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but has everything you desire. A place you are dying to tell your friends about but dare not.
This is Stream X  

www.netbooks.co.za

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Stream X - Stocked, not Wild.
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Lessons in clear water

July 2010

Being able to see how fish are reacting to your flies can be quite instructional, but finding such a place, (outside the two oceans aquarium) is quite difficult. Being allowed to fish in the abovementioned aquarium is almost impossible, and being invited to fish crystal clear still waters comes once a lifetime.

Early August found ‘yours truly’ comfortably ensconced* on the bank of a pretty awesome piece of water, the crystal clear dams below the ‘uber’ comfortable lodge at Fizantakraal.
Yes, it’s ‘that’ Fizantakraal, the one you need to hock your Ferrari, and leave your wife &kids as surety in the banks’ vault to visit. Fortunately I was the guest of some generous hosts, so I still have my wife and children.

But I digress. Finding yourself faced by a good number of quite large trout, all plainly visible, makes you feel like a kid in a candy shop, thus the simple task of tying on a fly was made difficult due to the excited tremble in my hands. Choosing a fly was another matter, but I settled on the foam-backed damsel featured last month, with a bead head Charlie behind it.

After casting out a short-ish line, my fly settled down in ambush. Waiting till a fish was swimming towards it, a tantalising twitch had a trout suddenly accelerate, and without pausing, open it’s mouth and chomp the fly. Giving the fish a bit of head, it took that head towards an island, with the probable intention of going around or hiding behind it.
It was time to turn on the brakes. By now all free line was gone and the drag on my super-mega-extra large arbour of my new Wychwood reel was slowing it down.
Then, as in a lot of my fishing encounters, disaster struck as the fish turned. The line lost tension for a second as the hook came out, and then čárymáry!, there was a bigger stronger fish on the line.
Being a practical fellow, I ignored the how or why and settled down to tame this monster, impatient to get it closer and see how many meters it measured. Eventually after a bit of to and fro, the fish came closer, I got my net ready…..hauw!....this funny fish was swimming backwards towards me.
It seems that as the fish threw the hook, the point fly got it on the tail. It could of course, actually have been a different fish altogether, an ‘innocent bystander’ fish, caught by a speeding hook.

*Ensconced: To settle (oneself) securely or comfortably. (Yes, I did look this one up, because I knew the word fitted, but needed to make sure it was correct

Continues.....

Watching how fish react to your fly in clear water is a real eye opener. I had imagined the moment years before next to a ‘no-fishing’ sign in the aquamarine rivers of the Azusa River in Japan. Watching large, very pretty fish interact and feed, thinking how they would react to my fly was torture in a way, but I enjoyed it anyway.

What I learned at Fizantakraal, was that different fish react differently to the same fly. If my fly was in a situation where three or more fish in its vicinity, there was no competitive rush for the fly. One fish might casually swim over and give it a once over before mouthing it. More commonly, the furthest fish (or one I hadn’t seen) would rush in and grab. The disinterest shown by the closer fish may have been because they weren’t hungry, or because they were aware of me, but I suspect it was my presence. However, one should bear in mind that while your fly may turn one fish on, that may not apply to the others in the same water. Thus, if you know there are fish and you have caught one and not more, it may be time to change fly, tactics or retrieve.

The second thing I noticed was how the retrieve affected their willingness to take a fly.
Many times a fish would follow the fly but not commit to it. If this happened, either slowing it down, pausing or speeding it up would get that commitment. But it wasn’t the same every time. Thus, the experts are not talking bull when they tell you to vary your retrieve, so it is advice best heeded. Often I will forget exactly what my retrieve was doing in the excitement of hooking a fish, and I think that once I start concentrating on this; my catch rate will go up.

“Always retrieve your fly as if there is a fish behind it”. Where exactly I heard this, or who said it has been lost to me, but it is advice worth heeding. Perhaps the retrieve is more important than the fly itself?
If you move your fly as though there is a fish behind it, ready to pounce when you get the retrieve right, you will catch more fish, guaranteed*

*Money back guarantee. If you fish with a varying retrieve and you can prove that it is less effective than a boring old strip-strip-strip-strip, then I will refund what you paid for this newsletter.

