The Mission Fly Fishing Magazine Issue #32

LIAR LIAR ISSUE 32

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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THEMISSIONFLYMAG.COM

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, TIM BABICH, YUCATAN, ALERT LEVEL: ORANGE, ECHO CHAMBER & THE WORST GUIDE IN THE WORLD

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Going solo. After two straight months rowing for redsides in central Oregon, guide and wild fish activist Jake Dodd finally gets out from behind the oars and into casting position. ARIAN STEVENS © 2022 Patagonia, Inc.

Seize the Day Trip.

When we set out to rethink the fly fishing vest, we didn’t want an update. We wanted a transformation. The Stealth Pack Vest incorporates Patagonia’s latest ultralight, durable, recycled materials with the load-lifting suspension technology of our trail running gear.

The result is a comfortable, fully adjustable, internally stabilized vest with extraordinary carrying capacity. Finally, the humble fishing vest has some bragging rights.

HOW TO ECLIPSE THE SUN WITH A UPF RATING OF 50+ EVEN WHEN WET, PRO SUN SYSTEMS BLOCK 98% OF HARMFUL RAYS 100% OF THE TIME

In real-world flats scenarios, you're just as likely to be in the water as you are standing on a poling platform well above it, so we've built the PRO Sun Systems with the industry's highest UPF 50+ rating to protect against constant sunburn even when wet. On the flats and in the skiff, damp gear also chafes and chafed skin ruins days, so our quick-dry PRO Sun Systems lift moisture out and away from your skin.

Premium gear systems designed around legendary technologies.

Benny Blanco, renowned conservationist, guide, & Orvis ambassador, with his hands on the manual transmission of his client's destiny. Everglades National Park, FL.

Learn more at orvis.com/pro or your nearest Orvis fly shop In South Africa, visit Mavungana Flyfishing

W W W . T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M ISSUE 32 MARCH/APRIL 2022

CONTENTS Cover: ‘Pants on fire’ as Herman Botes’s trousers are abandoned mid-way through a multi-day trek in a remote valley where he, Conrad Botes and Paul Botes were targeting Clanwilliam yellowfish and smallmouth bass (page 42). Photo Paul Botes.

18. ALERT LEVEL: ORANGE Everyone and their auntie became horny for the Orange River over the last few seasons (which is understandable because it’s great), but as Ewan Naude asks, what about the consequences?

24. THE WORST GUIDE IN THE WORLD In an excerpt from Dylan Tomine’s new book, the author (and former guide) weighs in on the worst clients (doctors and Texans), attempting to make a sport’s head explode through telepathy and the “get it stuffed” crowd.

32. THE MOMENTS IN BETWEEN Jeff Tyser and Ben Pellegrini lost themselves on the flats of Chetumal Bay on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Between soothing his brain and cooling his balls, Jeff had an epiphany.

42. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Exploring remote valleys with no paths, no reception and no easy way in or out, three anglers throw caution to the wind, extend the middle finger to the slow rot of age and bundu-bash their way to great fishing.

52.THE CHAMELEON Angler, guide, family man, company man, centre of attention, quiet observer, mentor, matchmaker and dominatrix, FlyCastaway’s head guide Tim Babich is a lot of things to a lot of people.

74. ECHO CHAMBER Tim Rajeff at Echo Fly Fishing sent us a quiver of rods to review.

From the Prime, to the Boost Salt and the Streamer-X, our team of intrepid testers duly put them through their paces.

REGULAR FEATURES 10 Ed’s Letter 14 Chum 22 Booze & Munchies 28 High Fives

66 Salad Bar 72 Pay Day 82 Lifer 86 Pop Quiz

Ben Pellegrini contemplates annexing a mangrove islet on the flats of Chetumal Bay and spending his days catching permit vs returning to Johannesburg at the end of his Mexico trip (page 32). Photo Jeff Tyser.

B AC K I S S U E S ( CA P S A N D N E W T S ) MISSING A COPY? GET YOUR BACK ISSUES OF THE MISSION AND A R A N G E O F N E W L U C K Y C A P S AT T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

WE SHIP WORLDWIDE

Stephan Dombaj Jnr. of Fly Fishing Nation

Photo Paul Botes

Tudor Caradoc-Davies

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PANTS ON FIRE

hat, you might ask, does a pair of pants thrown into a roaring fire at a makeshift campsite in a remote Western Cape valley, have to do with fly fishing? Well, as is custom with our covers, there was something about this shot by Paul Botes from Conrad Botes’s excellent ‘No Country for Old Men’ story that spoke to us.

The pants in question belong to Herman (aka Harry) Botes, Conrad’s older brother. Paul shares a surname but is no relation.

Harry’s pants became shredded after he and Conrad (both 50+), faced with nigh on impenetrable bush in the valley, had a few tween-level fraternal arguments about the best way forward.

He proposes a way forward for principled guide companies and stakeholders to get stuck in. He also brings up the phenomenon of the many alleged “20lb largemouth yellowfish,” people claim to have caught in the last few seasons. Funny how fish appear to weigh more on Instagram.

Jeff Tyser wrote honestly and wonderfully about the cathartic nature of his DIY Mexico trip with Ben Pellegrini. In particular, we could relate to that moment when the inner voice that questions, “Is the fishing good enough?” comes to terms with unreasonable pre-trip expectations.

They weren’t the only things to take a pounding on this trip. Toes, boots, SAT phones, rods, a 5kg sacks of potatoes, trembling thigh muscles, and a papsak all met their end in one way or another, but it was the pants that were immolated ceremoniously, offered up as if they were a Zoroastrian fire sacrifice so that the trio might make their way out of the valley with no broken bones and some great fish to show for their efforts.

Then there’s our main profile on Tim Babich, a straight-shooting, shape-shifting super guide who wrangles Alpha male clients into putting their egos aside in order to become better anglers (and arguably better people too). Elsewhere Dylan Tomine was refreshingly brutal in his self-assessment as, ‘The Worst Guide in the World,’ and our Lifer Peter Whittaker summed a life well fished perfectly with the advice that, ‘Life is short, make the most of it while you can.’

While the image made us think of the playground taunt, ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire,’ this was one fishing story devoid of dishonesty. In fact, it was Conrad’s plain-spoken take on ageing and fraternal relations, plus the trio’s willingness to ‘fok voort,’ that lit up an inadvertent theme running through this issue around honesty.

Being honest with yourself, with the situations we find ourselves in (environmentally and career-wise in particular) and being honest with what you want out of life.

The way I see it, Conrad, Ewan, Jeff, Tim, Dylan and Pete were all, in their own ways, singing from the same hymn book. None of us are getting any younger. That’s why it is so important to go, like Conrad or Jeff, to those places you’ve been eyeing on Google Earth for years. As Peter implied, don’t bullshit yourselves that you’ll get there one day. Plagues happen, as do heart attacks and Golden Arrow busses. You do not have as much time as you think you do, so don’t fuck around.

Honesty (and action) were touched on in this issue’s Troubled Waters pages where Ewan Naude wrote about the recent surge in popularity of the Orange River and the problems that has brought.

Less talk, more do.

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And don’t forget to pack a spare pair of pants.

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PRESENTATION & CONTROL. HANDBUILT FROM SCRATCH.

SCOTTFLYROD.COM • (970) 249-3180

T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

“Young man, there’s a place you can go. I said, young man, when you’re short on your dough. You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find, Many ways to have a good time. It’s fun to stay at the YYYYYY-M-C-A.” Ed Truter teaches Ewan Naude the lyrics to the Yellowfish Manne Conservation Association anthem.

EDITOR Tudor Caradoc-Davies ART DIRECTOR Brendan Body CONTACT THE MISSION The Mission Fly Fishing Mag (PTY) Ltd 25 Firth Road, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa info@themissionflymag.com www.themissionflymag.com

EDITOR AT LARGE Conrad Botes COPY EDITOR Gillian Caradoc-Davies ADVERTISING SALES tudor@themissionflymag.com

CONTRIBUTORS #32 Ewan Naude, Graham and Lucy Pollard, Dylan Tomine, Carl Freese, Jeff Tyser, Beniamino Pellegrini, Conrad Botes, Platon Trakoshis, LeRoy Botha, Tim Babich PHOTOGRAPHERS #32 Jeff Tyser, Beniamino Pellegrini, Tim Pask, Danielle Dorsch, Matthew DeLorme, Paul Botes, Adam Botha, Conrad Botes, Platon Trakoshis, Leonard Flemming, Tim Babich, Christiaan Pretorius, Gerhard Laubscher, Nathan Pahl, Mc Coetzer

THE MISSION IS PUBLISHED 6 TIMES A YEAR. THE MISSION WILL WELCOME CONTENT AND PHOTOS. WE WILL REVIEW THE CONTRIBUTION AND ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT IT CAN BE USED AS PRINT OR ONLINE CONTENT. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE MAGAZINE OR ITS OWNERS. THE MISSION IS THE COPYRIGHT OF SOUTIE PRESS (PTY) LTD. ANY DUPLICATION OF THIS MAGAZINE, FOR MEDIA OR SALE ACTIVITY, WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION…AND AN ETERNITY SPENT SURROUNDED BY PERMIT THAT YOU CANNOT CAST TO WHILE BEING HARASSED BY COKED-UP JACK RUSSELS.

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@THEMISSIONFLYMAG MEMBER OF THE ABC (AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATION)

CHUM

A N I M P O R TA N T H U M A N R I G H T S S T O R Y, J U N K I E F I S H , B Y E - B Y E D R O N E S , A N E W Z I M F LY S H O P & B A B E R M A N FLORIDA BONEFISH… …ARE ON DRUGS, according to the results of a recent study funded by the Bonefish Tarpon Trust (BTT), Sweden’s Umea University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. On average each bonefish failed their drug test with seven different substances but one Charlie Sheen overachiever tested positive for a whopping 17 different substances. Not one clean fish was found. The drugs which come from insufficiently treated human wastewater, range from opioids, to blood pressure and prostate treatment meds (a pharmacological nod to Florida’s popularity with older generations), antidepressants, medications, antibiotics, and pain relievers. What’s worse is that these chemicals are not just present in trace amounts, but have been shown to affect the fish’s feeding, activity, sociability and migratory behaviour. If the fish never spook, it’s not that you’re a flats ninja. That’s the diazepam. bonefishtarpontrust.org

WATCH… … MIGHTY WATERS, the story of the friendship between legendary Bahamian fly fishing guide Ansil Saunders and Martin Luther King, Jr. A refreshing change from the usual high-octane fly fishing film fodder, this powerful 17-minute short documentary co-sponsored by Costa, Simms and the American Museum of Fly Fishing tells the story of Saunders, born and raised on the small island of Bimini, who sat in a boat with friend Martin Luther King, Jr. sharing psalms while Dr. King worked on his final speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” Just four days later King was assassinated. Inspired by Dr. King, Saunders fought for racial equality in the Bahamas. Filmmaker Shannon Vandivier has done a masterful job in telling this story, one that will have extra resonance for South Africans as our past mirrors the US human rights struggle in so many ways. youtube.com

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DRONE FISHING… …IS NOW BANNED, and thus we thank the old gods and the new (plus the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment) for making it so. Shout out to angling activists, the Kyle clan, specifically Rob and Scotty, for their efforts fighting for this. We’ll just say it. Drone fishing is a kak way of fishing that gives drone operators access to some of the last few sanctuaries our coastal fish have and often results in large fish hooked, fought and lost leaving hundreds of metres of line out in the ocean endangering more marine life.

To the droners crying from their positions in seaside parking lots about their lost rights, we encourage you to try some older tech - a rod and reel.

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Distributed by Xplorer fly fishing www.xplorerflyfishing.co.za contact 031-5647368

THE BABER SCOPE YOUR FISHING FUTURE ACCORDING TO YOUR STAR SIGN AS READ BY BABERMAN, THE LEGENDARY GRUMPY CATFISH.

WHEN IN ZIM… …VISIT FIN & FEATHER Heeeeeey shamaz! Glad tidings we bring for the fly anglers of Zimbabwe with the opening of Zimbabwe’s first dedicated fly fishing store, Fin & Feather, in Chisipite, Harare. Well stocked with premium gear and tackle, plus a solid selection of fly tying materials – Zimbabwean fly anglers will no longer have to wait for someone to mule stuff back from South Africa. And yes, they stock print copies of The Mission too. facebook.com/ZimFlyfishing

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Pisces (Fish): February 19 – March 20 I spoke to the eels of the Sargasso Sea about your fate and unknowable weirdos that they are – they came back with, “Jupiter is in Pisces.” Does that mean you ate Jupiter? Does that mean Jupiter took you roughly in a barn? Only you will know the answer to these riddles. Whatever the case, the eels also told me to tell you that the most important thing is for you to take it easy. It’s been a banger first quarter of 2022 so far, so it would behoove you to take your foot off the pedal. Go fishing, but make it a regular old haunt where the fish are like old flames – angry, spiteful and with spawn that look oddly familiar.

Aries (Ram): March 21 – April 19 The fact that you lot are highly organized, ambitious, impulsive and a wee bit opportunistic will come in handy in this the Lunar Year of the Water Tiger. Why? The hint is right there – Water Tiger, aka Tigerfish. I can feel in my whiskers that you will opt in on an epic last-minute tigerfish trip and you will shoot the lights out with big fish. Could be Pongola, Zambezi, Chobe, Tanzania or elsewhere.

When the offer comes in, just say yes. Say howzit to my cousin the Vundu if you see him.

