYMPHS
Call us villains or the kind of kids who used to burn ants with a magnifying glass, but we prefer our damsels in distress, edging along the weed beds of a premier KwaZulu-Natal stillwater as a stonkingly large troot stalks them from behind to the soundtrack of Jaws cello music. Available at Mavungana Flyfishing, Fulling Mill’s “Must Have” Damsel Nymph selection features 10 of the most popular damsel nymph patterns. From classic damsels in olive and black to orange hot head damsels (classic fiery gingers), marabou weighted damsels, kick ass damsels, down ’n dirty damsels and more, this selection is perfect for targeting feeding trout on small stillwaters and reservoirs. flyfishing.co.za
“FEATURES
GRIP - 14035BL LONGSHANK JIG HOOK
Fresh of the R&D table from Grip is this doozy of a jig hook. From jig streamers to mayfly nymphs and even perdigons in the smaller sizes, this long-shank, heavy wire, black nickel, barbless beauty will do duty for you no matter if you’re targeting trout or something that pulls harder. scientificfly.com
LID RIG - STASH TRAY
We schmaak a nifty magnet and Lid Rig’s entire identity is built around the things. With the Stash Tray on your cap, you get a clever way to stash flies, tools like nippers, and more. Featuring a body machined out of anodized aluminium with a built-in hook sharpener and strong rare earth magnets for a strong hold and maximum durability, your essentials will be exactly where you left them, on the brim of your hat. lidrig.com, flyfishing.co.za
“YOU GET A CLEVER WAY TO STASH FLIES, TOOLS LIKE NIPPERS, AND MORE.”
GRIP - LEGS
Looking to give your flies a certain je ne sais quoi? You know...that extra wiggle when worked into a bouquet of other materials that makes a fly (whether imitative or suggestive), simply irresistible? Then you, sir, need legs, quality legs. Grip’s Round Rubber Legs are made from silicone as opposed to conventional rubber that perishes quickly in the sun. Available in 12 colours, they’re perfect for legs in trout and yellowfish flies, bass bugs and many saltwater crustaceans. Need a more delicate solution? Grip’s Fine Cut Sili Legs give you thinner, more delicate legs for small trout and yellowfish flies like nymphs and terrestrial dries. scientificfly.com
SEMPE PECHEFLUORESCENT
INDICATOR TIPPET
MATERIAL
You know how comp fly anglers get all a-twitter about random fly fishing brands the rest of us mere mortals know next to nothing about? Well, this high visibility, super-soft, abrasion-resistant French fluorocarbon tippet material is currently all the rage in certain comp quarters. With exceptional glide, no memory, no twist and no shine in the water it’s ideal for creating your perfect leader. Attach it via a tippet ring so you don’t have to continuously cut back when attaching new tippet and flies thereby prolonging the life and length of your leader. pierre-sempe.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za
CAPE STREAMS
CAPE TOWN
BOLIVIA
RIO - ELITE XTREME INDICATOR FLY LINE
Think Liam Neeson, “What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people fish like you.” With this incredibly advanced nymphing line, ideal for fishing indicators out of a boat, you’ll terrorise fish the same way Liam terrorises bad guys. You’ll be taken with the short, easy loading head to throw all manner of indicator rigs, and it features both Rio’s low-stretch ConnectCore Plus for excellent casting control, performance and smoothness and their exceptionally slick, durable SlickCast tech. farbank.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za
SIMMS - DRY CREEK BOAT BAG LARGE 25L
Sitting in a boat, you don’t need a bag that’s all about long-haul ergonomic feng shui and compromise. You want something that can be stashed either out of the way or in a secure spot, that you can access (and close again) quickly, that is well thought out with easy access to tons of flies, tippet, nippers and other tools and, last but not least, a bag that can handle getting wet. Simms’s rugged, water-resistant 25L Dry Creek Boat Bag ticks all those boxes. Made from abrasion-resistant 420D double ripstop nylon for long-term durability and water resistance, it features a magnetised catch-and-release buckle to keep the lid securely closed even when unzipped, while an overhanging compression-moulded lid keeps rain and spray out when the zipper is open. Customisable internal dividers allow you to make everything on the interior net so, while the top lid features large loop patches for fly drying/storage. Simms custom-moulded grab handle and removable/adjustable shoulder strap included. simmsfishing.com, frontierflyfishing.com
“WELL THOUGHT OUT WITH EASY ACCESS TO TONS OF FLIES, TIPPET, NIPPERS AND OTHER TOOLS AND, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, A BAG THAT CAN HANDLE GETTING WET.”
