Who taught you to fish ?

[Elizevh]

My introduction to "fly fishing " goes to show how small the world is

in the 1980's went on Vacation to Kariba and on the way home visited friends in newcastle
I was amped having landed my First and numerous tigerfish on spinner
and was discussing this with our host Nic who was an ardent fly fisher (and grew the most amazing orcids ) not owning a fly rod and not being able to travel to trout waters(being young is biatch) he set me up for some salty fish

what he showed me was to use a 1/2 ounce sinker about 35 cm away from a bucktail "bomb"(essentialy a single clump of bucktail tied to the hook) the instruction was to fish it like a toby (abu) but a bit slower he handed me a handfull if them and a few "jigs" (weight on the hook)

I got home to margate and tried it out

there were about 10 guys fishing I can clearly remember thinking that it would never work and I should mabee change to bait and a bigger rod as the rod I was using was a lil blue 2 piece you buy on the cardboard at the cafe
anyway I fished it and it worked a charm
Shad ,3spot,Rock Cod ,Seventy fours all fell to that little setup
I was hooked
when diving lead out infront of the Pier I found a 'jazuri'and that got cut up into 'flies'
my love of the artificial and particualy hand tied or turned (moms broom handle cut at an angle painted with white pva makes a master garrick plug)
just grew from there

Ive only found out just recently that Nic has passed away
and that he is in fact EliezeVH's dad

Thanks Nic !!!!!!!!!!

This really is an incredibly small world. I cant believe it took me 1.5years before i saw this...
You had my mom and I in "Snot and Trane" here.
Thank you very much for those Lovely words about my Dad.
Ya he really had such a wide knowledge on every thing. and he dabbled
in every kind of fishing too. Deep sea, Bass Trout, Tiger and in his last years he did allot of Specimen Carp fishing too.

I was still very young when you came to visit. but i do remember your Mom Pam, you and Jolene visiting. I believe we have some photies too.

Listen Denton
My mom has several of my dads old fishing reels here.
She was planing on selling the stuff.
But if you are interested I'll send you a list of what there is, and she will be glad to let you have some.
At least we'll know the stuff will go to someone who will appreciate the sentimentality of it.

Let me know if you are interested.
Oh and you do realise we are acutally 2nd cousins too.

From (your Cuz) Elize

[damage]

Cool beans !!
Taking over flytalk one cousin at a time !
/d

[BuzzLiteBeer]

A load of cousin comments spring to mind but I will respectfully keep my mouth shut

[poppernel]

This really is an incredibly small world. I cant believe it took me 1.5years before i saw this...
You had my mom and I in "Snot and Trane" here.
Thank you very much for those Lovely words about my Dad.
Ya he really had such a wide knowledge on every thing. and he dabbled
in every kind of fishing too. Deep sea, Bass Trout, Tiger and in his last years he did allot of Specimen Carp fishing too.

I was still very young when you came to visit. but i do remember your Mom Pam, you and Jolene visiting. I believe we have some photies too.

Listen Denton
My mom has several of my dads old fishing reels here.
She was planing on selling the stuff.
But if you are interested I'll send you a list of what there is, and she will be glad to let you have some.
At least we'll know the stuff will go to someone who will appreciate the sentimentality of it.

Let me know if you are interested.
Oh and you do realise we are acutally 2nd cousins too.

From (your Cuz) Elize

What a pleasure post, shows one, time and aquaintances memories are never lost. True ff. We ''salute you Denton, Elize and your ''DAD''.

[wernerm]

Tagged along to a flyfishing excursion and got given a rod. The bug bit me straight away. Read books and practiced and tied flies and after a year of blanking caught my first trout on a very well self tied dragon.

It's like it says in "a river run's through it". "In our household, there is no clear line, between religion and fly fishing"

[Shamwari]

Ok for what it is worth, fishing is in my blood...

I moved to SA from Zim in 1982 (yes yes, I am a when-we..you lot are hasbeens...ok...now that that is out of the way)

I was 3 years old at the time, but my grandparents used to live in the Driekop area near Burgersfort, that is where I started fishing.

There was a lovely dam there with beautiful bream (kurper Werner) and of course bass...

Well, that is where is it all began....I fished on and off unitil one in day 1994 when I started seriaaaas bass fishing, and yes, I still enjoy bass fishing.

At the same time, I also acquired a fly rod and started fly fishing, caught numerous trout (forril Werner), bass, bream etc etc etc

I remember, we used to go from Phalaborwa and fish private dams in Hoedspruit, caught some nice fish on buggers and poppers...

