Vaal River Update

[bassbug]

WalkersKiller, 2 words: "that's why we forum"

[WalkersKiller]

WalkersKiller, 2 words: "that's why we forum"

I agree bru!

[LGF]

We get bigger fish on the forum than at the water too

[WalkersKiller]

We get bigger fish on the forum than at the water too

Haha thats true!

[bassbug]

this past sunday i did an afternoon fly session at strydom's. flows were about 25 with good clarity. started with nymphing "on the go" from gauteng to the free state, took about an hour and in that time a mixed bag of small carp, barble, muddies and a single moggel (nice). once the free state bank was reached i tried to land some hefty carps, the hook ups were pretty easy but the pure brute pulling power left me building new rigs everytime. after licking my wounds i turned towards gauteng and noticed a few tell signs of rising fish. changed to dry fly faster than one can click fingers and baam, no, kaboom, i was into fish faster than i could release them .
flies that did the deed from the start was the #16 black adams with #20 black ant on the dropper (about 30cm away)

[WalkersKiller]

Thats awesome!

Went to Vaal Hackle this weekend, didnt have much luck, foul hooked some muddies and a mate of mine got an 11kg Barbel on a PTN.

[bassbug]

sorry you didnt have such a great day WK, next time boet.
forgot to mention, some yellows passed some milk onto me, yaks! didnt see any mommies but signs of another spawn coming

[WalkersKiller]

Ag it happens...

Thats very interesting...

[bassbug]

Not a updated but a prediction for tomorrow

[WalkersKiller]

Let us know how it goes!

[bassbug]

main plan was to introduce a new bud to the vaal, though he has some flying experience, has nothing on the vaal hunt. silversteams was the obvious choice, easy wading for the yellow newbie. upon arrival, a quick glace at the water, plus minus 20 cubes, viz not the best about 35, few splash rises, some dudes fishing the last pool in front of venue gave us tell tail of muddies about. set the rods, and damn, this new guy has good taste in rods, sage one 9 ft #5, immediately though i'd have a hard time doing a rescue if need came, help the guy or his rod 
on the water, i quickly corrected his casting technique and soon after that we were fishing seriously. found the san juan fly doing the damage, landing a couple of fish pretty early. the newbie got bust by something huge, you know that "hit and run" incident, so fast that the tippet has no change but to scream BUSTED. average size were around 800 to 1,2 kilo, and between us we landed a half dozen fish. with other commitments he had to leave the water at noon and i continued to fish. changed over to dry and dopper (ant), worked a sweat maybe several looking for any takers before changing to a mono rig and keeing the ant on the point, landed a few more smalls ones from here and there, the dissapointing thing was watching hundreds of fish flashing their flankes everywhere and not hooking them, so fustrating at times i tell you, blood boiling the sun not helping when i bumped into Colin. Colin is that guy i wrote about a while back, caught that massive largie at the cascades. he first called me by joe, i said "huh, not george or louis but rui!" he laughed and said at least he has a name to add to the saved number on his cell, .
Colin's choice of fly was the pink ptn, i had no such fly in my box but a single pink beaded caddis larvae initation. removed the tired ant at the point and replaced it with the pinky. a few more casts later, found my self upstream of a fallen willow tree. casting just above it and allowing most of the leader to swing under the tree, i was picking up a few enquiries, now armed with "the quick set arm" i cast again, tap, set that hook so fast and so hard and side pressure on the red limiter and.... SNAP  , realised a should of changed to heavier leader for such fishing, next time fish, play nicely and i want my pink beaded caddis back
now about 3 something in the afternoon and hydration setting in, i decided to walk over to the now very hot bakkie and head home.
not the greatest day fishing but i'll bank it.

[WalkersKiller]

  very nice report!

[Monster]

Hi, Gents.

Where is a nice place to camp for the family and a good place to fish for me?

[WalkersKiller]

Silwerstroom and Geelvis Paradys are probably the best options for family camping...

There are cheap chalets at Vaal Hackle though.

[Monster]

Thank you!!

[WalkersKiller]

 

[deepblu]

hi guys see thiss page abit quiet . hows things looking on vaal man wish i could get on the water before rains come and pollution gets into river with all the rains . any spot close to jhb i dont enjoy silver stroom anymore last time i was there the venue next doo played louded musics guys came over the fence from that side drunk and stole things from campers 

[Rustytrombone]

deepblu. Vaal is fishing very good at this stage. Venues away toward Parys seems to be cleaner than towards Joburg. I think the rain will be a good thing as it will motivate the fish to spawn and it will clear out all the current crap that has been stagnant in the river up to this point. I would get on the river but it is a personal choice. I hear of oakes getting sick but I have personally never had any issues. I just refrain from putting the rod in my mouth when taking photos.