I took a couple of kids out on the boat a couple of years ago to Loskop dam with the express purpose of catching a canary/ blue kurper or 50 on worms. We never had a bite the whole weekend! Apparently the Kurper were badly affected by the pollution (AMD).
Should have taken them to the Vaal and given them a nymph or two!
Ever played cricket as a youngster when someone bowled so fast that you simply closed your eyes and tried to hide your legs behind the bat? Chances are you survived that ball, maybe even the over. Perhaps you even took a blind swipe at the ball and hit it over the wall (6 and out!). It is obvious proof that it takes no skill to play cricket. Anyone strong enough to lift a bat can play the game!
Fact is that anyone can catch a fish, no matter what their skill level and no matter what form of fishing they engage in. That's how most people get hooked. They follow the motions and next thing you know they have a fish in the net (beginners luck).
Conversely, no matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement, regardless of the technique you choose to use.
I found this video on Vimeo and it just again proved that nymphing for Smallmouth Yellowfish on fly takes as much skill as catching canary kurpers on worms....
I do agree that some skillful angler might catch more in a day but not necessarily more than an angler who gets very lucky.
Have a look at this video - forget about the person in the front - have a look at the person at the back from 1 min 15 sec onwards.
With his eyes glued on what his friend is up to he goes ON DAD.
Hooking a Smallmouth Yellowfish thus can be done by anyone with very limited fly fishing experience. A person holding a fly rod for the very first time for instance might easily hook ten Smallmouth on his first outing.
The second part however, landing and playing the fish, takes a certain degree of skill. This probably explain why the Vaal River Update thread is full of Forumers claiming that they lost more fish than what they landed. Obviously there is a certain skill set missing, a skill no amount of orange fluff will ever fix.
Let's hope nymphing for Smallmouth Yellowfish is as addictive as tobacco nicotine and the user will use it as a stepping stone to a more hardcore addiction.
Nothing wrong with knowing how much nicotine and tar your packet of smokes contains. Or even being able to draw the exact logo on your packet of Chesterfield but that does not mean you can speak with authority on cigars or cocaine.
This is not directed on the individuals on the video - I am sure they have been flyfishing for many many years - the video I use merely as an illustration.
I am very pleased that someone saw the video I posted, my first attempt at filming and uploading.
Am not going to get into the debate regarding skill sets required for this or that kind of fish on fly or venues as it courses for horses and the Vaal is my bread and butter. I have introduced a lot of folk to Yellow fish on fly and the nymphing is an easy way for them to get into fly fishing and a number of them have moved on to other styles and species. One of the hardest fish to catch and great fun is Carp on the flats, YouTube Carp Kryptonite in action and see what a long accurate cast with a 9 weight gets you, sight fishing to cruising Carp in the shallows is a skill set, different to a size 22 para RAB on the Smallblaar but a skill set none the less.
Truth be told anyone can catch a fish on fly. But as your skill level increases, the amount of fish you catch will gradually increase. I have been to the Vaal on many occasions where fishing was very difficult. It is in these times that the skill level of fisherman are seen. In the past two weeks I went fishing with numerous fly fisherman of varying skill level. On difficult days you can see exactly who have been doing it for a while and who are relatively new to the sport. The Vaal have easy days and then almost everyone gets more than 5 fish on the day, but the guys that have the know how get 30 or 40 fish in a single session on those days. I've had occasions where I long line nymph under a Willow and get three fish in three casts. But there have been days where most guys blanked and I got maybe two fish.
If you haven't been to Sterkfontein, you wouldn't know that Yellows are actually a very challenging fish to catch. It is much easier in the Vaal since the fish can't really see you yes, but skill still dictates how your day is going to end. Had the water conditions been better in the Vaal, I suspect the question of skill would have been dictated by the fish.
Fishing is just my thing. I don't know what it is but it seems that i just can't get enough of it.
PS: I'm raving about Sterkies at the moment but the same applies to Yellows in any still water, There is another local dam here where you also get them and the same skills apply. If they see you, you won't catch them.
Fishing is just my thing. I don't know what it is but it seems that i just can't get enough of it.
How on earth can the video be proof of anything other than on that day in those conditions the fish (or should it be that fish) was easy to catch. Try the same fish in clear water and see how easy it is to catch? Great proof that Yellowfish is quite though in clear water is the fact that Pascal Cognard only managed to land 6 fish in an hour fishing to thousands of eager fish, whilst Said only got 1. I've had days when bonefish, GT's, trout, whatever you want to target is "easy" fact is, if the conditions are right, the fish feeding and things just work together, most fish can be easy to catch, well maybe not fish like permit and milkfish, but most fish in general, change the conditions and you will have a whole other scenario. Most of the time in mid summer on the Vaal SM is pretty easy to target, I would agree, water is cloudy, they are feeding and under those conditions not easy to spook, but does this make them easy to catch in general?
Luck or skill.....whatever!
There is no losing in angling, period! You iether catch or you learn.
Cheers
".....angling is a sport that requires as much enthusiasm as poetry, as much patience as mathematics and as much caution as housbreaking". - James Rennie 1883
How on earth can the video be proof of anything other than on that day in those conditions the fish (or should it be that fish) was easy to catch. Try the same fish in clear water and see how easy it is to catch? Great proof that Yellowfish is quite though in clear water is the fact that Pascal Cognard only managed to land 6 fish in an hour fishing to thousands of eager fish, whilst Said only got 1. I've had days when bonefish, GT's, trout, whatever you want to target is "easy" fact is, if the conditions are right, the fish feeding and things just work together, most fish can be easy to catch, well maybe not fish like permit and milkfish, but most fish in general, change the conditions and you will have a whole other scenario. Most of the time in mid summer on the Vaal SM is pretty easy to target, I would agree, water is cloudy, they are feeding and under those conditions not easy to spook, but does this make them easy to catch in general?
Any fish in dirty water is easier to catch. The fact that the Vaal is on average more dirty and discoloured than not probably makes for a lot af what Lacustris is saying.
"All the tips or magical insights in the world can't replace devotion, dedication, commitment, and gumption - and there is not secret in that" - Glenn Brackett
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Originally Posted by lacustris
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