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SA’s #1

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T R O U B L E D WAT E R S

ALERT LEVEL: ORANGE THE ORANGE RIVER SURGED IN POPULARITY OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS AS MORE ANGLERS THAN EVER DISCOVERED WHAT A GEM WE HAVE RIGHT HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA. WITH THAT CAME PROBLEMS, AS EWAN NAUDE POINTS OUT. HOW WE MANAGE IT WILL DICTATE THE FUTURE OF THIS SPECIAL FISHERY. Photos Ewan and Devon Naude

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’ve been very fortunate to fish some special destinations (both internationally and locally) but, I can say, hand on heart, that there is no place in the world that I would rather be for a week’s fishing than drifting down the lower Orange River. For me, fly fishing is a fully immersive form of meditation that pushes the reset button on life and, although I love catching fish, this is only a part of what I look for in my fishing travels. The lower Orange unscrambles my brain. It allows me to slow down, reflect and spend quality time with loved ones while drifting to the beat of the river. With a beer in hand, submerging one’s nether regions in the cool water after a long, hot day, is truly special. While I’ve fished the river for several years, the Orange was ‘discovered’ by several intrepid fly anglers long before I made my first drift, but it still retained an ‘offthe-radar’ status when it came to the broader fly-fishing fraternity. Unfortunately, this has changed dramatically over the last two years and has resulted in fishermen and guides descending on the river in droves. There’s no doubt that international travel restrictions as a result of the COVID pandemic have meant that guiding companies have had to look within our borders for venues, and that is completely understandable.

Before continuing, I want to make it very clear that I am 100% supportive of responsible and professional guiding and believe that the only way to protect a resource for the long term is through the presence of ethical operators who understand the intricacies of running a viable business while at the same time considering the protection of the environment and the engagement of communities and stakeholders. We live in a world where nothing remains secret for very long and unless there is access, either controlled through landowners or guide exclusivity, these spots ultimately become overrun to the detriment of the resource.

The lower Orange River has many access points, some of which are controlled through landowners and rafting

companies, but many are open to the public if one is willing to explore a bit. This, added to the fact that one is largely free to camp in ‘no-man’s land’ along the river, makes it a very attractive prospect for the guiding industry and DIY anglers alike. The increase in traffic on the river has meant that many ‘operators’ who are either not suitably qualified, nor responsible nor ethical, are jostling for drift sections and accessing the river through private properties in an illegal manner. I’ve also seen petrol motors being used in pristine, ecologically sensitive areas as well as the general mess of desert roses (used toilet paper) not properly disposed of by operators.

As consumers of guiding services, fishing tackle and pretty much everything in life, we have the power to exercise our discretion and direct business towards responsible operators and ask the right questions before booking a trip or paying for a service. We have a huge responsibility to exercise this discretion wisely. A few keys areas to understand from your prospective guiding outfit should be the following: • Level of engagement and co-operation with other operators and stakeholders in the area for the preservation and betterment of the resource.

• Contribution to the local economy with regards to hiring/ training of guides and other staff as well as potential procurement of provisions for trips etc. from locals.

• Understanding their track record in terms of other destinations they run, as well as general level of ethics.

In my experience, and barring a very small number of operators, there is currently very little being done by most to better/protect the resource and uplift or support the local communities and the river is currently being treated as a potential piggy bank by anyone that owns an Ark inflatable and is vaguely proficient on Google Earth. By asking a few important questions and understanding what an outfitter stands for, clients can change this situation and ensure that the right operators remain on the water.

“AS CONSUMERS OF GUIDING SERVICES, FISHING TACKLE AND PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IN LIFE, WE HAVE THE POWER TO EXERCISE OUR DISCRETION AND DIRECT BUSINESS TOWARDS RESPONSIBLE OPERATORS” 22

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Where to from here?

How refreshing would it be to see an initiative spearheaded by the guiding community that includes landowners, locals and other businesses and that sets up a stakeholder’s group? At the very least there has to be a basic code of conduct for guides on the river. Factors to consider could include the following: • Strictly catch and release and single barbless hooks.

• Limited trip rod numbers and compulsory rest periods on drift sections.

• No ‘double drifting’ on beats and transparency from operators on beat and river access and intention to operate.

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• Strict measures around bio control and waste measures using codes of best practice which should already be in place for a number of the rafting companies.

• Commitment to clean up, alien vegetation clearing and community outreach and employment.

Being part of a group of this nature can also be used from a marketing perspective, creating a feeling of togetherness and working as a group for the long term as opposed to the short-term thinking that is currently so prevalent. In this there would be a prime opportunity to use social media positively by promoting operators that live by the code of conduct and hold themselves to a

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Welcome to the new 20lb club

high level of professionalism and custodianship. Ideally and in time, one could have an independent party ‘audit’ this grouping and ensure that the standards are being upheld.

This may initially be a big ask but it only needs to start with three or four operators and over time hopefully morph into an initiative that can truly make a difference. The one thing I know for sure is that the status quo cannot remain and I hope that enough people that benefit so much from this river reach out to each other and come together. I’m certainly willing to roll up my sleeves, are you?

The mythical 20lb largemouth yellowfish is a helluva fish and, in close to eight years of fishing the river, often with some of the country’s top fly anglers, I’ve only ever seen one legitimate weighed fish over 20lb.

If social media feeds of most guides are anything to go by then last season was certainly extraordinary with largie unicorns as ubiquitous as brandy at a Bulls home game. According to some feeds even the magical 30lb mark was ‘broken’ a few times with two 15kg fish caught! It’s also very impressive to see how chaps can do a full arm extension with 10kg plus largie without so much of a grimace. Fish are seldom weighed, and total length is often confused with fork length when estimating weights and this is all done in order to create hype around the venue and keep guests happy. If your guide tells you it’s a 20 pounder then I guess it’s a 20 pounder.

There is a fine line between responsible marketing and over promotion and unfortunately, so-called flyfishing influencers and self-proclaimed experts are adding fuel to this fire. If you have a social media voice or some sort of following, use it to promote best practice and do it consistently. Retweeting the odd Yvon Chouinard quote doesn’t make you the bastion of human excellence. Go and do something, not merely be seen to be doing something.

FODDER

BOOZE & MUNCHIES THE BOOZE – FYNBOS REVOLUTION VERMOUTH Fynbos botanicals have been popping up in South African gin over the last few years, but that’s kind of been the extent of it when it comes to Seffrican-ness in spirits… until now with newcomers Fynbos Revolution’s range of vermouth.

THE MUNCHIES - CRUDO OF FRESH YELLOWFIN TUNA Veteran Mozambique fly fishing guide Graham Pollard, who runs Colina Verde Luxury Lodge on the Machangulo Peninsula with his wife Lucy, gave us this recipe from their new cookbook, Sharing Our Table – Colina Verde Recipes. Graham’s take on the raw fish dish Crudo, this simple and satisfying combo is exactly the sort of thing to make when you’re A) somewhere tropical and B) catching fresh fish.

Serves 6 90 minutes + time to cool Ingredients • 1 small super fresh fillet of yellowfin tuna • juice of two limes • black pepper • small handful of chopped fresh coriander Mayo • 3 tbsp best mayonnaise you can find • 1 tsp wasabi paste To Serve • small toasts or crostini, sliced and toasted baguette would also work well.

Directions 1. Make sure that the tuna is clean and trimmed all round. Dice the fish into small cubes, the exact size is personal preference but we usually aim for around 7mm. Place the diced fish into a small bowl and fill until softly packed. You will turn this bowl over onto the serving plate to create a dome. It needs to be packed enough to hold it’s shape but so that you can stir through the dressing.

Photo Lisa Daubermann

If you’re a designated driver or not keen to drink alcohol, check out Don Zero, their zero-alcohol option with rooibos, juniper berry, lemon peel, star anis, pelargonium and wormwood. For us the pick of the bunch is the Dry Vermouth made with 100% Chenin Blanc, Grape Wine Spirit, Cinnamon, Naartjie Peel, Lavender Flower, Pelargonium, Rooibos, Seriphium Plumosum (Khoi-kooigoed Afr.), Sour Fig, Star Anis, Sutherlandia Frutescens (Kankerbos Afr.) and Wormwood. Bonus? Zero added sugar. Drink it in a simple V&T (50ml Dry Vermouth, 200ml Tonic and two slices of lemon) or have it work its magic in a Martini or Negroni.

The Martini 30ml Fynbos Revolution Vermouth Dry 80ml Gin Method: Combine Gin and Vermouth over high-quality ice, stir, strain, and pour into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist or 3 olives on a toothpick

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2. Prepare the wasabi mayo by thoroughly mixing the wasabi into the mayo. Taste and add more wasabi or mayo depending on how spicy you like it. Transfer to a small bowl for serving.

3. To cure the tuna, first season with a few generous grinds of black pepper then add the chopped coriander. Stir through the lime juice a little at a time, just enough to coat the fish.

4. Leave to cure for a few minutes until the fish starts changing colour. When the tuna looks like it is starting to get lighter, cover the small bowl with your serving plate and flip it over so the bowl is on the top as you would turn out a jelly. Remove the bowl and you should have a dome of dressed tuna. Serve with the toast triangles and the wasabi mayo.

5. To eat spread a thin layer of the wasabi mayo on the crunchy toast and then pile on a few teaspoons of the dressed tuna.

Then proceed to bask in the adoration of your fans.

Colina Verde is a private villa taking exclusive use groups bookings of 6 - 18 guests. For more info check out colinaverdemoz.com.

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UNDERCURRENTS

THE WORST GUIDE IN THE WORLD TEXANS! DOCTORS! CAR DEALERS! GAH! IN THIS EXCERPT FROM HIS NEW BOOK, DYL AN TOMINE EXPL AINS WHY HIS GUIDING C A R E E R WA S S H O R T- L I V E D .

Photos Tim Pask, Daniellle Dorsch & Matthew DeLorme

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K, I’m just going to come right out and say it: I sucked at guiding. Oh, my clients caught plenty of fish. But if I were a doctor, you might say I had a lousy bedside manner. Or what an old coach of mine often referred to as a “piss-poor attitude.” The fact is, I could never stop thinking about whether or not various clients deserved to catch fish just because they could afford to travel and stay at an expensive lodge. That, and I was frequently impatient. And sarcastic. And irritable.

But enough about my good days. I guess I thought guiding was about fish, and it turns out it’s about people. No matter how dumb they might be.

I tried to be a nice guy. I would tell myself these people are on the trip of a lifetime, that they were too busy to learn how to actually fish, that blah, blah, blah. It’s not like I’m a completely unsympathetic person. For example, when a client described his long-anticipated fishing trip with a famous Florida tarpon guide and how he found himself unceremoniously deposited back at the dock at ten o’clock in the morning for blowing two shots at big fish, I was filled with sympathy. For the guide.

What does it mean to be a fishing guide? I can’t answer for anyone else, but this is what occurred to me about three weeks into my first season: If you take something that’s inherently fun to do with people you like, and do it with people you don’t like for money … well, you see where I’m going with this. Needless to say, I would have made an even lousier prostitute.

That thought haunted me through five summers.

Especially while peeling the price stickers off thousands of dollars’ worth of brand-new, top-of-the-line rods and reels

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and—after loading backing, connecting lines, and tying leaders—handing it all back to some rich dentist from Akron while he told me all about what a great angler he was. Did he deserve the fish we would catch?

Now, I don’t want to make prejudiced statements or generalise … OK, actually I do. What the hell. Here are a few things I learned: Doctors generally make the worst clients, followed by car dealers, and anyone from Texas. Women are the best clients—they actually listen—and will always out-fish their expert husbands. Clients who really want to “whack a trophy” so they can “get it stuffed” always catch the biggest fish, no matter how hard you try to prevent it.

Note to doctors, car dealers, Texans, expert husbands, and trophy whackers: I readily admit there are plenty of individual exceptions to the rules above, but if you’re seriously offended by this paragraph, you aren’t one of them.

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Once, I had two doctors from Houston and a car dealer from Dallas and his wife as my foursome. Guess what happened? I spent an entire week staring at the back of the doctors’ heads, trying to determine if it was possible, through sheer concentration and mental telepathy, to make a person’s head explode. At the time, it seemed like a worthy research project.

The limit then was two king salmon per person for the week. By the end of the first day, they were limited out.

This, despite numerous warnings from their guide before killing each client’s second fish that should they land a bigger fish at any time for the rest of the week, it would be released. Of course, three days later, one of the docs hooks an immense fish—the biggest I had ever seen from that river. A giant slab of chrome that would have weighed close to sixty pounds.

“I SPENT AN ENTIRE WEEK TRYING TO DETERMINE IF IT WAS POSSIBLE, THROUGH SHEER CONCENTRATION AND MENTAL TELEPATHY, TO MAKE A PERSON’S HEAD EXPLODE.”

To avoid the inevitable conflict, I spent the entire hour-long fight working to help the fish escape.

But no such luck. When the fish finally came to shore, I was asked, cajoled, and pleaded with. I was offered money. I was even threatened with bodily harm. And you know what? I can’t even begin to describe the pleasure I felt when I twisted the hook loose and watched that fish swim away. Next day, the wife miraculously hooked one even larger, fought it with great efficiency, and happily released it without complaint.

What’s the point of the story? I don’t really know, other than it had to be a sign of something. Maybe that if all clients were women, I’d still be guiding? Or more likely that I was simply in the wrong line of work.

More signs: Secretly relishing clients’ discomfort from bugs or lack of adequate rain gear. Covertly exacerbating husband-wife conflict when the woman hooks more fish

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than her spouse. Purposefully seeking out the most exposed, windiest spots for clients having trouble casting. Trying to make people’s heads explode with brain waves … but we already covered that one. Anyway, guilty as charged.

So why did I do it not just once, but for five summers?

I mean, other than latent masochistic tendencies?

