Author Topic: Millstream: May Fly Fishing Report – Tough But Rewarding! (Read 10315 times)

WalkersKiller · « **on:** May 06, 2013, 02:12:15 PM »

Before I set out on this trip, I made a few goals I wanted to reach or break. 117 fish during the time staying on the farm was the current record for an angler and after a few beers the night before I set off I reckoned I could do this. But I came down to the 40 mark, only a few people have caught 40 or more fish at Millstream during their stay. I wanted to get my pb (Which stands at 2.4kgs) and I wanted to get a Brown trout of 1kg...

Day 1

I arrived at the farm at check in time, 2pm on a Wednesday, keen for some fly fishing action. I quickly set up my Sage 5 weight and set off. My first destination was Wordsworth, which had not been fishable for sometime, so I was looking forward to having a few casts in this beautiful Stillwater. NOTHING! The fish were fairly active, as there was a mid afternoon hatch going on, but were reluctant to take fly. I then headed to the weirs and eventually was rewarded with 2 smallish Rainbow Trout hens, both taken on a size 8 Pancora Woolly Bugger. And that summed up my 2 and a half hour session, looks like Millstream is going to be tough fishing over the next few days.

Day 2

10 fish today! Was an extremely tough day of fly fishing, one of the toughest ever! It started at 5am and as it was still dark I kitted up and headed off slowly to the dam I had decided to fish, passed the many Hares and a lone Duiker, and started fishing in the dark. The early hours didn’t produce anything, except a solitary inquiry, I had to wait until 9.30am to get my first fish and then they came pretty quickly after that. I managed six fish all under the half-a-kilo mark and then I decided to fish the shallows of Lake Coleridge, it was adrenaline pumping stuff. Scouting the fish from the shallow part of the lake I saw some big fish sitting in the shallows, after 30 minutes of 1-3 kilogram Rainbows chasing me down I finally hooked one, about the 1 kilogram mark, this fish was fairly sluggish. The next cast I hooked a second fish (Cock) and this one fought me like his life depended on it, and that few minutes of amazing action was the best part of the trip so far!

Day 3

I thought yesterday was bad... I would of taken those fishing sessions over the 9 hours of fishing accumulated today all over the farm... But I was rewarded, and on days like these the rewards are great! 5 fish in total for the day, the biggest was 700 grams at Lake Tintern, on a Olive Woolly Bugger. The 5 fish I caught came on 3 bodies of water on 4 different Woolly Bugger variations, this fly is magic, I fished every method and every fly known to humankind today and all fish were caught on sinking line with a beaded woolly bugger, once again proving this way of fishing is really effective. Right now, on Stillwater systems, the only flies I will use are small flashback and GRHE nymphs and different coloured woolly buggers, in my opinion (On any given day), these flies will outfish dry flies and other wet flies like the Walkers Killer and Red Eyed Damsel. Interesting fact I found out today. I spoke to David Mathebula (One of the best Fly Fisherman in South Africa) and he informed me that the fish are currently going through a transitional period of about 2 weeks where they get ready for spawning. So their natural habits change completely over this period which is a good explanation for the tough fishing. In Stillwater systems (With no access to flowing streams) Trout still attempt to spawn by congregating in the shallow areas close to an inlet or outlet, and this last until mid August. The spawning season kicks off in the Stillwater systems from the middle of May. This will prove to make my quest very tough over the next few days.

Day 4

Woke up just after sunrise and decided to fish the weirs... Another tough days fishing, throughout the day I managed 5 fish in the weirs, all about the 400 gram mark. The best part of today was when I visited one of the 2 trophy dams on the farm, Lake Crystabel. An extremely long leader and a size 14 Black Woolly Bugger was my setup and it worked amazingly well. My first hook up was adrenaline pumping stuff, but I lost hope when this fish swam into a dense weedbed, I eventually got untangled from the heavy weed and to my delight the fish was still there! It was a beaut, a 1.7 kilogram rainbow hen, I was stoked. About an hour later I hooked into another fish, this one was 1.1 kilograms and after the previous fish, this hen came to the bank quit quickly, a great day, even though only 7 fish were added to my tally.

