Mount Arthur - Snow an all

The Cottage at Loch Ranoch

Ready for action , this trip we made use off the Arrow backpacker boats, awesome kick boat to fish from. The nicest thing , u can handle the boat by yourself.

Gerhard with a nice fish from Lake Mnt Arthur. Not a massive fish but in excellent condition.

It does look as if Gerhard was the only guy catching fish , this is a nice cock from the POTTS . This fish nailed a Moo Moo.

Then the snow came, this was round about 6 o'clock in the morning. A Proper surprise

Just to show , a Ross Reel still work even when its frozen
Double hook up , Lu and Gerhard , this was our dinner on Monday


This could be any where in the world , what an awesome experience.

The Cottage after the snow.

FlyFishers Web site -LIVE !

After nearly 2 months our new site is up and running , as you will notice it is still in progress, but at least we are on the web, again.

Cheers

Ricko

" Murray is currently fishing Costa Rica for TARPON , they are having a ball , plenty and big fish. I will be off to Mount Arthur next week, will keep u in the loop"

Bored?

Try some electronic fly fishing magazines. There's a new one on the net called Catch Magazine which has some great photography - get it here and This is Fly has just published Issue 11.

Engogo - Trout Lodge

Johan Geldenhuys visited Engogo a while ago , have a look at some off his picks .


How's this for a Dragonfly Nymph. This is like a Man size T-Bone for a Trout ( Mr. Wallington , you will enjoy this photo)

Some of the brown trout to be caught at Engogo, note the white band on the fins, an awesome fish.

All for now, i am on my way to catch some trooot at Highland Runn , see u on Monday.

FlyFishers on the Square

The new Look FlyFishers Unlimited.

This is a view of the PIRANNA deck , long and very "serious" conversations on FlyFishing and things will take place here. We will also have live Rugby , off course only when the Boks or the Bulls play well.


Yes , it does look like a one way mirror, but this is the most technologically advanced rod building workshop in SA. Elphus and i will spend a lot off our time here. Also keep in mind we do give rod building
lessons , should you want to build your own stick.

The following shot is part off our extensive range of fly tying material and Murray's pride and joy - THE TYING BENCH -. The bench can seat 4 tiers easy , and with Murray close by you will have a tying experience of note.
All our contact details off course remained the same:

Tel : 011 705 1190
467 2034
Fax: 705 1188
This pick is not upside down, yes the boats are in the roof. We now carry a full range off float tubes and kick boats from Classic Accessories. The BIG guy can even do river work ( down the rapids)

Please feel free to come and have a cup of coffee or a cold one and experience FlyFishers as never before.

Thank's

Murray , Ricko & Elphus

( below is a map with GPS point to get to us)

South African Trout in Danger?

From today's Times

This is Fly E-zine

Issue 10 of This is Fly E-zine has just been published. Get it here

WHY ?

Hi,

I just want to apologise for the absence of any new postings for the last month and a bit, we are busy building the shop of shop's , the honey hole of honey hole's , the perfect lay if you were a 8pound rainbow and so on and so forth.

We will be relocating our Fourways shop to Cedar square shopping centre , coner off Cedar Road and Willow avenue. ( hopefully by the end of July) , in next week i will start to post some pic's off progress.

" If you wouldlike to come past the new possie , you are more than welcome. Entrance will be a beer or two"

Thanks

Ricko & Murray

How's this for a Tiger

Keith Matthews was fishing on the Zambezi, after donating his Polaroid's to the river god his strip was abruptly interrupted by a solid take.This is the reason why. This tiger weighed in at 17lb's , awesome fish

Large Mouth Yellow Festival

Last weekend the annual Largie festival took place at Elgro Lodge. With the weather being up and down all the time the fishing was very challenging. Among other Horst Filter did get a few fish , mixed bag , largies and small mouth. Interesting note, the small mouth are still eating off the surface at the tail ends.

Fishing comp @ Treeferns

Fishing Competition at Tree Ferns Lodge

This is just a few photos on the recent comp. organized by Ozzie at Tree Ferns Lodge. Tree Ferns is situated right in the middle of the trout triangle ( Dullstroom , Belfast & Machado)

Check the red nose ,might be the cold.

Or the Bells !!

Just a really nice pick , thank you Ozzie.

Fly Tying Instruction @ Oxbow

Oxbow Country Estate,
One of the better fly fishing venues around the old Transvaal

Murray was invited to do a fly tying demonstration / talk at Oxbow the past Saturday. He and Alison even had a chance to cast a line.

Alison ( Murray's better half) casting a line at Oxbow. In the recent past quite a few lady fly fishers took the rod up again.

