Equipment Outfitters

How to make one:

1. Tie in two uneven strands of Flashabou halfway along the hook shank. The longer of the strands should be at least the length of the hook shank.
2. Select a marabou plume and tie it in by the butt, halfway along the hook shank.
3. Wind the plume forward in open turns, tie it off and trim the excess.
4. Tie a mallard flank or similar feather in by the butt directly in front of the marabou plume. The concave side of the feather should face the hook shank.
5. Take two or three turns of the feather around the hook shank in front of the marabou, tie off the feather and trim the excess.
6. Form a small, neat thread head, half- hitch and trim the thread. Apply head cement to the thread wraps.

The names pheasant hopper, Sparrow and Evening, Star may not mean much to most South African fly-tiersand fly-fishers, but these patterns are well known in the United States. Created by Jack Gartside, an angler whose reputation as an innovative fly-tier has spread, not because he has published any books or magazine articles but simply by word of mouth, the patterns are all extremely effective and, most importantly, are very easy to tie, making use of materials which are cheap and freely available. Read the rest of this entry »

During emergences of these Tricorythidae mayflies trout become extremely selective to the naturals, both in the nymphal and spinner form. I usually rely on a small nymph imitation during the emergence of the mayflies and a simple spinner imitation during the spinner falls in order to fool trout which gulp the naturals in the surface film. This is exciting fishing, but for the neophyte fly-fisher unaccustomed to fishing small nymphs and spinner imitations in the surface film, both the emergences and the spinner falls can lead to great frustration.

Prior to the spinner fall of these tiny mayflies, however, trout feed selectively on the emerging nymphs both in the intermediate water layers, as the nymphs make their way to the surface, and at the surface. This is often when trout can be seen bulging just below the surface, ignoring traditional patterns. Small nymphal imitations from #16 to #18 can be extremely effective but are not infallible. When the visibly bulging trout are gulping nymphs or spinners in the surface film yet still refuse suitable imitations, the White Death alone will, for some inexplicable reason, still take trout. Read the rest of this entry »

How to make one:

1. Tie in a length of fine chenille above the barb of the hook and return the thread to a position behind the hook eye. Wrap the chenille to form the body, tie off and trim the excess.
2. Tie in four or five strands of Krystal Flash above the body and trim the excess. The strands should extend to or slightly beyond the hook bend.
3. Tie in a clump of marabou above the Krystal Flash strands. The marabou fibres should not extend beyond the hook bend. Form a small thread head, half-hitch and trim. Apply head cement to the thread wraps.

The rise I could see from my position some ten yards off the bank was the kind associated with a troutsipping midge pupae at the surface. Dusk had settled over the lake several minutes earlier, and although fish were moving at the surface it became increasingly difficult to see them in the fading light. Read the rest of this entry »

In the dying rays of the afternoon sun, I watched as trout porpoised softly on the surface. A Suspender Midgehad produced several fish up to two pounds in size, and earlier a large fish had stitched my leader through a thick mat of floating weed, forcing me to paddle over to the growth to retrieve it. The fish had been working a hatch of tiny midge pupae in the surface film, providing several hours of exciting fishing.

As it began to get dark, a warm, gusting wind started to blow, effectively ending a superb afternoon’s fishing. My three companions, all of them from the Cape, had failed to capitalise on the frenzied surface action and between them had released only a few of the lake’s residents. It had been a learning experience for them, as the lakes of the Western Cape do not provide anything like the consistent surface action of those in KwaZulu-Natal.

When the wind began to blow consistently and my companions in their float tubes displayed their obvious intention to head for the bank and call it a day, I realised that the midge fishing was truly over. Read the rest of this entry »