My brother was kind enough to sponser a trip for myself and my 3ry old son to Lake Naverone in the berg for a few day, here is how it went.
I was looking forward to this trip more than words can describe, I didnt really have much of a December holiday so this was going to be my yearly break.
I spent the last two weeks motivating my son to get him exited about the trip and it payed off because although he has never been away from mommy for so long he hardly said goodbye to her when we got dropped off at the airport. We flew to durbs and met my boet who came up from CT, we got our rental and headed off to the berg, I was so exited I could almost sense the fish were waiting just for me.
After passing Underburg we drove on a tight and twisty tar road that felt like it is used for testing Subaru rally cars, already dark I had no idea what scenery I was driving through. When we arrived I put the little one to sleep and we made a fire and set about planning our strategy for the next days fishing, I still had no idea what the place looked like as it was dark with no moon.
I awoke the next morning to one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen, I knew it would be scenic but this was rediculous.
After letting the amazing sight sink in I proceeded to go and fetch a boat for me and my son, this is where I messed up my first days fishing.
After getting the boat and rowing back I lost my balance and in steadying myself made the boat rock wildy, needless to say my son lost his sense of humor and wanted off that boat immediatly. I spent the rest of the day catching dinks from the bank and brainwashing my boy that boats are fun and we rock them on purpose.
After a brief morning session on the bank we retired for lunch, this was when I noticed the Monsters. Yes I said Monsters. With a M.
There was a school of grasscarp that stayed in front of our cottage for the duration of our stay, I dont know if that was their preferred residence or if they just stayed there to taunt me, if it was the latter then they did a fantastic job. I threw everything I had at these Monsters bar a garden fork but they turned their nose up time after time. It took me a long time to just leave them alone but I eventually resigned myself to the fact that they are cleverer than I am and didnt get that big by chomping every noob's fly that drifts pass their nose. (note to self: enquire about fishing specimen carp style for the next trip)
I took these through the lenses of my glasses:
These pictures dont really do the fish justice, one of the days a group came past where I counted 36 fish, at least 5 of them easily were over 30kg.
Here is a short clip of them taken from my phone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thjw_f04agQ
Anyway, after spending the day convincing my son that boats are fun we ventured out for a late afternoon session which went more about not rocking the boat than actually fishing, he enjoyed all 15 minutes of it and I looked forward to a better day fishing tomorrow now that I could take him on the water with confidence.
The next morning we were again greeted by a breath taking view:
And off we went, I honestly struggled a bit at first as the bass fisheman in me took over, I drifted close to the side working structure and generally covering the water as if I was fishing for bass, I am not sure if the fact that my son was playing Noah's Ark with heavy plastic animal banging the bottom of the boat was helping things much but I didnt mind as it was a pleasure to see him having a good time.
Off the water with nothing to show made me more determined for the PM session.
We went into Underburg to get some goodies and drinks and stopped at the Underburg Cheesery on th way back, what a lovely place. The lady there came out and greeted us and gave little Degan some chow to give to the cows (one of his highlights for the trip), I can recommend popping in their if you are a cheese lover like myself.
Back to the cottage and we went out for an afternoon session, same story drifting the sides with bang bang bang coming from the bottom of the boat, then I decided to change tactics and fish deeper, moved about 40 meters off the side and started casting around in the open water with intermediate line and a Mrs Simpson retrieved about 3 meters below the surface, this is when I found the fish. Caught a few dinks in the afternoon with one of them just under a kilo, mmmmmm, supper I thought so I kept him for the fire.
I filleted the trout and roasted it with almonds and bacon on an indirect fire, the result was nothing less than perfection
Before
After
So we went on doing morning and afternoon sessions with the odd trip to the stream in between catching a few fish but nothing really of note.
On the last day I went out with Degan for a last morning session and on my last cast I got the biggest fish for the trip, a 1.8kg bugger that gave me an awesome fight on the 6wt I was using, this trip rekindled my love for flyfishing and I have already hatched a few plans to go and get some 5-10kg cats at Roodeplaat on fly.... I know where they are.