C&F DESIGN - LINE CUTTER
Does what it says on the box. Stick it onto any flat surface, and simply pull your line through the cutting blade. Useful if you know your own habits and that exact point on a boat or on your float tube where you’re always looking to cut line, but can’t be arsed to fiddle around for your nippers. c-and-f.co.jp, frontierflyfishing.com
“SIMPLY PULL YOUR LINE THROUGH THE CUTTING BLADE.”
XPLORER - RE-XPLORE WADER WORK STATION
Part of Xplorer’s Re-Xplore Range, this wader work station is made locally from upcycled old waders and other used clobber. With a main compartment for carrying your primary fly box, floatant and tippet, plus several docking points for tools and flies, it carries all your essentials either on the chest of your waders or attached to the front of a pack. xplorerflyfishing.co.za
“I have fished the world with Jono Boulton and Mavungana Flyfishing, walking & wading some pretty challenging environments. The new Orvis PRO Approach Hiker salt boots are simply the best I have worn” Craig Smith - the esteemed Knysna Grunter whisperer.
Mavungana Flyfishing Center Main Road, Dullstroom, 013 254 0270
Mavungana Flyfishing JHB, Shop 3B
Illovo Square Shopping Center, 011 268 5850
THE MISSION - TAILGUNNER TRUCKER IN NAVY
Our classic, OG Tailgunner Grunter Trucker is now available in a new colourway. With this fine navy-and-white trucker cap sporting The Mission’s iconic Tailgunner Grunter logo, you’ll look the part for either the Bayou, the Breede, or a braai. We’d go as far as to say that this would be Cletus the slack-jawed yokel’s choice of headwear and now, dear reader, it can be yours too. themissionflymag.com
SEMPERFLI - KRINKLE FLASH SOLID
From tiny chironomid buzzers for trout to massive saltwater flies for equally massive fish, Semperfli’s Krinkle Flash Solid gives you options. What sets it apart is the unique tinsel with colours that change horizontally on each single strand. With 300 fully useable 10-inch strands in each pack you can produce plenty of long wings on saltwater or large predator flies, or tons of flashbacks on smaller freshwater patterns. semperfli.net, xplorerflyfishing.co.za
ORVIS - PRO HYBRID HOODIE
Somewhere between a hoodie and a collared shirt (a shoodie?), we have no idea what the Orvis Pro Hybrid Hoodie’s preferred pronouns are, but we want one (the hoodie that is). With an industry-high UPF rating of 50+, even when wet, this hoodie is also ridiculously light. While the main body and vented hood are made from a stretchy, woven fabric that allows for enhanced comfort, the side panels, undersleeve, and back panel are made with Orvis’s temperature-regulating Coolcore knit. Expect underarm gussets for increased range of motion, an anti-odour finish so you can wear the same shirt for a week and only honk a little, a hidden sunglass/cellphone cleaner in the lower hem, back-of-hand coverage with thumbholes, two zippered chest pockets for secure storage and an athletic fit to significantly decrease how much wind flapping you do. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za
SEMPERFLI - SCUD DUBBING
Sand fleas for mullet? Freshwater scuds hanging under the Palmiet on the Holsloot River? Whether these are the applications you have in mind or numerous other options, you might want to take a look at Semperfli Scud Dubbing specialist blends. With up to five SemperSeal colours and six Semperfli Ice Dubbings in 16mm or 3/4 inch staple lengths with 1gm per pack – it’s perfect for nymphs, bugs and dry flies. Available in Claret, Crawcray Ditchbug (coincidentally also our art director’s pornstar name), Fishbelly/White, Peachy and Brown Olive. semperfli.net, xplorerflyfishing.co.za
DEEP WANTS
PAY DAY
A CRAFT TO TRADE FOR YOUR LEFT NUT, PLUS THREE PAIRS OF PORNO SHADES
Since we featured one of Flycraft’s boats in our last issue, photographed drifting through bushed-in blue yellowfish rivers in northern Zambia, we’ve been lusting after it. Brandon Collett of Flycraft spoke to us about the brand.
When you built the first Flycraft boat, what sort of waters did you have in mind?
