Tourette Fishing - The Bushman's revisited

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The Bushman's revisited

By Keith Clover - Tourette Fishing

Trout have, for the past couple of years, taken a back seat when it comes to the objects of my angling attention. I have on occasion managed the odd day out on some of the Midlands great still waters, as well as a couple of outings in the past year on the upper Mooi. A shameful showing considering my base is in Hilton KZN, and the fact that I grew up fishing the Mooi River. The lack of time spent on trout waters is by no means an indication as to where I place trout on my list of angling quarries, but is rather a symptom of my lifestyle spent guiding for most of the year in neighbouring countries. The few occasions I do have the time at home, I am inclined to head out to some of the fantastic yellow fish waters in the province. This behaviour however was abruptly haltered on receiving a call from PJ. He was interested in a piece on the Bushman's. I on the eve of some minor surgery said I would see what I could do. And that was that.

Four weeks later, with a case of cabin fever so chronic the tilapia in the office pond were under threat, I threw caution to the wind and headed up to the Giants Castle area in search of the Bushman's wild browns. James Christmas, a local expert on the Bushman's, was my fishing companion for two sublime days fishing on the Upper Bushman's. James had recently been guiding on the river, and assured me it was "firing" as we made our way through Rosetta out towards Giants Castle.

Driving through the tribal lands adjacent to the Bushman's River, we stopped to inspect some of the larger pools alongside the road. Although no trout were spotted, healthy populations of rather nervous looking Natal scalies were darting to and fro. It was tempting to stop right then and throw a team of nymphs at them, however trout were the agenda and on we went. James suggested we fish a private beat of water, a stretch of river roughly 6 km long, beginning at the boundary of Giants Castle Reserve and ending at the start of the tribal lands.

Subsequent to tackling up, we made our way down to the river. I was surprised to be feeling slightly nervous. At what exactly, I was not entirely sure. In retrospect I suppose I was concerned at the possibility that I would be disappointed, disappointed with average fishing or maybe my inability to reconnect with my small stream angling skills that had been disgracefully put aside for a couple of years. I was desperately eager to reignite the passion I had for fishing the Drakensberg streams. A passion that had sadly began waning a few years back.

Observing our first beat from the cover of the dense bank side vegetation, I was pleased to see the odd rise. With no hatches of any significance, DDD's were attached to the end of our 6x tippets. Entering the river at the transition zone, at the tail of a pool, we began with a couple of prospecting casts. It was soon obvious that I had to make some changes to my leader setup. Instead of floating gently onto the water, my DDD bore the brunt of excessive energy transfer and landed on the water as though piloted by a suicide bomber. Lengthening my tippet by a couple of foot, and the inclusion of a parachute mend (lifting one's rod up and forward at the end of one's presentation cast), had the desired affect. Briefly explained, the above mentioned alterations have the following affect: the energy transfer through the cast dies out at the tippet, thus allowing the fly and last section of tippet to "fall off" the cast and land delicately on the waters surface. Apart from the delicate landing, the slack created in the tippet allows for extra drift before any drag can set in - Whilst on the subject of drag, throwing some upstream slack into the cast will further help you combat drag and allow for a longer drag free presentation - While all this was going on, James had taken the gap and cast to a rising fish ahead of us. The well presented cast was rewarded with a lively brown coming to hand.

Cautiously, yet purposefully, we fished our way upstream. Casting to likely looking lies and rising fish, a number of quarter-to-one-pound fish were taken, subject to a good presentation that is. All fish were extremely tippet shy. Flies were therefore symptomatically refused at any hint of tippet on the surface near the fly. A small, thin squeeze of lead putty, roughly 5 inches up from the fly does the trick in sinking a guilty tippet section without affecting the flies presentation. Flies showing any form of drag were also flatly refused.

By late afternoon we arrived at a long pool, flanked by overhanging bushes above, and an undercut sandstone ledge below, both running the length of the pool - features on a piece of water that leave you in no doubt as to the water's fish holding potential. The pool is aptly named "the honey pot" by Bushman's regulars. The overcast conditions made spotting larger fish holding in the deeper water difficult. Smaller fish however, could be seen holding in the thin water above the ledge and were rising regularly in response to a sporadic caddis hatch and the various terrestrials drifting over them. In a brief show of sunlight, James spotted a large brown estimated at around 4lbs holding deep under the cover of the bank side vegetation. He promptly attached a very imitative hopper pattern in view that such a tasty looking imitation would draw the fish from its holding position. A frustrating number of casts, flys, and tippet changes later, and the fish remained uninterested, suffering a sever case of lock jaw. Changing my fly to a small elk winged caddis, the DDD I had on up to then was playing havoc twisting my 6x tippet, I made my way to a sheltered position from where I could fish both the undercut ledge, while continuing on the same drift, drift my fly up tight under the over hanging branches. I began casting to the fish rising on the margin of the sandstone ledge. There is something wonderfully special about watching a committed brown magically appear from its camouflaged lie and attack ones fly with gusto. Some of the smaller browns were so eager to get their mouths around the offerings they burst clean out of the water when taking the surface flies. It was however equally frustrating watching a fish rise to the fly, inspect it with an aristocratic heir, and promptly turn its nose to it and head back into the mottled depths.