Crystabel

1.7kg

Day 5

After my previous days success at Crystabel, I woke up at 5am and headed to the trophy dam once more. There was a strong wind blowing and the temperature hovered between -3 and 0 until sunrise, it was freezing... But fishing in these temperatures paid off, on the same setup as the previous day I caught my second biggest Rainbow Trout, a hen of 1.9 kilograms, it was the most amazing feeling, a quick photo on the bank and she was successfully revived and released. As it got to the point of being impossible to cast I hooked into another fish! This time a 1.3 kilogram hen, what an awesome trip this had turned out to be! I caught another 5 fish throughout the day between 300 and 800 grams.

1.9kg

1.3kg

None of the goals i had set had been reached, but I got very close and it was a great experience, in the end I finished on 31 Trout, with 6 over a kilogram and the biggest being 1.9 kilograms, brilliant! The flies that worked the best and caught the most fish were all woolly buggers: black, orange, black & red and olive.

Cant wait to fly fish again!
WK

Wynand13 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:36:02 PM »

Hi WK

Thanks for the report. And don`t get me wrong for the comment below. I mean it positively!
There is a great article in the May edition of TCFF (the one on last page, at the back), that got me thinking, especially about chasing numbers. Reading the full report its clear, in the end that you had a great time and appreciated the opportunity you got. I have personally found that I am sometimes disappointed if I go to a venue and return without setting a record or reaching a goal.. By doing that I am missing the great opportunity I had to go out and be able to fish. I hope to go there one day as it looks great, and congrats on the fish you caught, have a thought for those who had to work those days...

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #2 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:39:43 PM »

Hmmm very interesting, I must admit I thought a lot about the "goals" I set during the trip and I started to care less and less about them, I think one should definitely enjoy fishing more in that respect and I will think a lot into this!

Charles · « **Reply #3 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:45:53 PM »

Great report WK! You obviously have some "unfished" business to settle. Thanks for sharing!

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2013, 02:47:26 PM »

its always like that Charles, one can never win! Thanks!

John F · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:06:56 PM »

Welcome back WK! Back with a bang I see!

Well done on some great fishing and nice pics!

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:28:22 PM »

thanks Marcos!

gavin erwin · « **Reply #7 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:38:38 PM »

Fantastic report WK wish I was there wetting a fly!!!

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #8 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:45:07 PM »

Shot Gav

Kumz · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:46:01 PM »

Super WK.. TFS....

rockspider · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2013, 05:30:52 PM »

good report WK, always enjoy your Millstream reports. You are certainly more successful than a lot of us:)

jock0 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2013, 07:06:26 PM »

Decent fish, just be careful of the putting them on the grass/dirt especially the ones from the catch and release trophy dam. Trout die if you look at them funny regardless of how we'll they seem to swim away.

A decent tactic is to fish suspended nymphs below a large dry or strike indicator when they're hanging out in the shallows. Way better than egg patterns or orange blobs.

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #12 on:** May 07, 2013, 08:05:15 AM »

I am aware of that Jock0 it was early morning and the grass was wet from the frost with the fish from Crystabel, and the grass on the fish was from the net, it was on the moist grass for a few seconds just to get the photo as I really wanted to get a pic of it and if I tried to hold it towards the camera I am sure it would of fallen out of my hands and either hit the rocks in the shallows and side of the bank or dissapeared and flopped belly up somewhere in the dam, I am very careful handling Trout.

I used to love fishing small flashback nymphs under a big humpy or hopper on windy days, but for me, woolly buggers are the way forward! I will only fish nymphs or dry flies in river systems after the success I have had with the woolly buggers.

gavin erwin · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2013, 08:34:40 AM »

Yip the good old Woolly Bugger never fails in still water. You just need to find the rite colour and speed of the retrieve for that time of year. I sometimes find a really fast retrieve will get the reaction bite ( the fish will take it out of aggression and not for food)

Rory · « **Reply #14 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:26:00 PM »

Super report back Gareth, and some fine fish in the end

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #15 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:27:10 PM »

Thanks Rory!!!

shagnrelease · « **Reply #16 on:** May 07, 2013, 01:42:31 PM »

Good stuff there mate!!

WalkersKiller · « **Reply #17 on:** May 07, 2013, 02:04:07 PM »

Thanks Shag!

Ziggy · « **Reply #18 on:** May 07, 2013, 05:41:38 PM »

Nice one WK - I managed to get 3 10" fish on the Umzimkulu on Sunday - the river was stunning and very wadable (and cold with morning temp 1C) - the water was gin clear - which is not so great for stalking those very alert trout.

Toppie · « **Reply #19 on:** May 07, 2013, 05:56:04 PM »

Nice report and well fished WK.

Do you fillet and fry, or do you smoke the trout?