ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
FRESHWATER ANGLING => Fly fishing => Topic started by: super_daav on March 10, 2012, 08:43:32 AM
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Morning All,
Thought I would let you in on where I am off to 1st weekend of April:
http://pongolarivercompany.co.za/ (http://pongolarivercompany.co.za/)
Heard some great things about this place and I am sure it will live up to expectations!!
Going to start ying up some clousers (Black over orange, black over red, black over off white, olive over off white) in size #2 & #4 plus some small brush flies.
Tough times...
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:tite and we expect a full report.
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Looks lekker , enjoy !!!
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The Report
My old man (“G” as he is known), the Mrs and I decided to do a little tiger fishing on the Pongola River below the Jozini wall. A little info on the river. The camp is based in the Pongola River floodplain which means a constant flow of clean water from the dam, so fishing is good throughout the year. The camp is closed for 3 weeks during the artificial flooding every year which is around October / November. The equivalent of Midmar dam is released in this period!!! The river flows at around 10 cumecs. The river has 42 different species of fish as well as exceptional birding!
Wow what an experience! We met our guide, cook, entertainer and all round great chap, Menzi at the KFC in Jozini on Thursday 29/03 at around 18:00. From there we drove roughly 18km down into the Valley below.
The camp is simple but effective. Camping dome tents with stretchers, mess tent and big fire area are the order of the day. Rigging of rods commenced as we got organised for our first morning’s fishing. Currently only fly fishing is implemented in their camp. We had brought 5 & 6 wt rods with fast sinking lines (Type 5s) and GAZILLIONS of flies (I hate collecting fishing tackle!)!
First morning short car trip up river from Camp to a serious pool. The pool has great structure and looks very deep (>5m?). Water is clear, clean with a light green colour tint. We fished off inflatable crocs. Menzi was guiding the Mrs, while G and I had a paddler each. We started with darker clousers and moved towards lighter (Black over orange) as the morning progressed, targeting all the structure, holes, eddies etc. Fishing was hard, the wind didn’t help with throwing heavier flies on lighter rods but we managed a couple of rats and mice here and there.
The Mrs set the standard mid-morning with a larger specimen committing suicide. She has developed into a good caster and fisherwoman these days! Gonna be some serious competition on the trout dams this winter!
Back to Camp for a hearty breakfast cooked by our guide, come cook, come host. A dip into the river (very shallow sandbank!), a siesta and then back onto the water at the main pool again. Similar story as the morning just reversed the order of flies.
A scrumptious dinner was served up with a couple of rum & cokes plus a couple of brannewyntjies for the Mrs and then off to bed.
Day 2 revealed some heavy cloud cover and cooler morning. Today we headed around 15km downstream, pumped up the rafts and onto the water. The plan was fish around 25 km of the river for the full day and work some fantastic pools. 30 seconds later the rain started! And boy did it unleash. 5 minutes later we were soaked through our rain jackets (Not so water proof any more unfortunately!). The water dirtied and cleaned up very quickly but the dirtier water seemed to help the fishing! Darker flies thrown into all likely looking spots started yielding fish. Nothing big but fantastic fun!
Around 10:30 we decided to get off the water as everyone was frozen and wet (I didn’t hear one word of complaint from the MRs who was soaked and frozen! Super proud of her!) but our driver was unavailable (morning siesta!?!). So we soldier on and arrived a fantastic pool around 11:15 ish. The pool starts with a fanatic drop off into deep water. The left side of the pool is steep cliffs and the right a big sand bank. We had some good success letting flies go over the drop and then as they started to swing in the current ON!
Menzi in the meantime unpacked breakfast / brunch which were hamburgers and they disappeared into hungry mouths like home sick moles! Contact had been made with our driver so while he waited Menzi and I edged out in the croc and anchored ourselves along the cliff in some deep water. The colour was a lot more muddy / dirty so I changed to a black and copper tigger fly. Not more than 5 minutes and ON! But this was not like the rest. Heavy, fast and very strong! My 5wt was buckling under the pressure. A boil / half heart jump downstream revealed a massive head! The nerves started screaming!
Menzi paddled me back to the bank and the fight was on! About 10 minutes later and we had “Her” in the net!! Epic fish of 10lbs!! Some quick photos, a good reviving and off she swam back into the deep recess of the river. That was our trip made!!
That afternoon we paddle a couple of Indian canoes up river for a couple of kms to go look for the Pels Fishing Owls. We managed to find an adult and sub-adult. What a sighting! Never seen this species before, so we were super excited! We then drifted back down river fishing, punching a few rapids (Awesome fun!) and just taking it all in. A couple of sundowners, delicious dinner and the end to a magical day.
Sunday morning was our last day and session, so we drove back up to the main pool and paddled 3 km up river. Tough work paddling a croc against the current but the chaps did superbly! We fished a great looking pool with a great drop off and some fantastic structure. We managed a good couple of tiddlers, watched as another 7lbs plus fish screamed after my fly but no conversion and just had a blast.
