large scalies. what flies do you use ?

**Johandre** · 24-10-14

Hi all a few weeks ago I fished the letaba river for large scalies. I tried nymphing with brassies, mustard caddis ,green rock worm,PNT hotspot and GRHE but did'nt have success. my brother next to me caught them with a black fury spinner. So I went back to the fly tying and tied a simple mustard caddis with a flash tail. And then I got a about 6 fish.

**Vicus** · 24-10-14

Natal yellowfish are more aggressive than their cousins in my experience. Generally, once I find them, I catch them. I doubt it was your choice of fly. My guess is that it would rather be the way the flay was fished. This could be something as simple as the rate it was sinking at. I have noticed that scalies can differ quite a lot in the the depths they feed at on different days/conditions. Some days they are more prone to surface feeding, others they may feed mostly at the bottom. I usually spend my fist 1/2 hour on exactly this issue. Once I determine at which depth I get strikes, it is usually game on.

Fishing for scalies is one of the things I miss most since leaving Natal. A most underrated fish.

**Johandre** · 24-10-14

will try that thanks allot. i usually set my indicator at 1 and a half times the depth when fishing for sm yellows.

**Jacques O Dell** · 24-10-14

Hi guys. Think you are talking about two different species here. Large scale (lowveld) vs scaly (Natal yellow).

Johandre I have had lots of success with large scales on small (16) black ZAK nymphs. Also small GRHE. If the water is murky as the bushveld rivers often are then increase fly size and use beaded flies.

I think the reason why the ZAK works in these rivers is because there are often stonefly in those waters.

Try not to use an indicator. Long leader of 12 ft or more. Single nymph. I have used the standard indicator Vaal dropper and point fly technique when the rivers are in flood.

Sterkte! They can be full of twak.

**Zoran** · 25-10-14

Agree with Jacques 100% !
Indicator kills fly fishing per se .
In my country there is a saying : Indicator is for sissies (no offence please

)

Cheers,
Zoran

**Andre** · 26-10-14

Depends what type of indicator you are talking about. If you are referring to the "fluffy" floating style indicator, then yes, I agree a hundred percent. They are counter productive. But if you are referring to an inline sighter, such as a micro coil, or a section of lumo line, or a bead of UV paint, then it can be an effective method of aiding detection.