GONE FISHINNG

I'll be fishing the Gariep river from 28 September to 5 October. Report to follow

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=richtersveld&sll=-28.579604,16.530004&sspn=0.008875,0.019226&ie=UTF8&ll=-28.127706,16.958771&spn=0.570432,1.230469&t=h&z=10

September Update

Report and some evidence just in. Clarity is absolutely great at the moment! With fairly constant flows the conditions should remain for another week-end. PTN hotspots and cream caddis produced for them.

September 2008 Middle Vaal Report

When not fishing you meet interesting people photographing interesting subject - Bengt von Veh Magaliesberg

I have NOT spent any time on the river in the last two months hence the hiatus in reporting and my somewhat crappy mood. It’s an absolute disgrace! Such is life and as we evolve from single men to married with kids our disposable time diminishes. Choices we make, I’m glad I made mine.
Another choice I made is to join my uncle and friends on an upcoming 5 day raft through the Richtersveld. Part of the group is going on a two day hike, which leaves us two solid days of fishing. So I’ll get some sanity back.
For those of you with less interference in your fishing diaries get to the water. I’ve received some great reports in the last fortnight. Herman Botes has time to fish in the week and he had a magnificent day on Tuesday. All fish caught on the dry, some over 3kg, a final count of 30 plus and I must agree with the man that the Vaal is one of the best tail water fisheries in the world.
Water and Weather forecast
We’ve had steady flows in the last month – I watch the rates daily thinking that I may end up fishing the next weekend. I’ve been wrong on that. Clarity is good but with changes in temperature, wind and possible rain we may get some algae bloom, just like a pool going green round about now.
Weather is great and we’ve said goodbye to winter with some soaring 30C+ days in September.
Windguru at http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/vaal_dam gives good indication of wind and weather conditions in the Vaaldam area, good enough for Parys and a fair indicator for the Potch area. Looking at this you can expect wind North and North East.

With the high pressure south of the Cape it’s keeping the frontal systems away – clear skies for the next few days – looks like a fishing weekend.

Insect Activity
Reports coming in from the first weekend in September indicated that the hatches are thick- with some mayflies but already dominated by the caddis species. The odd Vaal caddis showed themselves over the weekend. You will do well imitating the large larvae – sometimes up to #8 hook. Check the rocks in the rapids to appreciate their size and prevalence in Spring.

Pupa for colour – note eyes and antennae

Approach and Technique
The Vaal is as we all know the dumping ground for a lot of nutrients, more than the system require and can handle. This combined with some other factors creates one of the scourges of the Vaal massive spirogyra growth– fortunately limited to this period. These long strings of algae clog up the prime fishing areas especially the rapids. I have experienced it so thick it makes wading impossible.
What to do when your favourite venue suffers? You can wait for summer rains to wash it away, but that is not an option when the urge to fish is there.
I have two options:
Get away from the stuff, the fish are still cruising the pools and are not exclusively feeding in the rapids. Target them with normal open water tactics. Mayfly nymphs on a slow retrieve or the surface flies.
Try a dry and dropper approach to targeted fish, fishing the clear lanes in-between the veg. Not an easy task but at times the choice between fish and driving home early.
A mate of mine had a great day in the Dome fishing a holding pool just above and below the rapids. He got plenty of fish and some whoppers amongst them! He lost plenty, almost all of them because of rusted hooks – from a waterproof box. He lost all his flies and had a very frustrating and disappointing day. Avoid this by taking these precautions.
· Invest in a good waterproof box.
· Leave all flies outside the box or the box open to dry. Often forgotten when racing back from a long day and you still have to take the significant other out at 19:30 and it’s 18:45 with Gasmere 50 km’s to go.
· Check flies before the trip using needle nose pliers to check them. Rusted flies break off at the tail where the dubbing ends.

Bertu and Tinus teamed up to produce this one and the next

LARGEMOUTH
While the rain remains absent the clarity should be good. Dedicate some time to pursuing these great game fish now before the summer rains reduce visibility. Fishing has been good to excellent from Parys to Prieska actually I’m only reporting up to Nkolo Spa/Christiana.

Average size fish for these chaps

News
The guys in the Western Cape are relaunching the Yellowfish Working Group. You can contact them here if you are interested :
http://www.flytalk.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=4696
Northern Cape Bells is happening in October and there may be some slots available.
I’ve received some worrying news from the headwaters of the Vaal. Dave Weaver reported a possible new trout farming venture at Sterkfontein dam. I’m all for people earning a living but I see absolutely no reason why another person must enrich themselves buy stuffing-up (is the nice word) another pristine environment. We’ve had a lot of that in South Africa and are reading about the effects weekly – Wonderfonteinspruit, Sterkfontein caves, Loskop dam, Northern Cape diamond mining etc. etc.

