Finding suitable water to test the skills of our country’s top fly fishers is no easy task.

Theirs is after all, no point in putting this bunch on a pond full of freshly stocked fish, for as contradictory as it might sound, at this level it’s not about the quantity of fish you can catch in one weekend.

Over the last two years, through Provincial and then National competitions, these fly fishers have proven their ability to net more than their fair share of fish and have earned a ranking that has warranted their invitation to compete for national honors.

So, the 2009 Sybase Protea Trials had to be held on waters that provided challenging fishing for feral fish to mimic as best we could in South Africa what they might face in Scotland at this years World Fly Fishing Championships and Commonwealth games.

Well the weather gods were paying close attention as they concocted a mixture of blustering wind and driving rain, occasionally broken by a glimpse of sun that had every angler expecting to see kilt clad gillies patrolling the banks.

Selecting two types of waters from the WildFly stable in the Natal Midlands, in terms of nutrient levels and stocking profile, the format was to have every angler fishing the same water, rotating in four 3-hour sessions over two days.

As at this year’s World Champs, there will be four sessions of drift boat loch fishing and only one river session, it was decided that the drift boat skills were of paramount importance. We are fortunate to have a wealth of stream and river specialists in South Africa, but as drift boat fishing is almost unheard of and very rarely practiced in our country, the focus of the trials turned to this difficult discipline.

Aside from the stringent rules applying to leader length, fly construction and rigging, now the anglers had to contend with a new set of limiting criteria.

Two fly fishers per boat, self / hand propelled, with no anchor…only a drogue to adjust your drift speed and if you stood up to do anything but land your fish, you were disqualified. It was going to be an uncomfortable 3 hours battling against a 15 knot North Westerly for most.

And the cardinal and character testing rule for drift boat fishing is that you have to cast with the wind, so you cannot troll off the back of the boat.

Now imagine, you  break your back paddling to the top of the lake, set your drogue and then just as you get your fly wet, you’re having to contend with your boat drifting over your line, forcing a recast…………….selection of line and fly sink rates, proved to be very decisive.

You obviously cannot at any time be anchored or stationary within a few meters of the shore, so an inordinate amount of time is spent moving from point A to B, hence selecting a drift line that gave you the most time with your fly in the water was critical

For the first time SAFFA (South African Fly Fishing Association), elected to jointly host the seniors, juniors and a ladies development side at these trials, so each senior was paired with someone that could learn from watching their techniques and strategy.

Bright eyed with nerves saw the 28 fly fishers greet the dreary day with the rain continuing to stream down unforgivingly, causing the hosts at WildFly to reassess the viability of everyone traversing the notorious 4x4 route up to the renowned Lake Le Seuer.

On consultation with the committee, Plan B was implemented that saw every angler rotating between 4  of WildFly’s competition waters, fishing only from the inflatable drift boats, compliments of Ark and Farrel Inflatables.

To say the fishing was tough would be an understatement, the howling wind put paid to anyone’s idea of a relaxing morning’s fishing. For most anglers this was the very first time that they had even been fishing from  a boat, let alone under international drift regulations and it became evident that strategy and tactics played a bigger role than just an anglers prowess with a rod.

The First day witnessed 76 specimens caught by the Seniors, 23 by the Ladies and 10 trout recorded by the Juniors. Releasing 109 fish in the first day under such challenging conditions, had most competitors in good spirits. Carol Adshead and Renthia Heynes both out fished a number of Seniors in the first two sessions and Kieran Siney announced his candidacy for Junior selection by leading the field at the half way stage. In the Seniors, it was evident that a changing of the guard was on the cards, with a number of young men challenging the old stalwarts for Protea places. Only Gary Glen Young and Mark Yelland kept the challengers at bay, showing all that a mixture of competitive experience and honed skills, kept them in the running.

If anyone thought the first day was miserable, then they were given some perspective of mountain micro climates. The rain abruptly stopped, the sun came out and was then joined by a howling wind that had all and sundry yearning for the drizzle.

Whispers were momentarily heard from a few of throwing in the towel as they experienced what it is like to be behind the pack and facing weather that would make a drift practically impossible.

This is when, amongst the seniors, that the men were truly separated from the boys.

In world competitive angling your lot is your lot, there is no bemoaning the draw of a bad beat or the sometimes debilitating logistics and travel time to your water or that the heavens test you with gale force conditions. What you get is what you have, so get on with it.

The lesson learned being that, the attitude with which you approach your fishing will very often determine the results.

Fortunately the Sybase Trials gave everyone the opportunity to fish the same waters and thanks to WildFly, the waters were only a 15 minute drive from the venue.

The last two sessions for many were soul destroying, contending with the wrath of the weather gods, the pressure is amplified when you don’t get an early fish on the board as inevitably you end up spending more time paddling to prospective hot spots, casting or changing flies, which means less time with your fly in the water which invariably equals less fish.

Understandably, considering prevailing conditions coupled with Rod pressure there was only 34 trout tallied from the seniors, 6 from the ladies and 5 fish landed by the juniors on the final day.

This naturally made the competition very close and no-one really knew who the final teams would be.

Terry Babich, an understated fly fisher and true gentlemen took the honors in first place at the trials, closely followed by his brother Tim, with Gary Glen Young, Mark Yelland and Martin Ferriera a fish or two away.

In the Juniors it was Keiran Siney who took top place, as did Renthia Heynes in the ladies category.

SAFFA also had to adjudicate on one unsavory incident where a Senior competitor was accused of releasing his fish back in the water, with his hook still in it’s mouth, then claiming it as another catch……… foolish is an understatement. His indiscretion cost him the trials and for such unbecoming conduct, he was banned for two years. There is no place for cheats in competitive fly fishing, as after all it is only yourself that you are fooling….not the fish.

For the full results and copies of the current national rankings, go to www.wildfly.co.za

SAAFA had decided that 5 Proteas will be fishing in the World Fly Fishing Championships on the5th June within the Loch Lomon National Park in Scotland, with the top two competitors at this event staying on for the Commonwealth Games, to be joined by three new Sybase Proteas, to compete at these games.

The 2009 Sybase Proteas, that will be carrying South African flag to foreign shores are-:

Ladies SAFFA Team