Royal Coachman – Clarens, Free State
26/07/2018 – 29/07/2018

1: Weather
The weather was fair to nice for this trip. The evenings were cold, however the days were lovely and warm. The only issue was the wind, which was blowing rather hard from around 10:00 in the morning to around 15:00 in the afternoons. So when I say the evenings were cold, it is probably not entirely the truth. The Thursday evening was bloody freezing, the Friday evening was cold but a bit warmer so we could stand outside warmly dressed and watch a spectacular lunar eclipse. Saturday evening was rather pleasant. The wind was consistent throughout the trip and at full force made casting a very tricky procedure.

2: Venue and Accommodation
Wow, Wow, Wow. So a little bit of background. My parents went to Royal Coachman with my sister and her husband about 12 years ago for the first time. The loved it from a location and accommodation aspect and subsequent to that I went there with them 10 years ago. March 2008, I could confirm this as I went through all the old visitors’ books while there now, and found my entry.
What a place to stay. This is a true home away from home venue, and it is as comfortable as my own house. The setup here is one house only with one dam right outside it to be fished and a length of the Klein Caledon River just across the road that can also be fished.
The first thing that grabs you when you get here is the absolute beauty. Lesotho Mountains all around you with fields and trees and vast open spaces. It has to be one of the most spectacular locations that I have ever stayed at, if not the most spectacular. I could not do the view and location any justice with words, so my recommendation is that you go see for yourself.
The house offers the following: Master bedroom with King Size bed, on-suite bathroom with bath, shower, toilet and basin. A fireplace as well as underfloor heating in the room as well as the bathroom and even a heated towel rail in the bathroom. Electric blankets for the bed, ample cupboard space. Wooden door that opens onto the veranda and a view of the dam and mountains. Second bedroom with 2 3quarter beds pushed together, ample cupboard space, on-suite bathroom with toilet, bath and basin. Heated towel rail, under floor heating in the room and bathroom, and similar wooden doors leading to the same veranda and view. Lounge with very comfortable couches and a large fireplace, bookshelf with books and board games, under floor heating and a big wooden sliding door opening to the veranda and the view. Oh there is also a portable speaker that can be used to play radio or music via Bluetooth should you wish to use it.
Dining room with an 8 seater table, with a wooden sliding door leading to the veranda and view, candle chandelier should you wish to become romantic at some pointJ. A kitchen with ample cupboards, plates etc. All in great condition and good quality items, all the normal kitchen appliances but everything is what you would use at your own house instead of a vacation destination, so better quality.
Upstairs there is a loft with 2 single (possibly 3 quarter) beds and a bunk bed that opens into a double bed. Cupboard space and a skylight that can open.
The unit is serviced daily by Jemina and she loves her job and it shows. She is quick and thorough and prompt. Unit is cleaned at 10:00 every day.
The unit is east facing so for those that do not want to wake up to see the sun rise and the beauty it brings, they have hung curtains that block out the light completely, so the unit has the best view of the sunrise but it need not bother those that like to sleep in a bit.
The veranda/deck has a table seating 8 people and overlooks the dam. If the water level is at its highest you might even be able to fish right of the deck.
There is also a braai outside, with its own work area and dustbin and lighting. Outside basin for those that want to clean their catch for the pot or braai as well as a digital scale to weigh your catch.
Firewood for both fireplaces are provided daily and the fireplace cleaned and stacked as well.
This place is so well looked after that other than the bedding which has changed in the last 10 years, all the furniture and decorations are the same and still looks brands new. There is obvious pride shown in the caretaking of the place. Oh and the outside has been painted since my 2008 visit, which I only noticed when I came home and compared my photos.
Gregg and Kerry Mousley has been looking after this place for 16 years, and although I only met Gregg for the first time on the Friday afternoon, I can tell from the maintenance and care that they must love the farm and what they do here. Good honest hardworking people with a passion, which was affirmed when I met Gregg. Gregg and Kerry immigrated to NZ on the Sunday that we departed Royal Coachman, but Tammy and Doug have taken it over so it stays in the family. Having met Tammy and Doug and talking to them, I am confident that the quality and care will continue. Gregg in fact told me to let him know if it does notJ.
I could probably carry on for a few more pages, but honestly just go there and visit the place and make up your own mind. The fairer sex will love it as well, and if your kids are into the outdoors then so will they.
The town of Clarens is 6km away and also offers lots for everyone. It is an “arty” town with lots of history and little shops and art galleries, oh and breweries for those that like craft beer. Even I enjoy walking through this town, and this is normally not my scene at all.
The one thing there is not however, is a shop for fishing equipment and flies, so take what you would need.
Oh this is one of the view venues which still has rod stands outside on the deck as well as hooks to hang your rods inside when you don’t feel like leaving them outside.
Just go see for yourself.