Because, in all honesty, despite my conflicted thoughts about guiding, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was an opportunity to be on the water every day, to intimately know the changing tides, river flows, and weather patterns. To live, eat, work, and fish with my best friends in the world, and yes, rare as they were, to enjoy some great moments with wonderful clients. Mostly though, it was because the fishing was unbelievably good, and I got to fish it every day of the season. Selfish reasons all, and in retrospect, I probably didn’t deserve any of it.

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“WHAT DID I DESERVE, BESIDES A SWIFT KICK IN THE ASS? PROBABLY THE LESSON THAT BEING A GOOD FISHERMAN QUALIFIES YOU TO GUIDE ABOUT AS MUCH AS AN AFFINITY FOR DEEP-FRIED CHICKEN HEARTS MAKES YOU A THORACIC SURGEON”

What did I deserve, besides a swift kick in the ass? Probably the lesson that being a good fisherman qualifies you to guide about as much as an affinity for deep-fried chicken hearts makes you a thoracic surgeon. With this realisation, and much to the relief of everyone concerned, I quit the business for good. Now I’m free to concentrate on the inherently fun-to-do-with-people-you-like part and leave the guiding to those who are actually good at it.

But if you’re ever on a guided trip, happily flinging your flies from the front of the boat, and you suddenly feel a strange pressure building inside your skull, take a close look at the person on the oars. If he or she appears to be deeply focused on, say, the back of your head, with maybe a poorly hidden, demented grin forming, watch out. It’s probably someone a lot like me. Your only hope, then, is to ask yourself this one simple question: Do I deserve this?

Excerpted from Headwaters: The Adventures, Obsession and Evolution of a Fly Fisherman ©2022 by Dylan Tomine. Reprinted with permission by Patagonia.

HIGH FIVES

CARL FREESE F R OM T HE T RO U T ST RE A M S OF THE DRAKEN SBERG TO GUIDING FOR S MA L L M OU T H YE LLOWS O N STERKFON TEIN DAM OR TARGETING N ATA L S CA L I ES I N L A RG E R RI VE RS , I N HIS HOME PROVINCE OF KWAZULU-NATAL , CA R L FREESE O F T U G E L A FISHIN G CO. IS AS LOCAL AS THEY COME.

5 best things about where you guide?

1. Winterton and the waterways of the surrounding Drakensberg which have always been home to me.

2. It’s a diverse freshwater fishery. We have equal opportunity to chase wild trout in Drakensberg streams or to go further downstream for Natal scalies.

3. I get to guide in the summer on Sterkfontein Dam. I don’t think I need to say much more about that.

4. The Champagne Valley is awesome! It offers a lot of entertainment for everybody with the Drakensberg as your backdrop.

5. Most of the Drakensberg that I fish is a world heritage site and, thankfully, this should protect those areas for years to come.

5 fishing connected items you don’t leave home without?

1. A wading staff which often gets handed to clients.

2. Sun protection gloves, buff etc – once you feel burnt it’s too late.

3. Forceps – have empathy! How would you like to be treated?

4. Phone – help is sometimes just a call away.

5. My side arm – I’ve come too close to crocodiles and farm attacks and in some of the areas I fish both are possible.

5 bands to listen to on a road trip?

1. Creedence Clearwater Revival – “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” By the time that song ends you can be three fish down on a hard day.

2. Dire Straits! All of it is good!

3. Caamp – I like a guitar a lot.

4. The Rolling Stones – those guys are unkillable! I think they are definitely preserved.

5. Neil Diamond – Love at the Greek. I like the old stuff… they leave impressions.

5 Indispensable flies for freshwater 1. PTN (Pheasant Tail Nymph) – Because fish eat them.

2. Elk hair caddis.

3. Flash back GRHE (Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear).

4. Black/Purple Dr Hans beetle.

5. Technical Hot Spot.

5 Favourite fly-fishing destinations around South Africa 1. Mhlwazini River – Close to home and a stunningly beautiful trout stream.

2. Sterkfontein Dam – not because she is easy but because she is hard and unforgiving. It’s a special place!

3. Cape Vidal on the KwaZulu-Natal North coast. I surflaunched my first boat there and it’s where I cut my teeth on game fishing.

4. Mtunzini – to visit family and friends. Once you have had enough of pulling for tuna, tussling with reef fish and exploring the estuary, you don’t want to see family or friends for a while. Three days always turns into six days.

5. The lower Bushman’s River of KwaZulu-Natal for Natal scaly.

5 of the best things you’ve picked up from guiding?

1. Meeting new and different people from all walks of life, and all have been great.

2. Being there when a client’s fishing dream has come true and knowing you had something to do with it.

3. The banter! I encourage it. If you’re not giving your fishing mates shit you’re in the wrong boat.

4. You find out a lot about your clients in conversation: their families, their loves and dislikes and it feels good that they feel comfortable enough to share.

5. I’ve made great friendships in this industry that I will always be grateful for.

“THE BANTER! I ENCOURAGE IT. IF YOU’RE NOT GIVING YOUR FISHING MATES SHIT YOU’RE IN THE WRONG BOAT.” 32

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5 of the most difficult guiding/teaching experiences so far?

1. Getting clients to understand that fish don’t want to be caught.

2. Fish according to your strengths/abilities. If you can’t cast accurately at distance, get good at blending into the environment. Fish eat if they don’t see you and don’t if they do!

3. Watch your back cast! There’s no point getting stuck in the trees. I’m not guiding you into monkeys.

4. Don’t flog dead water; keep moving. Movement is life.

I’ve seen so many lighthouses on the banks of Sterkfontein, and the fish have seen you too.

5. Pay attention to body language. At Sterkfontein those fish will tell you everything you need to know about catching them.

5 flies you would pack if you went out with Bear Grylls?

1. PTN. 2. Black woolly bugger – that fly can catch anything!

3. Muishond.

4. Clouser Minnow.

5. Klipspringer caddis.

5 people you would like to guide or fish with?

1. My Grandfathers. They played a big part in my fishing passion.

2. Hunter and author Peter Hathaway Capstick. He saw wild Africa.

3. Captain Jeff Legutki. It would be fun fishing the Everglades with him.

4. Joel Stransky. That Rugby World Cup will still be our greatest victory. It all came together perfectly.

5. US Army Medic Desmond Doss. He concreted his feet in what he believed in… the greatest role model that ever lived.

“DON’T BE SHY TO ASK QUESTIONS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU STRUGGLE WITH. I’M A GUIDE NOT A GOD. I CAN’T READ YOUR MIND.”

5 shower thoughts that have occurred to you while fly fishing?

1. There is a planet out there that will take you 1100 years to fly around in a Boeing, and yet it’s still a small one.

2. A 600hp V12 outboard motor? Can’t wait to see what’s next.

3. It’s probably just easier to go hunt my own klipspringer then get a piece from somebody else.

4. Could I live a happy life without any biltong in it?

Probably not.

5. When is the next keyboard warrior going to strike? Guys, stop acting like tools towards each other.

5 things outside of fishing that make where you fish so special?

1. Having a cold beer after a session while watching the sun set over the Drakensberg and its peaks.

2. Tugela Falls and seeing the sun reflect off them on the way up to Sterkfontein.

3. The smell of a veld fire on the crisp winter evening air.

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“Look. It is fine fish. Natal Scaly. I give you good price. 30000 rubles.”

4. The immense summer storms that hammer the area with rain and lightning.

5. Bushmen paintings and caves, as well as the battle sites of the Anglo Boer War and the capture site of Winston Churchill. A lot has happened here in the past.

5 essential ingredients for an incredible mission 1. Good company. It helps to hit a solid mission with good people that you enjoy.

2. Good shoes. I’ve seen too many people in pain because they didn’t take this point seriously.

3. If you can have a couple of cold ones, a braai and good tunes, do it! Life is short, really short.

4. Good equipment. You can either have a great day catching or a fun day fishing. For both you need stuff that you enjoy.

5. Do your research. Know what you are getting into and what to expect. It saves you those terrible surprises.

5 common mistakes Clients make?

1. Too many false casts. It’s always that 11th one that gets you caught in the grass, pal.

2. Don’t be shy to ask questions and tell me what you struggle with. I’m a guide not a god. I can’t read your mind.

3. Good casts catch fish on Sterkfontein. Lay down straight leaders.

4. Dress to blend into the natural environment. It makes my difficult job a little easier. It’s a respect thing.

5. Start looking at fishing as a form of hunting. Be calculating in your approach; look a lot; be accurate, slow and present only to fish you can catch. I promise you your catch rate will go through the roof.

5 things you would get better at if you weren’t always fly fishing?

1 Get better at targeting Croc Couta (King mackerel).

That is the ultimate in inshore game fishing in my opinion.

Everything goes into getting it right.

2. Get better at throwing a cast net. After fly fishing live baiting is my other love.

3. TIG welding stainless steel. Man alive! Some of those welders are artists.

4. Read more. Wilbur Smith is my favourite author.

5. I’d take up shooting seriously again.

Your last casts were to...?

1. Yellowfish on Sterkfontein dam.

2. Rainbow trout on the Injisuthi River.

3. Rock salmon at the stone wall on the Umlalazi River.

4. Natal scaly in the lower Bushmans River.

5. Yellowfin tuna off High Points, Richards Bay.

MEXICO

THE MOMENTS IN BETWEEN D I Y F LY F I S H I N G D I E H A R D S J E F F T YS E R A N D B E N P E L L EG R I N I L E F T J O B U R G A N D C R O S S E D T H E P O N D W I T H T H E EX P R ES S P U R P O S E O F LO S I N G T H E M S E LV ES I N C H E T U M A L BAY O N M EX I C O ’ S Y U CATÁ N P E N I N S U L A . B E T W E E N S O OT H I N G H I S B R A I N A N D C O O L I N G H I S BA L LS , J E F F H A D A N E P I P H A N Y.

Photos. Jeff Tyser & Ben Pellegrini

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“Hola, amigo! Como estas?”

My salutations are met with a quizzical stare. Is it the South African accent? Or has he simply not heard? I shuffle closer, clear my throat, and cut to the chase: “Seen any bonefish up here, brother?”

At this distance – no more than a rod length – his most striking features are revealed. A neon pink bill is tipped in black, as if stained by the blood of its hapless victims. A glint of mischief flickers in a beady, yellow eye. The heron chuckles smugly. It would appear he’s giving no secrets away today.

On the other side of the bay, another heron quietly picks its way along a mangrove shoreline. This one, however, is armed with a 7-weight and a box of flies. Fortunately, Ben’s gaze is fixed on a patch of water up ahead, so he doesn’t see me conversing with a bird. His quarry lures him round a point, and he disappears. Just like that, I’m the only person in the world.

I’m about to push on up the flat, when the heron finally retorts. “Slow the fuck down, hermano.” His frankness is disarming, but he’s not wrong. I have indeed been moving too swiftly; not just today, but since the very first session of the trip. Not always in my movements, but most certainly in my mind. All too often, I’ve been guilty of silently competing with Ben. Worse still, I’ve been in competition with my own expectations, set months before while pouring over Google Earth, filling fly boxes and scrolling through the Instagram feeds of Scandinavian DIYers. The net result of this frenzied state of mind is that, even when the fishing’s been good – and at times it’s been truly exceptional – it’s never quite felt good enough. And so I force myself to just stand there, and breathe, and be, and stare down a bird that’s staring down me.

Getting to where I now stand – deep in this maze of unnamed mangrove islets and shallow bays – wasn’t easy. An earlierthan-usual start had seen us fighting off relentless armies of blood lusty mosquitos. They punctured our hands and flew down our throats as we feverishly inflated our SUPs. By sunrise we were well on our way, dripping in sweat as we paddled against the breeze, onto the vast expanse of Chetumal Bay. It would be several more kilometres of toil before either of us even made a cast.

“I FORCE MYSELF TO JUST STAND THERE, AND BREATHE, AND BE, AND STARE DOWN A BIRD THAT’S STARING DOWN ME.”

This morning’s grind has me pondering the experience of the guided angler. I imagine myself in his boots, strolling to the end of the lodge jetty, hopping aboard his guide’s panga, giddy with anticipation. As we jet effortlessly down the palm-fringed coast, I sip my tea and marvel at the sunrise, pink as a heron’s bill. My guide knows these waters like the back of his leathered hands, and our first stop is a proven honey hole. The tide is just right for this spot.

We approach from just the right angle. His raptor-like eyes are already trained on where the morning’s first tails are most likely to materialise. My heart thumps loudly as he quietly poles us into the perfect position from which to intercept them.

My fantasy is interrupted by two shadows drifting across the flat. It’s only fair to interrupt them, so I send a lightly weighted Gotcha off to meet them. I’d arrived in Mexico a

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bonefish neophyte, but the learning curve has been steep on the calf-deep flats of Chetumal Bay. With each fish fooled, my Imposter Syndrome dwindles. In its place is a tempered confidence – by far the most effective weapon in the flyfisher’s arsenal. The wannabe shrimp lands softly, close enough to where I’m aiming, and I mark the spot with an invisible X. Time stands still as I wait for the shadows to close in.

I return the bonefish to the crystalline wilderness she calls home and take a minute to cherish the experience. In principle there’s really nothing special about this fish. Yet in the sum of her parts – the mosquitos, the toil, the Google Earth gamble and the wonderous solitude – she attains trophy status in my mind. I think about the guided angler in my fantasy. Would yet another 2-pound bonefish seem quite as profound to him?

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I’D ARRIVED IN MEXICO A BONEFISH NEOPHYTE, BUT THE LEARNING CURVE HAS BEEN STEEP ON THE CALF-DEEP FLATS OF CHETUMAL BAY. WITH EACH FISH FOOLED, MY IMPOSTER SYNDROME DWINDLES”

I turn to the heron and thank him for his time. I’m the one chuckling smugly now. This isn’t good enough; this is as good as it goddamn gets.