Eating Humble Pie

June 2010

Being humbled is never a pleasant experience, but when you get three humbles in a day, well that's something to really cringe about.
Saturday the 5th of June sees yours truly at Jonkershoek for a Bells event to raise money for the SA Team for the Commonwealths in Wales. Tagging along were some of the new Wychwood rods & reels to try out, and a while into the 1st session a few fish have been landed including one of the 10lb hogs that were stocked just before the event. Charl Hamilton of Jonkeshoek ambles over for a chat, and we are talking about the new kit and he asks how easy it is to change the cassettes on the new reel.

So, I stop retrieving, pop off the spool, show how its done and don't put the the spool back on properly. It drops into the water, I pick it up, put it back properly, and finish retrieving my line which has just been lying in the water. The moment the line moves a fish takes the fly and my eyes go big. Yes, big with surprise... and big because they needed to be bigger to see the big fish. "Oh, thats one of the biggest ones" says Charl casually. The big fish shows its back and its really big, so massive I need to open my eyes even wider. Eish, then the sad part. It decides it wants to be at the other side of the dam in a hurry and I was not prepared. It pulled the rod almost flat and "ping", the 2x tippet gives way. My eyes kind of loose their shine, go dim. My stomach grumbles and I need to eat a humble pie.

The day wears on, the sun gets warm, there is not a breath of wind or the breath of a trout on any of my flies. We have a break for lunch and carry on fishing. The fishing is slow with a fish rarely coming out, and certainly none on my line. With a new fancy flybox filled to the brim with pretty flies, brand new tackle, a Teeny line on loan from the agent, and a dam full of fish, I cannot raise even a minnow. Hell, if it wasn't for the odd weed on my fly on occasion I would be weeping. I grumble, my stomach grumbles, time to eat the second humble pie.

Ian Lourens decides to have a throw, even though he is more of a beneficiary than an entrant. Five casts later he has four fish. I eat another humble pie. "Have you paid to fish here?" I ask him. The answer is negative so I suggest politely that he refrains from making us all look like monkeys. Ok, I actually told him to $@!& off. It seems that to fish competitively you need something special. Ian seems to have it in buckets (unless he has a secret flavourant).

The prizes are handed out, but there isn't one for the biggest loser.

Team Work

May 2010
If I use the term 'Team Work' in the context of fly fishing, what goes through your mind?
Perhaps a bunch of testosterone fuelled men, flogging away at the water a huge ego's distance apart from each other?
Perhaps the question, how do fly fishertrons* fish as a team?
Whatever comes to mind, its not what I have in mind today. But before I get to the point (fly) my 1st statement couldn't be further from the bank. Competitive fishertrons are usually found less than an arms distance apart in a cramped inflatable, and while there are some huge egos, its not the norm. And (don't ask me how) they do fish as a team with a strategy.

Back to the point. When I refer to 'team work' it means using flies as a team. This is much neglected technique, especially amongst those new to the sport. We are all familiar with a 'dry and dropper', but have you ever tried a 'dry and dry' or reversed the 'dry and dropper'? On the UK stillwaters, fishing a single fly is almost unheard of, as flies are usually fished in teams of three, sometimes even more (This is not restricted to stillwater, as a team of wets or soft hackles can be deadly in the local streams). Dries are mixed with wets, floating flies are fished on sinking lines and all kinds of blasphemy occurs. If you want to learn more, a good source is 'Trout Fisherman' Magazine as well as our book of the month below.

So, if you are not catching, experiment a little, live a lot. *waiter - waitress - waitron therefore fisherman - fisherwomen - fishertron. It beats 'Fisherperson', even though it sounds robotic, but sometimes fishing can look that way.

Fishing Weather

April 2010 Well, it doesn't seem like it, but a year has passed since StreamX opened it's doors.
So, happy birthday to us, and thanks to you for your support over these twelve months.

