Stream X - Stocked, not Wild.
021 551 4248 sales@streamx.co.za
Dear [fname]
Being humbled is never a pleasant experience, but when you get three humbles in a day, well that's something to really cringe about.
Saturday the 5th of June sees yours truly at Jonkershoek for a Bells event to raise money for the SA Team for the Commonwealths in Wales. Tagging along were some of the new Wychwood rods & reels to try out, and a while into the 1st session a few fish have been landed including one of the 10lb hogs that were stocked just before the event. Charl Hamilton of Jonkeshoek ambles over for a chat, and we are talking about the new kit and he asks how easy it is to change the cassettes on the new reel.
So, I stop retrieving, pop off the spool, show how its done and don't put the the spool back on properly. It drops into the water, I pick it up, put it back properly, and finish retrieving my line which has just been lying in the water. The moment the line moves a fish takes the fly and my eyes go big. Yes, big with surprise... and big because they needed to be bigger to see the big fish. "Oh, thats one of the biggest ones" says Charl casually. The big fish shows its back and its really big, so massive I need to open my eyes even wider. Eish, then the sad part. It decides it wants to be at the other side of the dam in a hurry and I was not prepared. It pulled the rod almost flat and "ping", the 2x tippet gives way. My eyes kind of loose their shine, go dim. My stomach grumbles and I need to eat a humble pie.
The day wears on, the sun gets warm, there is not a breath of wind or the breath of a trout on any of my flies. We have a break for lunch and carry on fishing. The fishing is slow with a fish rarely coming out, and certainly none on my line. With a new fancy flybox filled to the brim with pretty flies, brand new tackle, a Teeny line on loan from the agent, and a dam full of fish, I cannot raise even a minnow. Hell, if it wasn't for the odd weed on my fly on occasion I would be weeping. I grumble, my stomach grumbles, time to eat the second humble pie.
Ian Lourens decides to have a throw, even though he is more of a beneficiary than an entrant. Five casts later he has four fish. I eat another humble pie. "Have you paid to fish here?" I ask him. The answer is negative so I suggest politely that he refrains from making us all look like monkeys. Ok, I actually told him to $@!& off. It seems that to fish competitively you need something special. Ian seems to have it in buckets (unless he has a secret flavourant).
The prizes are handed out, but there isn't one for the biggest loser.
Best regards
Craig
News & Events
Fly Tying Classes Free Classes on 1st & 3rd Thursday of every month @ 6pm. On the 8th of July, Mark Krige is
going to show us flies he 'picked up' on his recent trip to Sovenia.
They fish some heavily-pressured waters and are extremely picky about
colours, profiles and sizes. He will also show an "anchor" fly for a
European technique suited to heavy, fast water. Come and enjoy a glass
of wine while Mark does his thing.
Final results from the World Champs
South Africa 5th after Czech Rep, France, Slovakia & Poland. Well done Guys!
Individual results: Tim Babich 11th, Gary Glen-Young 35th, Chase Nicholson 37th, Cameron Anderson 48th, Christiaan Pretorius 59th.
There were 132 competitors and 25 teams
Commonwealth Championships Results
Individuals: Martin Ferriera 6th, Ian Lourens 13th, Cherylee Powell 15 th, Phillip Luff 30th, Korrie Broos 36th, Cheryl Heyns 43rd, Louis Pretorius 48th, Rentia Heyns 49th, Marietjie Davies 50th, Jenny Lord 53rd.
Teams: Australia World, England, Scotland, Australia 2, South Africa 5th, South African Ladies 10th
Fly fishing Tip of the month
You know the saying, "you cant catch a fish without your line in the
water" which usually refers to those who keep fiddling with their flies
or tackle and not having a fly in the water. The truth couldnt be
plainer than that. The more you fish the more you will catch. So with
apologies to Charles Baudelaire....
Always be Fishing - "Be always
fishing. Nothing else matters: that is the only question. If you would
not feel the horrible burden of Time weighing on your shoulders and
crushing you to the earth, be fishing continually. Fishing with what?
With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you will. But be fishing.
And if sometimes, on the stairs of a palace, or on the green side of a
ditch, or in the dreary solitude of your own room, you should awaken
and the fishing mood be half or wholly slipped away from you, ask of
the wind, or of the wave, or of the star, or of the bird, or of the
clock, or whatever flies, or sighs, or rocks, or sings, or speaks, ask
what hour it is; and the wind, wave, star, bird, clock, will answer
you: 'It is the hour to be fishing! Be fishing, if you would not be
martyred slaves of Time; be fishing continually! With wine, with
poetry, or with virtue, as you will.'"
(Just don't forget to get permission from the 'boss')
Just landed..
Fisherman's Barometer
Keep a constant eye on atmospheric pressure changes to take full
advantage of the best times to be on the lake. When the barometer is on
the rise, the needle moves through the multicolored key to let you know
the fish are at their best. A red indicator shows you where the needle
was at the last time you set it to give an instant indication of rising
or falling pressure. The rubberized body provides an easy grip, wet or
dry. And it comes with a lanyard to prevent accidental drops.
Dial differs from one illustrated (More colour) R295.00
Digital Scale
Displays exactly what your fish weighs to the nearest ounce all the way
up to 50 pounds on an LCD screen. A backlit display feature makes
reading the scale in low light easy. Weights can also be displayed in
metric units.
The scale is powered by three AAA batteries (not included) and will
automatically turn off after four minutes of inactivity. Internal
memory will store up to eight weights and will total them for you.