Moving a couple of yards up river, a deep V-shaped incision in the undercut sandstone ledge begged to be fished. Having just lost a large fish to a parted tippet, I was slightly annoyed at myself for missing out. Changing to a RAB, my first cast was slightly off, with the fly landing too far to the left for my liking. My second attempt landed spot on. Watching the fly drift perfectly over the lie I watched in awe as a large brown cock fish appeared, sipped the fly, and turned back to its concealed abode. Lifting into the fish I was intensely aware of my recent blunder, and was sure not to apply too much pressure. At the first poke the fish made a headshaking run down stream. The run was by no means blistering, but more of a heavy headshaking display of disapproval. Watching, the fish looked more irritated than alarmed. I on the other hand was suffering a severe case of tiger shakes (the adrenalin induced shakes one experiences when a large fish takes off with ones fly firmly in its grasp, normally associated with larger species), a sensation I had not felt on a trout stream in years. The symptoms were all the more acute due to the fact that I was visually linked to action, highlighting the fact that there was far more to loose than in similar situations with large fish that remain unsighted. Following the fish downstream, 30 yards and five minutes later, the well conditioned brown was brought to net. In the fading light a couple of quick photos were taken, before the fish, estimated at around three pounds, was released. At this moment, all the passion, respect and enjoyment that I had once harboured for fishing Drakensberg streams came rushing back, saturating my fly fishing being with feelings of nostalgia and delight.

Speaking to Gavin, who runs the local hatchery, he mentioned he has an overseas acquaintance that makes an annual trip to fish the Bushman's River. In this fly fisherman's opinion, the Bushman's rates as one of the top trout streams he has fished. Taking into account this gentleman has fished destination as diverse as Chilli, USA and New Zealand, this is not a statement to be taken lightly. His judgement may be skewed by the low cost associated with fishing the Bushman's in comparison to international destinations of similar quality, by the spectacular scenery, or the wonderful wildlife that inhabits the area. But no matter how you look at it, South African fly fisherman can be assured that, a river where sight fishing dry flies to large wild browns is the norm, a river that can be fished year round for a variety of species that eagerly take fly, and a rivers who's banks are home to a rich assortment of game and bird life, is indeed a classy stretch of water and a river worthy of our attention and care.

Fact File:

The Bushman's River has it source in the Drakensberg escarpment. From here it flows in a north easterly direction through the Giants Castle Game Reserve, out through a myriad of tribal and private lands en route Wagendrift Dam (which you notice on your right driving the N3 between Escourt and Mooi River), past Escourt, Weenen and on into the Tugela River.

It is a catchments river and is thus affected by local rainfall. Heavy localised rains result in significant rises in water level and decrease in water clarity. For this same reason however, these sudden changes in water conditions do not persist for long, especially when fishing the higher stretches of the river around Giants Castle. The lower regions can remain un-fishable for longer periods, especially during our summer months.

The river offers fly anglers two main target species. Brown trout were introduced early on in the inception of the Giants Castle Reserve in the 1890's. These fish have subsequently been left to fend for themselves. Today the river holds a healthy stock of wild brown trout. Depending on the time of year, trout can be found in the Bushman's from Giants Castle Game Reserve right down to Moor Park before Wagendrift Dam - the more popular stretches of water being those in and below Giants Castle Reserve. Most of the water outside of the Reserve is private water; hence permission to fish these waters must be obtained from the relevant land owners or associations. The river season for trout is closed from the 1st of June through to the end of August. Prime fishing months are March through to end of May.

The second species found in the Bushman's that is of interest to fly fisherman is the Natal Yellow Fish, or Scalie. These fish can be found along the length of the river, from Giants Castle right through to were it joins the Tugela. In the summer months, when these fish move up the river, it is not uncommon to catch scalies and brown trout on the same section of water. Winter months see the fish retreating to warmer waters further down the Bushman's. Over these colder, rainless months, good scalie fishing is to be had on the Bushman's between Escourt and Weenen. Again most of this land is private, and permission form land owners or appropriate personal is necessary to fish these waters.

Basic tackle requirement for fishing the Bushman's:

Rod, reel and line:

2/3 to 4/5 weight, 7ft 6 Inch to 8ft rods are the order of the day. Reels holding the appropriate weight floating line will complete the major hardware. There is no need to go out and purchase fancy high end reels, the majority of fishing is done off the reel. So the reels major purpose is to carry your line. Any extra money should be spent on a quality floating line, a line that rides high with little memory. I prefer to fish one line weight down if using a 4/5 weight outfit on small rivers such as the Bushman's.

Leader and Tippet:

Leader and tippet set up are a matter of personal preference as well as an individual's casting ability. A conventional 9ft 5x tapered leader, with a 2ft 6x tippet will be fine for most dry fly fishing applications. You tippet can then be changed up or down depending on the flies you are casting and the water clarity.

Flies (Most popular trout flies will produce if applied correctly. The list below covers most flies carried by Bushman's locals):

Dry Flies: Elk winged caddis (12 to 14), DDD (10 to 14), RAB (12 to 16), Klinkhammer Emerger, Parachute Adams, Adams; CDC Mayfly Emerger (all in sizes 14 to 16), and a couple terrestrial patterns such as hoppers and beetles.

Nymphs: GRHE, P.T.N, Flashback (black and brown), Zac, and Prince nymph in sizes 12 to 18, with size 14 and 16 being most commonly used. Bead head and non bead head versions where applicable. Dragon and damsel flies also have there place.

Extras:

Lead putty, fly floatant and strike indicators.