Sterkfontein Dam Blog: Jan – Mar 2023
The 9th of January 2023 saw our team arrive at Sterkfontein Dam in preparation for a 9 week long fly fishing season to start our year off. As we prepped our fleet of Fusion boats during the early evening we were reminded of the beauty of the place, with panoramic views of lush green rolling hills and a skyline littered with puffy clouds illuminated in pastel colours… It was so good to be back at our summertime home!
Preseason Prep
This season saw us make yet more upgrades to our fleet of 3 boats, adding casting platforms to both front and back decks on each of the boats, as well as 2 brand new 4-stroke engines to ensure we traveled quickly and reliably to our chosen fishing areas each day. These new additions, especially the casting platforms made a desirable difference to the average day, raising our guest’s vantage point and allowing them better visibility which increased their chances of success. We also revised our fly selection for the season, adding 5 new patterns to our ever-expanding library of purpose tied dry flies to cover every condition likely encountered. Armed to the hilt with everything a guide team could possibly need we were ready to take on anything Sterkfontein could throw at us.
The fishing
Sterkfontein is, and always has been a challenging and technical fishery, where the margins for error are slim. 2023 turned out to be a testing fishing season due to several factors which included; particularly difficult weather conditions and inconsistent wind directions.
Despite the above, we still managed to deliver a successful fly fishing season. When the weather was bad, we caught fewer fish and when it was good, we caught loads. In tougher seasons one needs to adjust expectations and bank the small wins. This was critical this season, where the windows of opportunity could be a short 2-hour period and if you weren’t on the money, you were left scratching for answers. Planning, teamwork, and experience ensured that we were in the right place, at the right time, and most importantly providing sight fishing opportunities to Smallmouth Yellowfish for our guests. The next thing apparent this season was fly selection and the difference that made to our catch tally at the end of each day. Being a team certainly helped, as we could test several different patterns and if one happened to stand out we would then share this information amongst the team. It became evident certain flies outperformed others and were often the difference between landing 1 or 9 fish for the day. In seasons past we hadn’t had to be quite so selective in our choice of flies or as intentional in our decision-making.
Below are recollections of certain fish and sessions that stood out during our stint at Sterkfontein:
Early season we welcomed old-time friends back to Sterkfontein for the 3rd consecutive year. Zac enjoyed days of fly fishing bliss landing 10 or so Smallmouth Yellowfish each day under perfect bluebird skies with almost no wind to speak of. It was during Zac’s trip that we realized that the old staple fly patterns were not going to be sufficient and we needed to experiment.
Our first international visitor of the season, Gareth Jones, of Airflo Fly Fishing converted his opportunities in front of the Smallmouth Yellowfish. Gareth, a very competent angler, has won 2 silver medals at the Men’s World Fly Fishing Championships and is a master at his craft. He enjoyed a particularly productive morning session hooking and landing loads of powerful Smallies.
Another international visitor, Don, also enjoyed several days of action and reported catch returns in the double figures each every day of his trip with us. Having fished the world, and a lot in the US for trout, he caught onto the rhythm and vibe quickly and thoroughly enjoyed the sight fishing element of the fishery.
Riaan and Alecia joined us for the second consecutive year for an extended period and enjoyed a particularly special day where 9 fish were brought to hand before having to call the day short due to a brewing thunderstorm. The catch of the day went to Alecia, who managed to catch a 6 ½ lbs fish Smallmouth Yellowfish that she expertly sight-fished and threaded through a large weed bed before landing her prize. We’ve landed a fair number of Sterkfontein Yellows during the past 3 seasons and this is a very large fish for the fishery. Well done, Alecia!
Gerhard and Angelika, longtime supporters of our Sterkfontein Dam experience joined us on two separate occasions during our Jan – Mar season. They were lucky enough to experience a large flying ant hatch during 1 of their afternoons and Angelika struck gold and managed to land several powerful Smallies, one of which a real beauty of 4 ½ lb. Great job, Angelika!
The fishing, laughs, and evening shenanigans we shared with our guests this season were special. We enjoyed every moment and although Sterkies showed us her moody side at times, she still shone brightly when conditions lined up favourably. As such, the hope of a strong season next next year has us excited and already hard at work with the preparations!
Till next year,
The FlyCastaway Guide Team
