Vaal Hackle flows

[henkvb]

Hi Everyone! I was looking for a thread where my question would be applicable but no luck!

Can anyone tell me what the nearest station is to look for flows around Vaal Hackle?? Me and my 2 stepbrothers will be heading to Vaal Hackle from the 16th to the 18th of December. Does anyone know what the ideal flow rate for this section of river is? I would also like to know what the wading at this specific venue is like if anyone knows. My apologies for the "amateur" questions.... but thats pretty much what I am!

Any help in this regard will be much appreciated!

Cheers!

[Ernst]

Henk dis baie lekker by vaal hackle ons bly op die plaas net stroomaf van hulle so ons vang gereeld daar rond> Daar is meer rapids as wat jy ontdek in 3 dae> Daar is alles van baie vinnig tot stadig vlak, diep, alles met baie visse > Ek sal julle sien ek is heel desember daar> Dit is baie lekker om te wade tussen die eilande

[Scythe]

Can anyone tell me what the nearest station is to look for flows around Vaal Hackle??

Henk, Ernst gave you a good answer, there really is a wide variety of water, if the flows are anywhere up to 30 cubes you will have tons of water to fish, in fact some of the channels you will battle to wade across without going for a dunk @ 30 cubes.

Check out the DWAF (http://www.dwaf.gov.za/hydrology/rtmain.aspx) or RandWater (http://www.reservoir.co.za) sites and specifically The Barrage, Goosebay Canyon and Schoemansdrift stations to get a rough idea of the flows (usually at least one of them are malfunctioning so by combining all three you can get a rough idea)

I wouldn't be too worried about the flows though, unless we have ehctic rains between now and December you will have flows good enough to fish in, VH is a special place to fish, just make sure you have some heavy tungsten beaded control flies and you will be able to fish all of VH.

[henkvb]

Thanks guys!

I've been looking around for some sort of idea as to which flies I should be tying and it looks like PTN Hotspots and Mustard Caddis' should do the trick. Have you guys got any other flies that you could suggest?

[Circus]

Mustard caddis, plus some lighter and darker caddis's, some with and some without an orange bead should see you right. A few grhe's, zaks, and green rockworms are also a sneaky plan.

Remember: its more about correct drifts, remaining in contact with your flies and being in the right place.

tight lines, I'm bloody jealous

[henkvb]

Thanks Circus!
I've tied up some flies in the last few days that I'll post on this thread tonight or tomorrow so I can get some feedback.

I've also been wondering about the leader setups and I'm thinking Point fly and Control fly (Not NZ rig but loose hanging Control Fly - not too sure what this rig is called). I suppose the heavier Caddis as the Control fly and the smaller nymph as the Point fly from what I've gathered in various other threads??

[Andre]

Vaal Hackle is my all time favorite Vaal venue. Great memories, with family and friends, staying at the chalets. I haven't been there for a while, but for years, used to take the family every February for an extended long weekend. Sadly this ended with the pollution problems a few years ago, and we haven't been back since.
The fishing there used to be great, and I'm sure still is. Enough good water to keep you busy for a week. and not at all crowded. due to only booked in guests, staying in the chalets, being allowed access to the river.
I miss the place.

[henkvb]

Hi Guys

Ok, here are some flies that I've been tying up as of late and as I'm pretty new to this any and all comments and suggestions would be much appreciated!!

Thanks

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[henkvb]

Anyone out there???

[pieterkriel]

Anyone out there???

Hi

Your flies looks reasonable for someone that is self professed new at it. Here a few tips:
1. less dubbing, in fly tying less is always more
2. taper on the abdomen of your may nymphs, the natural tail starts almost at a zero point and then taper towards the thorax
3. proportion - find a few pictures of the nymph (or family of nymphs) you are trying to imitate, look at the proportions, head to thorax to body and tail.
4. tails - sparser, and in some try finer materials, like a few hackle barbs instead of peacock herl
5. On your dubbed caddis imitations again too much bulk, I think there your problem starts with weighting maybe, if you weight with lead wire you must do it lean and to the form you aim to achieve then less dubbing.
6. Tying off behind the bead, try to dub right to the bead then tie off with fewer turns of thread, for that matter when you tie try the following make your thread turns then take away 3 turns and you will probably have enough thread on your fly still. As with dubbing as little thread as you can use is better than two turns to trap and 3 to fasten try 1 to trap 1 -2 to fasten.

All this said I really love the forth fly stax.