This was during the tying demo. Look at the expression, maybe the forceps got a bit HOT !!. Murray had about a dozen guys taking part in the demo, they tied the Pappa Roach.( check the tying instructions earlier in the blog)

Some hands on tying. This is where the "disease" start.

Like the say:" the proof op the pudding is in the eating"

Monster Brown

Shane Richardson with a Awesome Brown Trout.

Shane fished in Clarens 3 weeks ago and this is what the Fishing Gods blessed him with.He hooked this brown on a # 14 Beige May fly nymph, right in the middle of the day!

Once again Shane , well done.

Lu's Hot Spot Nymph

Lu's Hot Spot Nymph

Recipe:

Hook : Siman Weighted Nymph Hooks size 10 - 16
Thread : 6/0 ( to match colour of material)
Body : Pheasant centre tail +/- 5 fibres.
Tail : Pheasant centre tail
Wing case : Pheasant centre tail
Ribbing : Fine copper wire

Note: The lead body can be painted black, red , chartreuse .......

Siman pre weighted hooks , off course we sell them in the shop !!

1. The hook, not painted yet.

2. The same hook, painted .The paint has also been coated with Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails ( Murray and Lu use this on their nails ......)

3. The centre tail fibers being tied in, also note the copper rib , this will make the fly a bit more durable. The length of the tail is normally equal to the length of the hook shank.

4.After the centre tail was palmer'd forward , the copper ribbing was also wound forward and tied off.

5. Note, the centre trail is tied of on top of the hook shank . This will form the wing case .

6. The thread is started again, ahead of the painted lead body.

7. The centre tail is pulled over the lead body to form the wing case. You can wind it around in front of the lead body to fill the gap and create a bit of a collar.

After all of this , tie off the thread , string your rod and go and fish!!

( you can also come past the shop and buy a few rods and reels ?)

Early Large Mouth Yellow

Morris and a Nice 5KG Largie

The fish nailed the black and olive variegated Woolly Bugger. Fishing structure in not to deep water turned out to be the thing.


They did see a few fish move , but according to the expert it is still a little bit early. The water need to drop to 14deg C

Well done Morris

The One and Only - Pappa Roach

Pappa Roach - by Herman Botes

Recipe:

Hook : Grip 13812 ( Streamer / Leeches ) size 4 - 12
Thread : 6/0 Olive
Body : Siman Sparkle Squirrel dubbing Brush ( Olive ) & Olive Zonker strip
Tail : Olive Zonker Strip
Wing case : Olive Mallard
Legs : Silly Legs
Eyes : 40lb Nylon ( melted )

1. Secure the nylon eyes on the hook shank,figure of eight.

2. Tie in the Siman Dubbing Brush and the Zonker strip on top of the hook shank. Make sure to tie the brush in first.
3. After being tied down , measure the lenght off the zonker strip ( do not use cross cut zonker ). Move the thread plus minus 3/4 towards the hook eye. This is where the dubbing brush will be tied off.

4.Note the zonker being pulled over the body of the dragon. Make sure this is secure, you do not want the zonker to slide to one side.

5.Tie in the wing case of Olive Mallard flank. This should be tied on top of the Zonker. Leave enough space to tie in the silly legs!

6. Tie the back two legs in by folding the rubber around the thread ( come to the shop ,we will show you) . The front legs is tied down the same way as the eyes ( figure of eight )

7. Cover the silly legs and eyes with dubbing to finish the fly.

" I have landed my biggest trout ever on this bugger , a monster of 5.3kg at Highland Lodge"

The Marobou Dragon

The Marabou Dragon
tied by Elphus Ndlovu

Recipe:

Hook : Grip 12804 ( Wet fly / Nymph ) size 6 - 12
Thread : 6/0 Olive
Body : Siman JS Soft Dub - Olive
Tail : Olive Marabo
Wing case : Olive Phesant tail
Legs : Wing case extended
Eyes : 40lb Nylon ( melted )


1. Melt the nylon to form the dumbbell shape eyes. Secure the eyes with the figure of eight method . Wind the thread towards the bend , stop between the hook point and barb.


2.Tie in a small bunch of buck tail ( this keep the Marabou from wrapping around the hook).


3.Directly on top of the buck tail , tie in the marabou . This should be roughly one and a halftime the length of the hook shank.

4.Tie the pheasant center tail but end first , flush against the marabou. (butt end - bottom , tip end top) , also on top of the hook shank. Note the position of the dubbing, start flush with the marabou.

5.Dub the body ( rugby ball shape ) right up to the eyes. Pull the win case over . tie down , now split the feather to form the legs either side the dragon.


6. Finish the head with dubbing ( figure of eight method again) , tie off and put some head cement.

This fly can be fished alongside weed beds , on its own or in tandem with the beady blood worm. One thing about the retrieve on this guy, the slower you go the better it gets!

Good fishing.