I thought it would never end!

 

O.k, so you can’t have a legal smoke of satisfaction after the act or toast in celebration with your fishing buddies, but at least you can get out of jail and back on the water.

That it is a pandemic there’s no debating, from where, we’ll probably never really know and it’s not going to help if we did, but quite frankly I’m sick and tired of it monopolizing the conversation. We need to look forward and focus on the important things in life from which we derive so much pleasure…your love life notwithstanding.

 

At the very least, you should by now, be planning your immediate fishing trip and have your Mrs. begging you to get out the house. The more experienced of us anglers in a committed relationship would have orchestrated that our better halves came up with a fishing trip suggestion in the first place. If you’re wondering how this miracle of ingenuity is achieved, you clearly need a lesson in how to win feuds and irritate the fairer sex.

So on the fly fishing front, what to do? It’s Winter so the options are two….try target some Largies, which can be quite challenging at the best of times or find a deserted piece of Trout water and enjoy the solitude of the Rainbow season.

Get your fishing in where you can, but considering how precious your fishing-time is, make sure that it lives up to your expectations.

 

The WildFly waters of KZN are ones that are firing right now, with Trout over 50cm being recorded daily and many looking like Trophy specimens. Lack of any rod pressure coupled with the plummeting mercury is witnessing some prize fighting specimens chasing down even the ugly flies, as I can bear testament to.

 

 

Finding the fish is relatively easy, with gin clear waters making for some exceptional sight fishing. They are already acting like irresponsible adolescents, chasing each other around, as the cocksure males fight for their conjugal rights. This makes fly selection a no brainer! Targeting spawning fish is beneath some fly fishers, but if you want to catch feral dam Trout in these water temperatures, you’ll stumble across these antics by default and as they can’t breed in a still water, you’re having no impact on the fishery gene pool, so relax and enjoy.

 

 

The beauty about fishing in the brass balls of a Midlands Winter is that you can catch good Trout at any time of the day, hatches might be non existent but they will chase down your eighties disco imitation from a block away. What exact pattern they prefer will have fly tiers drive you to drink (I never believe an angler who ties more than he fishes anyway), but in my experience when they switch onto colour they are quite indiscriminate and my only rig variation is on line and nymph size if they are moving on the surface. Chances are the reason you catch more fish on a specific pattern is because you fish that fly more often, but that said, I always have a #14 white death at hand for that evening rush hour.

 

They will get fussier as the season progresses, so stop deliberating and get your pink ticket stamped. Take a look at the new website www.wildfly.co.za and get motivated by the Trout waters on offer. If there’s one good thing to come out of this Lockdown it’s going to be how much you appreciate being on the water again.

 

Here’s to seeing your next fishing results on Fishbook