Komati River

[emerger]

Has anybody fished the Komati near Carolina
I have just returned for Doornkop and had two great days on the river,
certainly not easy fishing but great.
If anybody has fished this section of the Komati , which is the best time of
the year , what tactics and flies work best
Regards Rob

[chris williams]

Rob,

Come along with your family/mates to Stithians braai in a coupla weeks - see under 'Clubs'. I am happy to tell you quite a bit more from my experience in the area.

[jock0]

I fish the komati in that area about two or three times a year and its packed full of SS yellows! I was using the exact same tactics I do when nymphing on the vaal but obviously scaling down the tackle and flies to match the conditions and fish size and had a really great time with most fish being between 500g and 1kg. The fish in that section are definitely not as finicky as SS and LS yellows in other places - Its one of the few places I've managed to catch two yellows at once and my dad has actually gotten them on walkers nymphs :)

Off the top of my head I'd say 3-4wt 8'6", 6ft straight length of 8lb or 3x as a leader to a split ring or dropper loop or small swivel. From the end of the leader attach a length of approx 15cm of 4x for your top dropper and another length about 45cm of 4x for your control fly. Use a small nymph such as a grhe, ptn, brassie as your top dropper and a much heavier copper john or prince nymph as your control fly. You get huge prince nymphs (perlidae) in that section of the river so dont be afraid to fish large flies. In some sections my control flies were tied on #6 circle hooks with a 3.5mm tungsten bead...

My avatar is actually a pic of my favourite run in that section of the river!