Not long after that...the fly tying thing started, this was in 1999...I tied on and off, was limited to tying DDD's...

So ja, I still have a passion for fishing, which will never ever die...even if I wanted it to...which is just rediculous...

So, after that waffel, who taught me to fish...well, obviously my dad and elder brother...

I can go and on and on telling you okes about my fishing adventures..but I simply wont, take that!

[Herman Jooste]

Ok for what it is worth, fishing is in my blood...

I moved to SA from Zim in 1982 (yes yes, I am a when-we..you lot are hasbeens...ok...now that that is out of the way)

I was 3 years old at the time, but my grandparents used to live in the Driekop area near Burgersfort, that is where I started fishing.

There was a lovely dam there with beautiful bream (kurper Werner) and of course bass...

Well, that is where is it all began....I fished on and off unitil one in day 1994 when I started seriaaaas bass fishing, and yes, I still enjoy bass fishing.

At the same time, I also acquired a fly rod and started fly fishing, caught numerous trout (forril Werner), bass, bream etc etc etc

I remember, we used to go from Phalaborwa and fish private dams in Hoedspruit, caught some nice fish on buggers and poppers...

Not long after that...the fly tying thing started, this was in 1999...I tied on and off, was limited to tying DDD's...

So ja, I still have a passion for fishing, which will never ever die...even if I wanted it to...which is just rediculous...

So, after that waffel, who taught me to fish...well, obviously my dad and elder brother...

I can go and on and on telling you okes about my fishing adventures..but I simply wont, take that!

Nice report Jules.

It,s amazing how many of us have parents or even better grandparents to thank for our fishing addiction.

This is a good message to all the young fathers out there. Make the time to take your young kids, boys and girls out fishing. It gets them away from Playstations, TV and the Malls.

Believe an old toppie, teaching yourchildren to fish is first prize. Teaching someone else comes a close second.

[Mike Taylor]

Yup - such a great thing getting your youngsters started on fishing. I taught both of my boys bait fishing (the only type I knew) and one of them really took to it in a big way.

Unlike me, he has energy and an enquiring mind, so he was soon experimenting with fly fishing. When he made to Boland team, I realised that I was doomed to spending days on rivers and lakes so I'd better start too! It soon became an obsession and dropshot, spinning and R & S fell into disuse.

So, who taught me fly-fishing? My son. ( What goes around comes around) He's now, just recently stated catching saltwater fish on fly (thanks to Tale and Prince Nymph) .......

[Shamwari]

Yup - such a great thing getting your youngsters started on fishing. I taught both of my boys bait fishing (the only type I knew) and one of them really took to it in a big way.

Unlike me, he has energy and an enquiring mind, so he was soon experimenting with fly fishing. When he made to Boland team, I realised that I was doomed to spending days on rivers and lakes so I'd better start too! It soon became an obsession and dropshot, spinning and R & S fell into disuse.

So, who taught me fly-fishing? My son. ( What goes around comes around) He's now, just recently stated catching saltwater fish on fly (thanks to Tale and Prince Nymph) .......

Uncle Mike, I taught you to sing and dance (pronounced in an Eastrand-American Accent)

[beefybovril]

Great post!!!

My boet and I grew up on the campus of Kearsney College in KZN. We had the entire assagay valley to explore for fishing and snake hunting, and we would frequent the farm dams that were full up with tilapia below the school. So, every weekend we would smash +/-50 of them on worm dangling off a float. Soon, we realised that there was money to be made from this, so we kept the fish and sold them for 50 c each to the ground staff and maids working at the school. We used to use the money to buy red balls and cokes at the tuckshop (secretly because we weren't allowed them at home of course...)

The funniest thing about this was that my best friend Matthew Copeland did some business with the farm owner 2 years ago, and he asked if his own son would be allowed access to the dams to go fishing. The farmer said to Matt that he would only consider it if Matt could guarantee that the fish weren't kept to be sold, as some little s#$ts had done in the past....

Later on, my folks built a cottage at Leisure Bay on the South Coast, and it was here that my father, brother and I spent hours and hours catching shad in the early morning, catching stone and bronze bream in the gullies and catching barbel at night. Those were fantastic times and I will never forget having my first beer on the rocks with my pops during a night fishing session.

I started fly fishing when I lived in Clarens and worked as a riveer guide on the Ash. I had free access to a number of dams in the area and used to fish whenever I had a free moment.

Now that I have my little son, Oliver (2 weeks old), I am so excited to take him fishing at the earliest possible time. Some of my best memories as a child are based on fishing, and I am determined to give my son similar experiences and also have such quality bonding time with him doing something I absolutely love.