“The angler forgets most of the fish he catches, but he does not forget the streams and lakes in which they are caught.” – Charles K. Fox
My journey in fly fishing has been short compared to some… but rather than seeing my young age and limited experience as a curse I find it a blessing. I remember as a kid how excited I got when we went on family holidays or day trips to new places I haven’t seen before. The excitement was hard to contain and between my brother and I, my parents grew irritated with a thousand questions and harmonies of “are we there yet” every 5 minutes.
It’s easy for me to admit that I haven’t seen it all and that every time I visit new waters my anticipation and excitement is childlike, just ask anyone who has travelled in a car with me to a fishing destination, they will attest to the ooh’s, aah’s and occasional swearing in my native tongue when spotting a river or stream… or any body of water for that matter.
My most recent adventure was to the kingdom of Lesotho, one of the highest kingdoms on earth, although I have visited Lesotho before this was my first with rod and reel and true to form it was difficult to contain my inner child. We were to spend 4 nights at Orion Hotel on the banks of Mohale Dam with the plan to fish the dam as well as spend a day on the Senqunyane River. Our main target species was the indigenous population of smallmouth yellowfish. The prospect of targeting these fish in gin clear water was a mouthwatering one and even more so for a self-proclaimed yellowfish addict like myself.
From the outset we realized that the fishing was going to be difficult to say the least, as we travelled further and higher to the interior parts of the country we could see the effects of severe drought currently gripping Southern Africa. When we finally reached our destination we quickly received the news that the dam was at an all-time low, currently standing at 45% capacity. Regardless of the low water levels we ventured out with optimism, hoping to un-lock a new Sterkies.
The conditions in the dam foiled our plan of sight fishing towards cruising yellows from a vantage point as we struggled to find and identify fishable spots. It’s hard to describe how much water the dam has lost, the usual rock shelves and gravel beds which would attract yellows from far and wide were left high and dry with only the deep channels of Mohale running several meters below it. We managed to catch quite a few juvenile yellows schooling near the banks but the bigger fish were hard to find and seemed to be waiting for the late afternoon hatch, as Jeremy Rochester proved with a healthy smallmouth of about 3.5 pounds just as the sun disappeared behind the towering hills.
After battling it out on the dam for 2 days we eventually moved on to the river below the dam wall. It was no secret that this was what I was most excited about, casting dry flies to 6 pound yellowfish in trout like streams is fly fishing heaven for a guy like me who is used to the slightly more off color water of the mighty Vaal River. The Senqunyane River is the main tributary of the Senqu River as it flows through Lesotho before its name change at the border of South Africa. The Orange River is well known for its healthy population of yellowfish, it is only natural for its source waters to be teaming with fish and the Senqunyane did not disappoint.
Getting down to the river was a bit of a rat pack and a radio job but it was well worth it, the breathtaking beauty of these unspoiled streams is difficult to put in words and I’d imagine they are on par with the beautiful waters we often see in popular fly fishing films. Not to mention that between 3 anglers we finished the morning session with a few good yellows, 2 of which were in the 5 pound category and a couple good rainbow trout who were just as eager as their golden neighbors.
We refueled with a man size breakfast at the hotel before heading back for the afternoon session. Again the fish were kind enough to accept our fly presentations, as each angler caught yellows and rainbows on different patterns and techniques. I also managed to get 2 good rainbows after persisting with the dry fly and lost a very healthy yellow in knee deep water when it came up and sipped my size 16 Para Adams as delicate as any trout. Even after losing the fish it was to be the highlight of the trip for me, after several minutes of stalking and finally connecting with the rising yellow it is still in my book the pinnacle of river fishing.
The waters of Lesotho was an amazing experience and I would recommend that any adventure seeking angler look no further than our neighbors in the “kingdom in the sky”.
Area Fishing: South Africa
Discipline: Freshwater Fly
Species Targeted: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Smallmouth Yellowfish, Largemouth Yellowfish, Natal Scaly, Tigerfish, Bass, Carp
Rhuan grew up in a fishing family and being raised on the banks of the Vaal River he spent many hours targeting anything that swims. He started out as a lure angler fishing with his father in local bass circuits and money trails. He caught his first Yellowfish on fly in the Vaal River and has been hooked on fly fishing ever since. Nowadays Rhuan spends his time in the KZN midlands fishing the pristine trout waters in the area and every now and then he visits his home waters of the mighty Vaal River.
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