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"