The Caribbean laps gently at my scrotum as I squat (impersonating a rock) in the shallows of a little cove.

Several permit have just snuck around the point and are nudging their way towards me. I’m too close for comfort.

One false move, and the jig is up.

For the DIY enthusiast, Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula presents a mouthwatering set of opportunities. It affords the adventurous angler the chance to hunt iconic shallow water gamefish in a multitude of environments, many accessible by car, SUP (or kayak) and on foot. At the top of my list, which includes bonefish, tarpon, snook, Jack crevalle, oceanic triggerfish and barracuda, is the

Atlantic permit. Ol’ Trachinotus falcatus. I’ve scoured the internet for every last morsel of intel on him, marked every potential flat from Tulum to Xcalak, and tied every conceivable crab. But so much of that seems irrelevant now. No matter how ready I think I am for a new destination, it always feels like I’m starting from scratch the moment I arrive.

Two sickles pass so close that a bow and arrow cast will suffice. But that would require a rod. And mine is propped up against the mangroves, well beyond my reach. Instead, I clutch a camera, attached to a long lens. There can’t be many images in flyfishing more captivating than a permit’s tail breaking the surface of a tropical flat. Channeling Val Atkinson, I make some feeble attempts at capturing one myself.

I’m not here – rod-less, squatting awkwardly, Nikon pressed against my face – entirely by choice. The truth is my camera was a last resort. This tiny cove, hemmed by two rocky points, is the only place we’ve found The Black Tailed Devil with any kind of consistency. Ben, heron that he is, had got one here a few days earlier. We’ve both had several fruitless shots since. Today has been especially infuriating. For much of the last half hour I’ve been wallowing in self-pity – rejected and dejected – my best-laid plans blissfully ignored.

I’d been ready to give up and head off in search of more forgiving targets. But something compelled me to grab my camera and stay put. Locked down in a 4th floor Jo’burg apartment, many moons before, a close-quarter encounter like this would have been a figment of the wildest imagination. It’s not every day that one gets to sit ten feet away from the Holy Grail of fly fishing, relieved of the pressure of having to make a shot.

I decide to hang with the school of permit a little while longer.

A pervading sense of calm washes over me. Perhaps it’s triggered by the warm water gently lapping at my nuts. Or, just maybe, it’s the realisation that that I’ve travelled much too far to feel so defeated by a fish.

Sitting at my office desk, weeks after the trip, my mind wanders off to an existential boskak on a deserted mangrove island. It’s strange, the things we remember most about a fishing trip. More often than not, for me at least, it’s the moments in between. The chance happenings. The unexpected fuck ups. The counterpoints to my preconceived expectations. They’re not easily photographed, and they seldom get retold.

Fishing friends, of course, want to know all about the fishing. Colleagues quiz me about the ceviche and pictureperfect beaches. I parrot the same old answers to the same old questions. It’s just easier that way. I don’t bother trying to explain how staring down a heron for twenty minutes became a turning point in the trip, and in my mind. I’m not sure I can even explain to myself how squatting amongst a school of tailing permit could mitigate the failure of trying to fool one.

Ultimately, our memories are all we ever truly own. I suppose that’s why we make these journeys. The Yucatán has left an indelible impression. I’m desperate to return to its waters someday.

I wonder, am I yearning to go back and build on everything I now know? Or, to stumble blissfully upon everything I don’t?

Clockwise from top right: Ben with a snook, Jeff with a spot fin Porcupine pufferfish and a yellow jack, up-close and personal with a snook and Jeff with a Jack Crevalle.

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Podcast - The Millhouse Tarpon legend, Andy Mill and his son Nicky pick the brains of some of saltwater flyfishing’s most iconic characters. It’s an enchanting throwback to a time when Biscayne Bay was crawling with 10lb bonefish and Homosassa was the centre of the tarpon universe. Go from the first episode, cos’ it’s kind of magical, with Steve Huff. millhousepodcast.com

MOST USEFUL PHRASE “LOS SIENTO” (“I’M SORRY”) + MOST PATHETIC GRINGO SMILE.

Cerveja - Modelo Especial (Pilsner) There’s no shortage of options in the Yucatan. And let’s be honest, any relatively cold beer is hardly going to touch sides after 10 straight hours of walking/paddling/staring at the ocean, under the baking Mexican sun. That said, we found ourselves asking for a Modelo more often than not.

BEN’S BANGIN’ BEATS The Mission – Mexico The Stooges – Down on the Streets Talking Heads – Pull up the Roots The Orb, Lee “Scratch” Perry – Golden Clouds The Velvet Underground – Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ Chuck Berry – Oh Louisiana Talking Heads – Sugar on my Tongue Babyshambles – Dr. No The Smiths – Girlfriend in a Coma The Growlers – People don’t Change The Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed MGMT – Me and Michael Two Feet – Go Fuck Yourself Rodriguez – Hate Street Dialogue Babyshambles – I wish The Beach Boys – Caroline, No

To listen Pres Play

Dinner in Xcalak - Silvia’s Restaurant Silvia is an excellent chef. She also has great taste in décor, evident in the random photos of permit sticky-taped to the walls and giant penis sculpture in the corner. Apart from the lodges up the road, which weren’t really our scene, this was the only restaurant open while we were in town. We weren’t complaining though, the food was off the charts. Seafood is a central theme on Silvia’s menu – you can’t go wrong with the grilled fish, ceviche or fish tacos.

SUP - Aqua Marina Drift We didn’t choose the SUP life. The SUP life chose us. Neither Ben or I had previously stepped foot on a SUP, but they were the real MVPs of this trip. From the tarpon cenotes, to the fringing barrier reefs, to accessing crocodileguarded flats, they opened up a whole new world of possibilities. It’s also hard to see how you would access much (if any) of Chetumal or Ascension Bay without one. With its side pontoons and wider-than-average deck, the Aqua Marina Drift proved a suitably stable platform for two bumbling SUP novices. aquamarinaza.com

Fly lines Sci-Anglers Amplitude for 8-10 weight. For bones, any 7 or 8-weight line on a light stick (we fished 7-weight Sage Methods) was surreal. scientificanglers.com

Favourite Fly Floating snail for the permit.

Ben says, “No photos of that snail fly. I will not show anybody that fly.”

Reel Any reel with a working drag is good, we both use the Ross LT. (Ed. The successor to the LT, the LTX, is available from rossreels. com globally or frontierflyfishing. com in South Africa).

Breakfast Bimbo (cinnamon buns).

BOTES BROERS

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN EXPLORING REMOTE VALLEYS WITH NO PATHS, NO RECEPTION AND NO EASY WAY IN AND OUT, THREE ANGLERS THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND, EXTEND A MIDDLE FINGER TO THE SLOW ROT OF AGE AND BUNDU-BASH THEIR WAY TO GREAT FISHING.

Words by Conrad Botes, Photographs by Paul Botes

“Step out of the car, please sir.”

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here’s a scene in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2007 film “No Country for Old Men”, based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, where the film’s main antagonist, Anton Chigurh, a remorseless hitman who kills without hesitation, pulls over a random motorist while driving a stolen police vehicle. When he gets out of the police car and walks over to the unsuspecting driver, Chigurh carrying a gas cylinder with a tube attached to it.

By then we know that it is a captive bolt pistol, a pneumatic ‘gun’ that uses compressed air to shoot a retractable pin into the skulls of livestock before slaughter.

When Anton stands next to the car and says “Step out of the car, please sir”, we know what is about to happen.

It’s as if you want to shout ‘No! Don’t do it!’ but, instead, the inevitable unfolds. The man gets out and does as he is told. Anton asks, “Would you hold still please” as the man awkwardly stands at attention, while Chigurh holds the bolt side of the device against the compliant man’s forehead. As Anton squeezes the release button, a small wisp of pink mist puffs into the air and a second later the unfortunate man drops dead with a hole in his forehead.

This excellent piece of cinematography comes to mind when I think of the day I asked my brother, Herman (aka Harry), and our brother-from-another-mother, Paul Botes, to join me on a crazy fishing trip. Paul is photographic editor for Mail & Guardian, and although we share a surname, he is not related to us by blood.

We were chilling in a Jo’burg tap house early last year, sinking Belgian ales when the conversation veered to the inevitable topic of fly fishing and somehow to smallmouth bass and Clanwilliam yellows in the Cederberg mountain range. My brother and I told Paul about the many trips we’ve had there, about the arid landscape and its stark beauty. I told them about a specific gorge that I’ve been drooling and dreaming about hiking in search of untouched waters for more than a decade. Basically, I knew nothing about the place, about the fishing and what to expect, but it looked good on a map and, like Christopher Columbus, I desperately wanted to go there and see for myself. I’d wanted to get there for years, but I never got my shit together to do it. There was always some or other thing that prevented me from going. Being on the other side of 50, I also felt the old clock ticking away so, at some point, I sharpened my pitch.

“There are no roads, footpaths or maps and absolutely zero cellphone reception, but I reckon it must be mint.

I want to go check it out there later this year. We’re not getting younger, so there’s never been a better time than now. Are you guys coming along or what?”

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Both Harry and Paul agreed that it was an excellent idea and in no time we were checking dates, discussing camping gear and working on fly patterns.

What could possibly go wrong?

“Step out of the car, please sir” I’m taking shots dude!

Somewhere towards the end of our first day, I found myself scrambling up the side of the gorge in order to get around a bottleneck ahead and to make it to the next pool. Each boulder I scaled was about chest high and this meant that

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I had to pull myself up and swing a leg on top of the rock and then raise myself plus heavy backpack up and repeat the procedure. When I got into an upright position at the top of the ridge, my legs started shaking and trembling with fatigue. I was absolutely finished. But I didn’t want to sit down because this meant I had to do another squat with my heavy backpack. I watched as Paul and Harry, little specs in the gorge below, made their way towards me. Suddenly doubt crept in and for the first time it dawned on me that we might have bitten off more than we could chew. But I realised that there was no turning back, and that we had to see it through. ‘Harden the fuck up’ I told myself. By the time the other two caught up with me, I had the trembling in my legs under control and had mustered a bit of energy.

“How are you holding up?” Paul asked. “Hundreds!” I lied with a smile. “And you?” “I’m taking shots dude!” Paul replied with a look of desperation on his face.

At the camp fire that evening we assessed our situation. We realised that we hadn’t packed as wisely as we should have done and our packs should have been lighter. I decided to ditch the kilo of potatoes I was carrying. We made an effort to put a dent in the papsak rooiwyn (5l of red box wine).

Harry made notes on the back of our map.

Day one. Broke rod tip. Harry lost magnifiers, nippers and thermostat. Paul’s toes are blue. Harry’s balsak (scrotum) hanging out and shoes starting to go.

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Beautiful thing of beauty In retrospect, we should have anticipated the toll that the terrain would take on our shoes and our feet, but we didn’t. Although I was wearing Simms boots with a thick woollen sock, plus a neoprene bootie, the impact of boulder hopping had my toes throbbing. I sprained a big toe while sliding down a boulder face. Harry’s Orvis boots were showing signs of wear and it appeared that the one sole was coming away from the shoe. Paul’s Salomon trail running shoes looked like they’d seen better days. When Paul showed us his toes, we realised that light trail running shoes might be a good choice for day trips, but not for extended boulder hopping with heavy gear.

But the day won’t be remembered for broken shoes and fucked-up toes. I will remember it as the day when Harry, who was admiring a beautiful Clannie that he just landed, blabbered out, “It’s a beautiful thing! A beautiful thing of beauty!”

That phrase became the mantra of the trip. After that, everything became a beautiful thing of beauty. Landing a fish of any kind was obviously a beautiful thing of beauty.

Sunset was a beautiful thing of beauty. Taking a shit became a beautiful thing of beauty.

As darkness set in we discussed the highs and the lows of the day. Fish spotted but missed; pools that we passed by without fishing because we tried to reach our daily target distance; Paul taking a stumble while crossing the river and going for a lekker swim, gear and all.

Day two: Sat phone drowned. Paul’s meds drowned.

Harry’s pants ‘moer toe’ (fall apart). Orvis boots falling further apart. Paul’s shoes & toes seeing its ass. Papsak is klaar (Box wine is finished).

Liberté, égalité, fraternité On day three a charming little brotherly dynamic started to emerge between Harry and me. He’s two years older than me and when we, were laaties (youngsters) he was my guardian angel. He bliksemed (punched) anyone that tried to lift a finger against me. We did everything together.

He convinced me to do lifesaving like he did, so I could score girls like he did. He taught me to bodyboard and skateboard. When I was in my thirties he convinced me to start fly fishing. He is my big bro. And now we found ourselves dragging ass down no-man’s land, both fifty something years of age. But the dynamic hasn’t changed.

I still felt like the little brother.

Although I studied our route thoroughly on Google Earth and thought I had a pretty good idea where we were on the Slingsby map, Harry put forth a motion of no confidence in

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my map reading skills. When we would reach a certain side gorge, I would suggest we slack our pace and fish a good looking pool. Harry would have none of it. “We’ve got to push on till we reach our lunchtime landmark. Moenie slapgat raak nie! (Don’t become lazy!)”

We devised a certain way of leapfrogging good spots in the river. If you reached a pool and one of us was already fishing it, you simply hiked on until you’d reached the next spot. Only rule was that you weren’t allowed to stay for too long as the person ahead couldn’t carry on unless the previous person he’d just passed had caught up.

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And so it happened that I reached a rather dull sandy pool head ahead of the other two. I quietly sat down between the reeds and studied the shallow inlet. Soon afterwards I heard Herman and Paul pass behind me. A quick exchange of words and they moved on. I watched Herman climb on top of a big rock halfway down the pool where he stood and looked for fish, made a few casts, said, “Hier’s fokkol” (There’s nothing here) and moved on. Then it happened; a pod of about eight or so Clannies came gliding into the inlet, then disappeared back into the pool. When they came back five minutes later, I was ready for them. But try as I might, these fish were not interested in my flies or presentations.

