I went to the Underberg Himeville Trout Fishing Club this weekend - me and my buddy arrived latish on Saturday morning and by 11.30 our wives dropped us off at one of the club dams.
As soon as we got on the water, the wind began to gust so horribly that we could not keep the boat anchored. However, we caught one fish each of about 800g in the fist two hours....and then nothing more seemed to be happenning. So, by about 3.30 we decided to call it a day and phoned the wives to come and fetch us (which would take about 40 minutes..they were doing girl things in Underberg).
Well, by the time they arrived, I had caught another 5 in quick succession - and my buddy another one. The wives were now waiting patiently on the bank for us to come in, but we kind of ignored them while I caught another 3 fish! The crunch came when one of the wives shouted "well, if you not coming in - we are going!" and then they drove off....this made us quickly pack up and get to shore....by which time the wives returned ...smirking because we had not been disciplined into obedience! By the way, all the fish were more or less between 600 - 900g. They were all incredibly feisty and strong.
At the AGM, it was reported that 16 club anglers had caught a total of 235 fish that day! The anglers I spoke to said that the most activity was mid afternoon - just as we had experienced.
The next morning from about 9 to 11.30 we fished Giants Cup (where we had stayed the night after the AGM). I caught 3 and my buddy 2 - all between about 900g to to 1200g. We only stopped fishing - (we were already on our 8th last cast - you know what I mean) - because the wives shouted from the shore demanding that we come in for brunch and to pack up and leave for home. To avoid the fish wife "hand on the hips" poses and the "cold tongue" problem of the day before, we immediately returned to shore...
So lessons learned this weekend?
1. Fishing conditions can change suddenly from what seems like a blankish day to one where the fish seemed to be queuing up to be hooked
2. Wives are very powerful fishing deterrents that can affect your catch rate dramatically!