Recently, I was reminded of the difference between good fishing weather vs. good catching weather.
Those windless days of fishing  in warm balmy sunshine are great for being outdoors, but usually lead to spooky fish and low catch rates. Conversely, a windy and rainy day with freezing fingers and iced up line guides can be excellent for catching, no matter how uncomfortable we are. The underwater environment is a lot more stable that ours. For one, it's always wet, and secondly the temperature changes are quite mild compared to what happens on the surface. So why do fish go off the feed then?
Most scientifically minded anglers will tell you about barometric pressure and time of day, and can wax lyrical on these subjects.
To us simple fisher-folk the barometric pressure thing remains somewhat of a mystery, but the time of day is easy.
We all know that catching is better in the early morning and evening because the fish tend to be on the feed, and the reason is easy. It's the light levels, fish are 'feel' safer. So when its bad fishing weather, but good catching weather, it just means that the light level is optimum for the fish. Know Your Quarry March 2010 Last Sunday morning I took a quick trip up the road to the Hillcrest Quarry (Hillcrest Durbanville, not KZN) for two reasons. Firstly, I hadn't had a chance to test the new Orvis Hydros rod, and secondly, just to check the place out.
It turns out the rod casts like an absolute dream, and it had me casting like the stuff you see in movies, with minimal input. By that I mean it didn't require muscle power for long casts, as it loads itself and does the work for you. To me, the closest comparison is the Orvis Helios and the TFO Axiom. The only problem is going back to my own rod.
As for Hillcrest (just so you know), its a quarry with fish and no frills. There is lots of back cast space though.
On the way in is a restaurant where you pay your day ticket of R75.00 and could enjoy a decent lunch, or you could picnic or braai on the lawn at the quarry. The gate opens at 9am and closes at 5pm :-(
There are plenty of smallmouth bass which are relatively easy to catch, and the odd large rainbow trout, which on the day were taking blown terrestrials off the top. After smugly beating the pants off the spin fisherman with the smallmouth it was time to have a go at the rainbows, so I slowly made my way to a spot where there was a regular rise, only to have a spin fisherman waltz past me, stand on a big rock and scare the fish away.

Eventually the guy left and after a while the fish started showing itself again. Tip one. If you are going after largemouth bass or any fish, throw all your other fly boxes in your rucksack anyway. This idiot didn't bring any dry fly!
Staying with the Xstarossa (red headed damsel - see last months fly) I had on, I patiently waited for the fish to come a little closer. And closer it did, a little further than a rod length. The fly was in position, waiting. The fish moved closer. A little twitch and the fish changed direction. One more twitch and it opened its mouth and sucked it in.
Lift and pull, and a very nice size rainbow was on, then off.
It was immediately apparent why the fish got off, and so here is the lesson.
You will find you lose a lot of fish when they are close and take the fly, simply because we are conditioned to lift and strip strike.
There is nothing wrong with this, but we should be aiming for the sweet spot, the scissor. The top of the mouth is a bit bony, and doesn't hold a hook nearly as well as the lip or scissor. What I should have done was move my rod towards the rear of the fish instead of upwards. So bear that in mind, especially when sight fishing at close quarters. You will land more fish. Self Releasing Flies February 2010 
After arranging a weekends camping on the Holsloot, I left booking a beat too late and ended up with nothing. Thus I had to get creative about where I was going to fish. Saturday morning saw me on a very smooth patch of water. Not a ripple was on the glassy surface, a slight breeze blew upstream and ahead of me a decent fish was busy with some noisy splashes. The perfect opportunity to try out my new 12ft tapered leader and test some new flies. After a while the ratio was 3 misses for every fish hooked and it was getting worse. Fish would rise up out of nowhere, take the fly confidently and go down with it. As soon as I tightened up the line, the fly would come out of the fishes mouth. It had me baffled, but I soon found out why.....  

As mentioned earlier, I had a problem. Confident takes were not converting to solid hook ups, and it had me baffled. The fly and tippet setup must have been right (btw the 12ft leader was performing like a dream) otherwise the fish would have not taken so confidently. A single fish would take the same fly three times before ignoring it. I had hooked up in a tree sometime during this baffling stage, and I knew that the fly actually had a hook point, so that wasn't it.

