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Pickled Carp Adventures Extreme Nymphing - South African Yellowfish |
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Pickled Carp Adventures Extreme Nymphing - South African Yellowfish |
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The first week of November 2005 saw Des Purdy, Richard Vipond, Rob Ellis and myself fly down to South Africa for a weeks fly-fishing. We had gone in pursuit of the indigenous Smallmouth Yellowfish. The river Vaal was the venue. Elgro River Lodge was our base. The method deployed was short line Czech nymphing.
What made this trip different to my previous visits were the extreme river conditions we encountered. The local authority decided to release huge quantities of water from the upstream dams, to fill those downstream, because of a drought in the lower Vaal region. Consequently, we were wading in rapids running at more than twice the normal flow.Although the conditions appeared to be against us we soon got into the swing of things and caught fish on our first foray into the river. Most of the 'Yellows' were in the 1-2lb class with the occasional 3lber. I was lucky enough to land three over 4lb, the best going 4lb 12oz. Here a nice 3lb fish comes to the net.
The sport was fantastic, the Yellowfish earned its reputation as one of the hardest fighters in freshwater. There were occasions when the number of fish lost outnumbered those landed by 10:1. This made it even more enjoyable when one finally made it to the net. Here Des does battle with a 3lb fish in some really fast water and is clearly chuffed to see it in the net!
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If you have any comments or suggestions email me at pickled.carp@btinternet.com