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“NO MAN, IT’S JUST A LITTLE BUNDU BASHING AND WE’LL BE HOME FREE ON THE OPPOSITE SLOPE”

“TRUTH BE TOLD, I’M HAUNTED BY THAT PLACE AND CANNOT WAIT TO GO BACK.”

Maybe it was the shallow water, I don’t know. But more bothersome than the uncooperative fish, was the fact that I had to hurry up, so as not to have the others sit and wait for me for too long. After about twenty minutes my patience wore off, I blew the presentation and the pod of fish spooked and hauled ass into the distance. When I eventually reached the other two, I could see they were pissed off. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for hours dude! Not cool!”

Towards late afternoon we reached a braided and rather overgrown part of the river. The sun’s heat was like a furnace, and we were desperate to reach a nice spot to camp for our last night. At one point we took a rest while trying to decide which route to take through the thickets ahead. Paul and I agreed that the gradient on the northern

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bank had a much more even and wider slope and that would be the obvious way to go. Harry disagreed. He insisted that the southern bank not only looked shorter, it also had fewer trees. “Come, we’re taking the southern bank.” In preparation for what I anticipated would follow, I nipped off flies and reeled in the lines on my two rods; less stuff to snag when bundu bashing. Off we went upriver through several braids of river and over slippery boulders until we reached an impenetrable wall of bush and flotsam.

I pleaded with Harry that we turn around and take the other route. “No man, it’s just a little bundu bashing and we’ll be home free on the opposite slope”. And with that Harry attacked the wall of bush with the ferocity of a Jack Russell that had just eaten a bag of cocaine. Paul and I stood speechless while we surveyed the spectacle.

By then Harry had disappeared, but we could hear him

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“Kleinboet, I’m telling you, if we had taken a left in the valley we would not be in Namibia right now.”

crashing and cursing through the thicket like a wounded boar. Eventually he re-emerged from the bush, clothing hanging in tatters and, as much as I could see it pained him, admitted defeat. An hour or so later we were back where we’d started, still contemplating which route would be best. Yes, our route turned out to be a breeze.

Then, on our last evening, as if offered as consolation for our ordeals, we found the perfect camping spot. A long sand spit next to a beautiful pool and inlet in the shadow of a massive cliff reaching right up to the plateau above.

We ditched our shoes, caught a bunch of smallies on topwater, swam, drank whiskey and laughed.

Day three: Harry snapped a rod. All Paulie’s toes exploded and so did Conrad’s tippet on a tank of a Clannie. Paul is

rolling on Vimovo and Stillpain. Conrad’s sprained toe has decided it wants to be a broken toe. Harry’s body kept together with Vimovo and his boots with duct tape. We lost our breakfast packs, sunstick, lighter and our way.

Bottle of Bain’s saw its gat.

Back home, most people we told our story to thought we were crazy for attempting such a foolish endeavour. Others suggested that one only makes such a foolish mistake once in your lifetime. Truth be told, I’m haunted by that place and cannot wait to go back.

To quote Paul from a recent email: “Jeez, I could go back as soon as soon as I have grown new toes.”

What could possibly go wrong?

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THE CHAMELEON A D O M I NAT RI X, A M ATCHMAKER AN D A CHAMELEON WALK ONTO A FU S I O N 17 S KIFF AT STERKFONTEIN . THAT’S ONE PE RS O N A ND AS P RO NOUNS GO, HE’S A HIM AN D THE N AME I S T I M . TI M BABI C H. T H IS IS NEITHER A J OKE NOR A RIDDLE, B ECAUS E T I M I S A LL O F THOSE THINGS AND MORE. ONE OF THE B EST FLY- FI S H I NG G U I D ES IN THE GAME, A CON SUMMATE MAN M A N AG E R, A CO M PA NY MAN AN D A FAMILY GUY, WE SPENT A F E W HO U RS T RYI NG TO GET A SENSE OF WHO HE REALLY IS A ND WHAT MAKES HIM TICK. Words Tudor Caradoc-Davies Photos Christiaan Pretorius, Gerhard Laubscher, Nathan Pahl, Leonard Flemming, FlyCastaway

“I first learnt how to drive in reverse.”

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efore we got stuck into his years guiding for FlyCastaway across the Indian Ocean islands and atolls, Tim Babich was telling me about his childhood. We were at Sterkfontein Dam, near Harrismith on the Free State / KwaZulu-Natal border just north of Lesotho. Sterkfontein is a place that Tim has a lot of history with. Not only did his dad, Trevor, teach him how to drive in reverse here so that Tim could help launch his boat, but in time Tim would grow to know this place deeply as an angler in his own right, developing new ways of fishing it and – glory of glories – even having a rock named after him across the bay from Qwantani Resort. That he knows Sterkies so well makes sense because it was the Babich family’s choice of holiday getaway for years. Tim learnt to fish here and at the Vaal dam with his three half-brothers, Mike, Allen and Terry, also mad keen anglers. Terry Babich is also a fly-fishing guide, specialising in carp, catfish and yellows around Gauteng.

As Tim told me childhood stories, it becomes apparent that Mr Babich Senior liked making his boys work for their kicks. He didn’t believe in helicopter parenting or gimmes. For example, when Tim was about 15, the brothers would be dropped off at the Vaal Dam for a week or two with enough supplies to see them through but, inevitably, they would go through their groceries in the first few days. That was then their problem. They could either eat fish they caught or walk to the nearest town, Villiers. The boat’s broken? You’ve got to fix it.

The lessons were clear. Think, anticipate, plan, take responsibility, figure things out, be self-reliant.

When it came to learning how to fish, there was no instant-gratification either. In fact, to all those parents hoping their kids will get into fishing like them, taking a leaf out of Babich senior’s book on reverse psychology might help. He made Tim wait a long time until he was ready to let him fish.

“Certain facets of fishing he would never let me participate in. He would make me watch, while he caught fish day in, day out. I’d be going crazy and he’d say, “Sit on the deck and just watch.” And it used to drive me nuts but, essentially, what was happening was it was building up a hunger in me so I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, ‘I want to do this.’ Then one day he gave me a rod, reel and everything else I needed and said, “There you go.

Bye-bye.” As a kid, that’s how I learned, by watching.

When it came to fly fishing, when the time came and that rod was standing there, I picked it up and could cast instantly. I’d never been taught, but from watching him again and again, I had it down.”

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The learning curve was rapid. It helped that his entire family fished. Even when Tim was sent to school in Treverton in the Natal Midlands, he spent as much time out of the classroom as possible, fishing the area’s many trout still waters, rivers and farm bass dams.

“I did everything from provincial light tackle, to boat and fresh water bank angling. My brothers were mostly into bait fishing. I kind of broke the trend when I decided fly fishing was the way to go. I’d been fly fishing since I was five, six

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years old, but I made a decision to give up bait fishing and the light tackle stuff because there was too much killing of fish. It was just not for me anymore. Then Terry followed suit. From then on, I was only going to focus on fly fishing.

Everyone knew it - my parents, my teachers – that this was what I was going to do with my life. I’d either be a guide or do something else in fly fishing. I had no time for anything else. As soon as I came out of school, when I wasn’t fishing, I worked in tackle shops. Our family actually started one in Boksberg called Fishing Owl.”

STERKFONTEIN IS A PLACE TIM HAS A LOT OF HISTORY WITH. HE EVEN - GLORY OF GLORIES HAS A ROCK NAMED AFTER HIM.”

TICKET TO RIDE “Do you want to go to the Seychelles?”

Tim was 21 when Arno ‘The Geezer’ Matthee, one of the first pioneering Seychelles guides, recruited him.

He had met Arno and Arno’s then business partner Gerhard Laubscher (now Tim’s boss at FlyCastaway), when for Tim’ 19th birthday his father gave him a day’s guided largemouth yellowfishing on the Vaal.

“That was essentially before FlyCastaway existed when Gerhard and Arno were running local tours, doing clinics and that type of stuff. So, I did a trip with them to Pniel, the stars aligned and we caught a bunch of good fish.

I’d already had two years of competitive angling at that stage so I smacked it out the park.”

Arno had clearly been paying attention to his young client’s talents, because two years later, when things were taking off in the Seychelles and he needed more hands on deck to assist with guiding, he called Tim at Fishing Owl. Even though the shop would soon close down without him there, Tim’s parents gave an immediate green light to the offer, realising what it meant to him. What followed would shape Tim’s career for years to come.

At 39, Tim is somewhat, strangely, both young and old. Young in that he’s fit, doesn’t quite seem totally world weary as so many veteran guides seem to be (understandably I might add) and, when he hangs out with the younger FlyCastaway guides, he is not easily identifiable as a veteran because he’s not smuggling a Weber-shaped boepens under his hoodie. But he’s also old (or old-fashioned) in certain respects. Like social media. He’s on it but he doesn’t really do the selfpromotional thing which has become such a big part of the fly-fishing scene. He’s also “old”, mainly because

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he was there right at the beginning when the incredible saltwater fly fishing in the Seychelles was in its infancy.

To be exact, Tim was not quite there at the beginning beginning, but he entered stage left right after the first scene and the opening credits. Those were the years when he was one of the first recruits of the early FlyCastaway partnership that used to be Arno Matthee, Keith Rose-Innes and Gerhard Laubscher. In terms of where he sits in the Pantheon of Seychelles saltwater fly fishing legend, he was just after those guys and about the same vintage as Paul Boyers. Jako Lucas? Tim was the one picking him up at the airport in Mahé as he arrived fresh-faced for duty. Christiaan Pretorius, James Topham, Craig Richardson, Nic Isabelle, etc? All members of the next generations of guides that he trained.

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It’s hard to overstate the baptism of fire he experienced, going from being a talented angler (mostly on freshwater) in Johannesburg, to the massive oceanic wilds of Cosmoledo where he started out. From traffic to two metre tidal shifts.

“It was just one of those opportunities you can’t turn down. I did four years on Cosmoledo, and then Providence opened up. And then I would bounce between Providence and Cosmoledo for about five years before the piracy closed down pretty much everything.”

While FlyCastaway were fortunate that their guests had recently disembarked from the Indian Ocean Explorer, the Somali pirates who took control of the FlyCastaway charter boat in March 2009, held the crew for 88 days

before releasing them and sinking the ship. Aside from the obvious trauma experienced by the crew, the ramifications for the Seychelles and tourism operators like FlyCastaway were huge. Then, St Brandon’s Atoll 430 kilometres northeast of Mauritius came to the rescue.

“Luckily for us, the permits and the legislation changed for foreigners to travel to St. Brandon’s. Without that happening at that time, from a business point of view it would have been the end of us. St. Brandon’s opened up and we started doing live-aboard trips there aboard the Griffin, which was hardcore because it was not a fly-in operation. That meant a 24 to 30-hour sail to get to St Brandon’s each way. I think last time I checked, I’d done 64 of those crossings.”

AVAST LANDLUBBERS! You’d think that many crossings would put him off boats, but over the years Tim has developed some clear preferences for live-aboard over land-based operations.

“I don’t like land-based operations. I prefer to work from motherships. Why is that? Well, just from a fishing point of view - if you take a St Brandon’s, which is 40 odd kilometres long, or a Providence, which is 48 kilometres long – when you’re based in one area, traveling distances to the flats, depending on the tides, and when you have got to be there, it can be a nightmare. Whereas on a liveaboard I can say to the captain, “I need to be in the south tomorrow morning because the tide is pushing at 8am,” and the next morning we have got a five minute run to where we need to be. You go out when you need to go out and you are pushing the limits all the time, coming back close to dark, chasing fish and catching as many fish as you can. We want to give the clients the best chance. It’s all tidal orientated. If you’ve got a pushing tide in the afternoon, and it’s 3pm, you know, at 4pm or 5pm, that those fish are going to come in on the low light. If you’ve had a shit tide the whole day, a big dropping tide, high water and you haven’t been able to fish - that’s your one opportunity to fish! It irritates me to just pull off the water when the fishing’s about to get good. It’s not what I want for my clients and you won’t see it from my guides.

The way I’ve taught them, they will push till the very end. My head’s always orientated around the fishing, maximizing as much as possible for the client and basically trying to deliver what the marketing has put out into the world. We’ve got to perform the miracles because people have expectations.”

For Tim, the live-aboard vs land-based thing also separates clients into two categories. There are those who are wholly focused on a hardcore fly-fishing adventure and those who also want other perks.

“Things have become a lot more convenient now with airstrips. If your operation has got all the perks and other luxuries, you are obviously going to attract, in my opinion, a different type of clientele, holiday individuals who are going to be concerned about air-con working all the time and wi-fi and the rest of it. Which is great, if that’s what they want. I want the guys that are fishing- orientated and couldn’t give a fuck about the wi-fi. They are there to catch fish, they are up for a boat ride, a bit of being uncomfortable, walking long hours and doing what needs to get done. Those people, in general, bitch and moan less, because they’re onboard with the programme. They are not there to complain about spots on apples. Yes, you may get a little bit seasick and the boat might smell a bit funny, but it’s an adventure and it’s an experience and it’s hard, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. You can’t make it too convenient. It’s meant to be wild, right? That’s me in a nutshell - fish hard and have the best guides that are not going to give up. They want it more than you want it. They want it so bad that they will walk you into the ground.”

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“I WANT GUYS THAT ARE FISHING-ORIENTATED AND COULDN’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE WIFI”

PUBLIC RELATIONS Over the years of hard salty slog, from Cosmo, to Providence, then on to St Brandon’s and back, post-piracy, to the Seychelles with FlyCastaway on Farquhar Atoll, Tim grew as a guide. As with most people who spend enough time doing what they love for a living, the basics become something you don’t even have to think about. Muscle memory.