Initially, the original Flycraft Stealth was a passion project by our founder Ben Scribner. He loved floating all the bigger rivers in the western US in his drift boat but, every time he floated smaller waters where he couldn’t launch his drift boat, whatever vessel he used seemed like a compromise. Whitewater rafts, personal pontoons, kayaks, canoes, etc. just couldn’t match the rowing performance of a drift boat and could not even come close to the fishability advantages. Once he’d designed the Flycraft Stealth, he couldn’t go anywhere without people asking him what this new boat was and whether they could get one.
What were the features that you wanted that you weren’t finding elsewhere?
Flycraft was really meant as a boat for Ben and a buddy to float where others could not. Not only was this Stealth great on small shallow streams (only drafting 3”) but it was easier to row and fish from on the bigger rivers classically floated in larger drift boats. A small boat that could bounce off rocks and be dragged down banks like a whitewater raft, it also had a rigid floor and rowing performance like a drift boat had never seen before. The smaller side tubes and rigid floor gives it unique fishability as well as incredible stability. At only 12’ long and weighing 82 lbs, the Stealth does not need to be trailered. Breaking it down in the back of a small car or in a camper is easy, as is keeping it assembled and inflated to ride in the back of a truck or rooftop.
Where have you seen your boats pop up?
Beyond the USA, we’ve been excited to see our boats all over the world. They’ve chased giant trout in Chile, peacock bass in the Amazon rainforest, rooster fish in Mexico, tigerfish in Africa, trout in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. flycraftusa.com
HDAS PORNO SHADES
ave you ever felt that perhaps (through some cosmic space-time glitch), you belong to a different era? Say, as a late-70s/early-80s pro-wrestler or third-reserve fluffer on the set of Boogie Nights? Now, you can realise those desires (and still catch fish) wearing a pair of steamy retro shades from almost any top brand. It’s called fesshin, pal.
COSTA DEL MAR - GRAND CATALINA
Flip, Jose, Lefty, Chico, Stu... so many legends of fly fishing wore Costa’s Grand Catalina back in the day and now these iconic retro aviator frames with their light-blocking side panels are back and re-mastered for modern anglers. With oodles of steeze, plus Costa’s renowned 580G lenses and light-blocking side panels, what’s not to love? costadelmar.com
BAJIO - 12 SOUTH
While the large-fitting, surf-inspired 12 South are definitely out there, they also feature Bajío’s polarised, colour-enhancing, high-definition LAPIS technology lenses. So they mean business. Get ’em in classic tortoiseshell or black frames, or invoke the chi of Randy Savage and go for the Blue/Crèam Gloss with Violet Mirror lenses combo. bajiosunglasses.com
ELECTRIC – STACKER
Electric’s Stackers have been playing pretty consistently in the porno fishing shade market for a few years now. With their large size and removable face mask (designed to block spray, dirt, dust and light), these hardy peeper-protectors won’t let you down. electriccalifornia.com
WHAT’S IN MY BAG
BIKEPACKING AND FLY FISHING 101
TAKING YOUR LIFE WITH YOU ON A BIKE MEANS MINIMISING YOUR SETUP TO THE BARE ESSENTIALS, AND IF YOU’RE MAKING FILMS AND FLY FISHING LIKE WILL PHELPS , THAT MEANS MAKING COMPROMISES.
Photos. Will Phelps, Erika (Florian) Phelps, Brent Hermanussen, Miles Sebald
Pretty much every bikepacking trip I go on, I learn something and apply it to the next trip, especially when there’s fly fishing involved. What can be improved? How can my weight be distributed better? Maybe I need more mounting points in the rear? When I prep, I normally try to go to as lightweight as possible, especially as a filmmaker. I carry a lot of heavy camera gear, so I have to make sacrifices in other areas. That might mean bringing one less shirt or one less pair of pants or one less change of socks, just to account for the extra gear that I have to bring.
The thing with bikepacking is that you’re committed to the area that you’re going to. So I keep it simple. That’s the idea behind bikepacking in the first place, living simply. You’re cutting out the house, the car, and all these things that you’re used to living with and really chiselling it down to only the things you need to get the job done.
You can also travel at a slower pace than in a car and actually take everything in. You’re forced to talk to people, you’re forced to ask for help, you’re forced to take stops. So if you’re biking next to a river, you might actually see the fish rise rather than going 20/30 miles an hour by it in a car. Spot a fish? Just park your bike, grab your rod and catch it. That’s the beautiful thing about bikepacking.
