Vaal report: Brutus lives!

[Byron]

oops, wrong pick, let me try again. The previous pick wqas from Elgro and only a 3.1 kg fish:

That fish doesn't look too hungry... well done old man!

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Mooi Herman,

Why is the mouth of the 1st fish so small?

It looks like Sterkies se visse. On a recent dvd I checked.

G

[poppernel]

Great fish GrahamS, stunning to see the fish and report.

Dave

[Herman Jooste]

Mooi Herman,

Why is the mouth of the 1st fish so small?

It looks like Sterkies se visse. On a recent dvd I checked.

G

Gerrit, I have no idea. Maybe they grow up only eating #18 and smaller "goggas" at Elgro, That perticular fish was caught on a #20 olive V rib. Was at the time my PB as well.
The other was caught on a #18 midge emerger immitation with purple predominant.
Graham's fish of last Sunday was AFAIK was also caught on a #16 or smaller fly. Maybe the big booitjies are trying to tell us something ??????

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Gerrit, I have no idea. Maybe they grow up only eating #18 and smaller "goggas" at Elgro,

Umm,very odd looking that.

G

[GrahamS]

Graham's fish of last Sunday was AFAIK was also caught on a #16 or smaller fly. Maybe the big booitjies are trying to tell us something ??????

Correct. A #16 Prince Nymph.

[GGY]

Agreed. And your points on early season fish are valid and taken. But like I mentioned, and is shown in the pic, I didn't exactly tip-toe around during the fight. On a few occasions I literally locked the drag and pulled my @ss off to try and turn the thing, but to no avail. And my rod has plenty of back bone to turn big fish! In fact, the hook was properly bent at the end of it all... I really don't like playing fish for such long periods - it's not fair to them. So I really doubt a 3X tippet would have made a difference. When this chappie decided to head for the riffles, all i could do was follow.

In my opinion, a 6wt rod, with a (small) fighting butt to brace on your forearm when fighting a fish, is the optimal rod for SM on the Vaal. Tippet of 3-4X is all you need, but the 6wt makes the fight a lot quicker. I used to use a 10ft 5wt, but no longer.

[GrahamS]

In my opinion, a 6wt rod, with a (small) fighting butt to brace on your forearm when fighting a fish, is the optimal rod for SM on the Vaal. Tippet of 3-4X is all you need, but the 6wt makes the fight a lot quicker. I used to use a 10ft 5wt, but no longer.

My next rod(s) will be 6wt. I'm busy deciding between 2 options at the moment, so I definitely agree.