STRAIGHT STICK

from The Mission Fly Fishing Magazine Issue#39

DEEP WANTS PAY DAY

YOU KNOW WHEN A GUY HAS A FISHING MIDDLE NAME LIKE MARIUS “STRAIGHTSTICK” ROUSSEAU , THAT HE’S WALKED THE WALK. WHETHER IT WAS TARGETING LARGEMOUTH YELLOWFISH ON THE VAAL OR HIS NEW LOCAL WATERS IN THE EASTERN CAPE WHERE HE TARGETS GRUNTER AND STEENBRAS, IN OUR EYES, MARIUS IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF A FLY-FISHING LIFER.

The first fish I remember catching was when I was about three years old. I was fishing with my grandfather at Second Beach lagoon near Port St Johns. I reeled in a pufferfish. I subsequently caught some decent blue kurper and mullet in the same estuary.

I was born in Welkom in the Free State and from there moved to Fochville in the Western Transvaal, then to Klerksdorp and finally to Cape St Francis in the Eastern Cape.

I started my working career in the gold mines as a gold reef sampler. I then decided to study further, and I became a human resources practitioner until my early “semiretirement” in 2017.

As I am living 200m from the beach in Cape St Francis, if the weather permits, a typical day will start with fishing and afterwards some gardening and/or house chores. It might involve some more fishing in the afternoon and evening. That is, when I am not hosting a fly-fishing trip to the Maldives or elsewhere and then it is, obviously, just fly fishing.

I happen to be blessed with some great rivers and estuaries near where I live. There I can fish for grunter, leeries and steenbras and other species on a regular basis.

I also do a lot of spinning for yellowtail and elf, kob and katonkel and leervis in the sea. If conditions are favourable I might even find myself on the “darkest dark side” fishing for steenbras, elf and kob on bait in the surf.

My first fish on fly was a yellowfish. Later on that same year, 1989, I caught some trout at Swartwater Dam in Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State (also known as QwaQwa) and towards the end of the year I caught some small salt water fish at Kosi Bay including two decent greenspot kingies. Since then it has been impossible for me to choose between fresh and saltwater fly fishing, both have their own merits and I find both disciplines exciting, stimulating and challenging.

For local saltwater estuary fishing I favour my old TFO BVK 8-weights and for tropical venues I use my 9- and 12-weight G Loomis NRX and NRX+. For largemouth yellows I prefer the 8-weights and for smallmouth yellows and trout, my trusty old 5-weight Sage TCR and 6-weight Sage ONE. I own a 3-weight rod but I have never really ventured into the micro-fish realm. It will come out of the closet should I visit the small streams around Barkly East again.

When it comes to fishing, the best advice I have ever been given in very difficult situations, is to carry on regardless, as you will eventually run into a stupid one –“’n dommetjie”.

I am most proud of my family, my beautiful wife and both my children, who still enjoy coming home and whose eyes light up when they see me.

I am no longer one for extravagant and rowdy parties but if the best party trick can be defined as a person, it would be my good fly-fishing mate, IW Wilkens – he is a walking, talking party trick on his own. Free entertainment into the early-morning hours.

To be honest, I always had to work hard at a 9-5 job but fishing, and in particular fly fishing, always came naturally to me.

Looking back, it will be very difficult to identify the most satisfying fish I have ever caught but, if I absolutely had to choose, it would be a 96cm queen fish I caught way back in 1990 off the beach in Sodwana Bay with archaic tackle and a fly tied by hand without a vice from various scraps left over from used Lefty’s Deceivers. Recently, each and every local steenbras and grunter I have caught has been extremely satisfying.

My go-to drink is a double-shot cappuccino and, occasionally, a nice red wine. I will, however, drink anything if the occasion warrants it.

One thing comes to mind immediately when I think of a place I would never like to be again… in hospital having a catheter connected to my nether regions.

Two places I would have to return to would be Jozini and the Vaal River.

I think a fly fisherman should never lie about the number or the size of the catch, but when it comes to the venue, i.e. “Zipper Mouth Creek”, it might just be acceptable.

When it comes to life or death, a handy survival skill I possess would be to obtain edible food from the ocean, e.g. fish/shell fish.

While in my fishing zone I have tremendous focus and patience. My aim is to apply the same focus and patience to my daily life.

The biggest adventure I have been on was arranging my first St Brandon trip; the stress of the unknown beforehand; the 32-hour voyage on a catamaran in stormy conditions; and eventually arriving in this indescribable paradise.

I believe one should ideally face fears head on, but only the ones worth facing.

Before I die, I would like to spend more quality time with my family and to tick off some of my fly-fishing bucket list items, number one being sight-fished tarpon.

Over the years nothing has really changed in terms of what I get out of fly fishing. The excitement, satisfaction, and all the pleasures and blessings associated with being in and a part of nature remain the same. I may just appreciate these moments more now.

If I could change anything in fly fishing it would be to remove the stigma of exclusivity and status that is manifest in the exorbitant pricing of fly-fishing equipment. This has a negative impact and hampers the growth of the sport, especially in the lower income groups. A fly line costing more than R2 000 and top-end fly rods selling for more than R21 000 these days is ludicrous, notwithstanding the R/$ exchange rate.

Looking back I would not do anything differently, due to the fact that what I did has ultimately led me to where I am now, and I am largely content with my current state of affairs. A few more zeros in my bank account would not have hurt though.

In the past, suffering from ADD, I told myself it was not worth the time and effort to fish for grunter and rather to focus on more aggressive species. Of late I have changed my mind and found pursuing them is worth the effort. Steenies and grunter will probably make me end up in a lunatic asylum, but what the heck!

The last fish I caught was a unicorn fish, taken off the back of the boat while some friends were snorkelling in the Maldives during my trip in February 2023.