Redfins

[David Taylor]

I do a lot of fly fishing and I have come to the conclusion that redfins can provide some awesome fishing. I use a 7ft9 3wt fly rod only because I haven't yet got myself a 000wt.
One of the few appeals of redfin fishing is the species challenge. So far I have caught: Breede river redfins, Clanwilliam redfins, Fiery redfins and whichever redfin you get in the keurbooms river. Anyway In case anyone is interested this is a breakdown of fishing for them should you want to.



You have to find a stream that has redfins in it. This usually means that it hasn't got bass or trout in it and it is usually a high ultitude small stream. There are some brilliant rivers in the Cederberg area. The best part of fishing the cederberg smallstreams is that you often pick up clanwilliam yellows and sawfins at the same time which can be great fun on a #18 nymph and 8x tippet.


Redfins are not spooky. You can wade into the middle of a pool or run and 5 minutes later you can catch them literally at your feet. I find that sight fishing to them is the most effective way to catch them Their takes are too small to catch them by normal nymphing techniques. You want to be able to see your nymph and the fish. Orange beads kill two birds with one stone. Redfins and the clanwilliam yellows and sawfins are complete suckers for orange beads. At the same time a 2,5mm orange bead is very easy to see. My favourite fly for redfins has to be a #18 pheasant tail nymph with a 2mm orange bead and some UV dubbing behind the bead.


Another way to catch them which is perhaps more fun is with traditional upstream dry fly. Don't bother with #18 F-flies. I have taken Clanwilliam Redfins on a #10 para-RAB. The most effective for me has been a #16 traditional elk hair caddis with a light wing. The hackle must be sparse and the body is just thread. This is a great way of taking redfins and yellows alike.


One last tip: If you are fishing a stream which has Cape Kurper (Sandelia capensis) as well as redfins in it don't expect to catch redfins. If you are persistant you will catch one redfin for every 80 - 90 kurper you catch :)

[Lichia amia]

Nice 1st post 

[Debbie]

   great post

[SAfish]

x 3  You say you get them in the Keurbooms river. How far upstream is this?

[WalkersKiller]

Superb post! 

[Charles]

  Thanks for the great post David!

[Homie]

  David !

Great 1st post !!!!
 

PS - are these found up in Gauteng ?

[WalkersKiller]

No Redfins in GP Homes, they are restricted to the highlands of the WC and EC, we get a few Barb species in Gauteng, but you need to find a pristine river to locate them.

[kaptein delarey]

Very nice post.

Do you think that small artlure plastics, like Sada curly tails would work for redfins? You get them in a red/orange colour, so sure they would work.

Wouldn't mind catching 80 - 90 Cape kurper a day, either.

Just have to add these two species to my list when I next head down in that direction.

Cheers

[David Taylor]

x 3  You say you get them in the Keurbooms river. How far upstream is this?

Actually it is in a trib of the keurbooms called the kwaai. Up at outenique trout lodge.

[David Taylor]

Very nice post.

Do you think that small artlure plastics, like Sada curly tails would work for redfins? You get them in a red/orange colour, so sure they would work.

Wouldn't mind catching 80 - 90 Cape kurper a day, either.

Just have to add these two species to my list when I next head down in that direction.

Cheers

They should work. Redfins are not picky. The tricky part is hooking them due to their size. If you want to catch Cape Kurper come to Greyton and fish the Gobos river. There are also breede river redfins in there but due to the sheer numbers of kurper you get 1 for every 30 kurper you catch. I went to practise french nymphing there before the last Youth Protea trials and I fished for 3 hours and got 90 fish (counted). It can get boring...


But if you are interested you are welcome to come just drop me a PM and I will show you where they are. By the way they only seem to come out in summer.

[kaptein delarey]

Hi David,

I'm no fly fisher, but have you tried micro flies? Should make hooking up easier.

Check these websites:

http://smallflyfunk.blogspot.com/

and

http://tyingandfishingtinyflies.blogspot.com/

These guys go really small and tie down to #32 hooks, maybe a fly in the #22 - #26 will work.

Don't travel down to the Cape very often, but if I do I will give you a shout about fishing spots down there.

Thanks
Werner

[David Taylor]

Hi David,

I'm no fly fisher, but have you tried micro flies? Should make hooking up easier.

Check these websites:

http://smallflyfunk.blogspot.com/

and

http://tyingandfishingtinyflies.blogspot.com/

These guys go really small and tie down to #32 hooks, maybe a fly in the #22 - #26 will work.

Don't travel down to the Cape very often, but if I do I will give you a shout about fishing spots down there.

Thanks
Werner

I don't use micro flies for one simple reason: Most of our redfins are endangered. They are quite aggressive and so they quite easily fit a #18 into their mouths. It isn't even a problem to catch them on #16 flies. Because of the way they take flies if you start going down to #22 or smaller you are going to gill hook plenty of fish. I can't justify doing that for the sake of catching only a few more than I would with a #18. I fish flies tied on hooks manufactured barbless, but because of the size of the fish if it is gill hooked it makes little difference. It is for that reason that I will quite happily fish a #20 for trout but not for redfins. I also noticed that the redfins are more interested in the slightly bigger flies. They whole method I use for them is based around aggravation and inquisitiveness. That is the reason for the shiny/colourful bead or some flash ribbing. A larger fly just attracts them better.


The main problem with hooking them is not the fact that the fly is too big for their mouths. It is because of the speed of the takes, the difficulty in strike detection and lack of mass of the fish. 

[kaptein delarey]

Very good point, I didn't even think of that.

A lot of the small species can get quite aggravated. I've caught vlei kurper on small cranks and hard plastic jerk baits before - they go crazy if their eggs or fry are in around and take out anything close by.

Cheers