I was looking forward to this trip more than words can describe, I didnt really have much of a December holiday so this was going to be my yearly break.
I spent the last two weeks motivating my son to get him exited about the trip and it payed off because although he has never been away from mommy for so long he hardly said goodbye to her when we got dropped off at the airport. We flew to durbs and met my boet who came up from CT, we got our rental and headed off to the berg, I was so exited I could almost sense the fish were waiting just for me.
After passing Underburg we drove on a tight and twisty tar road that felt like it is used for testing Subaru rally cars, already dark I had no idea what scenery I was driving through. When we arrived I put the little one to sleep and we made a fire and set about planning our strategy for the next days fishing, I still had no idea what the place looked like as it was dark with no moon.
I awoke the next morning to one of the most beautiful views I had ever seen, I knew it would be scenic but this was rediculous.
After letting the amazing sight sink in I proceeded to go and fetch a boat for me and my son, this is where I messed up my first days fishing.
After getting the boat and rowing back I lost my balance and in steadying myself made the boat rock wildy, needless to say my son lost his sense of humor and wanted off that boat immediatly. I spent the rest of the day catching dinks from the bank and brainwashing my boy that boats are fun and we rock them on purpose.
After a brief morning session on the bank we retired for lunch, this was when I noticed the Monsters. Yes I said Monsters. With a M.
There was a school of grasscarp that stayed in front of our cottage for the duration of our stay, I dont know if that was their preferred residence or if they just stayed there to taunt me, if it was the latter then they did a fantastic job. I threw everything I had at these Monsters bar a garden fork but they turned their nose up time after time. It took me a long time to just leave them alone but I eventually resigned myself to the fact that they are cleverer than I am and didnt get that big by chomping every noob's fly that drifts pass their nose. (note to self: enquire about fishing specimen carp style for the next trip)
I took these through the lenses of my glasses:
These pictures dont really do the fish justice, one of the days a group came past where I counted 36 fish, at least 5 of them easily were over 30kg.
Here is a short clip of them taken from my phone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thjw_f04agQ
Anyway, after spending the day convincing my son that boats are fun we ventured out for a late afternoon session which went more about not rocking the boat than actually fishing, he enjoyed all 15 minutes of it and I looked forward to a better day fishing tomorrow now that I could take him on the water with confidence.
The next morning we were again greeted by a breath taking view:
And off we went, I honestly struggled a bit at first as the bass fisheman in me took over, I drifted close to the side working structure and generally covering the water as if I was fishing for bass, I am not sure if the fact that my son was playing Noah's Ark with heavy plastic animal banging the bottom of the boat was helping things much but I didnt mind as it was a pleasure to see him having a good time.
Off the water with nothing to show made me more determined for the PM session.
We went into Underburg to get some goodies and drinks and stopped at the Underburg Cheesery on th way back, what a lovely place. The lady there came out and greeted us and gave little Degan some chow to give to the cows (one of his highlights for the trip), I can recommend popping in their if you are a cheese lover like myself.
Back to the cottage and we went out for an afternoon session, same story drifting the sides with bang bang bang coming from the bottom of the boat, then I decided to change tactics and fish deeper, moved about 40 meters off the side and started casting around in the open water with intermediate line and a Mrs Simpson retrieved about 3 meters below the surface, this is when I found the fish. Caught a few dinks in the afternoon with one of them just under a kilo, mmmmmm, supper I thought so I kept him for the fire.
I filleted the trout and roasted it with almonds and bacon on an indirect fire, the result was nothing less than perfection
Before
After
So we went on doing morning and afternoon sessions with the odd trip to the stream in between catching a few fish but nothing really of note.
On the last day I went out with Degan for a last morning session and on my last cast I got the biggest fish for the trip, a 1.8kg bugger that gave me an awesome fight on the 6wt I was using, this trip rekindled my love for flyfishing and I have already hatched a few plans to go and get some 5-10kg cats at Roodeplaat on fly.... I know where they are.
