Your Personal Catch & Release Record
California Dreaming The Fall, as it’s fondly referred to in the US, is my favourite time to test out new fly patterns. It’s those golden weeks before the leaves turn brown that the Trout feed freely and often languorously so. It all depends on the water temperature, but before their often aggressive spawning behavior, there’s a window in which a Trout’s focus is exclusively on the food chain and it’s a real buffet for the […]
Everyone has Yellow Fever at the moment and when you see the quality of fish that Sterkies and select sections of the Vaal and Orange rivers are producing, you can understand why. But for me, it’s the start of Trout season that get’s my temperature spiking. Taking nothing away from the fighting qualities of our indigenous yellow fish species (which arguably can outstrip a Trout), there’s something just so majestic about a wild Brown gently […]
The final of any gathering can often be a tense affair, the urge to win giving rise to a little friction. Which, when fuelled with huge rewards can create some fierce competition. That is until you throw fish and the good cheer of fellow fly addicts into the equation. There was no doubt that every team that made it into the final of the TOPS Corporate Challenge was there to teach the Trout a few […]
That this event has less to do with fishing and more about celebrating with friends was resoundingly apparent this last weekend. By lunchtime Thursday, the festivities started and you could be forgiven for thinking that the anglers were toasting their catches, such was the infectious atmosphere. It never fails to amaze me how the prospect of a weekend of fishing gets the party started. Enthusiasm is at an all-time high and the great fishing stories […]
There are many factors that make a for great fly fishing event and surprisingly most of them do not revolve around the fishing. But if the Trout fail to make an appearance the atmosphere after a long day on the water can get a little frosty. Fortunately with the balmy weather playing it’s role, at the 2nd leg of the TOPS Corporate Challenge, the Trout came out to play, giving all the festive ingredients of […]