News from Jan Korrubel, The Kingfisher at PMB: “After the cooler spell we reported last week, the weatherman has turned the heat dial back to peak summer!
“With very little in the way of rain in the forecast, the water has slowed down overall – the drop in input is good news for river fishermen, but perhaps not the best for dams and stillwaters, most notably in lack of overflow The Midmar wall is only slightly damp at present and the spill will no doubt stop within the week.
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“With flows completely manageable at present, river anglers — both trout and scaly — flock to their favorite beats in the Bushman’s and Mooi Rivers. The Natal Fly Fishers Club’s trout beats produced some good numbers of fish across the board from the 5-7 inch / 13-18 cm class to the 17-19 inch / 43-48 cm bracket. The water temperature is still quite high, starting around 17°C in the morning, and rising to 22°C later in the day. However, the fish are eating happily, catching both nymphs and dry flies … perfect conditions if you ask me!
“The sudden lack of rain has caused the Umkomaas River to drain well and some excellent late season scaly have been reported. There have been no reports of scaly on the dry fly this season. Nymphing is the name of the game these years, with the top fly being an orange bead head nymph.
“Stillwater anglers are gearing up for the fall feed-up — there’s a lot of discussion about stillwater patterns being put together right now — before the cold winter waters put most of the trout food larder to bed. The NFFC stillwaters have provided a good range of fish from the 9-11 inch / 23-28 cm class on the lower end, to some nicer specimens in the 19-21 inch / 48-53 cm class. No news on water temps from the stillwaters but I suspect they will still hover around the 20deg mark…nighttime temps are starting to drop now, helping the water temps drop , especially for those waters at higher altitudes.
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“Apart from a few fish here and there, the two most popular bass waters of The Midlands, Albert falls and Midmar Dam, seem to be quiet again. There have also been some nice fish coming from private waters and Gary Maas from Troutbagger Farm reports that his bass dam has produced some fish. The word from the water is that the fishermen are struggling in general, although there are many bait fish in the shallows, with “dinks” in between that one needs to succeed. One report noted that a Ned Rig has done the goods so far, while another noted ‘My favorite time of year … Slower fishing, but bigger than average fish … Swim Jig time’ .
“This weekend sees the long-awaited highly popular New Hanover Prep Bass Fishing Competition, now in its 20th year, taking place in the waters around New Hanover. Tight line to all anglers taking part — looking forward to reporting on it next week.
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“While one cannot use the “G-word” when it comes to fishing — guaranteed, that is! — with the current run of better weather, Sterkfontein Dam seems to be the place to “G” a fish. Driving this weekend, the water looked very good … an azure sea, slightly agitated by a light wind and a few boats seen bobbing on the waste lines between the Driekloof wall and the main dam”.
Thank you Jan
Please send any information about fishing or fish caught in your area to [email protected]
