Sterkies: 27-31 Jan 2012

[Michael]

Anybody planning on being at Sterkies on the weekend of the 3/4/5th February?

[troutmaster]

Anybody planning on being at Sterkies on the weekend of the 3/4/5th February?

Mike, I doubt you will be answered here given the name of this thread

[saml]

How was the fishing?

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Feedback from Jonathan regarding the Mavungana 13-16 Jan trip:

"Our Sterkies trip was great little bi of Iffy weather but on the first and last day good light and excellent sightfishing. I have been fishing it for 15 years and I must say I have noticed the fish are becoming pressurised and painfully spooky – a consequence of the Vaal being shot and every Tom Dick and Harry heading off there so inevitable I guess.
Have fun and tight lines
Best
Jono"

It was awesome hey troutmaster, it was my first time on sterks so i dont have anything to compare it to, but i got 13 fish. sunday was tough for me, only got 1, but friday and saturday got me 6 fish a day. if you spotted a fish and got your cast in its path it was a hit almost every time, many were missed and broken off too. Before 10am and after 3pm it was near impossible to get them to come to the surface.
Purple doctors beetles, black foam ant, small black cricket and doctors hopper accounted for pretty much all the fish in our group.

Good luck and have a jol!

[troutmaster]

Made good progress today; 5wt lines cleaned and then stretched out in the yard and allowed to hang in mid-air all day, got a good stretch in the sun; then when it started cooling down I dropped the lines to the ground, didn't reel them in; left another 2 or so hours until 'cooled'; all memory seem to be gone. So that is sorted and rods etc packed.

Made good progress on the flies as well [I am a slow un-productive tier]!

Did a number of beetles in different colors foam and packed the 2-sided fly box that I will primarily use [going to travel 'light']; only taking the very small Explorer chest pack and then my Deuter Spider hiking back-pack [25 or so litre].

Also combined various tying techniques that I picked up from this forum into my own nymph pattern [sorry for the poor quality pic] - basically:

- Tail (I used Cock de Leon)
- Wire ribbing
- Plumbers tape body colored to your liking, e.g. olive, brown, black
- Some dubbing for thorax
- I did these on #16

Maybe we can call it the B-Nymph if it works

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On the dry fly side:

Ants [black and red] - various sizes
Klinkhammers, various colors and designs
Caddis
Hopper
Stimulator
DDD, various colors and designs
Beetles, various colors and designs
Adams

PS: I DID NOT tie all these today, only the beetles, the rest was pre-tied or some bought

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Some more nymphs will follow over the next 2 nights; just covering the bases with some generic nymphs in various colors; tan, olive, brown, black; some with flash, some without.

Have some f-flies, some beaded CDC stuff [J Marais] and some Gary LaFontaine sparkle pupae.

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Hopefully this covers most situations; I will however carry a spare fly box or 2 with various 'old' stuff; just in case

[firephish]

nice looking flies ... not a single one there i would have any hesitation in tying on

[Yellowfever]

Barend those flies don't look like they'll cut it at Sterkies! Better start tying something else. Enjoy!

[geoffrey]

Barend, you are covered there, Ive got a few special flies for you, see you tomorrow night.

[troutmaster]

Barend, you are covered there, Ive got a few special flies for you, see you tomorrow night.

Can't wait.

This weekend have FINALLY arrived.

We are all packed (99%) and will be leaving between 08:00 - 09:00; having lunch in Harrismith and ready for check-in at 14:00; should be unpacked and fishing soon after, hopefully it will be a great afternoon session to kick-off the long weekend.

My SM rod is ready, new leader + tippet; just assemble, add a fly and I'm fishing.

Quickly doing a few more flies before a bit of shut-eye.

Unfortunately I have to go to work / site for an hour just to 'check-in' and to not loose 2 days leave for Sat/Sun; so I will be up early tomorrow and back home before 08:00.

Depending on MTN reception I might report back here from the tablet, alternatively I will do so Tuesday night.

Tight lines all

[troutmaster]

Barend those flies don't look like they'll cut it at Sterkies! Better start tying something else. Enjoy!

OK

Doing so immediately, thanx for the heads-up...

[troutmaster]

Good on our way, on N3, had a pitstop, lovely double espresso, 140km to Harrismith!

Beautiful day, not a cloud in sight.

The stuff dreams are made of...