FOSAF reports Yellowfish September 2008

Horrors of horrors, I see in the chronicle this week a small notice that there is a planned trout farming operation earmarked for Sterkies. I have registered myself as an interested and affected (I+A) party. At this stage I have no further information regards this proposal but I will keep you informed as and when I get more info. I sent the notice out to a number of people on my e-mailing list so hopefully the word has got around. Should you wish to be listed as an I+A party please e-mail, Mr E Hinrichsen at aquaeco@telkomsa.net. You can also go and view their activities at www.aquaeco.co.za.

Joy when a mate scores in Seychelles! Well done Theo

Carl & Keith

August report delayed- Carl disgusted with himself ;-)

We've not posted the August report yet because Carl claims to be so under the whip in his day job he's not had time to blog... he disgusts me and apparently himself. Hopefully we'll hear from him before the end of the month.

Have you been on the Vaal recently? please post a comment and let us know what you've been up to.

I am off to Scotland next for a few days fishing the Tweed and its tributaries for browns and grayling... and maybe some sea trout! watch my blog "flies and stuff" for more.

July 2008 Middle Vaal Report

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to enjoy a day’s great fishing on the drift at Elgro Lodge. They run a professional operation, safe & clean facilities, boats in perfect condition and the trip gives access to some of the best sections of the Middle Vaal. We were rewarded with world-class fishing – I nailed the smallies on dry and my mate got stuck into the largies and bigger smallmouth.
A group from the Flytalk.co.za forum got together for a trip on the 28th and they more or less blanked. I won’t mention anything about their abilities with a fly rod ;-). Jokes aside it certainly highlights the true nature of the river in winter. If you blank you may give up on it, if you get into the fish you are forever converted to the supreme fishing experience of the Vaal river.

Water and Weather forecast
Flows are still basically a gamble, I mention a number and the next day it is up by 10. Monitor the flows on the two sites. Rand Water and DWAF or contact a reliable landowner. It seems Goose Bay and Schoemansdrift are producing data, but neither of them tie up or reconcile back to the Barrage. That said the flow is certainly fishable and the latest report on visibility is from 100-150cm in the Dome.
Winter solstice is behind us so the days are getting longer but alas not warmer. The next two months will be the coldest but the fish will still eat!! Our recent trip coincided with the antitheses of the Perfect Storm – the perfect fishing weekend. On the Saturday the high pressure system remained over the centre of the country, it was balmy 20C and we had no wind.

Insect Activity
Looking back at the archives of Middle Vaal reports for winter it’s fairly obvious that mayflies are the main food source you need to imitate now. Mayflies hatch in the rapids or in the open water of the large pools – but fish will feed for several metres below these spots. Be vigilant and you’ll notice the little sail boats on the water or in the air (too late for the fish, for now). The water flowing past you will be a soup of nymphs, shucks, spent, hatching and trapped adults, giving a clear indication of what must be imitated. I would err on the small size when tying or buying flies.

Caddis imitations in smaller sizes are also important the adults and pupae more than the larvae. I haven’t fished midges/buzzers/chronomids but these insects are abundant in the Vaal during winter and do form a large part of the diet of smallmouth. They hatch in very slow moving water, where the larva lives in the muddy substrate.

I tend to have cover for every insect on the Vaal and Sterkfontein dam in my flybox. Before every trip I add to it and after the trip new patterns and shared ideas find slots.

Approach and Technique
As mentioned earlier we picked a good weekend for the last trip – I guess the more you go out the luckier you get.
I started the morning searching for largemouth but when I noticed the first signs of surface feeding smallmouth I switched. I always take two rods on the boat both loaded and ready. The dry fly rod had an indicator dry with a small mayfly emerger on the dropper. I battle to keep track of size 18 dries at 30 yards. This “indicator” was a Vaal caddis tied with a thick stack of white CDC.
I prefer to use my own boat, it allows for 2 rods and going solo allows one to stand on the pontoons of the boat. There’s only one captain and you can go where you want to – plus you get all the exercise of rowing.

Once you clear a rapid and the major rocks it’s fairly safe to stand up on the pontoons, which gives you the required elevation for spotting fish (don’t forget the hat & Polaroids).
Keep an eye IN the water, a bump against a rock can send you into the 10C water! Follow the main flow and scan the eddies or quieter water for rising fish or the dark shapes holding or moving just below the surface. Yellowfish on the Vaal do not present as the golden beauties you see in Sterkies or held up for photo’s.
When entering a new pool it is a good idea just to pull over and spent a few minutes resting while scouting the surface. It is amazing how a barren stretch of water comes alive. If you are familiar with hunting or game viewing you’ll know how rewarding it can be just to sit on a kopje and scan the bush.

