Amatola Wild Trout Flyfishing - Flyloops Review

Please have a look at my recent review of Amatola at: Amatola Flyloops.net Review

Amatola Mountain Lodge

Friday, 6 April 2012

On Easter weekend my girlfriend and I headed down to the Eastern Cape to review Amatola Mountain Lodge for www.flyloops.net. Please keep a look-out for the review that will appear on the website soon, for more information on the venue visit www.amatolaflyfishing.co.za. We left Johannesburg at the ungodly hour of one in the morning and started the 1000km drive down to Amatola that is situated close to Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. The route to Amatola is quite an easy drive from Joburg, first heading towards Bloemfontein on the N1 then getting on the N7 that heads to East London. We passed through several towns that included Aliwal-North, Queenstown, Catchcart etc. Eventually you turn off the N7 at Stutterheim and you start a 40km drive on a gravel road to Amatola. On the gravel road we passed Gubu dam that is set between plantation and looks like a very good option for a future trip.

Gubu Dam

After getting confused with a few turn-offs we eventually figured out how to get to the lodge. The last section of road is tarred and we followed it up the hill and found our temporary home for the next few days. The lodge is set high on a hill and has a very scenic view with the Cata Stream and dam in the valley below, surrounded by mountains with indigenous forests!

Amatola Mountain Lodge

Our Chalet

A Close-up of our chalet

After arrival we quickly unpacked and headed down to the river to have a quick look around before the sunset, we had no success but we where full of enthusiasm for the next few days! 

My girlfriend fishing in the lower reaches of the Cata Stream

Another section of the lower reaches of the Cata Stream

The evening we had a relaxing braai in the braai area in front of our chalet and discussed that we would fished the dam the next day and the river on the last.

Braai Area

Braai Area View

Saturday, 7 April 2012

On the Saturday we woke up to quite dismal fishing weather, with gale force winds and a chill in the air. We were met by the local guides and we headed of to the Mnyameni dam that is about a 15 minute drive away from the lodge. At our arrival I was again surprised by the scenic setting of the dam high up in the catchment of the Mnyameni River. It is truly one of the most beautiful dams I have fished in I a while! We fished the dam until about 2 pm with no luck and decided to call it a day, the weather was deteriorating and the wind was getting stronger which was making casting nearly impossible.

Mnyameni Dam!

Another view of the dam!

Casting myself to death, at least the view was pretty!

Our patient guide at the inlet of the dam

Sunday, 8 April 2012

On the Sunday morning our two guides joined us again and we headed down to a little bridge where we would leave our car for the day. We fished the lower reaches of the river for about an hour with little luck. I only noticed one fish interested in a size 18 Zak nymph that I drifted passed some reeds, but I was to late on the strike. We headed into the forest and after about another hour of fishing I was starting to get a bit discouraged. 

Upper reaches of the Cata Stream

Bow-and-arrow casting territory!

Bow-and-arrow cast!

As these negatives thoughts where passing through my mind, I made a bow-and-arrow cast in a pool above me with a Puterbaugh caddis and a Zak nymph dropper. As the flies drifted towards me I saw a white mouth appearing from the depths that in an instant swallowed my fly! The ice was broken and I was thrilled with my first little Brown Trout safely in my landing net.

The fish that made my trip!

The Close-up!

I decided to take the dropper of and fish with the caddis pattern the rest of the day. This proved to be a good decision as I quickly caught another fish soon after that was hiding under a branch of a tree hanging in the stream. This was the trend of the day with fish sticking close to structure in deeper pools, attacking the Puterbaugh Caddis with speed as the fly drifted past their lies.

More fishy photos:

At around 3 pm we decided to call it a day and hike up to the waterfalls and to the hiking trail up on the plateau. This was quite a good break to the tiring and challenging fishing conditions in the dense growth of the indigenous forest. On our hike we spotted some weird looking frogs, insects and on our way up to the plateau we were even surprised by quite a large Bushbuck ram. By sunset we eventually got back to the car, both quite spent from a long days fishing and more walking than I have done the whole year combined.

Our guides from Cata village

One of many waterfalls!

