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Stream
X - Hard to find, but worth the effort.
021 551 4248 sales@streamx.co.za
Dear [fname]
When one sets out for a
fishing weekend, one always has expectations. Big ones or small ones,
but nonetheless expectations. Unchecked, these can get out of hand,
like the memory of a large fish that keeps growing in your mind.
Heading out to Clanwilliam Dam, (a venue with clanwilliam yellowfish,
largemouth bass, vlei kurper, smallmouth bass and bluegill sunfish) my
expectations where gearing up. Would I be able to catch one of each
species, especially the clanwilliam yellow? In my mind it seemed easy,
but on the water it was a different matter.
A comnination of excess
expectations and a lack of strategy on unfamiliar water was sure to
dissapoint. (Note to self: 'Tone down expectations). When confused, the
shotgun (desperation) approach is popular. Which fly will appeal to
five fish?
The woolly bugger of course! But temptation was short lived an a medium
size gurgler thrown at the margins. It was attacked relentlessly by
small sunfish, which at best could only hold onto the tail for a bit of
a wild ride. No bass of any description.
In a fit of capitulation a small white flipper
was tied on, and, as I observed Sean Mills, cast it out, twitched it
and waited. Attack, attack, attack and finally a hook-up, the
great-grandson of a miniscule sunfish was on the line. Wishing I had a
magnifying glass to see it, it was released. Lots of small sunfish came
in and every now an then a school of bigger ones were encountered, but
nothing that wouldn’t fit in a pocket.
The dam was scoured
for largemouth habitat and each spot carefully and thouroughly fished,
but nothing.
The tally at the end of the day was more than a hundred sunfish between
the fisherman, and no bass. Well that is partially true as the lone
fisherwoman (Denise Hills) had caught two bass right in front of her
camp. No boat, no float tube, but two bass.
Fresh and early the
next morning while the wind was still and the water like glass, I
searched the margins looking for those elusive bass, eventually finding
them by applying grey matter. A small channel around a point looked
like a cruising lane or concentration point (see previous newsletter
about Lakenvlei) so I sat there waiting. It wasn’t long before my fly
was ignored by a pair of smallmouth bass and later three largemouth
bass.
With the temperature
was heading towards 40 and with me turning bright red, it was time for
breakfast and some sun lotion.
Returning to the spot with one rod rigged with a nice popper and the
other with a sinking line and large woolly something, I waited until
two largemouth appeared. The smaller of the two had a go at the popper,
but got off pretty quickly.
Quickly tossing the
popper out again, it was one pop, two pop, Smash! The bigger bass
exploded out of the water and had the popper well into in its mouth.
After a quick run, and some heart rendering head shaking jumps, we were
both pumped full of adrenalin. I was beyond excited. Gaining some line
on the fish, it headed around the boat, over the anchor line, then
changed its mind and headed back under the anchor line, then headed
straight out. Excitement gave way to trepidation, as I was now fighting
a fish and an anchor in a three way split.
The leader was threatening to split and so was my heart, but somehow I
got the fish in the net.
It seems that the camera too
must have had a dose of adrenalin as it was shaking as badly as I was.
The best option was to put the fish in the (straining) net and back
into the water while the camera regained its exposure, and me my
composure.
Best regards
Craig
sales@streamx.co.za
Price reductions, or lack thereof
We have adjusted prices down on all hooks except Gamakatsu.
Thumbs up to Jandi Trading (Rio, Loon, Chota, Xplorer), Grip, Wychwood,
Hareline & Veniard, who have adjusted prices down.
TFO price reductions will start filtering through soon.
News & Events 2010 Calender
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4
December
Sand Shark
(Guitarfish) outing with StreamX & Sean Mills |
10-13 December
Father & Sons Vaal
River Yellowfish Train Trip
to Warrenton with StreamX
& On-the-fly
More
Details, Book & Pay
Online
Credit cards accepted
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January
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More details on our
Guides &Travel page.
Just
landed..
Bead chain eyes in 6mm, the
biggest you have ever seen.
Hooks
Gamakatsu C12U Caddis hooks
Gamakatsu S10 Caddis hooks
Knapek Lake, Nymph, Scud & Streamer hooks
Stealth Bluewater Reels
New from Orvis
Gift set with Wheatley Alu Box, forceps & tweezers.
R899.00 Buy
Online
Due ...
From Wychwood....Quest Travel Rods, Sunglasses, 3 & 4 piece rod
tubes + SLA reels in smaller size, 4-6 weight
Fly of the Month
Van's Beetle
(or van der Beetle)
The
inspiration for this fly comes from the Good Doctor's Foam Beetle (as
shown by David Weaver in Favoured Flies Vol 2).
The real innovation on the above fly is the use of a 'van der Merwe'
hook
aka. Mustad 37140.
As can be seen, the hooking ability on the fly must be legendary, but a
word of caution. This has not been tried at home, but as you
read this I will be testing it on the yellows of Sterkfontein dam,
where the original (made with foam) was 'born'.
The fly is tied with a minimum of trimming, with some deer hair left
untrimmed for legs.
Coming up next, the 'van der Hamer'
Step by step tying instructions are here
DVD of the Month
DVD, The Kingdom
Safari & Film Africa + Tourette Fishing. Rayno Egner, Edward Truter
R195.00 incl postage
Trout Trekking in Lesotho Following on from Touching Gold, Safari and
Film Africa brings you the next installment of world class fly fishing
in African waters. Join the team on the Roof of Africa as they pony
trek through the
unique land that is the Kingdom of Lesotho. Exploring distant valleys
that few have ever seen, they search for some of the biggest river
trout on the African continent and along the way experience the wild
and remarkable beauty of the remote highlands. Buy
Online
Visit www.netbooks.co.za
for a large range of Fly Fishing Titles. For the latest book
& DVD
releases go here
Fly Tying Tip of the
Month
Shortcuts with spun deer
hair
You can save quite a bit of time & trimming if you
use deer hair like this.
Cut a clump of deer hair and get rid of the underfur. Tie
the deer hair on with two loose wraps, just enough to hold it in place.
You don't need to let it go like I have for the picture.
Now cut off
the long piece while holding on to it, so you can use it again. You
want to try and get both sides the same length and to the length you
want in the final product so that you don't have to trim it.
Proceed with the standard spinning procedure. Push back
and start the next piece, again using the size you want in the final
product.