THE BIKE
You want to choose a bike that’s suitable for whatever mission you’re going on. Some trips require a bike that’s more suitable for trails and mountain biking, while others require a bike that’s more suitable for road and asphalt. When selecting a bike specifically for fly fishing, you want to think along the lines of a mountain bike-type setup because then you can access some really cool places and get away from civilisation.
Frame & fork
I ride a steel frame hardtail Koski (koskibros.com). It’s a fully rigid bike with no front suspension. This means it can be pedalled really easily for long distances without the suspension squishing down and sucking up some your energy. The only time I’d want any suspension is if I was riding on continuous single track. Efficiency and simplicity is the overall goal. You’re going to be able to cover a lot more ground on a simple bike, and you’re going to deal with a lot less problems; fewer moving parts usually equals fewer problems. You can’t have an issue with your suspension if you don’t have any suspension. I recently changed my front fork to include different mounting points on it. There’s literally like screw holes in the fork, so you can mount things to it.
Gear train & shifter
I run a 1x10 drivetrain. For most people that might not be enough gears. It doesn’t have a granny gear and sometimes I run out of gears when I’m going really fast. Anywhere from a 1x10 to a 1x12 would work fine. I use a Black Box (northwestfab.com) shifter. It’s a pretty small brand but it’s bomber. It’s never broken, and that’s the main thing for me – I just want equipment that’s going to last, which is key for bikepacking. You want to be as mechanical as possible throughout all your functions of your bike. I even ride with mechanical disc brakes. You don’t want an electronic shifter on your bike either, and definitely not an e-bike when you’re bikepacking because those are things that are going to run out of battery, and then you’re hosed.
Tires & spares
My 27.5 inch mountain bike tires (2.5in to 2.8in wide) allow my bike to go on the gravel and in the mountains, making it capable on a trail, but then also really efficient on the road. With the fat mountain bike tires on a fully rigid bike, you can deflate the tires a little which will help with cushioning. As fly fishers, we’re probably not going to be on asphalt as
much as most other bikepacking people because the rivers we go to are accessed on gravel. I only ride tubeless tires. I don’t recommend anyone to ride with tubes because you’ll get a lot more flats; especially if you’re somewhere with cactus or thorns, which tubeless tires can deal with easily. I carry extra Stans (stans.com) sealant in a little bottle. If you do get a puncture it immediately gets filled by the sealant. I’ll also bring a CO2 bomb for quick fillups, and a hand pump so I can regulate tire pressure up and down. I also carry one or two extra shifter cables. You don’t need a bunch of them, but say you snap a cable on
your derailleur or on your shifter, you want to be able to replace it.
Pedals & seat
I ride on flat pedals with short pins, to avoid bloody shin strikes. I have big feet so I ride bigger platform pedals which are more comfortable. I would not recommend riding with clipless pedals because then you’re committed to that pair of shoes. My seat is a Brooks (brooksengland. com) saddle, they’re leather seats with built-in suspension providing a bit of cushioning.
“YOU CAN’T HAVE AN ISSUE WITH YOUR SUSPENSION IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY SUSPENSION.”
“BIKEPACKING IS REALLY CHISELLING IT DOWN TO ONLY THE THINGS YOU NEED TO GET THE JOB DONE.”
THE SETUP
It’s really important to have my cockpit dialled with all of the quick-access stuff. Say a storm comes, you want to be able to know exactly where your rain jacket is so you can throw it on. If you need your headlamp when it gets dark, you want to know exactly where that is. So it’s really about making sure every piece of gear returns to its home when you’re done using it.
Up front on the Trxstle Geryon Rack System (trxstle.com) I have my sleeping bag which, weather depending, will be suited for warm or cold. Strapped onto that is my Goal Zero Nomad 10 (goalzero.com) solar-powered power bank kit – it charges while I ride and camp. It allows me to charge my camera batteries, phone, headlamp, anything small, but it doesn’t last forever. That goes with me on every single bikepacking trip, no question. If you’re not a filmmaker like me, you can still get use out of charging your phone or GPS. Next up is my f-stop Navin (fstopgear. com) camera bag. It’s like a little pouch that you can strap to anything with your camera in it. It’s badass. I ride with it connected to my handlebars. When I’m making films, I want to be able to quickly grab my camera and get shots.
