Nikao Fishing Adventures went with a client to hunt for Wild Brown Trout in the Central Drakensburg Rivers of Kwa Zulu Natal South Africa.
It was a lovely sunny day, and it got very hot, later on a stiff breeze picked up which we welcomed, it did however make casting a bit difficult. All the grass is starting to go green, flowers budding, birds around, and all the signs of spring are in the air, on the ground and all around, I love this time of year as everything is new and fresh and promising. I also noticed a lot of nymphs in the water.
We started out on the Bushmans River near Giants Castle, and as it is very early for river season the water level was still very low and crystal clear. There was sediment on the bottom that was a few centimetres thick. I must add that as we went further upstream we found the conditions improved. The few fish that we did find were very shy and following but not biting, we did see a few around 35cm. This reminded us of a trip I did with the same client in March this year where we fished the area for 3 days and got 22 Wild Brown Trout over 50cm, three over 60cm (All males) and one angry 70cm male complete with hook jaw, and all the males were starting to go into spawning colours. I think after a good rain the river will get "flushed" and the fishing will get going. After scouting a few kilometres of river we decided after 2 hrs or so to leave and go to another river not to far from there.
We then went to fish in the Mooi River near Kamberg and the water here was a little higher and flowing a little faster and was slightly turbid, and a lot of algae on the bottom. Here we managed to land 11 Wild Brown Trout between us mostly between 20-25cm and one of around 30cm, all were females. I think that as the season progresses we will be in for a good Wild Brown River Trout season providing we get some good rains. All the signs are there, which make it very promising.