LARGEMOUTH
Bertu landed and released this beauty first thing in the morning around 9 am. This after three boats passed thru the pool. Flies that worked for him were all dark coloured which made sense considering the low visibility – black provides a better contrast.

Barend also used a dark coloured fly to contribute this beauty to the Largiebase

– plus he threw some cash at the problem and made use of the guiding services of Ian Couryer. The money spent on a good guide is an investment in your future fishing pleasure. Even if you hit a bad day in terms of weather etc. you will learn so much that will stay you in good stead for the future.
Unless you can get onto the river with a very knowledgeable buddy who is willing to forgo some fishing time and show you the ropes (NOT!) a guide is the only option. Of course there are some dodgy guides out there, but in general if you go with a word of mouth recommendation you are safe.



News
Keith is launching a new Blog sharing his experiences in the UK http://fliesandstuff.blogspot.com/. I’m sure it will be filled with his passion for fly fishing and great new fly patterns to inspire us.

Cheers got to go fishing!

Carl & Keith

Flies and Stuff- keith blogs his UK flyfishing

finally, after 16 months of living in South England I have started blogging some of the amazing fishing I have had. Come over and have a read and if you have mates in the UK (or are considering visiting or moving to the UK) let them know too, I'd be happy to offer help based on what I've learnt so far

June 2008 Middle Vaal Report

Winter has well and truly arrived, although living on the northern side of the Magalies I only notice it when I visit the Vaal. I spent a day out on the river the last weekend of May and the water was only just bearable in neoprene waders. That said if you manage to stay out of it you can easily still fish with only longs. We are so blessed with temperate days of clear blue skies.

Water and Weather forecast
Planning a trip should centre on the major frontal systems. If it’s big it will sweep the country and you’ll be better off tying flies or cleaning the garage. I thought this would be a very cold winter but on the odd hunting trip the campfire was a pleasant experience.
Flows have been erratic up to 25 cumecs in the last two weeks (up to 30 from the 8th), which is above the winter flow regime. Hopefully we can get some low constant flows, which should contribute to increased visibility.

Insect Activity

In winter the main focus will be on mayflies. Some of the readers have sent me questions in the past on what are meant by all the terms used when describing the various stages of the mayflies. For those who still have questions have a look at this great article on Hatches magazine - http://hatchesmagazine.com/page/january2006/86
I do not think we need to be able to define between male and female to be successful on the Vaal. Heck I cannot find any plausible reason why a fish would pick a male over female. I may be wrong;-)
There are some new updates at http://www.danica.com/flytier. Note how many tiers use CDC, especially when tying grayling flies. Don’t overlook this aspect as there are similarities in the way these fish feed.

Approach and Technique
The last trip was always going to be tough. I did not have a boat only my float tube, which hasn’t been used for 5 years and which I have never used on the Vaal. In short it wasn’t the perfect tool for the job. I prefer to use the two-man inflatable used by the rafting fraternity. From a fishing point of view they are perfect. The inflated pontoons offer a stable platform allowing the angler to fish and spot from a standing position.
The visibility is still not optimal but if you know where to look you will find the smallmouth. I fished a likely looking pool but there were no takers. I then decided to walk the bank for approximately 1km up and down stream. I was looking for the tell tale sign of consistent risers and I found them at the head and eye of the pool.

The channel was split by a small island joining up at the head of a long pool- see photo above . The fish were holding (blue circles) out of the main current (green line) occasionally sipping insects off the surface.
The key to success in winter is searching the pools for feeding fish. Some pools are really big and you tend to get “lost” and cannot decide where to fish. You can start by fishing the likely areas blind, constantly watching the water for signs of activity. Here I would target the head or throat of the pool as long as it’s deep enough. Tail-outs are always good, especially if you have a deep drop-off. Calm or protected bays with minimal flow can warm up and I have seen pods of fish holding fairly close to the surface in such places.

If you do strike it lucky and find a feeding pod I trust your casting will be up to it because you won’t get within 10 metres without spooking them.

LARGEMOUTH
Focus your attention in the tail-outs close to quieter water with protected bays, hyacinth beds and rocky outcrops. Juvenile fish hang around these rocks and occasionally venture out to far. Fish the imitation all the way back to the rod, lifting the leader and then fly clear of the water. Don’t commence casting with 3-meters of fly line out the tip, it is easier to load the rod but you will miss takes. Stand back from the edge at least until you have covered the drop-off with a few casts.

My personal preference is to use natural colours.

Work pressure kept me away from the Bells Largemouth festival. These two flies were tied specifically for the festival. I like the push of water generated by the woolheads – which should register on the lateral line even in lower visibility. The foam popper can be fished top water or below the surface – it is obvious why a surface running fly would be appealing!

Thanks for the contributions for the Largiebase. Unfortunately we do not have enough information to publish – only about ten submissions – crap fisherman I tell you ;-).

Good luck

Carl & Keith