Liquid Horizon : Fly Fishing : Cape Town

Written by Chris Pretorius
Photography by Chris Pretorius

Dawn was just starting to break when I found myself on my way to the Elandspad river. I was going to spend a day of fly fishing with Caitlin O’Connor from San Francisco. On our way to the river we exchanged stories and realised that we shared the same love of fly fishing. I then knew that we had a good day of fishing ahead of us.

February is not the best time of year to take on the Cape streams and it’s spooky rainbow trout - the main reason  being the intense heat which is not ideal for this fish species, as well as the river dropping to unfavourable levels. I knew that it was important to get to the river as early as possible in order to optimise the productive fishing time before the sun started blazing down on the river.

After a pleasant, relaxing walk we reached the start of our beat where we had a quick cup of coffee before entering the water. We started at the tail of a nice deep pool with faster water running in at the head creating a bubble line which indicated the prime lie for the trout. Onto the 7X tippet I tied on the most favourable fly for the situation in this case a #16 Parachute R.A.B. This fly has a lot of movement as well as a nice big silhouette which can attract fish from further away.

After a couple of casts Caitlin got the hang of the 2 weight outfit. This was when my eye caught a nice size trout moving at the head of the pool. I could clearly see  the trout actively feeding in the scum line. Caitlin made the perfect cast right into the feeding line of the fish. As the fly drifted freely towards the trout I told Caitlin to get ready and without hesitation the fish sipped in the fly. This is when Caitlin gently lifted the rod and the first fish for the day was on the line. After a good struggle the trout was in the net!

We took a quick photo and released the fish as quickly as possible. Caitlin excitedly informed me that this was her first fish ever caught on dry fly. This was the perfect way to welcome Caitlin to South Africa seeing that she just landed the previous day after a 32 hour flight from San Francisco.

Soon after the first success, the sun was on the water and a head  wind came down the valley which complicated things a bit. For the rest of the day I told Caitlin that it was really important to stay as low as possible and to limit the false casts to avoid leader shine which would potentially spook the fish. We slowly made our way up the river casting to the odd one or two fish in the faster pocket water. After hooking into a couple of smaller fish in the pocket water we decided that it was the perfect time to have lunch, as the setting was absolutely spectacular at that moment.

While sitting next to the river having lunch, I spotted a decent size fish feeding upstream from where we were. I kept a close eye on the fish while Caitlin was enjoying her glass of chilled wine. I never regret the extra little treats that I carry for my guests! Regaining our focus we were soon back in the river making our way to the feeding fish. The wind picked up even more which made it really difficult to turn over the leader to present the fly. After a couple of casts the fish noticed something strange and shot away under a big boulder.

For the rest of the day we focused on the faster and deeper flowing water where we could see most of the fish hanging. I could clearly see that they weren’t actively feeding, mainly to try and save their energy. We decided to call it a day.

Making our way back on the path higher up next to the river we reflected on the day and it’s happenings. This was when Caitlin told me that it has been a truly memorable day for her since she never even thought about the possibility of trout fishing in South Africa before. Even though we didn’t catch as much fish as we had hoped for, the day was a huge success.

A new friendship has been established between inhabitants of different continents.