Salt Water Archives - Page 5 of 9

09Feb 2014 by Warren Prior 2 Comments

Cape Vidal (With NekNominations)

As I'm sure most of you have worked out by now, Cape Vidal is a bi-annual trip we do in conjunction with the Durban Fly Tyers and the South Coast Fly Anglers. This year we moved the first trip forward from April to February in the hope of picking up some bigger kingies. Sadly however we got the dates slightly wrong and ended up at Vidal over neaps rather than spring tides. None the less, we got down to it and had great fun. As per usual Nick and I headed up together and were on the road by 4am on Friday morning. We met up with another group to put some of their kit into our trailer and then the journey began with a steaming cup of coffee. The…

01Feb 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments

An Outing With The South Coast Boys

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_1728" align="alignleft" width="300"] Dave Shepherd with a small blacktail[/caption] After a few weeks of bass bashing it was time to get ready for the upcoming trip to Cape Vidal. I therefore opted to join the south coast boys at one of their local beaches for a little fly fishing action in the surf. We arranged to meet at 6am which meant an early start for me. I was a little apprehensive since it was spring high at 6am which I thought may render the venue unfishable. Non the less I climbed sleepily into the car and headed south, my "new" Xplorer Guide 905 in the boot. After stopping at the Shell Ultra City on the N2, and throwing back quite possibly the worst cup of coffee of my life,…

08Sep 2013 by Nick Nortje No Comments

A Tough Vidal Trip

Fly Fishing, Salt Water, Trip Report

[caption id="attachment_1387" align="alignleft" width="300"] A bad omen perhaps?[/caption] The much awaited Vidal trip took place over the weekend of the 6th – 8th of September. With 12 Baha and DFT members booking out two separate cottages we once again had quite a crowd! Departing from Durban at 4.30 am we made our way to the St Lucia Wimpy for a quick brekkie and a soup bowl of coffee. Spirits were high and there was much excitement from the “Vidal Virgins” who eagerly asked where to fish, what to expect and what flies work. We left the Wimpy in our hordes to make our way to the beach, knowing very well that a buster was on its way up the coast. While leaving the car park I sadly noticed we had…

21Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

Two Days, Two 4am Starts, And A Handful Of Fish

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

Although I consider Casino Beach to be a low tide venue, it is actually ideally fished at neap tides. This is when the wave action is not too overpowering and the holes open up nicely. Low tides means a flat beach with fewer holes while high tide means fighting the surf. So when the tides reached neap (or near neap) on a Wednesday we decided to go for a quick pre-work session. Nick picked me up at 5am and we planned to meat Neill on the beach at sunrise. Things took a turn for the worse when we reach the beach and I took my rod tube out the car. It was empty! My only hope was that Neill (who lives nearby) had not yet left home and could bring…

17Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

Another Casino Outing

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_1144" align="alignright" width="300"] A little wavie at Casino Beach[/caption] After a night out at the rugby (and a few too many beers) I decided that a quick trip down to the beach was in order. I was in desperate need of fresh air as well as a little exercise, and a flicking a fly into the surf checked all the right boxes. Checking the tides indicated a roughly mid-day low so I threw my kit into the car and headed for the beach. There was a fair amount of wind around but not enough to deter me. The beach was crowded and it was great to see an abundance of surfers, children, people running on the boardwalk, others building sand castles and more generally having fun. I opted for my…

07Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

Pre-work Surf Session

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words. Yesterday morning, before work, was one of those days... [caption id="attachment_1083" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Fly fishing the surf at sunrise[/caption] If you're interested in the conditions, they were close to perfect. Neap lows, a slight breeze and manageable surf. The result; a handful of bastard mullet and largespot pompano. What a way to start the day. And you'd rather be at gym?

03Mar 2013 by Nick Nortje 1 Comment

Cape Vidal – Another Trip With The DFT

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Wading at Cape Vidal[/caption] Friday saw 6 DFT fly fishermen climb out of bed at 4am in pouring rain and howling wind to make the 320km drive to Cape Vidal to lay claim to the kingfish that frequent the area at this time of year. The weather reports were not good but we were confident it wouldn't be as bad as they made it out to be. [caption id="attachment_1138" align="alignleft" width="300"] First kingie of the trip[/caption] I picked up Steve and headed to the first rendezvous point to meet the rest of the gang and travel up in convoy. At about 5:30 we were all together; Steve, Neill, Bruce, Joe, Graham and I. And after a quick cup of coffee we were on our way. This…

17Feb 2013 by Warren Prior 1 Comment

The Gurneys Are Back!

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_1059" align="alignleft" width="300"] Simon and Christian releasing fish[/caption] With Nick being up in Mozambique I decided that a trip to the harbour was in order. After all, I didn't want him to get an early lead in 2013. The low tide, which is essential for wading the sand banks, fell at around 1pm. Although this is not ideal for the game fish, the nice thing about the harbour is that there are always some fish around. With that in mind I climbed into my Jeep and headed down to be there at 11:30. Things got off to a ropey start when I came to a stand still on Field's Hill. A taxi had potentially hit another car and had rolled. After not moving for 30 minutes they finally opened…

29Jan 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel

Fly Fishing, Reviews, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_1027" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Xplorer XPS-S with a decent wave garrick[/caption] The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Reel is Xplorer's premium range of salt water reels. They're designed to have BIG FISH stopping power and having fished with the reel I would certainly stand by that statement. Upon picking up this reel I was immediately impressed by the build quality. It is a fantastic looking reel which is CNC machined from bar stock aluminium. It has a black, hard anodized finish which means it appears as a slick black on your fly rod. I assume this comes from the good old days of fly fishing when reels were finished in black to make them less reflective and therefore prevent the reel from glinting which can easily spook fish. This may…

27Jan 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments

A Photoless Casino Session

Fly Fishing, Salt Water

It's not often that the Baha Boys return from a trip photo-less. In fact it's Nick who often bellows the words, "Pics or you're lying". So I guess this is what makes our weekend trip to Casino beach just so strange. For me it was nothing more than a great morning out. I was up well before 5am but we only headed for the water at 6am since Nick was worried about the tides. We walked onto the beach where a slight north-easter was blowing chopping up the surf a little. Thankfully it was an easy wind to fish in since it was to some degree blowing across us and not directly into us. And for the first time ever the beach was crowded with bait fisherman who had sadly laid…

Category: Salt Water