This unit's taring feature will zero out the weight of a container and
then produce a new reading after fish are added to the container. You
can switch the scale between kilograms and pounds by holding both
buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. R350.00
Marc Petijean Bobbin
Ergonomic design, Smooth finish, Stainless Steel Easy thread through
system Fine thread control Twister feature Perfectly balanced The
bobbin of bobbins. You could thread this bobbin without even looking
and can also adjust the thread tension to your liking. Thread spool
replacement a snip. The MPBobbin incorporates a wire loop for thread
dubbing loops and spins an axis. R499.00
Wiggle hackle Ultra
fine rubber hackle trapped on a fine wire core the movement it produces
is unbelievable. Wind it on as a hackle to improve any pattern.
Available in Black, White, Olive, Chartreuse, Brown Olive. R47.00
Fly Tying Kits
Book, Materials, Tools & Vice, start at R650.00 Damsel Eyes (Glass)
Available in green and red, add a new dimension to your red eyed damsels R22.00
Selected Dry Fly Hackle
Packets of 20 feathers specially selected and sized dry fly hackle for those who do not want to invest in a whole cape.
Colours: Natural Brown, Black, White/Cream Grizzle & Medium Dun
Small for Size 16-18, Medium for Size 12 - 14 R75.00
Hooks Hayabusa (Fulling Mill) Super Heavyweight Grub - 31165
Continuous bend, down eye, 2x heavy, standard shank forged, reversed.
The perfect deepwater grub hook. Size 8 - 14, 50 per packet R75.00
Hooks, Sprite perfect International
Forged Black Down Eye 2x Fine Wire A perfectly proportioned wide gape
hook (as used by Hans Weilenmann) Sizes: 8-10-12-14-16 25 per packet.
R40.00
Also available, Sprite Up-Eye dry fly hooks, perfect for upside down flies 20 per packet. R25.00
Tungsten sheet Easily cut, wrapped, or shaped with either scissors or scalpel.
Sheet size 85mm x 130mm R99.00
Pheasant, tippets & topping crests
Pheasant, Chinese back patch for Mrs. Simpson flies R45.00
CDC Dubbing Box, Frankie Mc Phillips R499.00
Tube Fly Items: Starter Kits, Monster Cones, Shrimp Tube bodies, Cone heads, Teardrop tubes
Peacock Herl Brush, super fuzzy, strong, peacock herls R45.00
Trilobal hackle
Pure 100% pure Tri lobal hackle. All
the positives of natural feathers but stronger and more uniform. White.
Black, Tan, Fiery Brown, Olive, Dun Small 7mm wide, Medium 16mm Wide
Holographic Tri Lobal Hackle - made the
same way as pure but with totally holographic fibres. A brilliant
reflective hackle Silver, Black, Gold, Chartreuse, Red, Purple, Blue.
Medium & Large
R40.00
Back in stock
Amadou Patch, Petijean Magic Tools, Pinnacle Fly tying Kit , Hook eye tool, Mucilin,
Wychwood - VueFinder Huge Competition Box, Truefly Reel, Aura Rods, Truefly 3 piece Rods
Fly of the Month
Foam Back Damsel/Dragon Xnymph
This months fly was inspired by Peter Gathercole's 'Buoyant Damsel
Nymph' which he has designed to fish just sub-surface. In his version
he simply ties a strip of foam over the top of the nymph. Being an
inveterate fiddler, I decided to try and make it look more realistic.
The result was a buoyant to neutrally buoyant fly with the foam
masquerading as a wing pad. Wing pads should be a nice trigger, because
it means a mature nymph (more meat) and one that is shortly going to be
unavailable (urgency). Other than fishing this fly just subsurface (I
have seen many damsel nymphs swimming subsurface) it can also be fished
in a more buoyant form above weed beds on a sinking or intermediate
line. Using a pull and pause retrieve would cause the nymph to hover
above and then swim down towards the weeds. Yummy. To make it more
buoyant, loosely tie a small strip of foam above the hook shank.
To test the fly I took it out to Bluegum Grove on the weekend and
attracted some decent fish. It was fished on on intermediate line
behind a 'blingy' streamer.Below is a nice rainbow trout that mistook
it for a tasty treat
Step by step tying instructions are here
Book of the Month
Tactical Fly Fishing: A Guide Jeremy Lucas R349.00
A Guide for the Advanced and Competition Angler Since the 1960s there
have been revolutionary changes in fly fishing, characterized by huge
advances in tackle, and in casting, watercraft and presentation skills.
Today, there are more participants worldwide in fly fishing than ever
before and the sport is open for all to enjoy. Moreover, interest in
flying fishing competition has also escalated.
Jeremy Lucas is an accomplished fly fisher, equally at home on river or
stillwater, or fishing with dry fly, nymph or streamer. Jeremy is an
Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructors-level coach and has
represented England in all international fly fishing disciplines and is
one of the most-capped river and lake internationals in England. He has
contributed to numerous fishing publications and has written articles
for many major game fishing magazines. He has a regular monthly column
in The Countryman's Weekly. Hardcover: 224 pages, 25 x 19.2 x 2.4 cm,
Dec 2009 Buy Online
Please note that at the moment the Netbooks site is down due to a server failure. It should be running soon,
so please be patient as this book is worthwhile.
Fly Tying Tip of the Month
Marabou Method
How to control your marabou, make it easier to handle and end up with less mess & waste.
Cut your marabou at the shaft as shown. Stroke the marabou back and use
the shaft to 'handle' yje marabou. If using it for a tail, tie it down
at rear of the hook, then trim the shaft off.
If the fly body is going to be bulky, you can tie the shaft down on top of the hook shank.
Adjust the amount of marabou, by how long you make the cut.
Visit www.netbooks.co.za for a large range of Fly Fishing Titles
For the latest book releases go here