Then I did what I should have done after every take, examine the fly and leader! It turns out that the tippet wrapped around the bend of the hook in a neat knot, just after the straight shank. In essence, what I had was the perfect hook removing setup, catch and release in its ultimate form. Any pressure on the line would pull the hook straight out!
Lesson: Regularly check your terminal setup, especially after a take or catching a fish.
You may be missing half your hook, have a great knot like mine, have a knot in your tippet or leader, or may find a frayed bit of line that needs replacing.

Part 2

If you are prepared to bear with me, I also encountered an odd phenomenon.

Small black mayflies are hatching as they regularly do in the Holsloot environs through most of the late summer, and the fish are keyed onto these, with splashy rises. Now when there are splashy rises going on, we as fisherman tend to key onto them as well.
However, having thrown a largish selection of my best mayfly imitations at these splashy fish, the conversion rate I was expecting, just wasn't coming through. Thus a momentary pause with a bunch of thinking was in order.
While watching the bulbuls, robins and flycatchers flit across the water to claim their share of the mayflies, and watching the cripples float by, my eye caught the faint movement of a fish just under the surface, coming up and creating a barely perceptible ripple.
The Aha moment!
Changing to a small black bodied Klinkhamer, with a sparse starling feathered soft hackle below, I threw my lot ahead of me.
Ignored..... Ignored...... Sloop, the klinky disappeared and I tightened up into a fish on the soft hackle..
OK, I had the combo, but after a few more goes the fish started taking the klinky, but were rejecting it immediately.
Mmm, I think the dropper fly is putting them off, so it gets removed.
NOTHING, nada, not a sausage. The fly is ignored completely and utterly, I cannot raise a fish!
Mmmm again. Perhaps the dropper was acting as some kind of attractor, so it gets put back on, and.. you guessed it, the klinky becomes a target again. Sadly, like the first time it gets rejected at the last second.
By now I finished the long smooth section, and there is broken water ahead and time to change tactics.
Despite the rejections, I did foul hook one fish with the dropper, so perhaps even that is a reason for having it on :-)
But I am not sure about the dropper attractor thought (can't call it a theory), as there may be other reasons, it turned the fish on.
Could be that it affected the drift of the klinky in such a way that made it more attractive, or anything else you could imagine...

Part 3

When your wife or partner sends you out to go and catch a fish for supper, and you come home via the fish shop...
don't leave your cell phone in the fish shop, you will get bust. As did "x" this week.


Lost in Translation
January 2010 If you aren't sick of it yet, complaints of the season to you, and may 2010 be a plentiful year, both piscatorial and fiscatorial.

While researching Japanese methods of flyfishing, I came across these gems, courtesy of Google Translate, and just had to share them with you.
"This DVD was taken to disturb you at your home"
"Tying to stimulate your mind and live with a sense of delivery and plenty of neat conjuring."
"Described confusing while I repeat, step by step, we'll roll."
"Tying is so close-up shot from the perspective of teachers and can be found in the feeling of being wrapped around yourself like a fly."
OK, I guess its just as funny the other way around.

For those of you who don't know, there has been a sudden appearance of brown trout in the Smalblaar river. They just suddenly appeared a few months ago and how they got there is still under debate.
But, they are there, and here is pic of my first one early this month.

Be the Fish

November 2009 "Think like a fish, BE the fish" - Tom Donaldson

What fish think has always been a subject of much conjecture. Most agree that they don't think but rather, just react.
Imagine for a moment that fish could not only think, but talk as well. Indulge me here as my imagination runs riot.

After the last evening rise on full moons nights, the local Holsloot male trout get to together in their local hole to discuss the finer points of spawning, and hens with big, white edged pectoral fins. Now they don't exactly come in for a drink, so perhaps their local pub is a nice pool header with frothy white bubbles which combined with moonlight, serve as lighting and a nice pint of 'air'.

One particularly splendid evening one trout turns to other and asks about his day. Did he see any good pecs?. And how's that awesome caddis hatch just after sunset. His buddy replies that something very unusual happened today. It must have been something weird, because his eyes are a bit sunken, and that's the 4th pint of 'air' he's had. He doesn't quite want to talk about it, but eventually he is cajoled into talking after his 6th pint, because he is starting to feel a bit light headed, and getting quite bouyant.