“New guides take a minimum of three years before they actually start adding value, getting repeat clients and producing the goods. It’s a tough three years that suck.

It’s really bad. That’s why you see consistency in our guide teams. We don’t lose or rotate a lot of guides. The guys are in it to win it. For me now, the guiding is so second nature. It’s the fundamentals of the job, and the last thing I think about on any given day.”

Which leads us to another the part of the job that Tim appears to have made into a skillset – dealing with you, the client. You see, Tim Babich, like no one I have ever met, switches on like a fish depending on the environment and company he is in. In person while being interviewed, he’s calm, almost serious, his voice a low monotone as if the nearby strelitzias might be bugged. Among the guides and with the clients, however, he holds court, not in an ostentatious way, but because it’s part of the job. Part boss-man, part clown, depending on the lay of the land (or the water). As head guide Tim obviously has a role to play; he has to get information across; he has to keep spirits high (a spandex camo suit worn at opportune times will do that); he has to offer insights and pearls of guiding wisdom to both the younger guides and their sports. That means he had to learn how to read people.

“Over the years you just get to learn about people.

Everyone’s different, but generally, from a guiding point of view, you have got about five or six personality types.

Once you can identify and break those up then you’re golden and you know exactly what to do. It’s almost got to the point when they climb off the plane, that I can tell the guides which one is which and what’s going to happen.

Just by how they climb onto a boat, I can tell, ‘That one’s going to be a hazard. Watch out, a shark or something is going to try eat him. This guy is a bit anxious. That one has no spatial awareness.’”

Once he knows what he is working with, Tim then becomes what both the clients and the guides need him to be.

“It’s almost like being a chameleon with that individual; basically just mirroring what he’s giving me. It’s the same with the guides. I talk to one guide in a certain way and will talk very differently to another. From a fishing point of view, because I’ve seen so many clients, I get what they want from subtle hints. I know then what they want from their fishing experience.”

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“I CAN TELL WHICH CLIENT IS A HAZARD AND WHICH ONE IS ANXIOUS JUST BY HOW THEY CLIMB IN THE BOAT”

For some clients, Tim plays the role of matchmaker. For others he is a friendly dominatrix. Let me, or rather Tim, unpack that for a moment.

there and deal with the fallout. I’m too old (ed: I repeat, he’s 39) and grumpy to do it. And I’ve seen it go wrong. I want every week to be as smooth as possible.

“If the group dynamics aren’t right, it can ruin a week.

Some clients are more intense, others are more relaxed.

Over the years, I’ve set up guys who came in as singles with no fishing buddies. The next season I’ve put them together and they end up being fishing mates for life. The office hates it when I do that. They want to ‘book, book, book’ and my response is ‘no, no, no.’ We’ve got Russians.

They drink a lot. We’re not going to put them with the Bible bashers, because I’m the sucker that needs to stand

So let’s take the Russians. We’ll put them with the South Africans. It’s going to be a better product. We’re going to tick more boxes with these clients and everybody’s going to have a party and it’s going to be great. It’s the same with guides. Some are client-oriented and very good at keeping a crowd happy. Others are more intense, focused on the guiding and the fishing. And then you get some like Paulie Boyers, who are veeery relaxed. You have got to check if he’s still breathing.”

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Except for when you are Tim’s guest.

“In these extreme destinations and locations, things can run really well, but in the blink of an eye, they can also go south really quickly. That’s especially true if you don’t have buy-in from everybody. Often you may have the MD of this company and that one on the same boat, with a bunch of other alpha males. With just too many cooks in the kitchen, it can suck. You need to have buy-in from the clients to the point where they stop trying to control things and are just like, “You got it.” That’s what I always tell the guides. Once you get buy-in from a client, he’s yours. After that only you can fuck it up.

“That’s the other trick with these clients. In the real world they have got hectic work schedules, responsibilities, stress. Your client may tell 3000 other people what to on a daily basis. That’s his life. It’s very, very stressful. I feel sorry for these guys because often they get just two weeks holiday a year. One week with the family, then they get their week. They have got all the money in the world, but that’s what they get. So, for six days he comes out with us and gets told what to do, “Okay, put your boots on. Now sun-cream. You’re good to go. We are going to walk down here and this is what we’re going to do.”

He doesn’t have to worry about all his usual concerns.

He absolutely zones out. As good as the fishing is and the experience is, I honestly think for these clients, the biggest draw card, is that. Permission to zone out. I think what we do is very important for them, because they’re not going to get it anywhere else. The activity is one thing, but it’s that other thing, which I think is really what keeps the clients coming back. They get to talk shit with the guides, drink, have a good time and fish fucking hard.

They have permission to not be the leader on everything for a change.”

Escape from normal life, escape from responsibilities and escape from yourself all sound like familiar reasons for many of us who fish. Unfortunately, that temporary ecosystem can be fragile as Tim has found when tech-addicts mess with the vacuum.

As for the dominatrix side of things, well it’s not like Tim wears a latex catsuit and high heels but, when he’s on location in head guide mode, there’s a noticeable shift in the usual power dynamics for most clients. To go to the Providences and St Brandons of this world, you need loot and to get loot (save for the trustafarians, blessed be thy Investec accounts) you need to either climb corporate ladders, or start your own successful businesses. Those sorts of career paths can forge a certain kind of hardnosed confidence (often labelled as arrogance), that you know what to do and have the ability and the right to tell other people what they need to do.

“We’ve got email and sat phone connectivity on the boat but sometimes I don’t even tell the clients about that.

One year we had some bankers who managed to bring some satellite boosting wi-fi thing on board. Suddenly everybody on the boat had wi-fi and the whole dynamic of that week changed. Everyone was on Facebook; none of the clients was chatting; the guides were talking to their girlfriends back home; no fishing stories were being told or anything like that. Instead, guys were getting emails that the geyser had broken back home or news that a partner was trying to buy them out. You don’t come to us for that. You need those six days of nothingness.”

BRING ME CLOSER, TINY DANCER You know that feeling you get when you return from a brilliant, guided fishing trip, where you had one crowning moment of glory and caught a great fish (or three) and you regale your mates about what a legend you are?

If you were guided by Tim and if you know, in your heart of hearts, that you are an average angler at best, there’s a good chance he had a sizeable role in your success. I’ve only experienced a few days on a boat at Sterkfontein with him and fellow guide Justin Rollinson but, from the way they dodged the storms, to the way they knew an ant hatch was imminent because of the behaviour of the swallows or that specific fish were going to eat our beetles, we quite literally were guided into most if not all our success. I can easily imagine how those instincts and skills come into play in the Indian Ocean atolls and islands where he works.

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“Over the years you learn so much by observing. It can be small things like manipulating giant trevally with splashing noises and kicking up sand, because they orientate towards noise and clouds of sand made by bonefish.

For a client that can’t necessarily cast too well, I can manipulate a GT towards him. I’ve literally walked GTs over to clients. It’s what I call the tree in the desert effect. If you go onto a flat or lagoon, fish are roaming around doing their thing every day. If something in that environment suddenly now stands out, it gets your focus. It’s as if you’re looking for animals in a desert. If you see one tree, that’s where you’re going to focus. By splashing around you are creating a point of interest for the fish: the tree in the desert. If I immediately start kicking up sand as furiously as I can and I start walking towards you saying, ‘Tudor, I’ve got a GT. He’s HEEERE,’ I can basically walk him in and you cast right next to my leg to catch him.‘”

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thing yourself, catch it, is ultimately what we want. And we also want to make our clients better anglers. Not just better casters and better at catching fish, but better anglers who can read the water, read the habitat, the fish, the fly, the cast, the strip, the scene, because essentially that’ll make our lives a lot easier. I’ve got clients now where all I have to say is, ‘There you go, boys, hit it.’ It’s boring as hell for me, because I need someone that cannot fish. That’s where I get my pleasure.”

Right now, Tim’s dialled back on the guiding and spends more time in South Africa with his wife, Karina, and their two kids, a girl aged six and a four-year-old boy. It was a choice. He could easily have gone for endorsements, being an ambassador and jet-setting vibes, but he chose a different path.

It’s human nature, confirmation bias in fact, to have the story fit our inner narratives (“Damn, I’m a golden god of fly fishing”). That’s fine in Tim’s book. It’s important for clients to be the stars of the show.

“They have got to be the heroes. What we do at the beginning of the week, is to be pretty hard on the new guys. We’re like, “This is how you strip. This is how you cast. This is how you walk. This is what you gotta do. This is where you going to put the fly.” It’s very hands-on and we drill them, get them dialled in and get them seeing fish.

With the bugs out the system, they’re relatively competent and by day three, we give them space because we know there’s nothing better than seeing and catching a fish by yourself. You don’t always want someone standing over you, shouting instructions. To go out there, see the damn

“From guiding and traveling for 10/11 months a year I was probably the last person anybody thought would have kids or get married and all the rest of it, but that’s the route I took. I stuck around with FlyCastaway and became a bit more of more of an office bitch, running a lot of the logistics, the prep, all the pre and post season stuff, most of the scheduling up until about 2025, tidal breakdowns and fishing synopsis. I still guide, but I love training guides.”

Like his father before him, Tim and his kids get out a lot, fishing, riding bikes and shooting at things on weekends.

I’m not sure if Tim is going to make them wait quite as long to fish as his father did with him, but I have no doubt they will have the same skills of observation and mirroring, leadership and self-reliance.

Maybe one day they too will also have rocks named after them at Sterkfontein Dam.

L AT ES T R E L E A S ES

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Take our money. Available in a 9’0” 5- weight 4-piece and a 9’0” 6-weight 4-piece. frontierflyfishing.com

ORVIS - ENCOUNTER® FLY ROD BOXED OUTFIT Question time. Have you got crotch-fruit? Have they shown an interest in this fine sport/hobby/pastime/obsession we love so dearly? Are you not sure you trust them with your Helios 3 just yet? Then we recommend you take a closer look at this 4-weight outfit aimed at younger or beginner anglers. In fact, it’s just as good a starting point for anyone interested in getting into fly fishing but who doesn’t want to break the bank on high-end tackle (just yet). It includes a smooth, crisp 4-piece rod packaged with a large arbor

Encounter reel, a weight-forward floating line, backing, and leader. Available in a 9’ 5-weight from Mavungana Flyfishing. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za

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XPLORER - EXTENDED HANDLE FLOATING NET Hands down one of the most loved yet underrated products we know of, Xplorer’s floating nets do a great job (allowing you and the fish to calm down to a panic before your photo shoot) and they are affordable to boot. Now, there’s an extended handle version (up to 40cm from the usual 18cm) which will make all the difference when lunging for that fish of a lifetime off a steep embankment or trying to negotiate a fish into the net while on a float tube. With a Hi-vis Foam cover over an aluminium frame with an oversized, extra deep rubberized mesh netting, this net also has a built in elastic cord retainer with a clip. The head of the net is 52cm x 40cm and 50cm deep. xplorerflyfishing.co.za

YETI DROP! Upstream Fly Fishing have a new stash of Yeti drinkware in stock from the Rambler 14oz Mug to the Rambler 30oz Tumbler and the Rambler 46oz Bottle with Chug Cap. Delightfully over-engineered (their admission) as always, you can expect double-wall vacuum-insulation to keep the contents piping hot (or icy) while protecting your hands. The MagSlider™ Lid on the Mug and Tumbler help retain your liquid temperatures and they are dishwashersafe across the range. The Chug Bottle in particular is a firm favourite of ours. Available in Highlands Olive and Sharptail Taupe (the Mug and the Tumbler) or Harvest Red (Chug Bottle only). yeti.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za

“DELIGHTFULLY OVER-ENGINEERED (THEIR ADMISSION) AS ALWAYS”

XPLORER - CDC TWISTER Made by a local toolmaker in South Africa, this clever CDC twister allows you to trap the point of a CDC feather, wrap the stem around several times, parse the fibres to one side and finish off with just the fibres and no stem. Check out the how to video on Xplorer’s YouTube channel for more. xplorerflyfishing.co.za HARELINE - FLY TYERS THREAD / SPOOL STASH BOX “BAAAAAABES, where’s my Semperfli Nanosilk 18/0?” will never happen again if you organize your fly tying stuff properly. This handy container holds 40 spools in place using a custom foam insert. Fly tying thread, wire, floss, whatever you have on a spool, they’ll all have a home here. hareline.com, flyfishing.co.za

HARELINE - FEATHER PREPPER Dealing with finickity feathers can be a right royal pain in the arse, especially if you have hands more suited to wrasslin’ honey badgers.

To help with your production process, Hareline came up with the Feather Prepper, a simple foam contraption that allows you to hold and fold hackle fibers until you’re ready to tie with them. Works just as well for flash and other synthetics too. hareline.com, flyfishing.co.za

L AT ES T R E L E A S ES

SALAD BAR XPLORER - EPIC II V-BOAT SET “Mountain Dam” – has to be the least original name for a stillwater in South Africa and we wager you also know of at least one, buuuuuut these high altitude, often hidden waters often hold really good fishing. You’ll never know unless you get up there and fish it properly, which is where Xplorer’s new Epic II V-Boat would be very handy. Based on their smaller V-Boat designs, the Epic II has a max load capacity of 115kg and a shorter overall length of 150cm, but more importantly for hard to access water, it comes with backpack carry straps (as well as a Double Action Pump and a carry bag that can take the boat and all its accessories). The Epic II also features the latest cargo pocket designs with five compartments on each, and

the casing has an olive 600D Nylon upper with a durable PVC bottom. There are Closed-Cell foam seats for added safety, and two independent/separate bladders with Boston Valves. xplorerflyfishing.co.za

“DESIGNED FOR GRAB-AND-GO ANGLERS WHO NEED QUICK ACCESS TO THE ABSOLUTE ESSENTIALS”

FISHPOND - WATERDANCE GUIDE PACK “Waterdance” brings to mind Michael Flatley and high performance Irish folk dancing, but the only jigs you’ll find in this brilliant lumbar pack from Fishpond are of the small, sharp variety. Fishpond say that more professional guides use this pack than any other on the market and while we cannot verify that, it’s a believable claim when you look at what it…packs. Made from 420D nylon Cyclepond fabric (Fishpond’s own recycled fishing net blend), it can be worn as a chest or lumbar pack. It features two large main compartments, a signature, zip down fly bench with replaceable foam, an adjustable compression strap system, plus Fishpond Jacquard accent webbing and climbing cord loops for attaching tools and accessories.