Then it was back to camp and homeward bound to Durbs. We had an awesome weekend fishing on superb river! Menzi is truly a unique person and makes that entire place HUM! It was an honour and pleasure to fish with him. He has a superb sense of humour, cooks a mean meal and pretty much can do anything! Chuck Norris has some competition!
This camp is worth a visit and we are already planning our return. Their website is www.pongolarivercompany.co.za (http://www.pongolarivercompany.co.za/) for those interest. Check out the gallery section for some amazing fish! A good number of plus 4.5kg (10lb) fish have come out of the river making your chance of getting a big one fairly good!!!
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Looks an amazing place and adventure :+ cred: for a wicked report with some :clfoto: .
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Nice trip report and photos. The river is beautiful in that area. Have fished it in 1972-78 often. Lots of big barbel also and in some holes big kurper.
Lovely fish you caught.
Tight Lines
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Super report, the place looks excellent, well done on the 10 pounder. The Pels fishing Owl is a serious tick in anybody's book, fantastic stuff. :win:
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Nice report !!!! (clap) (clap) (clap) :clfoto:
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Awesome Report :+ cred:
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Thanks Gents.
Rory, that bird was awesome to see! Having been hoping to view 1 for a long time now.
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Great report (clap) and :cgrts: on the big one.
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Very Nice
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Eish... The kinda thing dreams are made of!
Well done for the effort... Awesome report! :+ cred:
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Brilliant report. :+ cred: Thank you.
A small group of us have been trying to organise a trip there for a while, but time seems to be eluding us.
Did you get the 10 lb'r on the 5# ? If so, VERY VERY WELL DONE. :happ:
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A small group of us have been trying to organise a trip there for a while, but time seems to be eluding us.
Herman - I am planning to go with some mates sometime - and am deciding when is the best time.
Mark (who runs the place) says: "Mid Winter is usually slow fishing and Late Sept/Nov has a week or two where conditions are not good due to the Dam Release and flooding of the Pans. The Dept of Water affairs normally gives us a clear indication when this is planned. Prime Time is,as you will know also weather related, but Dec - through May is good,as is Sept to the flooding ( winds are prevalent at this time ) Mid Summer is very hot so for couples I recommend March April May."
What do you think is the best time?.
Mark also says: "We are a fly only destination but do have sections of river where we allow spinning with suitable (barbless, non trebble, hooks). There are often shoals of very big carp around but to date no one has targeted them on fly or bait. Whoever cracks this code is in for some dramatic river fishing. Barbel and bream are occasionally caught by flyfishermen using tiger flys. I have caught well on Yellowfish flies and once again , if you are prepared to leave the Tigers there is an array of other species available. The Pongola has the largest species diversity of any river in South Africa - some 35 species of fish have been recorded in our area and up to 50 species in total in the river and Pans. Pan fishing is a still to be explored fishing experience"
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Thanks for that Ziggy.
We were looking at May, but work pressure blows that one out of the water.
Maybe the trick is to set a date "in stone" for April/May next year, and the go the whole hog.
I have noticed when organising other trips that this is the best route. Date first, booked and confirmed. Those who wish to join have to pay their deposits on time, or you are out, as is the case with the final payment, not on time you loose your deposit.
There are far too many variables in day to day living. Put the cash in up front and most people will make the effort to be there. w;k
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Herman, I did get that fish on my 5wt. Awesome fight and even better that she swam off strongly!
Ziggy, I haven't heard of or met a Mark as I dealt with Peter Calverly and Menzi. Menzi mentioned that winter fishing is definitely tougher due to water clarity and the temp. but generally the bigger fish are around. But that said summer is generally always good for tigers! I would anywhere from Dec to June is probably good fishing?
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Mark's surname is also Calverly - must be brothers???
My experience on the Zambezi is that end of October (just before the rain and the hottest time of year) has always been the best time for good tiger fishing.
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Ahh thanks Ziggy. He is probably the father of Peter. Fair point on the time of year. I have also had great fishing in later September on the Zambezi.
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I have also had great fishing in later September on the Zambezi.
I am planning for a trip to the Zambezi in October - but my mates are a bit reluctant because it has become so expensive - fuel to middle Zambezi is now about R5800 return to Durban - plus the daily camp site fee of $100, and daily fishing fee of $20 per person. Thats why I am considering the Pongola. However, nothing compares to the Zambezi in terms of catch rates, size and, of course, remoteness and quality of wilderness etc.
But, I suppose, you take what you can afford....and its only about 4 hours drive away from Durban as opposed to 22 hours non-stop to the Zambezi! I will try it, but will miss catching Zambezi species such as Chessa, Nkupe, Bottlenose, Vundu, Cornish Jack and the huge abundance of bream! Not to mention avoiding hippos trying to attack my canoe, being chased by elephants, stalked by lions etc etc
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Superb Dave!!!!