Tackling Up For KZN's Trout Streams

“What fly?” is normally the first question asked when fishing new waters. Actually, there are other things much more important you need to know.

- Andrew Fowler

The most common question I am asked by new fly fishers or visitors to our KZN streams is, “What flies do you recommend?” Now it just so happens that I’m one of those fly fishers who often straps something buggy on the end of my tippet and leaves it there all day. For such a person a “top five flies” list is a sigh-inducing question. The guy asking the question is seeking a silver bullet, and my top five list is going to do very little to satisfy that need. There are so many questions that he could have asked that would be more important and more significant to him in ensuring a pleasant or successful outing, but he doesn’t know to ask them.

My sigh is not a disparaging one. It is more a representation of the quandary of how to get him to ask what he really needs to ask. So, like the famous humourist Ed Zern*, who, on his return from a fishing trip to Alaska, encountered no one who wanted to interview him about it, I am going to interview myself here by asking and answering the questions I think really should be on the lips of the fly angler visiting KZN’s streams.

DO I NEED A 4X4?

No. There are but a few streams that require a 4x4 to get to and for the most part that is merely because of a club rule that avoids anglers very occasionally getting stuck and inconveniencing the landowner. For the rest of it you may need a bit of clearance and you might spin a bit when you turn the car around in the veld before the dew dries. A little Tazz or a Chevy Spark might be a bit limiting but a RAV or a two-wheel-drive bakkie will get you most places. A hired car will go anywhere. In hectic summer storms a 4x4 is great. I wouldn’t go without mine. Don’t break the club rules!

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE ON FOOTWEAR?