Fishing Report - 23 February

Venue - Vaal River (Arendsnes)
Location - Vaal River, below the barrage 
Date - 23 February 2013
Fisherman - Myself
Overhead Conditions - Sunny, 28 Degrees 
Water Conditions - 22 degrees, visibility 60 cm, flow rate 22 cubes

Time to hit the Vaal again!! 

Unfortunately this time i would be going alone (All my fishing buddies were pre booked). 
The conditions were perfect to miss out on this opportunity. The weather was perfect, the water temperature and flow rate were......... well lets just say you couldn't ask for any better. 

I left the house bang on 5 am, 1h30m journey ahead but its a very easy drive to where i was going. 

Arrived at Arendsnes just before 7 am with a brief stop off to get supplies for the day (food and drink)
Pulling into the car park, the sun was glistening off the water and not a cloud in the sky. Despite not fishing this venue before and being alone i knew today was going to be a cracker.

I started setting up my rod etc. I would be fishing with a new leader formula that had been recommended to me by one of the Protea Juniors (Ronald Smith). Using a green caddis as my control (bottom) fly and my very own tied Red Devil as my point (top) fly in a New Zealand rig formation.
All geared up and ready to hit the water, i had been given a few pointers by Ronald as to where some of the good fishing spots were. 

As this was my first time at this venue i thought i'd have a good walk and try cover as much water as possible, see if i could find myself my own little honey hole for the day. First half an hour didn't produce anything, fishing relativity shallow waters. I had a look round, the guys also fishing the shallows weren't having much luck either. I decided to make my way to deeper water, closer to the middle, also some structure to fish around. 

First few minutes in the deeper water i had a take, strong, solid take which stripped a good 20 metres of line off my reel. After a good fight and successful netting it was a muddy around the 1.5 kg mark. Great start to the day. Best of all it was caught on the Red Devil i'd tied a few days before. I carried on walking across the river and came across a section of water that looked very promising. Between 2 sets of rapids (8 metres wide) and around 1.5 metres deep, a few big submerged rocks and a small island (3 metres diameter) the water was broken nicely. I threw my flies in for some time, nothing!! I changed the depth slightly so i was fishing a longer tippet and on the second cast i was in! Another muddy but slightly smaller, around the kilo mark. Again tacking the Red Devil!!

I decided the area i was in was a nice spot so i hung around for a while taking out a few more muddies and a small yellow. Time to head back to the car and replenish my empty stomach, whilst stumbling back i noticed a lot more people fishing but not many hook ups. After reaching the bank a fellow fly fisherman greeted my and asked how i was getting on. I replied with "a decent morning, some caught some lost" he informed me they were struggling, not really seeing much action! I advised them of the flies that were working for me, hopefully it helped for them in the afternoon session. 

30 Minute break, stomach restocked, time to head back into the water. I'd decided i was going to head back to where i'd caught most of my fish in the morning. 
To cut a long story short, it was wall to wall fish for 3 hours, i'd stopped counting after i'd landed my 30th one. I'm guessing i'd lost around 20 fish for the day too. My arm, shoulder and wrist were finished, i couldn't take any more so i decided to head back to the car a little early. All the fish for the day bar 1 were caught using the Red Devil. 90% of which were muddies ranging from the kilo mark and upwards, with the odd yellow thrown in for good measure. 

This was by far my most productive day fishing since i started back in 2009. 

A day i will never forget for the pure enjoyment and when things all came together nicely! 

My next aim is to try and capture as many images of my catches as possible! A GoPro for my birthday or Christmas stocking will do nicely. 

Keep checking my blog, will post the leader formula and the next outings report. 

For now, better the Devil you know........

The RED DEVIL

OK guys, here is my version of the Yellow Fish Brassie which I've been promising, aptly named the Red Devil! 

This fly has done some serious damage on the Vaal recently. 

Jacaranda Fly Fishing Club

I am officially a member of the Jacaranda Fly Fishing Club (JFFC)

Check out our website for details on outings and technical sessions planned for the year. We meet the first Tuesday of every month. 
The club consist of members from all age groups, the youngest being 14 and the oldest in his late sixties. 
This month (Tuesday 5 March) we took part in a technical session on leader construction with one of the Protea Juniors (Daniel Factor) The session was extremely informative and i learnt a lot! 
The club is always looking for new members so if you are keen, drop me a line and i will give you more information. 

www.jffc.co.za

I will be posting my latest fishing report in the next few days so keep an eye out. 

For now, tight lines!