UHTFC AGM And Fishing Festival 2014
A few months ago I received a phone call from Alan asking me to be the guest speaker at the UHTFC AGM. I happily accepted, feeling honoured that I'd been asked, and began planning my speech. The months flew by and before I knew it I was packing my bags (and laptop) for the trip up to Underberg, hoping my talk would be well received. I arrived at Twin Springs, just outside Underberg, at around 3 in the afternoon. It was overcast and misty, with temps in the single digits, and sporadic drizzle passing in waves. Neill and Derek had spent the morning on the water and were looking a little worse for wear, although they had picked up some lovely fish for their effort. We therefore decided to relax…
Nick Dominates Africa’s Original Fly Fishing Magazine
[caption id="attachment_2041" align="alignnone" width="523"] Nick features in Africa's Original Fly Fishing Magazine[/caption]
Underberg, September 2014
Having been far too long since I'd visited the trout bliss of Underberg I decided to put a quick trip together to right the wrongs. Sadly my trusty sidekick (Nick) was unable to join the adventure, so I headed up alone at lunch time on Friday. The plan was to meet up with Neill, Alan and Wayne for a weekend's fishing. I battled through the Durban traffic, making the mistake of stopping at McDonalds for a quick bite (which was anything but quick), and thankfully still reached Underberg just after 3pm. Neill was on his was to Trelevans II so I quickly caught up with Alan before heading across to the water where I joined Alan and Wayne. The level was good despite the dry winter, and before I knew it I…
Custom Fly Fishing Nets by Mario Geldenhuys
This year I was lucky enough to receive this incredible net as a birthday present from my wife. It was hand crafted by Mario Geldenhuys of Custom Fly Rods. It's fair to say that the net is a stunner, and that the quality is impeccable. Much to my wife's dismay it will never touch the water, but it's a work of art fit to hang on the wall in my man cave. Warren's custom made fly fishing net With Baha Fly Fishing inscribed on one side And an inscription from his wife on the other
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…
The Boston Dargle Fly Fishing Festival 2014
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…
Retying The Foul Hook Award
Nick and Warren won the Durban Fly Tyers Foul Hook award in 2013. This meant re-tying the giant fly for the 2014 winner. Warren took on the challenge and put together a large popper with the help of his injured wife. [slideshow id=102]
KarMichael And The UHTFC
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…