"It happened like this" he said. "I was calmly finning in the shade under a bubble line, taking a mixed bag of food that came past when I spotted a nice fat Caddis fly. The fact that it was daytime didn't enter my mind and without thinking I rose to take it. from there on things went a bit kooky. Instead of me swallowing it, it BIT ME!"
Now his mate looks at him with a sceptical left eye, and asks if perhaps it wasn't a wasp.
"No ways, I didn't say sting, I said BITE! This thing bit and held on, so I moved towards a rock to squash it.
Next thing it wont let me near the rock, but starts pulling me to the surface.

Now his mate turns towards him and looks at him with two sceptical eyes. "Bird Crap!" he says.
"Serious, it did. And it gets worse". He pauses for effect, and then with a panicky, slightly high pitched voice he said. "Not only did it pull me to the surface, it tried to pull me out of the water! So I fought back, I couldn't let a small caddis get the better of me. After heading for deep water with some current I had him. Well, I thought so, but then he started heading upstream. Unbelievable!"

"It got worse, I thought that if I gave it head and then suddenly turned, using the current, he would let go. Not only did he not let go, he pulled me out of the water, and threw me into a WWF-like double somersault and I landed on my back. This really P'd me off and I gave it stick. But for every move it had a counter move, when I zigged, it zagged, when I ducked it draked. My mind baffled. How is it possible to be bested by such a small thing, how could it be so strong? Next thing I see, is one of those big creatures with a stick, and I am being dragged towards it, so the adrenalin kicks in and off I go, beating the caddis this time. But it is to strong for me and I am starting to tire. Soon I am heading for the big thing and I cannot resist anymore."

His mate is now starting to wonder how he got out of all this alive, and listens, as he continues his saga.
"Life was really looking grim, I can't shake off this bug, and suddenly I am surrounded by mesh and lifted out the water. The caddis doesn't let go, but it isn't pulling me any more. The mesh lowers back into the water, but I am trapped, with nowhere to go.
The big thing is extending a claw towards me and I can't escape. The claw comes closer, I wriggle and struggle but the claw goes around my belly. Today is my last I think. Once the predator, now the prey.
Another claw moves towards my mouth, and to my surprise, grabs and squishes the caddis, which lets go. The other claw moves me out of the cage and into the current and holds me while I get a good breath in. Perhaps it wants its food as fresh as possible.
Then, as I think I am breathing my last.......the claw gently lets go and lets me escape"

His friend is speechless. He continues.
"I learned two important lessons today. Don't chow daytime caddis flies with bright pink heads, as they are 'moerse' strong. And those big things with sticks. No need to be afraid of them".

Kaaimansgat 

October 2009

Early October seemed like a great time to explore the Kaaimansgat. Roughly translated the name means 'river hole' or 'crocodile hole' but it was unlikely that we would find anything with the capacity to bite off a leg. This of course didn't deter my fishing partner* from putting on full armour, which includes hockey shin pads on the back and front of his legs.
* For the purpose of this blog the name of Eben Fourie will remain shameless.
 

There are two options for getting in to this river. The first is busting your way through a few hundred metres of bush and dead trees from where the 'Kaai' joins the Holsloot. As the high water pushes debris down the river, it neatly arranges it so that it is all pointing towards you, so the going is tough. Just to add to your misery there are some deep wading section here too.
The second option is up and over the saddle to the right of the river. Wearing felt soled boots is not recommended as the slopes are steep and grassy, and bum slides are not uncommon. The Hakea bushes at the top aren't much of a help either.

But once you are over the 'hump' the river bush thins out and you are faced with a lovely clear stream.
         Left: An essential piece of equipment for the Holsloot, Kaaimansgat and some other nameless rivers in the Cape is a small bow saw. It's even handier for those who follow. Right: Eben fishes a picturesque piece of water.
Below: Eben packs out the kettle and brews us a cuppa


As nice and inviting as the water looked, the fish still seemed to be scarce, and by lunch time the creels were still empty so we had no fish to eat. Some backup sandwiches did the trick, but the real treat was fresh cup of genuine 'moer' coffee. There are probably some other 'tricks' in that bag of Eben's, but I thought it rude to ask for details.. 