There are interior pockets for extra gear storage, padded, breathable air mesh backing to stop you from overheating and two mesh water bottle holders so you can stay hydrated. Seriously, what more do you want? fishpondusa. com, frontierflyfishing.com

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FISHPOND - CANYON CREEK CHEST PACK Micro-mission on the cards? Or perhaps you have a packhorse buddy with you who can carry your lunch? If either of these scenarios apply, then Fishpond’s Canyon Creek Chest Pack is the right fit for you. Designed for graband-go anglers who need quick access to the absolute essentials, this highly versatile carry system offers a rich list of features, including seven tool attachment points, a dropdown fly bench, and an integrated net slot. Despite the minimalist approach, it can hold up to four of your favorite fly boxes (or two plus a sammich) and still have room for accessories. If you need increased carrying capacity, fear not as the Canyon Creek integrates with Fishpond’s nifty Switchback wading systems, backpacks, and more. It’s been in their range for over two decades for good reason. fishpondusa.com, frontierflyfishing.com

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Remote Richtersveld Drift - Namibia

exclusive trout waters - DuLlSTROom

tigerfish experience - Pongola Mavungana Flyfishing Center

Main Road, Dullstroom, 013 254 0270

Mavungana Flyfishing JHB, Shop 3B

Illovo Square Shopping Center, 011 268 5850 travel@flyfishing.co.za

www.flyfishing.co.za

L AT ES T R E L E A S ES

SALAD BAR LOOP - FLY RODS AND REELS CAP Nothing to see here except a great-looking ball cap from Scandi design demons Loop Tackle. One-size fits all with a mesh back for breathability in hot weather. Your cap collection wants a new friend. looptackle.com, flyfishing.co.za ORVIS - RECYCLED SWEATER FLEECE JACKET Look, while this stunner of a jacket (or is it a sweater?) would look great on you reclining on a polar bear rug in front of a roaring fire after a hard day’s fishing, it’s actually a tech garment. Made of recycled polyester from PET bottles in a bluesign®-certified factory the jacket’s fibers are anti-pilling for a sweater look with technical durability. It has a soft brushed interior fleece, three zippered pockets, a shaped hem with drawcord to offer windblocking coverage and a shoulder yoke that offers you an easy range of motion… so yes, permission to fish in it too. orvis.com, flyfishing.co.za HOWLER BROTHERS - FIRSTLIGHT TECH SHIRT Torn between the old-school boxy, Columbia-style shirts and the rise of the Teletubby hoodies? Consider then the Firstlight Tech Shirt from Howler Brothers which goes for a true-size, regular-fit that’s neither tent-like nor too tight. Constructed of a technical, breathable nylon-poly blend, it has just enough stretch for when you need to lunge with the net or double haul for the horizon.

Sporting a roll-up sleeve tab on the upper arm, a sunglasscleaning microfiber at the hem and UPF 35 sun protection, this shirt recently got an update with reinforced placket and pockets and a loop through button reinforcement for added durability. howlerbros.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za HOWLER BROTHERS - HORIZON HYBRID SHORTS Jrrrrr, but we love a good pair of short-pant. We’ve test-driven the Horizon Hybrid shorts and can confirm, they are fantastic.

Built from rugged yet light ripstop fabric, they feature a drawstring waist cord, button closure with zipper fly, zippered stash pockets at the front and back, a reinforced pliers pocket and snap flap pocket. Quick-drying, they’re as good in the water as they are out. howlerbros.com, upstreamflyfishing.co.za REDINGTON - SIREN WOMEN’S WADING BOOT Designed specifically for female anglers, Redington’s premier Siren wading boot provides comfortable protection with rubber rands and soles, and dries quickly as a result of quick-drying and quick-draining synthetic materials. With molded rubber overlays for durability a strong yet lightweight polyurethane midsole, a wide sole for stability, padded collar for ankle support, meshlined interior and drain holes for quick drainage and both sticky walnut rubber and felt sole options, these boots are made to fish. redington.com, xplorerflyfishing.co.za

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DEEP WANTS

PAY DAY STUNNING SMALL STREAM REELS FROM UKRAINIAN A E R O S PA C E ENGINEERS AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN BUG BOOK YOU NEED VR REELS – TRUTTA PERFETTA

Be still our beating hearts! This stunner made by Ukrainian Vladimir Rachenko the former aerospace engineer behind VR Reels has a lofty position on our office Lust List at the moment. Featuring a fully machined one piece spool and full cage frame with an integrated axle, the Trutta Perfetta is made from Aerospace Grade Bar Stock Aluminum.

Its classic Click and Pawl system sports a specially

designed asymmetrical pawl which provides much lower resistance when retrieving line. Including the hand polished screws, there are in total only 22 parts used in this reel’s construction. Available in black, clear silver, dark olive, blue, bronze, gold, olive, red and turquoise, it would be hard to choose but if pressed we’d take the olive. vr-reels.com

CHRISTIAN FRY - A FIELD GUIDE TO FRESHWATER MACROINVERTEBRATES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA “He’s a great fly fisherman,” Leonard Flemming of Feathers & Fluoro tells us about freshwater ecologist Christian Fry, “but he’s just as happy if not happier sifting through soil and catching bugs.” It’s fortunate for the rest of us that Fry (who has a master’s degree in aquatic health through the University of Johannesburg and the Danish Technical University in Aarhus) loves bugs as much as he does, because his incredible new field guide is the result. It contains over 900 stunning macro photographs, plus detailed notes on the diversity,

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distribution, life cycle and taxonomic placement of each taxonomic group, comprehensive maps, info on habitats, phylogenetic trees to assist with identifying features and a whole lot more. Put it this way, whether you aspire to nerd out on insects to the same level Fry does, you have a surface-level knowledge of aquatic life on your home waters and want to go a bit deeper, or if you are just a keen fly-tyer who wants to better imitate your local hatches, this book is a brilliant addition to your library. jacana.co.za

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SAVING SAN C O N S E R V I N G S O U T H A F R I C A’ S M O S

WEB SERIES

SPONSOR A

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T THREATENED MIGRATORY FRESHWATER FISH

A SANDFISH

Photo: Jeremy Shelton Co-founder Fishwater Films

LEARN MORE

WANDS

ECHO CHAMBER A F E W M O N T H S BAC K T I M R A J E F F AT EC H O F LY F I S H I N G S E N T U S A Q U I V E R O F R O D S TO R E V I E W. F R O M T H E P R I M E TO T H E B O O ST SA LT A N D T H E ST R E A M E R - X , O U R T E A M O F I N T R E P I D T EST E R S P U T T H E M T H R O U G H T H E I R PAC ES . H E R E ’ S W H AT T H E Y FO U N D. Photos. LeRoy Botha, Adam Botha, Conrad Botes, Leonard Flemming

There are a few reviews on the internet for Echo’s “flagship offering”, the Prime 4, and I’d encourage you to check them out. For one, I agree with most of them, and for two, I am not necessarily the best guy to ask about the technical aspects of this stuff. That said, I’ve had a few rods in the 7/8wt class, and this one undoubtedly stands way out.

Anything you could level at it in terms of critique can easily be countered by considering the purpose-inspired design.

Bass Pro Now before I get to the main attraction, I must mention that I used this rod for river smallmouth bass last November, and caught a good few in the 18 to 20-inch range. I can’t remember fishing a rod more enjoyable and capable when it comes to river smallies. Casting weighted flies with the wind, I could easily reach 20m with just one false cast. In addition, the Prime 4 8-weight has the lightness and feel of a 6-weight, but with the power to hold fish when it’s needed. Not for a second did I feel either over or undergunned. It’s a truly fantastic rod for smallmouth bass, and I bet it would do very well on largemouth yellowfish, too.

There are some things that this rod just isn’t built to do.

From my experience fishing it for the past few months, I could tell that it isn’t made to cast into the next province.

In my hands, it can’t. It also requires some shenanigans to get it to throw heavy flies into the wind, to the point where I had to modify my casting stroke so much that it felt somewhat unnatural. Am I complaining though? Hell, no.

That which it is built for, it does very well indeed.

Hunt the Grunt I know what you’re thinking, though. What about spotted grunter? The Echo Prime 4 is made, I hear, for “quick shots at real world distances”. If that’s not sight-fishing for flats grunter, I don’t know what is. It loves casting the kind of stuff that I like to fish for grunter. I admit that it took a few tries to find the ideal casting stroke for it. I expected it to be a faster-actioned rod, but when I figured out that I

ECHO PRIME 4, 8-WEIGHT Tester – LeRoy Botha Playground – Garden Route estuaries, Berg River.

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could really relax and cast it gently, I was sending accurate, unobtrusive presentations at a distance of 10 to 15m, again with only a very short water-load and one false cast.

This rod wants to do the work. You don’t have to whip it like a lunatic to make it deliver the quick presentations needed when sight-fishing for grunter, and I absolutely love that. An 8-weight might sound like a heavy rod for grunter, but, again, I assure you, you won’t notice the difference between it and your 6-weight. It is exceptionally responsive during the retrieve and while fighting fish highly desirable features on a grunter rod.

The Details Right, details. Firstly, Echo chopped 2 inches off the usual 9ft for saltwater rods. Clearly this helps speed up presentation by shortening the distance the rod tip travels during even a slower casting stroke. This can result in a fly slapping the water pretty hard, which can be avoided by practicing careful control with the line-hand. The shorter length may well be why the rod is generally unforgiving of dodgy casting habits. It features a longer than usual “dual zone” handle with a bit of extra flare at the front. This is reportedly handy for different types of presentations requiring you to switch your grip between thumb-on-top and index-finger-on-top. All I can tell you is that to me, it looks and feels great. I can get a slightly higher grip that helps balance the rod and reel according to my c asting style.

As for snakes and strippers, we’re talking quality here, and you can tell just by looking at them. All the guides are made from titanium alloy, with silicone carbide (SiC) inners on the stripping guides. Rod-flash is a curse when sightfishing to spooky flats fish, and Echo addresses it nicely.

The black guides are finished with light grey thread wraps on a matte grey blank. The aluminium reel seat features a pair of beefy locking nuts and a cool Kraken logo. The Echo Prime 4 very much has its own thing going on, and it hits a unique aesthetic sweet spot.

To sum up, I don’t think this is a beginner’s rod, and it’s not a Clouser canon. But for bass and flats sight-fishing it is very, very impressive. Thanks, Mr Rajeff and co. It’s been emotional.

“IT LOVES CASTING THE KIND OF STUFF THAT I LIKE TO FISH FOR GRUNTER.”

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ECHO STREAMER X, 7-WEIGHT Tester – Platon Trakoshis Playground – Breede River, Berg River, Tankwa I’m definitely a streamer fishing junkie and will fish a streamer whenever possible. So, when I was given the opportunity to fish with the new Echo Streamer X rod designed by Kelly Galloup, I leapt at it like a starved brown trout swiping at a Sex Dungeon. That fly and many of Galloup’s other streamer designs have been used and tweaked over the years to great effect in South Africa, accounting for many of our larger, more elusive indigenous species. So, if the man gets involved in making a streamer rod, it makes perfect sense to me that we should be looking at his techniques and gear too. To add to that a few of my fishing buddies rave about Echo rods and my curiosity was piqued even more after attending an impressive, educational Tim Rajeff event a few years back when he was in South Africa demonstrating the Echo range. I was having a beer with a few fishing friends when the rod was handed over to me and I was, as were my friends, blown away by how well made and finished the rod is. Comparing it to some of the high-end rods I have, I can say without a doubt that the Echo Streamer X stands by them when it comes to quality and finish. The price tag is also very favourable in comparison.

The Details I was pleased that the rod was a 9 foot 7-weight, which is one of my favourite weights for big streamers. It has a small fighting butt and forward leaning guides which helps avoid the line wrapping and snagging around the butt and guides, which is important when fishing streamers as you tend to cast a lot, repetitively searching the seams and eddies. The cork is fine and looks like it will last and the half wells grip feels very comfortable in hand. The titanium-coloured reel seat is ported which looks quite cool matched up with a titanium-coloured reel like my Pentz Predator.

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In The Centre Mr Venter The rod felt very solid and I was dying to take it out on the water. My initial feeling was that it felt a bit stiff and fast so I was concerned about getting tight loops and whether some of the chunky flies I like to use might take my head off. I tried the Streamer X with a number of lines, from aggressive short taper floating lines to fast sinking Di7 lines. The rod is certainly not fast and shot out lines and heavy flies with ease. I realised while casting that the tip and butt section are quite fast but the middle section is not, allowing for wider loops and for keeping those heavy, bulky streamers from hitting me or the rod. I have broken a few rods this way. The tip is strong enough to push big flies just that little further, while the strong butt allows for a solid hook set and gives you the back bone to hold fish well.

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Down Low We don’t have big rivers with big trout here in South Africa so I mainly focused on smallmouth bass. During one session I was on a honey hole and the smallmouth bass were stacked up on a certain spot in fast deep water.

