9 X 9 Challenge

**Herman Jooste** · 04-10-06

Sort of carrying the thought over from the trout threads. (Poaching?

) It seems that the Clanwilliam yellow is regarded by many as the king of yellows, why so

Secondly has anyone ever successfully completed the 9 X 9 challenge? (All 9 species of yellows caught in 9 days

**dlampert** · 04-10-06

Herman,

My feeling about brown vs rainbow and clanwilliam yellows is that the rarer your opportunity of catching a particular fish, the more highly regarded peoples perceptions are regarding that fish. In the case of browns in the Western Cape, you have the Witte which is a long walk with few fish and the Witels which is a k@k hike but more fish. Yes other streams exist for browns but I am talking about the more well known ones. For Clanwilliam yellows, they are endangered and you can only catch them in a couple of places. If browns were our staple fish in our rivers with only one or two streams containing rainbows then I am sure we would all be out trying to catch rainbows.

I don't think that browns or Clanwilliam yellows are any harder or easier to catch then rainbows or other yellowfish, it's simply a matter of opportunity.

Regards,
Darryl

**KevinC** · 04-10-06

Herman- ja not sure- for me the Clanwilliam is my current king of yellows but thats probably because I only caught my first one 2 weeks ago- and the rush hasn't quite subsided yet! The clanwilliam is just such a beautiful yellow and compared to my limited experience in catching sm yellows, the cw yellow fights much harder! At the same time, however, I have never caught a lm yellow before and would love to get to grips with a large lm- have heard they are also brutes. Gerard Barnardt was telling me that he has had CW yellows bend no6 hooks straight open on the strike before! True apex predators.

But I agree with what Darryl has said- it all comes down to how many opportunities you have to target the fish- the more of a mission it is to get to decent waters etc, the more you will appreciate the fish once you have caught it.

**NeilRowe** · 04-10-06

Darryl

Go to the NE Cape, fish Balloch on the Willow, has both rainbows and browns, and see how the catch return ratio pans out! Bet you you'll catch more Rainbows!

you guys will have to educate me into this yellow thing!

Are'nt they similar to carp?

**KevinC** · 04-10-06

ha ha ha! You purist (?) you! Or like Darryl says- "They look like diet carp"

Judging from 2 weeks ago, I reckon a clainwilliam half the size of a trout will fight twice as hard!

**KevinE** · 04-10-06

Browns are definitely tougher to catch in my book, rainbows can be real idiots at times. Mind you a brown that I caught on the weekend took 2 casts after being pricked, I guess all species have lunatics.

As for yellows, the only place I have ever caught them was on the Sterkspruit and they were real suckers. All I did was stand in a sandy spot and kick up a pile of sand. The yellows all gathered below me and were very obliging with a woolly worm drift past them. Fight like buggery though.

**dlampert** · 04-10-06

Originally Posted by NeilRowe

Darryl

Go to the NE Cape, fish Balloch on the Willow, has both rainbows and browns, and see how the catch return ratio pans out! Bet you you'll catch more Rainbows!

Hi Neil,

Would be interesting to know the ratio of rainbows to browns in the Willow. I would guess that the rainbow numbers are higher which is why you catch more of them but then this is a thumb suck.

Regards,
Darryl

**KevinE** · 04-10-06

Originally Posted by dlampert

Hi Neil,

Would be interesting to know the ratio of rainbows to browns in the Willow. I would guess that the rainbow numbers are higher which is why you catch more of them but then this is a thumb suck.

l

I know that this may not apply everywhere but in Lake Taupo and tributaries brown trout make up 15% of the population but account for only 1% of the catch.

**NeilRowe** · 04-10-06

The Willow is basically divided in two parts. Above the waterfall is browns only, below is mainly rainbows with a few browns thrown in. if one fishes for say 2 hours above and then 2 hours below, I bet one would catch more Rainbows (I know I did!)