Stonecutters Report

[rouxtjie]

So the wife and myself hit stonecutters(between dullies and lydenburg) over the weekend and had a blast. We arrived on the fri afternoon packed out and lit the "kaggel". I was soon into a whiskey...or four and although the temp was dropping quickly, the stone cottage was well equipped with under floor heating and heaters(over and above the fireplace). Since I had to accommodate the wife and my very young daughter(4 months) these weren’t considered luxuries by my wife but necessities. The accommodation was very nice and well equipped, the staff very helpful and considered and the breakfast we had there was awesome, so in short....swambo friendly

I did get 5 minutes to quickly scope out the ponds they have and although there was nothing hatching and the water was crystal clear, I had a good feeling about the inlet and various big weed beds I could see from the bank.

So come 6 AM I was up, ready to rock and roll and as per normal I always start prospecting with a little red eye damsel around the reeds and weed beds, 5 casts and I was on, in these cold weather conditions the fish fought much harder with longer, faster runs. Little did I know that the only fly that would produce(on the pond at least) would be a small red eye damsel...but with a twist. It seemed that they preferred a duller marabou and not the deeper olive green found on some patterns. I had a set of about ten damsels that got wet in a flybox and over time, the marabou had become dreary looking and not as rich. These were right on the money in terms of matching the colour of the weed beds, I did try other flies and techniques(dry...hoppers + DDD’s and dropper with egg paterns on the point or suspended small midges drifting as well as san juan...but nada), I even blanked on brightly coloured aggravators to dark cock fish....they had other things on their mind

As far as the river goes(Dorps) it produced well and although small had very healthy fish. Patterns that worked(sizes 14 and 16) included GRHE’s, Copper John’s and this little CDC nymphs from Mike.... http://www.ganador.co.za/CDCMayfly.html

When fishing the river there are many pools along the stonecutter’s section but the ones that produced the best were the one above the waterfall by the deck....the biggest one in the middle of the property with two gazebos and the one close to the bird hideout at the most northern point of stonecutters. All fish were taken using dead drifting casting into the faster water above the pool and letting it drift out from the head to the tail whilst mending/retrieving line. Some of the pools had really slow sections so once it was past the head you could retrieve a small bit here and there. The banks are cleaned up very nicely so the brush isn’t in the way of your backcast.

Ok now for the scoreboard I only fished in the mornings(6AM – 10AM) and late afternoons(3pm – till dark) since I had a family to consider, so in 4 sessions I took:

Pond = 17 Fish (500g-1,2kg) floating line, 10ft leader with 4X fluorocarbon tippet, ALL on red eye damsel....very very slow retrieve(cast out let it sink to bottom and giving 5 strips every minute or so). One of the troot's had a scar from a previous hookup...looked like a parasite on the one photo
River = 12 Fish (all very small) with dead drift on flies mentioned above, the bulk coming from the pool with the two gazebos


Some pics of the place and fishies, sorry for the size, I had to scale them down to fit the upload requriement.

[Michael]

Great report back, and seems you had some great fishing! Always nice when the place is kid and swambo friendly too.

That pattern you mentioned, the CDC mayfly Nymph, I have to give credit to Daniel Factor...he's the one who showed us that pattern one night at the Fly Tying Guild. It IS an awesome pattern, works great for yellows too.

[rouxtjie]

Great report back, and seems you had some great fishing! Always nice when the place is kid and swambo friendly too.

That pattern you mentioned, the CDC mayfly Nymph, I have to give credit to Daniel Factor...he's the one who showed us that pattern one night at the Fly Tying Guild. It IS an awesome pattern, works great for yellows too.

Ja the place is lekker, I believe its the ol cochy bondhu that they fancied up a bit, so if you have the family with you, it won't be a bad option. The piece of dorps they have there was the main reason I chose it and although the stillwaters were smallish you could alter between river and pond. They also have a small boat that you can use.

I will defnitely buy Daniel a beer if I ever meet him, that pattern worked VERY well and its quick to tie.

Fishing was very lekker even though I picked up a cold when I moered waist deep into a pool...look where you are walking not where you are casting... eish

[AdrianPowrie]

I dont want to tell you how many times I have fallen into that damn river...

And the waether was nice and pleasant for a swim this weekend...

Wel done, you did far better than what we managed this weekend.

[rouxtjie]

I dont want to tell you how many times I have fallen into that damn river...

And the waether was nice and pleasant for a swim this weekend...

Wel done, you did far better than what we managed this weekend.

Heheheh lekker, at least I am not alone...demmit that water was cold, could have sworn I heard a baboon bark / laughing at me as I went in

I was very happy with the fishing, you never know when visiting a new venue especially a piece of river. I was considering buying a day ticket at another venue if stonecutters didn't produce but luckily I didnt have to. It was also very quiet...I dont think the river gets fished much considering the the fishes are much smaller and also a good walk away from the units. So I had the whole +- 3km to myself. There were another dad and son that were going onto the stillwater only when I went off in the morning...dunno how they did.

Where did you guys fish? If I knew you okes were in town I would have liked to smash a few lagers with you but instead trolled the shops with wife pushing a pram...hurrying her along so that we can back to the lodge