Natal Yellowfish stream x outing

[Bryan]

Here is a quick report back from my weekend in the berg at Little Switzerland.

I didn’t even bother with the trout dams there as hauling in 500 gram stockies has really lost it’s appeal to me. On the advice of some kind forum members willing to share a secret or two I went armed with some GPS cords, google earth shots and a few tips on flies.

Arrived at the spot at around 5:30 and was amazed at how beautiful the setting was. I had the stream in the foreground with the awesome expanse of the Drakensberg to back it up.



As for the stream I would be fishing…. Well, I will let the pics talk for themselves.







Morning

I started off with the 5 weight fishing the likely riffles, runs & glides using the upstream nymphing technique with two flies in tandem and within 10 mins had hooked and landed my first ever Natal Yellowfish (Scaly) on a good old mustard caddis.



The very next cast I caught this little guy in skinny, clear and fast water. They attack the fly with serious ferocity!



I finished my morning session up at around 8:00 having caught six fish which I was pretty pleased about having never caught a Scaly before. Got three on the caddis, two on zaks and one on a tiny olive nymph with flashabou tail.

Afternoon

The size of the Natal Yellowfish doesn’t really compare with the quarry I am used to, although they punch way above their weightclass, so I decided to switch to the 3 weight for the afternoon session. This proved to be an inspired move as I had a blast. At one point I had hooked a fish and while I was playing it I saw it was being followed by another fish. Next minute the second fish spots the trailing mayfly nymph and attacks it. So now I am playing two fish at the same time with the biggest being around 1 lb on a little 3 weight. It was brilliant! And I landed both.



The water was crystal clear with some lovely variety and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Towards the evening there was a decent evening rise and I caught another couple on DDD and on the dropper too. I lost the fish of the day when he snapped me off on the take while fishing a little hopper with 5x. I estimate it was just over 2 lbs which is a decent size for such small water.

This little guy was caught on the dropper.



I ended the afternoon session with another eight fish caught in around 2 hours on the water. They were really attacking a little CDC hotspot PTN that was fishing in the afternoon.

Ended up with 14 for the day which I was really chuffed about. The fish weren’t big but they were feisty and good fun.

[Bryan]

A few more pics of the stream

[Shamwari]

Hang that is mushy....welldone Bryan...

[beefybovril]

Looks stunning....any chance of a name for the stream?

[chrisvd]

Looks stunning! Thanks for sharing.

[gazzarowan]

awesome stuff Bryan!!!

sorry i didnt get back to you, i didnt realise time was tight...

i still havent heard back from my "mate"! makes you wonder...

glad you managed some fish though. those are all lovely streams in the area and im glad there hasnt been much rain. the river/stream looks beautiful!

[core fly]

Looks very nice.I think i know where that is,in the amphitheater.:-0Nice stuff Bryan.

[Nepptune]

Hang that is mushy....welldone Bryan...

Hahahaha, haven't heard that word in ages... you must have some "When We" in you Sham!! :-)

Great stuff Bryan, lovely report and pics, congrats...

[Bryan]

Luckily got there before the first big rains so the water was very clear.

There wasn't much life under the rocks so the fish are hungry. On some drifts your fly would get hit three times before being taken.

And one of the fish I caught after spotting it and casting a little dry into it's path. Watched him come up and snatch it like its was in fast forward.

[E.T.]

Just about all of the KZN trout Streams have Scalies in the middle to lower reaches.

Looks like you had good weather and good fishing