3 Fishing:
I personally did not fish very hard on this trip, as it was just my wife and I that went and the idea was to relax more than fish. It was also the first time that my wife was going to float tube and thanks to my normal fishing partner Ross who lent me his boat, we could do it together. So the Thursday we got there I set up all the rods and boats and then just spent about 30min casting and trying to catch. However it was very cold and I was only using floating line and dry flies so did not have any success. There were a couple of rises but nothing much, however whenever the birds (Black Crested Egrit’s) flew out of the willow tree in the dam, they scared some rather large fish in the shallow areas.
Tammy informed me shortly before we left Joburg, that they would be stocking the dam on the Friday, so we decided to take it easy and sleep in a bit (which ended up being till 05:45 cause we wanted to see the sunrise) go into town Friday morning and have a look around. Tammy then informed me via WhatsApp that they would be stocking anytime soon (this was about 20min after we go to town) so we decided to head back and have a brunch. To be honest I was not entirely convinced that the stocking would happen as I have at other venues been told the same before with lots of excuses on the day for why it could not happen (Sorry for doubting you Tammy). So this was just another example of people true to their word. I had just finished brunch when the fish arrived and they proceeded to stock roughly 300 fish (50 brown and 250 rainbow) into the dam. Sizes varying from around 350g to what looked to be a bit over 1kg. This was also when I met Gregg and Doug and although I only spent about 30min with them, I am rather sad that I had not previously gotten in touch with Gregg and visited more often. He knows his fish and fishing and has a clear passion. Gregg if you ever do get to read this, all the best to you and Kerry in NZ, I am sure you are going to have a fantastic time and make a huge success.
Post the stocking we decided to head back to town and to give the fish some time to settle, although to be honest the fish started feeding immediately and all of a sudden there was a rise every couple of minutes. So we went to town and came back around 15:00 and then proceeded to get my wife onto a float tube for the first time. She was nervous and it took a little bit of time, but she settled in and became comfortable soon enough. I was on the other tube, and honestly my focus was more on her than my own fishing. She missed a couple of takes in the first 20 min or so, and then hooked one that came off, at which point the language used would make any fishermen who lost a trophy fish proud. She has caught trout before, but this was the first time on a float tube, with her very own rod, reel and line.
I then hooked a nice little brown trout on a Klinkhammer emerger. There was still quite a bit of wind at this point and the surface temp was still around 10 degrees only, but the newly stocked fish was enjoying their freedom and food. Then the magic happened, I heard my wife shout from happiness and looked around to see that she had hooked into a fish and was trying her level best to now manoeuvre the rod, and net and float tube altogether for the first time. She did a great job and landed her little brown trout as well. At this point I must point out that I have been fishing for years and this little brown as my first ever brown, and here she goes and gets her first brown the same day as me. I was actually so proud of her that this only struck me later on though. I had to help her release the fish as she struggled a bit with this, so after releasing the fish which got my hands wet (maybe this was her plan all along) it started to get truly cold on the water, so I helped my wife out of the water and then spent another 20min or so fishing myself before it was just too dark and cold to carry on. The moon was up at this point already and the fish kept on rising all around me, although I did not catch.
The Saturday we spent about 2 hours on the water in the morning from around 09:30, and this was more the time we spent getting my wife comfortable with moving around the water. She went all over the dam and got the hang of moving backwards and countering the wind to try and stay in one place. I saw some large fish (There are also about 10 yellow fish) swimming around and I also used the time to explore the dam and structures etc. which could be clearly seen with the water being gin clear.
Around 11:30 we got of the water and went back into town for lunch as the wind was also rather strong at this time. We were back at Royal Coachman around 14:00 and my wife went for a nap, while I decided to fish from the banks a bit as I wanted the boats and waders to dry for packing. Also based on the size of the fish I decided that morning to switch to my 3 weight setup which I regretted for most of the rest of the afternoon. There were plenty of rising fish and activity, but just out of reach of my casting with my 3 weight rod due to the wind still pumping. I have made some really stupid decisions on my last two trips (I must be getting old).
Around 17:00 I went to wake up my better half as I decided she needs to share in my frustration J
She made me coffee and just as I sat down to drink my coffee the wind died down completely and the fish started going mad on the very far corner of the dam on the east side. I just could not resist, my wife gave me one look and said she could always warm up the coffee later or make more, so I got my gear and went. The sun was setting fast at this point, so I hurried. I got there while the fish were still going mad and gave my little 3 weight one heck of a workout. I hooked a nice rainbow just under 1kg and released him. I was using emergers for this. Water temp was also around 11 degrees. The fish then moved ever so slightly deeper into the dam, just out of reach of my 3 weight. At this point my wife had also arrived and started casting, and got her first experience of trying to cast then you really can’t see anymore. She hooked onto a rock or some grass and manage to break the fly off, so she was then happy to take sunset, moonrise and silhouette photos while I carried on. I managed to miss plenty of fish for the next 30min as I was either to quick or to slow with my strike, but man the fish kept me on my toes. Even though I only caught the one, I had a great time fishing.
Sunday morning greeted us with the same beauty and a perfect day for fishing, but sadly we had to head home.
So there are plenty of fish in this dam, even some fairly large yellows and according to Gregg the Koi which I saw 10 years prior is still in the water as well.
I would recommend this venue for location, accommodation, people, town and fishing. In fact I am going back there for the long weekend in September.

Happy fishing.