A scenic view of the Cata forest 

The plateau overlooking Cata village and dam

Monday, 9 April 2012

The Monday morning I was quite sad to leave this place, the friendly people, the scenic nature scenes and the intimate little Cata Stream with its beautifully colored little Brown Trout had made quite an impression on me. This is one of those places where I felt at one with nature and truly felt closer to my Creator, hopefully I will visit this magical little forest soon…

Late Season Fishing at Vaal Streams

The past weekend I fished and camped at Vaal Streams with my friend and both of our girlfriends. The weather as predicted was quite cold and it was still raining early Saturday morning. As the weekend went on the weather deteriorated, becoming colder from late Saturday Afternoon. This affected the fishing and we only managed to catch fish on Saturday morning to early the afternoon where after it became quiet. I will briefly tell you what unfolded during the Saturday...

So as we arrived at the water on the morning it was quite cold and I was regretful of leaving my waders at home and also telling my friend to do the same. We met a fellow angler at the water and I had a short discussion with him about some flies and different tactics. I quickly rigged-up my girlfriend's rod as she would fish a bit later as the day got a bit warmer. Her rod had an NZ rig with a heavy Caddis pattern with a floating hotspot. That out of the way I showed my friend the basics of nymphing rigs and how he should fish it. I sent him on his way and after rigging my two rods (one with a three fly Czech nymphing rig and the other with a dry fly) I joined him on the river.

We fished our way down and across the rapids to the opposite bank, I lost a fish on the way with one of my droppers parting on the take. I suspect that the line got damaged while nymphing, learning a valuable lesson, check your line and knots often! We got to the opposite bank and made our way down to the deeper slow flowing section. I decided to start of with a PB caddis pattern and my friend with a yellow foam hopper. It was not long before we both had takes that we managed to mess up by striking to early, causing loads of swearing out of frustration. 

My friend managed the first hook-up and after a brief fight he had his first Smallmouth Yellowfish on fly, quite an achievement to get your first Yellowfish on dry fly I must add!

Yellow Foam Hopper

My friend's first Yellowfish!

I kept on missing fish out of lack of concentration and striking too late or early. We later realised that side striking seemed to produce better hook-ups. I experimented with various patterns that got strikes, all that I missed. I switched to an Airhead that proved to be a fantastic idea as an epic fish chased down the fly causing a bow wave and leaping out the water as it grabbed the fly. It heading down stream with some force and I had to follow it for a few meters. It calmed down after this and the fight reverted to a slow tug of war where after the fish gave up and was safely netted by my friend. A few minutes later my girlfriend on the opposite side of the river also managed  to catch a little Yellowfish on the floating orange hotspot, this was the only fish we managed to catch on a nymph between the three of us.

The Airhead disappeared into the abyss !

The beauty that made my weekend!

A close-up!

A few casts later with the Airhead and it was smashed again, however I was too slow with the strike! I cast it back into the middle seam of the river and it immediately got another take this one I side strike and the hook was set properly. This fish was only worth a laugh as it proved to be my smallest Yellowfish on dry fly. 

Little bugger, big appetite!

My friend switched to a black beetle and it was not long before he got another average sizes fish. He then decided to move to a different spot and I said to him that he should go see if there is any other suitable places further down. A few minutes later a saw a splash in front of him as a fish took his fly. He later told me that he saw a fish rising close to him and he dropped the beetle close to the fish where after it sipped in the beetle and sped off! I made my way down to him to net the fish for him, the fish was quite a fighter and reluctant to come to the net. After a few nervous moment and careful manoeuvring, the fish was safely landed. It proved to be another beauty of a fish and I was glad for my friend, who at one point said that he is already addicted to Yellowfishing!

Another Beauty of a fish!

We managed another couple of average sized Yellowfish both on black foam beetles whereafter we decided to head back to the camp and have some lunch. After lunch we returned with high hopes, but this feeling was short lived as we didn't get any fish. We tried various dry fly patterns, emerges and some nymphs, clearly the colder weather was having an effect. My friend wisely opted to call it a day and left for the camp site. As sunset approached a tried various mayfly patterns as there where various species of mayfly hatching, this also proved to be unsuccessful. As the sun was setting I took a few photos to end the day and was suprised by a little visitor that seemed to to find my hand comforting... 

Perfect ending to an awesome day!

The little visitor!