Fly fishing Western Cape

[Golden Rainbow]

Hi Guys

I have just moved from Mpumalanga to Stellenbosch, and it seems that unfortunately the fishing opportunities in this area are limited especially with the drought. I've done online research and am aware of all the usual destinations such as Clanwilliam, Eikendal, La Ferme, Lankensvlei, all of the Cape mountain streams etc.

So I want to ask, where do you guys fly fish when you're down here? Also, is there potential to catch small saltwater species on 5 weight rods here? I'm aware of De Mond, but that's about it. And any rivers with yellowfish? I'm content with catching anything on fly!

Most of the fly fishing information about the Western Cape is heavily outdated, so it would be great to hear what you guys have to say and connect with some fellow fly fisherman.

Dale

[cameronlochner]

the eerste river was pretty much killed in the drought so places like eikendal,larkenvlei etc are your best bet for trout. Areas in the cederberg have some good claimwilliam yellow and sawfin fishing. Kalkbay harbour gets one heck of a lot of mackerel every summer witch are fun to catch on tiny rods sandvlei has mullet and some good sized garrick and some of the other vleis in cape town have some decent fishing.

[FlyCraft]

Hi Dale,

Just off the top of my head:

Bass

Eikenhof - www.countryclub.co.za
Mofam - www.mofam.co.za
Kwaggaskloof, Brandvlei - Worcester
Theewaterskloof
Clanwilliam and Bulshoek dams
De Zalze in Stellenbosch - if you have some friends living there.
All venues on the Breede river, many if you do a search.

Trout in winter

Lakensvlei
Eikendal
Killarney trout
La Ferme

We are limited on the trout side during winter.

Yellowfish/Sawfin

Die Mond
Mount Cedar
Dwarsrivier
Quite a few others if you search on the net - Doring, Groot river systems.

[Golden Rainbow]

Thank you guys. Definitely going to be doing a lot of exploring!

[Golden Rainbow]

Does anyone know what the current situation at Bo-Vlakte is? I don't see anything recent on the web so I'm assuming it's closed down?

[white death]

I heard that the farm was sold.

[old school]

why limit yourself with a 5 wt setup?
even a good mackerel will give you problems with a 5 wt ( i found that out this year myself).. specially since they seem to be increasing in size the last 2 seasons.
get yourself an 8 /9 and it will open up a lot more for you.
i'm based by Zandvlei if you keen for a couple of garrick come October onwards .
No guarantees they'll show up/co- operate , but persistence does pay off!

[Golden Rainbow]

I was thinking just some small gully fish etc for a bit of fun. I do have a 9 weight though and will definitely make use of it when summer comes around . Amazing the strength of saltwater fish though, considering a mackerel can give such a fight! And then you can land a 12 pound trout on a 5 weight .

Thank you for the advice, I will be exploring all the places I can.

[Fly-o-holic]

Hi Cameron,
What flies do you use for the Mackerel?
I'm keen to try some during summer.

kind regards
Pierre