Blog

02Aug 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
A Rare Bait Outing

A Rare Bait Outing

Bait
On the odd occasion us Baha Boys down our fly rods and head out instead with a bait stick in hand. Sunday was one such day. Alan had invited me to join him on his trusty vessel to do a little grunter fishing in the harbour. Needing to pump some cracker we got to the harbour shortly after 9am, just as the banks were beginning to expose themselves. I have to admit, I felt a twinge of jealousy as I watched a fly fisherman land a small fish while I was dirtying my hands with the cracker pump. With enough bait in our bucket we climbed back onto the boat and headed for our first spot of the day, nestled under a large container ship. We kitted up a few rods and…
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06Jul 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
Trout In The Sleet

Trout In The Sleet

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
I recently decided to take the family on a mini adventure to a very cold Underberg. Snow was predicted and it's not often that it falls over the weekend in accessible locations. I was therefore going to make sure that my little girl got to build her very own version of Olaf (as a parent I now get to reference Frozen). Our snow hunting on the first day proved unsuccessful and at 2:30pm it was clear that we would have to wait for nightfall for snow. I therefore decided to shoot off to one of the UHTFC's dams for a quick fish. I dropped Sharon and Emma off at the hotel and promptly headed for Lake Isabella, at Alan's recommendation. Amazingly as I passed through Underberg the sunny skies darkened and the rain…
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14Jun 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2015

The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2015

Event, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout
I can safely say that the Boston Fly Fishing Festival is by far my favourite festival. Yes, I will admit it's the only festival I fish regularly, but I'm utterly convinced this is irrelevant - it's just that good - and this year was no exception. Will I be back next year? Definitely, but I'll be packing a set of bolt cutters. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning. With Nick, a key Baha Boy and team member, having left SA for Australia I was forced to relook at Team Baha for the 2015 event. Neill and Bruce had both secured their places after dominating the 2014 festival, which meant there was just 1 space left to full. Coxy's mom might have prevented him from coming and Alan…
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01May 2015 by Warren Prior 5 Comments
Castleburn And The Umzimkulu River

Castleburn And The Umzimkulu River

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
[caption id="attachment_2484" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The view from Lake Madingofani[/caption] I was lucky enough to win a weekend away at Castleburn at last year's Boston Fly Fishing Festival (courtesy of the UHTFC). We finally decided to make use of it when my dad and Cassia flew up to Durban to visit Emma and us. The weekend was fantastic while the fishing was a bit of a mixed bag as my dad and I only made it onto the water twice over the course of the week. Our first attempt saw us heading down to Lake Madingofani (Castleburn Lake) for a late afternoon session. On the walk down we fished a few of the smaller dams, more out of curiosity than due to their potential. I assume these dams are targeted at beginners as we were easily…
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22Mar 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
Fishing The UHTFC

Fishing The UHTFC

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout
Having been voted onto the UHTFC committee at the AGM, Neill and I decided that it was time for a club visit and informal committee meeting. In other words, it had been far too long since we'd targeted trout on fly and were itching to get back in the water. We phoned a few friends and had soon organised a group of 4 fishermen, and had booked accommodation at Twin Springs. I took the Friday off with the plan of heading to the Berg after my wife had left for the office. It was a good plan on paper, but fell apart when I tried to get my fly rods out of the garage after my wife had left for work. I soon discovered that she'd taken both garage door…
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01Mar 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
The Bend Curse

The Bend Curse

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Randoms, Trout
I've now visited the Bend twice, both times in pouring rain with the river far too dirty to fish. But that's far from my biggest problem. On my latest trip, when everyone headed off for an afternoon nap, I decided to skip the river and give the still waters a try. I therefore got Dave to sketch me up a rough map of the dams on the property, grabbed my fly rods, and headed out for an afternoon session. My first stop was at Otter Dam which was too dirty to dedicate any time too. So I quickly popped over to Three Springs Dam which, although dirty, was fishable. I kitted up my rods and began prospecting the wall with minimal confidence. There was little sign of activity so after 15 minutes I called it and…
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03Jan 2015 by Warren Prior No Comments
Sterkfontein New Years

Sterkfontein New Years

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Yellowfish
Sterkfontein remains one the premier fly fishing locations in South Africa, growing in popularity annually with no end in sight. Not only does it provide some of the best sight fishing in the world, but it also offers fishing for a purely South African species in a venue of unmatched beauty. But it's not all sunshine and roses. Sterkfontein is also known for it's tough conditions and unpredictable weather. Sunshine can turn to lightning (and pouring rain) in an instant, turning a once tranquil dam into a fierce, ocean rival, sinking boats caught unexpectedly in the storm. This is where we chose to camp for a week... [caption id="attachment_2926" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Sunset over Sterkfontein Dam[/caption] Sharon, Emma and I arrived at Sterkfontein on Monday morning where we met up with Nick, Tarryn…
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21Dec 2014 by Warren Prior No Comments
The Bass Are Back

The Bass Are Back

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water
[caption id="attachment_2116" align="alignright" width="225"] Nick with a bass[/caption] After months of waiting it was finally time to head back down to Inanda Dam for a little bass bashing. Sadly conditions were not what we'd hoped they would be. Heading north towards the Umgeni River revealed algae on the surface that was so thick it appeared to be paint. Throwing out a popper was useless as it would either sit on top, or work it’s way under where you could no longer see it. Fishing sub surface may have worked but we weren’t interested in sitting in the muck. We therefore headed towards the dam wall where the surface was thankfully clear of the green goo. There was however another problem in that the dam was so low that there was…
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