If you cannot read the email below please go to www.archerfish.co.za/news/mar_sx.htm

Stream X
Fly fishing extremes, from freshwater streams to extreme salt water.
021 551 4248 sales@streamx.co.za

Dear [fname]

Last Sunday morning I took a quick trip up the road to the Hillcrest Quarry (Hillcrest Durbanville, not KZN) for two reasons. Firstly, I hadn't had a chance to test the new Orvis Hydros rod, and secondly, just to check the place out.
It turns out the rod casts like an absolute dream, and it had me casting like the stuff you see in movies, with minimal input. By that I mean it didn't require muscle power for long casts, as it loads itself and does the work for you. To me, the closest comparison is the Orvis Helios and the TFO Axiom. The only problem is going back to my own rod.
As for Hillcrest (just so you know), its a quarry with fish and no frills. There is lots of back cast space though.
On the way in is a restaurant where you pay your day ticket of R75.00 and could enjoy a decent lunch, or you could picnic or braai on the lawn at the quarry. The gate opens at 9am and closes at 5pm :-(
There are plenty of smallmouth bass which are relatively easy to catch, and the odd large rainbow trout, which on the day were taking blown terrestrials off the top. After smugly beating the pants off the spin fisherman with the smallmouth it was time to have a go at the rainbows, so I slowly made my way to a spot where there was a regular rise, only to have a spin fisherman waltz past me, stand on a big rock and scare the fish away.

Continues below in this months tip

Best regards, Craig Thom

News

Fly Tying Classes
Have been put on hold while the CPS clubroom is being refurbished. You will be notified as soon as we are ready to go again.

This Months Tip

Eventually the guy left and after a while the fish started showing itself again. Tip one. If you are going after largemouth bass or any fish, throw all your other fly boxes in your rucksack anyway. This idiot didn't bring any dry fly!
Staying with the Xstarossa (red headed damsel - see last months fly) I had on, I patiently waited for the fish to come a little closer. And closer it did, a little further than a rod length. The fly was in position, waiting. The fish moved closer. A little twitch and the fish changed direction. One more twitch and it opened its mouth and sucked it in.
Lift and pull, and a very nice size rainbow was on, then off.
It was immediately apparent why the fish got off, and so here is the lesson.
You will find you lose a lot of fish when they are close and take the fly, simply because we are conditioned to lift and strip strike.
There is nothing wrong with this, but we should be aiming for the sweet spot, the scissor. The top of the mouth is a bit bony, and doesn't hold a hook nearly as well as the lip or scissor. What I should have done was move my rod towards the rear of the fish instead of upwards. So bear that in mind, especially when sight fishing at close quarters. You will land more fish.

Just landed..

Stonfo Hook eye cleaning tool Stonfo hook eye cleaning tool 502 A useful tool for cleaning the eye of a hook or picking out knots from nylon etc. Fully retractable with a soft touch handle. Stonfo Dubbing Twister 469 R135

Stonfo Dubbing Twister 469 Small dimension revolving dubbing tool R115

Seals Fur dispenser no.2
A new selection of brighter colours, Contains all of these colours Purple, Grey, Fl. Red, Lt. Claret, Fl. Orange, Fl. Yellow, Chartreuse, Brown Olive, Ginger, Sunburst Yellow, Fl. Green & Blue Dun. R299

Rainbow beads
Plastic bead with an overall iridescent petrol effect.
3mm & 4mm, 30 per packet R29.00

Rainbow beads

Mucilin Green
Floatant for fly lineand leader. Comes complete with an applicator pad. R29

Mucilin Green

Pinnacle Fly Tying Kit
A comprehensive kit with enough materials & tools to tie 100’s of different patterns. Comes in a superb plastic box with a deep top storage section and 4 sectioned trays. There is no way you will be able to buy all this kit separately and come close to this price. To me it looks like the box comes for free. Includes Vice & instructional "recipe" book. R2299

Pinnacle fly tying kit Veniard

Also available as a 'box only', Zennith Box R1100

Tri Lobal Hackle Pure
100% pure Tri lobal hackle. All the positives of natural feathers but stronger and more uniform.
Tri-lobal hackle

Tach It Fly & Hook Holder
An angled magnetic sheet. Can be used for a hook or fly holder.
Incorporates a hackle and hook gauge.R199

Tach-it

Fly Tying Materials - General
New Antron yarn Colours
Bucktails, full and half size, new colours and stock
Lite Brite dubbing selection
Jelly Nymphs
Napthalene Crystals 50g packets
Chinese partridge skins in new colours
Fibbets (tail)
Travel Vice
Waste bags for Vice
Mink Zonker Strips (geniune)
Turkey tails - various
Pheasant tail, natural and various dyed colours

Specials

Stealth Rods & Reels at Genuine Cost!!

Making space for the Leeda and Wychwood range

Reduced prices on Airflo Lines

Peak Vices

Stealth boots & waders reduced to clear

More details here

Email us or call 021 551 4248 to order.

Fine print: Specials valid while stocks last

Fly of the Month

In October last year I told of the trophy rainbow that kept growing in my mind.
This month I am going to share the fly that did the deed.
It doesn't really have a name but is a Crazy Charlie variation, which is essentially a freshwater marabou charlie.

bead-eye-rainbow-charlie or Berc

This particular version has eyes made from rainbow beads, but it can be done with green plastic bead chain, or the Veniard glass twin-eyes. It was fished slowly on an intermediate line, which held the fly near the surface.

Step by step tying instructions are here

Book of the Month

With so many books to choose from and review it is difficult to choose what goes on my own shelf, as I get quite picky in order to conserve space. This is one that has definitely found a space, despite its size. It is an essential item for the serious stillwater fishermen.

Modern Midges: Tying and Fishing the World's Most Effective Patterns R Takahashi; J Hubka
R399.00
Midges may be small, but in many streams and lakes around the world they are the most important year-round food source for trout. Rick Takahashi and Jerry Hubka team up to provide readers with the most comprehensive midge pattern and fishing techniques resource to date. Stunning photos and detailed illustrations show the life cycle of the naturals, fishing and rigging techniques for a wide range of waters, and over 1,000 midge patterns. Whether you tie or buy your flies, this collection of cutting-edge advice from experts around the world will help you catch more fish.
Hardcover, 288pgs, 284x250mm September 2009 Buy Online

Fly Tying Tip of the Month

Buying or tying a fly that turns out to be a 'wrappers delight' is always a disappointment.
Avoiding the dreaded tail wrap is difficult, but there are ways of dealing with it at the fly tying stage.
However, many of these reduce the 'action' of the tail, so when I serendipitously discovered this trick, I was pretty pleased.
Unfortunately 'there is nothing new under the sun' so there are probably hundreds of other people who have discovered the same.
Just in case you are not one of them, here is how it goes...

1. Stroke back some fibres on a piece of marabou (top of feather is to the left). A bit of the old spitty finger helps a lot.
2. Cut the shaft where you have made a gap.
3. Now move some herl to the left (about as much as you want to use in the tail) and make another gap.

4. On a thread wrapped hook, place the gap in the marabou above the hook point or a bit further back.
5. Do a few wraps, then carefully pull the feather to your right to position it.
Make sure that a bit of the feather shaft is sticking out of the rear of the fly (about half a hook gapes worth).
This is the bit that prevents the tail wrapping.

6. Tie it down properly, then trim and finish off normally, then continue with the rest of the fly.

Visit www.netbooks.co.za for a large range of Fly Fishing Titles

For the latest book releases go here