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A fly angler casting in a misty river with a drift boat beside him

Fishing · Fly

Quiet water, small flies.

Trout in the Midlands stillwaters and the Berg streams. Rods, lines and flies, including the ones we tie ourselves.

Where

An hour or two from the counter.

The KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and the Drakensberg foothills hold trout in their dams and streams. Stillwater fishing from the bank or a float tube, and small-stream fishing further up, where the casts are short and the fish spook easily.

Drakensberg foothills in late light, with the escarpment behind
The BergFoothills in the evening.
A fly box of dry flies and nymphs, close up
Rochester ties its own, and keeps the local standards.

Flies

From Woolly Buggers to Mrs Simpson’s.

Rochester ties its own selection of flies, and keeps the standards the local waters are known for. If you tie your own, the materials are on the wall: hackle, dubbing, chenille, marabou, beads and hooks.

Flies and fly tying
A fly rod, reel and fly box resting on a rock
Rod, reel, box. Balanced to each other.
A fly line unrolling in a tight loop over a dark river

It’s the line you cast, not the fly.

Match the line weight to the rod and the water. Floating for most stillwater and stream fishing, intermediate or sinking when the fish are down.

Kit

What we’ll put together.

  • RodA fly rod matched to the water, from small-stream rods to stillwater rods.
  • Reel and lineBalanced to the rod.
  • FliesShop-tied and bought in.
  • Float tubeSnowbee float tubes, or Rochester’s own Waterbug kick boat.
  • ClothingWaders, a hat, and polarised glasses to see the fish.
A brown trout in a landing net

Tell us which water.

Stillwater or stream, bank or float tube, and what you’re casting now. We’ll match the rod, the line and the flies.