SMY of 5-6 KGS x 3 :)

[Richard Simpkins]

A small group of us went to scout a farm just down river from Orkney and conditions were good to OK for most of Saturday and Sunday (Gale force winds ) however we had a great fishing weekend and apart from the snot weed we caught on average 20 fish per person a day,mostly lots around >1 kg with 20 % over 3 kg and 3 fish over 5 kg
The vis was >400mm and water temps around 19 deg.

Apologies for the quality of the one image but it was taken on a BlackBerry - the fish had to be photographed as we estimate it's weight to be well over 5 kgs.

The happy fishermen are Geoff Muir and Warrick Bennett

[GGY]

A small group of us went to scout a farm just down river from Orkney and conditions were good to OK for most of Saturday and Sunday (Gale force winds ) however we had a great fishing weekend and apart from the snot weed we caught on average 20 fish per person a day,mostly lots around >1 kg with 20 % over 3 kg and 3 fish over 5 kg
The vis was >400mm and water temps around 19 deg.

Apologies for the quality of the one image but it was taken on a BlackBerry - the fish had to be photographed as we estimate it's weight to be well over 5 kgs.

The happy fishermen are Geoff Muir and Warrick Bennett

Hi Richard, those are some nice fish.
Invite me next time (Geoff & I go back years...)
While I agree those are large fish, weight is best measured, not estimated, so that fishermen are kept honesdt ;-)

PS - when are you going to invest in a McLean Weigh Net?

[FlyFanatic]

Great fish! That really is a bus!

What were the tactics for the day? Location in the river, riffles, glides, tailout etc? Time of day? Tecnique? What fly did they take, point or dropper? What flies worked?

Ag please man make my day and answer these questions!

[caranx]

Great day! Very nice fish.

[Richard Simpkins]

Great fish! That really is a bus!

What were the tactics for the day? Location in the river, riffles, glides, tailout etc? Time of day? Tecnique? What fly did they take, point or dropper? What flies worked?

Ag please man make my day and answer these questions!

Hi FF, While I can't answer for Geoff and Warrick on what flies they used as we fished quite far apart, I found most fish were in the glides (almost queuing up to go into the rapids) and some were starting to move up, I took a lot of my fish on the dropper fly with the best fly on the day being a grey GRHE and also some success with Chartreuse white beaded buzzer, my best dropper was an Olive Czech nymph in size 8 with a nymph skin and mono wrapping.

[Scythe]

That first fish really is a bus, well done, must have put up a nice fight

[Herman Jooste]

:biggrin:BRILLIANT fish. :biggrin: Well done.

I may be confused, p!ssed, or both but the second pic looks like either a Largie or Middelbek to me ?

Check the position of the eyes on the head.

Comments ?

[FlyFanatic]

Thanx for the feedback! Always good to know what worked where!

Great stuff!

[FlyFanatic]

:biggrin:BRILLIANT fish. :biggrin: Well done.

I may be confused, p!ssed, or both but the second pic looks like either a Largie or Middelbek to me ?

Check the position of the eyes on the head.

Comments ?

Herman you are right, it doesnt look like a smallie, maybe some hybrid smallie/largie? hehe!

[Richard Simpkins]

:biggrin:BRILLIANT fish. :biggrin: Well done.

I may be confused, p!ssed, or both but the second pic looks like either a Largie or Middelbek to me ?

Check the position of the eyes on the head.

Comments ?

Hi Herman,
Based on the scissors of the mouth being short and the position of the eyes in relation to the mouth and gills I am fairly confident that it is a SMY, however I am far from being an expert in Ichthyology I am loathe to put my pink thing on a block and state 100% it is or isn't - any one else care to comment ?

There does seem to be some confusion regarding hybridisation as is also suggested - see - http://www.fosaf.org.za/documents/Ye...March%2024.pdf
2. Is there any evidence to indicate hybridisation between the two Orange River yellowfishes?
From the current morphological analysis there does not appear to be a clear intermediate form that
would be consistent with recent hybridisation. The allozyme results failed to detect any fixed
differences between L. aeneus and L. kimberleyensis (and also with the more distantly related L. polylepis).
This could be indicative of extensive introgressive hybridisation or too little resolution of the allozyme
markers. The mtDNA data also suggested either hybridisation or a very close genetic relationship
between the two species. Until the three data sets can be directly compared without prior identification
of smallmouth or largemouth yellowfish in the analysis, it would be difficult to rule out hybridisation.
Further research should be done to resolve this critical matter.