A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to do something really special. My Dad turned eighty during Covid19 lockdown and there was no way of celebrating it properly. As soon as we were allowed to travel within the province, I took him on a short outing to the mountains.

 

At his age there are not many things left that my Dad would still like to achieve. One of them though, was to catch a fish on fly. He has fished his whole life with bait and lures, and has never got into fly fishing. I had to do a work trip up to Nottingham road in the KZN midlands and I decided to link it with a bit of fly fishing.

 

I called up my friend Paul Coetzee, who owns probably the most beautiful farm in the area, on the Mooi river. After hearing what I was hoping to achieve for my Dad, Paul was happy to accommodate us at his spectacular property.

We drove up, chatting all the way about fishing and birds (the feathered kind) that we are both interested in. The trip went quickly and we were soon at the Wildfly shop in Nottingham road, where we stocked up on tippet, leaders and some great flies, recommended to us by Stuart the shop manager.

 

From there we drove to Invermooi, where my Dad’s breath was taken away by the sheer beauty and peace. We wasted no time in heading to one of the spectacular dams, where we fished for the afternoon. It was a still and windless afternoon, and the winter light was something to behold.

My Dad hooked a nice trout and I ran over to help him land it, but it managed to break his fine tippet before we could get it into the net. That was all the action for that afternoon, but it was enough to put a big smile on My Dad’s face, as he now knew that it was definitely possible.

I think that hooking your first fish on any tackle gives you renewed confidence that what you are using is right, and that your technique is working.

 

We chatted about the fish that almost was around the braai fire that evening, listening to the jackals wailing in the nearby hills, and the fire crackled in the lounge hearth, then headed off to our luxury rooms for an early night.

 

The following morning we made our way to another dam on the farm, arriving there before sunrise. It was a typically chilly winter morning and we decided to fish the dam from the small boat that Paul had thoughtfully provided. After trying a couple of areas my Dad hooked a fish, which he fought like an old pro and landed after a good tussle. It was a beautiful rainbow trout, made even more lovely by the happiness so evident on my Dad’s face.

That afternoon Paul directed us to yet another dam, to go and try our luck. My Dad landed another six fish from the bank that afternoon. I couldn’t get him to leave the water after the sun had gone down, the man was hooked!

It was a successful trip in every possible way. My Dad is now keen as anything to do more fly fishing, and I was just pleased to have had some quality time with my mentor and best friend.