Fresh Water Archives - Page 5 of 14

16Aug 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Quick Session At Albert Falls

On a recent family trip to Albert Falls I managed to break away from the group for long enough to inflate my float tube. The water was perhaps a little chilly (and bass are always tough on fly in winter) but that wasn't going to stop me from kicking out onto the dam. For some reason I'd only packed my 7 weight rod which meant I was limited to a floating line. This was far from ideal as I knew the fish would be holding deep. None the less I started with a popper which I threw up against structure for 15 minutes before deciding to change strategy. I cut off the popper and replaced it with a looooooong leader and a large woolly bugger. This meant fishing as deep as…

16Jun 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Boston Dargle Fly Fishing Festival 2014

Event, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

My wedding anniversary was once again upon me, which also meant that it was time for the annual Boston Dargle Fly Fishing Festival. As Team Baha we'd fished two of the three events, missing out on only one since my wedding was on the same weekend. We'd also won the event in 2013 and were hoping to defend our title in 2014. I took the Friday off even though we only needed to be in Boston at 6pm as it gave me a chance to bash off one last run (prior to endless night's of great food, beer and rum), and to pack at my own leisure. So after a relaxed morning I picked Nick up from Racetech and we headed for Boston. Being a little early we decided to…

04May 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

KarMichael And The UHTFC

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

A few friends and our families headed to Underberg for a relaxing weekend at KarMichael B&B, located on the outskirts of Himeville. This of course meant that we were within spitting distance of the UHTFC waters; a temptation too good to resist. Alan warned us that many of the waters had inverted thanks to the first cold snap after a warm summer. Apparently the waters were muddy and fishing was slow. It was an ominous sign but certainly not enough to stop us from wetting a line. So after a relaxing first day we were up early on the Friday morning for a quick session before the Sharks game at 11am. We opted to fish Trelevans 4 with Rory and I fishing off a boat while Jared headed out on…

28Apr 2014 by Warren Prior 3 Comments

A Tough Day On The Bushman’s River

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

[caption id="attachment_1811" align="alignright" width="300"] Nick with a Bushman's River rainbow[/caption] After a poor showing on the rivers for most of the season we decided that a trip to the Bushman's was in order. A Monday public holiday gave us the perfect opportunity so we booked the water and were on the road at 5am, heading for the Giant's Castle area. Our usual coffee stop was a little disappointing but with few other options on the route I guess we'll be back for more. However despite the muddy water they served us the cup of coffee still helped pass the time until we arrived at the hatchery just before 7am. We were met by Vaughan who took us back to the cottage where we kitted up the rods and got ready…

16Mar 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Tough Sterkfontein Trip

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Yellowfish

After Nick's successful new year's Sterkfontein trip it was quickly decided that the Baha Boys needed to get up to Africa's premier sight fishing venue before the season ended. So after a quick look at our calendars we booked a long weekend in March and did the necessary planning - calculating how much booze to pack. I got to Nick's house at around 4am and we promptly hitched up the boat. He was packed and ready so it should've been an easy departure. That was until his dogs escaped which cost us half an hour. None the less we were on the road by 5am, grabbed a coffee and pie for breakfast, and made haste for Harrismith. After stopping in Harrismith for some firewood we took on the dreaded R74.…

16Feb 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

Giant’s Castle Valentines

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout

Being a lover of anything fly fishing related, and having a wife who understands that (hopefully), we booked a cottage in the Giant's Castle Nature Reserve for Valentines Day. Admittedly we've never really celebrated Valentines Day, but we are always looking for excuses to get outdoors and into the mountains. We left early on Saturday morning after dropping off Emma at my mom's house. It was our first weekend away without Emma and I think Sharon was a little apprehensive. None the less we took a casual drive up opting to stop at the Piggly Wiggly for breakfast. I ordered poached eggs and ham on homemade bread with a holendaise sauce and was less than impressed. The eggs were poached in those plastic cups like our parents did in the…

26Jan 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

Third Weekend At Inanda Dam

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water

For the third weekend in a row Nick and I headed down to Inanda Dam to do some fly fishing. This time however our plan was to focus on the filming of the trip rather than the fishing, in the hope of putting together a short video of Inanda Dam and the bass opportunities it offers. Sadly the conditions weren't in our favour. Initially there was no wind and the water was like glass. It was also extremely hot and as such the bigger fish seemed to have moved into deeper water. With the focus of our video being on surface action we continued fishing with poppers despite the conditions being against us. Despite the tough conditions we managed to produce a few small fish on the surface. That said…

19Jan 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

Inanda Dam On Fly

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water

[caption id="attachment_1715" align="alignright" width="225"] Warren Prior's best bass on fly[/caption] For the second week in a row we headed down to Inanda Dam to target bass. Conditions were close to ideal thanks to the warm water, a decent cloud cover, and a slight breeze creating a gentle ripple on the surface. Nick was convinced that he'd been at a disadvantage on previous trips due to the onerous task of skippering the Baha vessel. I therefore took control of the wheel for this outing and decided to head towards the dam wall for the morning's fishing. My first choice of venue yielded no fish (although Nick did miss one) which left me a little nervous in my new captain's hat. Thankfully my second choice proved rather fruitful and we landed several…

11Jan 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

Inanda Dam In The Baha Vessel

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water

[caption id="attachment_1692" align="alignleft" width="300"] Fly fishing for lost rods[/caption] With Inanda fast becoming our most fished venue we decided to head down with a new objective in mind...to cover more water. We therefore left the float tubes at home and hitched up the boat, ready to explore the uncharted nooks and crannies of the dam (well, for us anyway). We launched the boat at 6am and were soon flying across the dam, sulking that neither of us had bothered to pack breakfast. Thankfully our hunger pangs were quickly forgotten as we pulled into our first bay. While Nick was still navigating the boat into our drift I threw out my popper and got straight into a fish. The water was murky with a lot of algae on the surface. It…

04Jan 2014 by Nick Nortje 1 Comment

Sterkfontein 2013/2014

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Yellowfish

[caption id="attachment_1750" align="alignleft" width="200"] View at Sterkfontein[/caption] On the 30th of December I packed up the family, camping gear, and boat for a 5 day getaway to one of the Free State's best kept secrets – Sterkfontein Dam. It was an early 4am start to get to the dam and set up camp before searching for some gold. Thankfully the drive was uneventful and, after stopping for the mandatory cup of coffee, we shot through to Harrismith via the N3 as reports were coming in that the R74 was impassable. After topping up the tank of the Terios (to avoid being raped a further 50c/litre due to a petrol price increase the following day) we headed for the dreaded R74. The road now has an unmanned stop/go and is basically a…

Category: Fresh Water