It must have been the whiff of coffee beans, but something brought the fish out after lunch. Whether they had just been elusive or whether there just were no fish lower down is a mystery, but further up there were fish. Not big ones, but fish.

Above: Eben cradles a small parr marked rainbow.


Left & below: The Blogroller with another small rainbow. If you look carefully at the picture on the left you will notice there is actually a person.  

All in all a hot day out, with not too many fish to show for it. Will I go back?
For sure, the upper parts look even nicer and beg exploring. It will also be nice to compare the fishing over a few day trips. Rumour also has it that access in future is going to be a little easier. So much so that this is now CPS Holsloot Beat 7.

 
 Big Fish "If you can lie, you can steal" - Anon

We are all quite aware that fish grow, some at a fantastical rate. But no fish grow as fast as the "fish of the mind".
You are probably confused about that statement, but let me clarify. A few months ago I had the privilege of catching a monster rainbow at Lakenvlei on an experimental fly. It wasn't the usual 5 pound big fish the lake produces, but was more likely a 10 pounder. Now this fish was bent over in my net, with both the head and tail sticking out, and when I manhandled it out of the net my hands couldn't go around its girth. That's how big it was, most likely a record for the lake if hadn't escaped before I could see how much wider it was than the float tube.
Now the point is that this was a very big fish, but every time I think about it, it gets bigger. No doubt it also increases in size when I talk about it. The truth is that since I caught it, it has actually physically grown bigger, so is my imagination spot on, or exaggerating a bit. And is unintentional exaggeration a lie?

Hellkom
September 2009

Sometimes you think your job is a really bad one, until you notice someone else who has it really bad. The lady who works at Hellkom who has to keep repeating "Thank you for your patience, our operators are all busy" takes the cake though. Ah, but you are thinking that its just a recorded message, but that's not true. Yesterday while listening to her for many hours, I got a bit impatient and yelled at her. There was a pause and then......"Thank you for your ...". Now that is professionalism in the face of adversity. She just sucked it up, wiped a tear and carried on working. Such dedication is only found among fly fisherpersons. Now I know what she does in her spare time.

Our open day has come and gone, thanks to all of you who attended, and to those who assisted or tied flies. Feedback from those who attended has been very positive, and the casting challenge was singled out as being a lot of fun. Prize winners have been listed below, so if you weren't at the draw, check the list, you may have a prize to claim. A big thanks to the sponsors who provided prizes. Stealth, Xplorer, Orvis & Boston Breweries.
Casting Challenge Draw
Stealth Deep Red Rod DR8835 8'8 3WT 5 piece Xplorer Eclipse Reel, Orvis Line & Backing.
Grant Thom
Lucky Draw
Float Tube - Steven Finnemore, Stealth Cassette 1 reel - James Shamley, Casting by Left Kreh - Jason Reeks, Buff Original - Ivan Shamley, Headlamp - Darryl Lampert, LED Lantern - R.B. Martin
Fly Box - Justin Fullstone, Rod Stealth Traveller 3WT - Kathy Reekes, Orvis stripping basket - Jarryd de Laaf, Boston Signature Glasses - Louis van Zyl, Boston Ale - Hanlie Kotze'
 
Tourettes Fishing

July 2009

After seeing a T-shirt that said "I don't have tourettes*, you really are a @#%" it came to mind that perhaps most fly fishermen suffer from this syndrome (I am excluding ladies here on purpose). Fly fishing is a tranquil sport, and you find its devotees around quiet streams and still waters. So it does come as a bit of shock when these gentlemen, after losing a fish suddenly blurt out the most terrible language. Neither the fish, the water, the tackle, the mother-in-law or anything else in sight are spared being sworn at. This is sometimes accentuated by the 'throwing of the rod' ritual. Makes you wonder about these 'gents'.

(C) Copyright belongs to Netbooks CC t/a Stream X 2009 (R) Stream X is a registered trademark of Netbooks CC