The Streamer X really came into its own and I was in my element casting the Di7 line out and swinging the heavy fly down to these strong fighting spring fish. The Streamer X performed brilliantly and is a now my go to streamer rod.

Up Top Targeting big largemouth bass on big surface flies worked like a charm too and I could send big bushy flies into tight spots with ease and had the power to pull the big mothers out of the dense foliage where they were hanging out. I also used it in the salt quite extensively with very

positive results. It handled West Coast and Overberg wind impressively with some good fish to show for it, from Spotted Grunter to an Eagle Ray, blacktail and some smaller saltwater species too.

I’m looking forward to using the rod on some of the bigger rivers in South Africa and I know what my go to rod will be for my next Orange River largemouth yellowfish trip, that’s for sure.

“THE STREAMER X PERFORMED BRILLIANTLY AND IS A NOW MY GO TO STREAMER ROD.”

ECHO BOOST SALT, 8-WEIGHT Tester – Conrad Botes Playground – Breede River, in-shore reefs.

Not me. I prefer a 7-weight as my light rod, a 9-weight as my go-to heavier rod, and then the 10-weight for really heavy stuff.

‘One rod to rule them all’ When I was given a new Echo rod to review, I immediately thought that this would be a bit of an unfair and biased review, since I fish Echo rods exclusively in the Western Cape salt. They are affordable, reliable and the backup service when you need a broken section replaced is excellent. But I have never owned an Echo 7-weight, so I immediately jumped at the opportunity.

So, I was presented with a special little dilemma, at the crossroads so to speak between my usual comfort zones.

I realised there was only one way to approach the problem, and that was to fish the rod for all the species I would normally target with either the seven or the nine.

On closer inspection I realised that I’d made a bit of a mistake. It wasn’t a 7-weight rod I was asked to review, but an 8-weight. Now, most of my friends fish 8 and 10-weights in the local salt, with the 8-weight being the light rod for grunter and other small stuff, and the 10-weight being the heavier rod used for kob and leeries.

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Grunter The obvious place to start was grunter, as 8-weight rods are the ones most commonly used when targeting grunters here in the Cape. I paired the new Boost with an Aiflo clear tip floating line and, I must admit, the combination was a winner. Every cast I made went out like a rocket and it was easy to punch even big, wind-resistant deer-hair prawns into a stiff breeze. But the rod was still delicate enough to make fighting a grunter enjoyable.

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The real advantage came when targeting grunter on the sand with JAM flies. In a scenario like this you often have very little time for false casting and, ideally, you have to present the fly after a maximum of two false casts. With the Boost I found that it had enough backbone to successfully present a JAM after a single false cast, making it a winner on the sand flats.

Inshore Flats Next up was the small stuff, fishing flats on the inshore surf. We target species like blacktail and wildeperd yearround along inshore reefs along the Agulhas coast. The rod of choice is a light one. I have used a 5-weight quite a lot, but mostly a 7-weight has been my go-to stick for this stuff. Going heavier didn’t really make sense to me and I thought it would be overkill for the small flies we used targeting these species. But I must honestly say that as soon as I started fishing, I forgot that I was using a heavier rod and really enjoyed the fight these feisty little buggers put up. I was pleasantly surprised to see blacktail putting a decent bend into this rod as I was fighting a hooked fish at close range.

Kob and leerfish The true test was using this rod for bigger species casting heavier flies. Many of my friends considered a 9-weight as too light a rod to use for leeries and especially kob, and going lighter still didn’t make sense. But I decided to use this rod for an entire session fishing for both kob and leeries.

I found that the rod was an excellent piece of tackle for targeting leeries. It handled the small crease flies and silicone mullets I used with ease and I could even get the required distance when casting larger flippers and poppers, something that a heavier rod is more suited for.

The final test was using the Boost for kob fishing, the reason being that kob flies are difficult to cast, even when using heavier tackle such as a 10-weight. I used the Echo Boost exclusively during a number of kob sessions and the conclusion is that the lighter rod was not a handicap when casting big flies, not even large sculpin head DMAs. Yet being more delicate than the normal choice of 9 or 10-weight, the Boost made fighting a decent size kob so much more enjoyable.

In conclusion I would say that if I was given the choice of using a single rod for all of my local salt water fishing, the Echo Boost 8-weight would definitely be it. Regardless of what you choose to target, big or small, this rod is really the one to rule them all.

Echo rods are available from echoflyfishing.com.

For dealers in South Africa contact info@africanwaters.net

LIFER

THE LUCKY ONE S O M E G U Y S , L I K E J O H A N N E S B U R G - B A S E D P E T E R W H I T TA K E R , A V E T E R A N , G L O B E - T R O T T I N G A N G L E R , S E E M T O H AV E L I F E D I A L L E D I N . T H E R E A R E F E W P E O P L E W E H AV E M E T W H O A C T U A L LY FISH AS OFTEN AS HE DOES. SEYCHELLES, JURASSIC L AKE, B O L I V I A , T H E O R A N G E , T H E VA A L A N D M A N Y O T H E R P L A C E S , A L L M A N Y T I M E S O V E R – P E T E R G E T S I T R I G H T. Photos. Peter Whittaker, Kevin Whittaker

The first fish I remember catching was a gudgeon when I was five years old. My cousin took me to the Grand Union Canal near my hometown of Luton, Bedfordshire in England with a small fibre glass one piece rod, float and maggot for bait.

I’ve only called two places home. Luton, Bedfordshire, England and Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa since 1979.

My schooling was at Haberdashers’ Aske’s public school for boys in Boreham Wood, Hertfordshire, England. When I left school, I joined Systems Reliability Ltd, a computer maintenance company in Luton, Bedfordshire and I trained as a computer maintenance engineer whilst studying computers and microprocessors (which were at their inception) at Mander College in Bedford. I was seconded by Systems Reliability to Plessey South Africa in Wynberg, Johannesburg for a year (1979) to assist in repairing minicomputers which the company had developed to carry out telephone call logging.

Johannesburg is much more prone to lightning than areas in the UK and the microcomputer boards had become damaged during the fierce storms. I quickly designed some lightning protection which resolved the issue. At the end of my stint in Johannesburg the UK company decided to open a subsidiary company in SA. I was asked to join as technical director. I was 22 at the time and, having spent some good times in South Africa, this was a real opportunity for me. In 1988 the company disinvested in SA citing that they didn’t want to be associated with apartheid as the UK company had just been listed on the London Stock Exchange and was about to be bought by another much larger UK company. This is when I decided to resign and start my own business. I started MiDAS Management Systems in 1988 where I still work to date.

We are the leaders in telephone management systems in the major hotels in South Africa and in major universities and government departments.

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During Covid we had to cut back and retrench half our staff complement to stay afloat. The hospitality industry took a big knock and subsequently closed many of their hotels, which affected us badly. We have been ticking over and slowly but surely business is recovering. Subsequently I have mainly been working from home (or wherever I am at the time). I have therefore had plenty of time to fly fish. At the moment I am fishing Sterkfontein Dam which is about the only place accessible at the moment for yellowfish. It is one of my favourite places to fish. I am fortunate to be able to fish it from my boat.

The Vaal River is my favourite river to fish and is under two hours’ drive from my house. I often go with my son, Kevin who is also an avid fly fisher. Catching smallmouth yellows on dry fly is one of my favourite methods. We also spend a lot of time catching largemouth yellowfish during summer and winter. There is also some good grass carp fishing on dry fly to be had during the summer.

The best advice I have ever been given is. ‘Life is short, make the most of it while you can.’

I’m most proud of passing on my fly-fishing passion to my son.

The most satisfying fish I have ever caught was an 18lb tigerfish I recently caught on the Zambezi River.

Having spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears on the river and, seeing the decline of the tigerfish population over the years, it was very satisfying to finally catch such a beautiful fish.

My go to drink is an ice-cold SOL lager with a lime wedge One place, never again, is Mafia Island, Tanzania. It’s so sad to see a beautiful area devoid of fish. Dynamiting and overfishing has left the sea lifeless.

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One place I have to return to is Tsimane, Bolivia. I had a great trip there but there was a great deal of rain so the charter aircraft couldn’t pick us up from the Secure River to move to the next camp on the Pluma River. I need to get back there.

It’s okay for an angler to lie when he gets asked, “Where exactly did you catch that largemouth yellowfish?”

The handiest survival skill I have is being able to catch fish.

A skill I would like to master is spey casting. I had a lesson with Misty Dillon from the Himalayan Outback a few years ago on the Saryu River in India, an experience which has stuck in my mind ever since.

The biggest adventure I have ever been on was when I took my son to the Himalayas in India to catch golden mahseer. It was an amazing trip on the overnight train and then by 4x4 into the mountains. India is an incredible place to visit not just for the fly fishing.

“THE HANDIEST SURVIVAL SKILL I HAVE IS BEING ABLE TO CATCH FISH.” The best day’s fishing I’ve ever experienced, I caught five largemouth yellowfish, the smallest being 13.5lbs and the largest 19.4lbs and I also lost another.

I shared the day with my son who was able to help me land each fish.

To face one’s fears, my advice is don’t worry about things you have no control over. Don’t spend your time thinking about all of the bad things that might happen.

the best and the bleakest fishing with them in the most amazing places. It’s not just about the fishing.

Looking back on my life, there isn’t anything I would change, because if I had done things differently, I would probably have not followed my present path. I am happy with the way my life turned out.

What do I want to do before I die? I want go on more fishing trips with my son and friends.

Something I have changed my mind about are fancy cars and material things (except for G. Loomis Asquith fly rods). They no longer have any appeal as I get older.

Spending money on experiences has become the norm.

What I get out of fly fishing has not changed at all over the years, that’s why I keep going back. I have made many good friends while fly fishing and I have enjoyed both

The last fish I caught was a smallmouth yellowfish on an Elk Hair Caddis at Sterkfontein Dam with my good mate Arno Mathee.

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

E: fish@upstreamflyfishing.co.za

SEYCHELLES

www.upstreamflyfishing.co.za

T: +27 (0) 21 762 8007

TANZANIA

BOLIVIA

CAPE STREAMS

CAPE TOWN

Visit the shop: 274 Main Road, Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa, 7708

POP QUIZ S M A R T Y PA N T S O R T H E E M P E R O R ’ S N E W C L O T H ES ? TA K E O U R Q U I Z T O S E E W H AT YO U A B S O R B E D F R O M T H I S I S S U E .

Human chameleon Tim Babich in his natural environment.

1. According to Ewan Naude (page 22), what on the Orange river is “as ubiquitous as brandy at a Bulls home game”?

A. A bloom of desert roses.

B. Unscrupulous operators C. 20lb Instagram largie unicorns.

D. Silverback gorillas.

4. What did Jeff Tyser and Ben Pellegrini find at Silvia’s Restaurant in Xcalak (page 36)?

A. A big cock.

B. Photos of permit.

C. Great ceviche.

D. Fish tacos.

E. All of the above.

2. The way Dylan Tomine sees it, being a fly fishing guide is not dissimilar to being (page 28)?

A. A proctologist.

B. A psychologist.

C. A psychopath.

D. A prostitute.

E. A pimp.

5. Which of the following do we not use to describe Tim Babich (page 60)?

A. Fetishist.

B. Dominatrix.

C. Chameleon.

D. Matchmaker.

E. Observer.

3. When faced with an impenetrable wall of bush, Herman ‘Harry’ Botes does what (page 48)?

A. Attacks it like a Jack Russel on cocaine.

B. Crashes through it like a wounded boar.

C. Consults his companions democratically about the best way forward.

D. Strategically assesses the situation then retraces his steps.

E. All of the above.

6. As he’s got older, Peter Whittaker has renounced fancy cars and material things, except for (page94)?

A. Manicures and pedicures.

B. A super yacht.

C. G. Loomis Asquith rods.

D. Mako reels.

E. Three-ply bog roll.

Answers: 1. C, 2. D, 3. A & B, 4. E, 5. A, 6. C

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W W W. T H E M I S S I O N F LY M A G . C O M

THEMLUCKYBASTARDS.COM

LIFE IS ABOUT CHOICES

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THE TIME YOU CARVE OUT FOR YOURSELF THIS YEAR? HIT THE CAPE STREAMS FOR AMAZING WATER, PRETTY TROUT AND A SOUL REBOOT? SEE A NEW SIDE OF THE FARM ANIMALS OF YOUR YOUTH BY TARGETING BIG BERG RIVER CARP THAT WILL MAKE YOU RESPECT THEM? PLUG IN TO THE BEST WESTERN CAPE SALT AT KAROOLSKRAAL ON THE AMAZING BREEDE RIVER AND TRY FOR THE SLAM OF A GRUNTER, A KOB AND A LEERVIS IN ONE DAY? FROM HOSTED TRIPS TO ONE-ON-ONE OR COUPLES GUIDING, GET IN TOUCH WITH LUCKY BASTARDS TO MAKE THAT OFF TIME WORTH REMEMBERING. EMAIL INFO@THEMLUCKYBASTARDS.COM FOR MORE.

FIND YOUR LOCAL ECHO DEALER WESTERN CAPE: Stream X Fly Fishing www.theflyfishingshop.co.za Big Catch www.bigcatch.co.za KWAZULU-NATAL: Wildfly www.wildfly.co.za Basil Manning www.basilmanning.co.za GAUTENG: Mias Angling and Scuba www.miasangling.co.za Solly’s Angling Corner www.sollysanglers.co.za Backcountry Africa www.backcountryafrica.com Blue Mile www.bluemile.co.za

#FLYSHOPSTRONG

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL FLY SHOP

DEALER ENQUIRIES African Waters, 25 Montgomery Drive, Pietermaritzburg, 3201, 033 342 2793, mark@africanwaters.net