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  1. #21
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Quote Originally Posted by Antlion View Post
    Is fly fishing worth giving a go? I mainly spin for whatever I need to catch ,mainly being bass. Is it as expensive as it seems? What sort of equipment is needed for bass, yellows? Can one be a "budget" fly fisherman?
    Fly fishing is extremely rewarding! You can get away on a budget setup for inland waters.

    You are welcome to join me on my next session on the vaal river, I have kit and flies you can use.

  2. #22
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    I love fishing.

    I LOVE flyfishing.

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE AND ADORE SPEARFISHING.

    Take Ridwaan87 up on his very thoughtful and generous offer. Learning from someone else who knows what they are doing can teach you more in hours than you will learn in months by yourself.

    As noted by others, fyfishing can be addictive and expensive in the end, but very rewarding and for some reason is very relaxing although you are constantly casting and retrieving flies.

    I do not necessarily find it more effective across the board than other types of fishing, but in some circumstances and depending on the fish being targeted, it can be.

    I have flyfished all over the Drakensburg, a little on the Vaal near the barage, and a lot in Sterkfontein dam. I prefer rivers, but still waters can also be great fun and you will definitely get bigger trout in still water than in the rivers, but the ones caught from the rivers taste better.

    Salt water flyfishing is very exciting, but you need to learn the double haul as it is normally windy on the coast. I had never tried salt water flyfishing until landing in Aus. I am hooked!

    It is absolutely worth trying it out.

  3. #23
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Antlion. I bought my first rod when I was in high school. Only money for one rod. So had to use it for pap fishing, spinning and whatever else. I bought a rod that was more suited for spinning. Work well with pap fishing, not so well for fly fishing. I could throw flys only halfway the the other guys did, (with standard gut) in dams. In rivers I just let the stream take it down to where I want it. Throwing a fly with a non fly rod is like trying to fish with a broom handle. It did not matter to me, as I was at the water and fishing. Today rods and reels are cheap and freely available. Buy a cheap 2nd rod and reel and try it out to see if you like it. if not make a wallhanger off it

  4. #24
    Member Andrew Leigh's Avatar
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    Aug 2011
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    Gansbaai - Western Cape
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    One year I tasked my Sales Director to do something different for our Exco bosberaad. He did, I listened.

    I bought each of the directors a 5/6 weight rod, reel, sinking and floating line. Flies, fly boxes, vest, landing net, the whole damn shooting match. Not everyone was as enthused but I loved it. Caught a 1.1kg small mouth yellow in fast flowing rapids. Wow, exhilarating.
    One too many wasted sunsets and one too many for the road .........

  5. #25
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    There are very few exciting fishing moments that can compete with a yellow taking a fly in the rapids.
    Sport fish of note.

    Yellows and Bass in Summer and Trout in Winter. Wavies in the surf on holiday. Great fun. I guess this is why I have a #3 , a few #5's a #7 and #9

  6. #26
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Quote Originally Posted by shark_za View Post
    Yellows and Bass in Summer and Trout in Winter. Wavies in the surf on holiday. Great fun. I guess this is why I have a #3 , a few #5's a #7 and #9
    You forgot tigers on the Zambezi in winter ;)


    Sent from my FIG-LA1 using Tapatalk

  7. #27
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Quote Originally Posted by shark_za View Post
    There are very few exciting fishing moments that can compete with a yellow taking a fly in the rapids.
    Sport fish of note.
    How strong are the fishing line you guys use for that?

  8. #28
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Quote Originally Posted by Messor View Post
    How strong are the fishing line you guys use for that?
    That's part of where the balancing act comes in. Thinner tippet is better, so the fish can't see it. But thinner is weaker. So you could fish too thin/light and lose fish due to break offs. Or fish too thick/heavy and not get bites. Some of the flies used are really tiny.

    Tippet that I use is generally around 4kgs or less (7-9lb). You need to play the fish so that the line doesn't break. Sometimes, if the fish goes down the rapids, he'll pull you into your backing, and you'll have to follow it down to not lose it.

    Sent from my FIG-LA1 using Tapatalk

  9. #29
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    Quote Originally Posted by Keepleft View Post
    That's part of where the balancing act comes in. Thinner tippet is better, so the fish can't see it. But thinner is weaker. So you could fish too thin/light and lose fish due to break offs. Or fish too thick/heavy and not get bites. Some of the flies used are really tiny.

    Tippet that I use is generally around 4kgs or less (7-9lb). You need to play the fish so that the line doesn't break. Sometimes, if the fish goes down the rapids, he'll pull you into your backing, and you'll have to follow it down to not lose it.
    Cool, was wondering, seen some folk with such a strong setup they can pull fish out with no fight needed.
    I don't fly but my yellow fish setup is uber light, nothing beats a fight with a yellow in a fast flowing river, glad your rig demands a good fight. O and river carp, dunno about the vaal but the orange is generally a faster flowing river, carp behave totally different in such a river they have much more endurance.

    Do you fly guys target carp often?

  10. #30
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    Default Re: Fly fishing, worth trying out?

    There are different approaches that guys take. This is also relevant to the OP and could inform the gear he looks at.

    Some prefer to use heavy gear to make sure that they do not miss out on the big, trophy size fish, due to equipment failure. Their target would be large fish, with the compromise of hooking potentially less fish. But whatever you hook, you will most likely land.

    Using light line will improve your chances of hook-ups, but with an increased risk of breaking off on bigger fish. Using a light rod increases the risk of breaking the rod if you play the fish too hard. Lighter gear typically requires more skill, especially to land bigger fish. It is still definitely possible to land big fish on light gear, and it’s a lot of fun, but it requires some skill and patience. On light gear, middle of the range size fish offer good fights, but you might lose a big one.

    It boils down to what you want to get out of the experience. But I also think it comes with maturity and experience. Most guys start on heavy gear to make sure that they land whatever they hook. I took this approach when kitting up for a trip to target tigers on the Zambezi. Landed a 4.8kg tiger without pushing the kit. On another tiger trip on the Luvhuvu river, expecting to find much smaller tigers in general, I landed a 4.5kg tiger on a medium spinning rod with 10lb line. I hooked a <1kg tiger on the big rig and barely even realised I had a bite. I caught the same size on a light spinning rod while targeting bream and it gave an awesome fight on that gear.

    So like I say, it depends on your objectives. I am more keen to catch more fish on lighter gear, and get more species on fly. My goals for my big trips are generally 3 species, not size related. To be honest, I don’t even have a fish scale. It’s not about size for me. My first bass on fly was less than 30cm, but man I was chuffed.

    Regarding carp, yes, some guys do target them specifically on fly. There are also guides that tend to do particularly well as specialists in carp/barbell/large mouth yellows. I have not landed a carp on fly yet, but it’s on my wishlist. As well as a tiger on fly.

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