Behind that, you’ll find these little water bottle holders called Mountain Feedbags by Revelate Designs (revelatedesigns.com). This is something that I put on every bike that I own. You can have one on each side, one for a bottle and the other with a bunch of snack bars in it, or sometimes I’ll put my phone in it and run the cable straight to my Goal Zero for charging. Next to that is the compact Mag Tank, also by Revelate. It’s a good spot for storing gadgets. That’s also where my weed goes. It’s just the perfect quickaccess spot.
On the fork is where I keep all my clothes and my sleeping stuff. Mostly I don’t even bring a change of clothes, just extra layers. I’ll be in shorts and a T-shirt, with the option of warm socks, long johns and warm rain-proof jackets. That’s the most important thing. It’s not about comfort and staying clean, it’s about not dying of hypothermia. For clothes storage, I really like the Sealine (seallinegear.com) rolltop waterproof bags. I use the super-thick rubber versions, so if you lay your bike down on it, it’s not going to puncture the bag. A lot of people will run two of those, one on each side, strapped to the fork rack with Titan Straps (titanstraps.com)
I use just a regular Patagonia (patagonia.com) Black Hole Cube on the other side, but it’s not waterproof. On my last trip, I ran panniers up front, which is a little bit of a different setup. It’s heavier, but you can store more gear. So that’s the trade-off.
One of the most important things I would say for everyone bikepacking is to get a good frame bag. I’ll actually keep an extralarge Nalgene (nalgene.com) 48oz (1.4L) water bottle in there as backup. They’re super-cheap and durable, and used to top up the quick-access bottle up front. I use a Sawyer (sawyer.com) water filter to make sure what I’m drinking is clean – the same one I carry with me on the river, as the soft bladder saves a ton of space. My inflatable sleeping pad and a few extra layers will also go in the frame bag.
On the back end of the Geryon I have my lightweight tent, or just a hammock, depending on the weather and tree situation. Tents are great to keep bugs away though. That goes on the rear next to the rod. I also have the cooking stuff back there. Often it will be a Jetboil (jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com) burner with a gas cannister, which is so efficient. It boils within seconds. When we’re in backcountry we use freeze-dried meals because we are in backcountry. For breakfast, instant oats. The Jetboil Zip is a French press that integrates into the burner which is awesome, I always have coffee. When we were in Patagonia, we actually ate out a lot because there’s so many places to eat and we weren’t so isolated.
Weight distribution is important. My bike weighs around 70 to 80 pounds, or 40kg, but more than 50% of that is the kit. It’s a heavy bike, but it’s still a lot better than carrying it on your back. If you’re in a place that involves a lot of hike-a-bike (where you’re getting off your bike, pushing it up steep hills) then you’ll want to pack more weight towards the front of the bike, making it easier to push up hills. When I did this in Patagonia, which didn’t involve any hike-a-bike at all, the front end was too heavy to steer properly. A lot of people will probably want to run rear panniers. In the front you can strap your stuff to the fork, but in the back panniers are great for carrying extra gear, and it just distributes everything nice and easily, but each to their own. From my experience a 50-50 weight ratio is probably ideal, but every trip’s different and every bike’s different. It’s just a matter of finding where everything fits into the puzzle to get you from point A to point B.
THE FLY FISHING CLOBBER
If you’re going to go on a long trip, I’d recommend taking a few rods, depending on what you’re doing. If I was doing a saltwater trip, then I’d take two rods, a 9- and a 10-weight, because if you break your only rod then you’re hosed. On a freshwater trip for small trout, if you break a rod you can probably tape it back together.
In terms of rod storage, I always keep my rod in its tube, and put that towards the rear where it’s poking straight out the back, strapped to my saddle bag made by Revelate Designs. Make sure you have the rod tube opening, the screw top or a zipper top, pointing out the back for easy access. Ideally it’s a rod tube with a material strap for a tie-in point, rather than a smooth aluminium tube. Obviously you want to have your reel in an accessible location too. I usually keep mine in my frame bag, along with other easy access stuff.
For the rest of my fishing gear, I go super-simple. I really like the Patagonia Stealth Wader Workstation. You can strap it to your handlebar, the side of your bike, put it on your belt, you can strap it anywhere. It’s superversatile and it’s just the perfect size for fly fishing and bikepacking too. In there will be some fly cups, my nippers, pliers, haemostats.
