On Sunday morning I picked up Nick and Clinton and we made our way (via the coffee shop) to Kamberg for some Trout fishing. It was Clinton’s first time with a fly stick so we were all hoping he’d pick it up quickly and get into at least one fish.
By 8am we were all on the water. I headed for the shallows where I’d dominated on a previous visit while Nick and Clinton fished our famous jetty where it was easiest for Clinton to cast. Thankfully he picked it up amazingly quickly and, despite not having a long cast, he was definitely getting far enough to pick up a fish.
Conditions seemed good for Trout. The pressure had been rising for the previous 24 hours, it was overcast with a water temperature of 11 degrees and an air temperature of around 7 degrees (when we arrived). The water was crystal clear and the only thing we were missing was a breeze to put a ripple on the water.
As has become tradition Nick was the first to get into a fish. It was a small stocky and thankfully I got into a similar sized fish 10 minutes later relieving the pressure. Only Clinton wasn’t on the board.
Shortly after my first fish I got into a big Rainbow which gave an impressive fight complete with multiple jumps. I fought it for a long time and eventually got it to the bank just in front of me. Being rather cold I made the bad decision of trying to pull the fish through the weeds rather than stepping into the water to net it. It came off much to the delight of Nick and Clinton! FAIL!
The rest of the morning session was rather disappointing with no more fish coming out. Eventually we decided it was time for breakfast and we unpacked the Skottle ready for some awesome bacon and egg rolls. It was at this point that Nick discovered that he’d forgotten the rolls. We headed up to the small shop hoping for a loaf of bread but we were out of luck. Thankfully we managed to convince the coffee shop to sell us a loaf so everything was soon back on track.
After polishing off a few egg and bacon sandwiches we headed out for our second session. I happened upon a really good spot with fish rising all around me and regretted not having a floating line on so that I could put out a dry fly. That said I fished the area successfully and managed to land three more fish, one of decent size and two stockies.
The second session was followed by another Skottle, this time chicken Russians courtesy of Rainbow. I won’t lie; they were perhaps the worst Russians I’ve eaten in my life. Better luck next time Rainbow.
That put us into our final and toughest session. By this time it was midday and the sun was out in full force making us very visible in the crystal clear water. I was lucky enough to land a small Rainbow fishing next to Nick but that was it from the three of us. So at the end of the day’s fishing the final tally was Warren 5, Nick 1 and sadly Clinton 0. Sad since we really were hoping to get him into a fish on his first outing. Especially since he tried so hard.
Oh, and the good news, three of my five fish were caught on home tied flies.
Before leaving I gutted and cleaned the one fish I’d kept. It was probably the first fish I’ve taken from the water in several years and I did it to test the cold smoking capabilities of the butcher just down the road. So let’s hope it’s worth the smelly hands that came with cleaning it. It also made me feel slightly better about the R90 it now costs for a fishing permit at Kamberg.
With the day all but over we headed for home stopping briefly at the Nottingham Road Hotel for a quick beer and time to sum up the day’s fishing. It had been a tough day with only 6 fish coming out, but hey, that’s better than nothing.
The drive back was slow and in thick mist. We got home after dark and, after a quick shower, I fell onto the couch and finally got to relax with a pizza.
