The Xplorer UHTFC Festival 2017
Having hosted a very successful (inaugural) fly fishing festival in 2016, we (the UHTFC committee) decided to build on the event by hosting our second festival in 2017. We updated the format, extending the festival by a day to 2 days, and then threw in a formal dinner and braai. Although Neill and I were fishing in the festival, we were also partially responsible for putting the event together, and therefore had to do our due diligence. As such we drove up early on Friday morning and spent the day checking the condition of the festival waters, unlocking the various gates and boat houses, packing goodie bags, and setting up the evening venue. One of the waters was slightly off-colour, and we therefore removed it from the festival, otherwise all was looking good. With…
Castleburn
I was lucky enough to win a 5 day stay at Castleburn in last years Xplorer UHTFC Festival. After (accidentally) letting it expire I managed to get it extended by a month and took the family up for a much needed break. Having spent the weekend fishing the Boston Fly Fishing Festival this was intended to be a family trip. I did however manage to pack the fly rod and to sneak away for the odd hour here and there. And I'm certainly glad I did - the fishing was great. For the full (family) trip report please head over to my personal website. This blog post is going to be more focused on Castleburn's fly fishing, as well as any activities related to fishing. The Venue [caption id="attachment_2907" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Sunrise…
Snow Hunting and a Tough Hour at Lake Ringstead
I recently took the family to the Drakensberg in search of snow. Sadly our adventure was less successful than planned. Although there was an abundance of snow, all of it fell high in the mountains meaning we needed to make our way up Sani Pass to get it. So far so good. The problem however arose as we began to make our way up the bottom reaches of the pass and quickly discovered just how dangerous the pass had become. Our first clue should have been the various news reports we heard on the radio clearly stating that the top of the pass was closed. However we chose to ignore these in the hope that we could drive up the pass just far enough to get to the bottom of the…
Granchester – The 5 Year Return
This morning I returned to Granchester, one of the Natal Fly Fishing Club's most popular dams, after a 5 year break from the venue. A quick review of the blog reminded me that it had been a tough outing with Nick picking up the only fish (you can read the story here). I was hoping for better luck. The drive up proved to be spectacular with mist filling the valleys, while the golden sunrise highlighted the autumn hues of the surrounding trees. In fact the view was so spectacular that I even put my fishing on hold to stop and take a few photos. [caption id="attachment_2842" align="alignnone" width="1600"] A golden sunrise in the Natal Midlands[/caption] I arrived at the waters edge just after 7am. It was 4 degrees (Celcius) with…
A Low Bushman’s River
Amazingly it's been quite some time since I've had the pleasure of fishing the upper Bushman's River. It's always been one of my favourite stretches of river despite the fact that it generally produces smaller fish. I guess this is because for me it's not about the size when it comes to wild brown trout, but rather about the beauty of the surroundings. To be fishing under the Giant, with the Drakensberg looming above you, while ankle deep in cold, crystal clear water is hard to be beat. I'd wondered the whole drive about the water level after a season of low rainfall. When I got to the water's edge it was immediately obvious just how low the river was. My mind rushed back to a session on the Umzimkulu earlier…
Back To Underberg
Craving some trout fishing, Neill was kind enough to put together another boys weekend to trout mecca known as Underberg. I put in for a full day's leave on Friday (rather than the usual half day) in the hope of getting in a full day's fishing. Sadly this was not to be as Neill got stuck with customers which temporarily delayed our departure. Add to this that my car's fuel warning light had come on, and that Neill's car had battled to start the previous morning, and it was clear we weren't off to a great start. As it turned out Andrew and Richard weren't doing too much better, and we all arrived at Turner's Cottage at around 11am. Being close to midday I wasn't expecting much from the fishing, but it was great to…
A Tough Weekend At Kamberg
[caption id="attachment_2466" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Fishing Erskine Dam, Kamberg[/caption] I recently spent a long weekend at the Kamberg Nature Reserve with my family. It's a beautiful venue and was once one of the most highly regarded fly fishing venue in Kzn. Sadly, since the hatchery closed, I've found the dam fishing to have declined, although they do claim to still stock them regularly. That said, it's still a great venue for beginners thanks primarily to the mowed banks making it an easy venue to fish compared to our many farm waters. And if you exclude the dams it still has a beautiful stretch of the Mooi river, which I was sadly unable to fish due to it being the closed season. Over the course of the weekend I only managed two short afternoon sessions of around…