Summer at Sterkfontein

[goldentrout]

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would give a report back on my first every trip to Sterkfontein Dam at the beginning of January. It has always been my dream to catch yellowfish on fly, so I made the effort to travel the 7 hours from Nelspruit and enjoyed three fantastic days fishing.

It is initially daunting to know where to begin when you hit this massive expanse of water. The first day was exceptionally windy, which made both casting and sighting fish exceptionally difficult, and I spent most of the day driving around the dam, not knowing exactly what to do. However, while walking along a cliff at the end of the afternoon, I spotted a large school of fish in the shallows, and crept down to the water's edge to have a bash at them. Using a size 14 Flashback PTN, I managed to hook my first fish and after a tense battle, I netted a beautiful 1kg smallmouth yellowfish. A dream had come true!

The next day dawned a little calmer. To be honest I wasn't expecting to see many fish, but I was amazed when, all around the fringes of the dam, there were schools of yellowfish ranging in number from between 5 (the wily big boys) and 30 (fish from 500g - 2kg). Perhaps spawning? I fished as stealthily as possible and managed to catch four smallmouths, with the biggest being a 1.5 kg slab of gold. I had some incredibly exciting fishing with the ever-popular brown Good Doctor's Beetle (in size 8 and 10), fished on a 15ft 4x tippet. I must say that I could have caught double the number of fish if I hadn't missed a few lightning-quick takes, and I was also completely smashed up several times by the ferocious power of the runs directly after the strike, sometimes by fish which looked to be at least 5 pounds.

The next day followed suit, and I caught another three decent-sized fish, all on the beetle. I learnt that you have to make your first cast count. The fish seem to become more and more cautious the more you cast. Most of my fish were caught on either the first or second cast at a school. I planned to fish the next morning before leaving for Nelspruit, but a storm put paid to that idea.

The trip and this incredible, crystal-clear dam far exceeded my expectations, and I will definitely try to visit at least once a year._7001096.jpg

[JadeDsantos]

Nice one man! Looks like a great time, it really is an amazing place!

J

[Snowbeast]

I learnt to FF on a private farm next to sterkies.
The wind always howls.
I'm keen to go back up there.

[pieterbez]

Glad you had a good time.
Will be smashing the Yellows again on the weekend of the 20th. Timeshare at Quantani.
Have to fill up my beetle box as it got quite low after a brilliant trip to Sterkies in December

[goldentrout]

Honestly the best time I have had in my 12 years of fly-fishing :smile:
Wow, you are very privileged to have timeshare there, it is truly an incredible place.

Tight lines! Will you please give me a report back on the trip?

[goldentrout]

It certainly is. Love your photos of Rhodes!

[Korrie]

Glad you had a good time.
Will be smashing the Yellows again on the weekend of the 20th. Timeshare at Quantani.
Have to fill up my beetle box as it got quite low after a brilliant trip to Sterkies in December

Never knew they had timeshare there, have about 3 years of timeshare I have to cash in.
Guess I just found out where to do it.

[GrahamS]

Never knew they had timeshare there, have about 3 years of timeshare I have to cash in.
Guess I just found out where to do it.

First Resorts runs Qwantani, so you can swop weeks through them. My family have had timeshare there since it was built.
Lovely place!