In terms of fly selection, going simple is key. If I’m going on a trout trip, I’ll bring like one little puck of dries, one of nymphs, and then another one with some streamers. I also use the Trxstle Big Water Case. It’s a mountable fly box designed to attach to any bike. That box is a great option because you can also mount it in place of your water bottle holder. Depending on the trip, I might just have the Wader Workstation though
My sandals are from Bedrock (bedrocksandals.com) I live in them when I bikepack. Those specifically because they’re lightweight and comfortable and you can fish in them because they’re strapped to your feet. They negate the need for multiple heavy closed-toe shoes. And I don’t feel my feet are at risk when riding. It’s not like when you’re mountain biking and really ripping it. If it gets cold, Bedrock make thick socks designed for the toe thong.
THE CAMERA CLOBBER
My first couple of bikepacking trips I would go one lens, one camera, but lately I’ve really liked having two lenses. One wide lens, a 16mm prime – to cover the night timelapses, the vlog shots, and anything else wide. Then I’ll have my 70mm-100mm Canon lens and that thing is a beast. It just gets the prettiest shots. I also have a Mavic (dji.com) Mini 3 Pro drone which is a very small drone that I usually fit in my f-stop bag upfront and my Rode (rode.com) VideoMic Pro Plus comes along for audio. I also have my GoPro (gopro.com) Hero 12 that’s always strapped to my handlebars, so I can do a shot talking to the GoPro about how I feel or if I’m riding behind my friend, I can get a shot of them riding too. Between those three cameras, you can do pretty much anything.
“DIY ADVENTURES FROM AROUND THE WORLD.”
DIY FLY FISHING/BIKEPACKING SOUTH AFRICA
While the bike setup itself is one thing to consider, planning the routes, the water and the overnight stays are what make a bikepacking trip become a reality. Here are some ideas aligned to the South African spirit.
1. Overberg
Adapt Cape Cycle Routes’ Overberg Meander into your own mix of gravel and tarred roads that will take you from Hermanus’s Klein River estuary through Agulhas National Park, the De Mond, Breede and Duiwenhoks River estuary systems, plus a range of tidal flats along the way. capecycleroutes.co.za
2. Baviaanskloofrivier
Kick up some dust in the greater wilderness area that spans from Willowmore to Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape in search of smallmouth bass and yellowfish alike. baviaans.co.za
3. Wartrail
Cruising between self-catering farm stays and remote valley campsites from Barkly East to Rhodes could dish up a heady mix of highland vistas and remote trout stream fishing. wildtrout.co.za
PHELPS ON THE FLY Filmmaker by trade, Will’s personal channel features epic DIY adventures from around the world. Keep an eye out for some of his excellent bikepacking/ fly fishing films, including his most recent Patagonia expedition, Bike To Fly. Youtube.com/@\ PhelpsOnTheFly
4. Underberg/Himeville
Dashing through farmland in the shadow of the mountain kingdom, the tributaries of the Mzimkulu river have no shortage of accommodation and free spawning trout populations. uhtfc.org.za
5. Maputaland
Get on your fat bike and explore the never ending beaches of northern Kwa-Zulu Natal on the hunt for various trevally species. fatbikefishing.co.za
Horst with a trophy chiselmouth caught on his mustard caddis.
THE SPECIALIST
IN THE WORLD OF YELLOWFISH NERDS AND ITS MYRIAD TRIBES AND SUBTRIBES, HORST FILTER IS THE MAN TO CONTACT IF YOU LUST AFTER SMALL AND LARGESCALE YELLOWFISH. YOU’LL FIND HIM IN NORTHERN KWAZULUNATAL RIGHT UP NEAR THE BORDERS OF MPUMALANGA AND ESWATINI. BE SURE TO BOOK IN ADVANCE.
Photos. C/o Horst Filter, Leonard Flemming
The first fish I remember catching was a smallscale yellowfish with my dad when I was about four years old.
After my military service I lived in Piet Retief (Mkhondo) for 13 years and worked at a sawmill. I’m the fifth-generation Filter on my farm in the Lüneburg area of KwaZulu-Natal.
On a typical day I get up early, have coffee and start with farming. When I have fishing clients or orchid tours lined up, I get up even earlier to prepare.
In terms of my home waters, I mainly fish the Phongolo and Assegaai rivers and their tributaries.
I’m obsessed with small- and largescale yellowfish because they are incredibly challenging to catch and are very rewarding when caught. Also, the environment in which you fish for them is always very beautiful.
If you enjoy technical fishing these fish are for you. To pick up the takes of both species you require incredible focus and fast reactions. They are very subtle. You need to watch and feel your line as a whole to be able to pick up when there’s a fish at your fly.
I fish a 4- or 5-weight fast-action rod to be able to cast long lines and long leaders the whole day.
I fish a floating line with an 18- to 24-foot leader with heavy flies, sometimes with 4 mm tungsten beads.
The most important point is contact with your fly. Keep your rod tip on the water and always point the rod to your line so there is no slack that you or the fish have to pick up before contact is registered.
“THE BEST ADVICE I HAVE EVER BEEN GIVEN IS SIMPLY, ‘DON’T GIVE UP.”
“I’M OBSESSED WITH SMALLAND LARGESCALE YELLOWFISH. TO PICK UP THE TAKES OF BOTH SPECIES YOU REQUIRE INCREDIBLE FOCUS AND FAST REACTIONS.”
Colonel Mustard
Check out Leonard Flemming’s step-bystep tutorial for tying Horst’s version of the Mustard Caddis at themissionflymag.com/ the-mustard-caddis
The flies I fish are mainly the mustard caddis, black or olive damsel, rusty or red blood worm. All these flies are in sizes of 8 up to 16.
The best advice I have ever been given is simply, ‘Don’t give up.”
I am most proud of my wife, kids and grandkids.
My go-to drink is Tafel Lager.
The greatest party trick I have ever seen is the opening of beer.
Something I have had to work at in life is my faith but at the same time my faith has also come naturally to me.
I have caught so many satisfying fish species over the years, but a good-size yellowfish tops them all.
One place I have to return to is the Western Cape for the three yellow species there.
It’s never OK for an angler to lie. It always bites you back.
The handiest survival skill I have is my faith in the Lord and my Leatherman.
A skill I would like to master is reading fish behaviour.
Not much has changed in terms of what I get out of fly fishing over the years. If anything, I enjoy it even more.
If I could change one thing in fly fishing, it would be the competitiveness between fly fishers. That and that everyone respects the next person.
The last fish I caught was a 6lb largescale.
Horst’s bread and butter, a smallscale yellowfish.
POP QUIZ
PAPA ROACH OR P DIDDLER? DDD OR DEAD ANT? LEATHER COUCH OR JD VANCE? TAKE OUR RAPID-FIRE QUIZ TO SEE IF YOU PICKED ANYTHING UP FROM THIS ISSUE (OTHER THAN CRABS).
1. According to High Fives guide Greg Maxwell, black seabream are also known as... (page 26)?
A. The Amazon.com cubera.
B. The Temu triggerfish.
C. The Takealot trevally.
D. The Wish.com wahoo.
E. The Shein shark.
2. What is the gladius... (page 22)?
A. A type of sword used by Roman soldiers.
B. What Russell Crowe calls his main chap.
C. The hard body part found inside cephalopods.
D. A tactical role-playing game made for Xbox and PlayStation 2.
E. Your great-aunt’s neighbour at the retirement home.
3. The way LeRoy Botha tells it, when he (a mostly avowed fly angler) dipped his toe into heathenware, it was because the yellowtail were firing where (page 34)?
A. There by Tietiesbaai.
B. Amazonis Planitia.
C. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
D. Brů’lsyxtrar.
E. The Outer Banks.
4. Which of the following won’t make Platon Trakoshis get down and twerk (page 42)?
A. His fourth double brandy and coke.
B. Nana Mouskouri’s mole.
C. When someone mentions “ZimbUbwe” or the “Zambhezzi”.
D. A carp grubbing in the shallows.
E. Losing his phone while chasing grass carp.
5. According to Ewan Naude, what is one of Africa’s most powerful aphrodisiacs (page 54)?
A. Catching a big fish and standing with it for a photo as proven on Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps.
B. Raw oysters blended with maca, ginseng, gingko biloba and red bait.
C. The Albany accent of the Eastern Cape as spoken by Ed Truter.
D. The Seffrican-Oirish brogue of Teddy Coulter.
E. Silent Bob vibes as provided by Oliver Santoro.
6. Which of the following does Álvaro G. Santillán not miss about New Zealand (page 66)?
A. Giant browns with half-digested mice falling out of their poephols.
B. Pain in the legs after days spent covering 40km of virgin waters.
C. The constant whining about Sam Cane’s red card in the World Cup final.
D. The mosquitoes and midges.
E. The north-westerly wind.
