On 29 October 2011 a memorable and successful fly fishing competition was hosted in aid of Diabetes South Africa by The Village Angler, Greystone Lodge, and Treeferns Trout Lodge. A total amount of R10 000 was collected. Prices to the value of R30 000 were sponsored, and all of the 21 participants won at least one price if only a goodie bag.  The grand winners were :

David Mkhabela ( Biggest Brown Trout)

Gert Brits ( Tied Biggest Fish)

Johan Pienaar ( Biggest Fish Overall)

David                                                  Gert                                           Johan

TREEFERNS TROUT LODGE  has great pleasure in thanking the sponsors, participants, caterers, and the dedicated organisers of the event, in particular :

Leigh-Ann  Bailie, Diabetes South Africa

Razana Allie, Diabetes South Africa

John and Wilma Hunter, The Village Angler

Lukas, Dullstroom Grill

Johan Senekal, Greystone Lodge

Morne, Manager, Treeferns Trout Lodge

The slide show says it all :

The complete lists of  sponsors, and participants are attached :

It has always been true that the weather plays a major role in fishing. It is no less so in fishing for trout or fishing at Treeferns Trout Lodge with its altitude, extreme weather conditions of temperature, wind, humidity, variability, etc. and particularly the phases of the moon.

Phases of the Moon.

The phase of the moon always has an effect on the weather, as it has on the sea tides. Fishing is always better with high water when the tide moves in. Fishing is not on with spring tide when the moon has an influence on the gravitation of the earth. In general fishing is better when the moon  grows, and 4 days after full moon. Fishing also improves when the moon is directly above the fishing spot, and straight behind the earth.

Wind.

Anglers should always watch the wind direction. Fish are always below the wind at the bank where the food settles. Small larves also need wind to break through the film of the water. This is when floating lines and flies, and nymph patterns work. Casting with the wind is also smoother, further and more accurate..

Temperature

Trout are more active in cooler waters, but that does not say you will catch a fish if it is freezing cold outside the water. No fish anywhere favours extreme conditions. If it is too warm the fish are listless and lethargic ; too cold and they will go deeper. A sudden change in the weather never enhances fishing. Gradually decreasing temperatures causing the water to cool off over length of time is a good sign that fishing will stabilise. On the other hand, clear sunny days with intense heat make the fish drop to hide in cooler depths.

Barometric pressure

When the atmospheric pressure drops or rises rapidly there will be a revival of fish behaviour. A change in barometric pressure can bring fish back to the food . A low pressure accompanied by a cold front make  the fish go hunting deep. If the pressure rises the fish will become more active temporarily and rise to the surface water making catching easier. Now is the time for your intermediate and floating line.

Spawning

Spawing season is from May to August, and feeding is  then the last thing on the fish’s minds. However, should a morsel of food floats past, and the fish grabs it, you can be sure to have a fight on your hands.  After spawning from August to November the fish are starved and they hunt everything, and fishing is excellent.

In summary, fish like steady barometric pressure; sudden changes mostly spell problems.  But always bear in mind that your prey experience barometric pressure long before you, up to 3 days in advance. Also remember winter is spawning time and the fishing tough and challenging.

Experience at Treeferns Trout Lodge.

Most importantly, our still waters at Treeferns are  fed throughout the year by crystal clear cool springwater, always conducive to lively fish behaviour.

Also the food cycle has long been well established, and  insect life is  plentiful. Insect species  that occur abundantly are the various moth species, damsel and dragonfly nymphs, grasshoppers, blood worms, hair worm types. Generally flies featuring white and olive colour work well in the cooler months.

A bonus is that we also conduct  cattle farming, and insects breed in the cow dung all over the farm and on the banks of the dams.

Despite these positive aspects, due to the altitude and wind we are prone to variable and extreme weather conditions, “often four seasons in one day”. When the east wind starts blowing in the afternoon be prepared that the mist will roll in till late next morning – ideal fishing conditions.

In conclusion, fishing is always better during stable weather conditions ;  in the  mornings as early as 05h00 in summer, and late afternoons from 16h00. In winter carry on till 11h00, and then from an hour before sunset.

The moral of the story is :  if  the  fish  do  not bite,  relax,  there is more to it than just your angling skills !

Animated trout, courtesy Google.

By : Morne Janse van Rensburg, Manager, Treeferns Trout Lodge

10 August 2011

The Fly Fishing Academy would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in supporting the Fly Fishing Exibit at the 2011 Bundu Expo. As you all are aware, our concept was to round up as many new fly fishermen as possible and expose them to this wonderful sport. We believe that we achieved this as we had a constant flow of people through the stand from when the show doors opened on Friday morning, up until it began to quieten down on Sunday afternoon. We estimate about 2500 to 3000 people stopped and took some form of interest in our exhibit. In addition to the general exposure, we received contact details from over 100 aspiring new fly fishermen. This can have a major effect on all areas of the industry as these 100 beginners all need equipment and venues to visit. The likely hood of them also bringing additional family and friends into the sport is good, thus having a mushroom effect for the development of fly fishing in the future.

Please take a look at a couple of the photo’s of the exhibit below. If you would like to contact us please feel free to send us an e-mail.

Thanks again for your support.

The Fly Fishing Academy Team!

The TREEFERNS banner is on the Xplorer panel extreme left.

BEL-FLY NEWS

Official newsletter of the Belfast Fly Fishing Association

“THE WATERS, THE FISH, THE BEST”

PO BOX 799, BELFAST 1100.

TEL. (013) 253-0748 FAX  086 502 9280

EMAIL:  bffa@lantic.net

___________________NEWSLETTER NO. 57 __JUNE 2011__________________

Belfast Fly Fishing Association

PRESENTS

‘Jack Frost’

Floating Trophy

30 July 2011

-        Fly Fishing

-        Clay Pigeon Shooting

-        Target Shooting

-        Bow & Arrow Shooting

-        Knife Throwing

Entry fee:  R1000-00 per team / R250 p.p.

Single entrants can be teamed up with other single entrants

(R500 deposit secures your place)

Please contact Magda at 013 253 0748

or email bffa@lantic.net

for entry forms and more details.

Dear Bel-fly Readers

It is cold and wet and it is winter!  All we need now is the snow.

Half way through the year also means time to renew annual membership.  Please look out for the renewal form and assist us with a speedy payment. Finances are still in dire state and we had no choice but to finally retrench Magda, our office administrator. Magda has agreed to continue doing the administration of the BFFA on a voluntary basis.

Dam levels are looking good.  The three dams in use have recently been stocked again thanks to the generous sponsorship from one of our loyal members, Harry Dickinson from Machadodorp. Included in the stocking were some monster trout of which two were caught during the afternoon session of the recently held Ladies Competition. (See photo).

If you have visited BFFA waters recently you would have noticed ground works taking place at the entrance gate going onto the wall of Dam 6.  Soil had been deposited and will eventually be used to fill up around the edge of the dam in this corner to make more fishing space available. We would like to thank one of our committee members, Dave Hepworth, for his initiative to approach contractors currently doing some road construction coming into Belfast, to off-load their access soil for this project.

Upcoming events include the annual ‘Jack Frost’ competition to be held on the 30^th of July 2011.  The new structure of our exciting trophy event had become very popular over the last two years and we are looking forward to see a whole lot more of our members entering this year. Please ensure your place in this now becoming a prestigious event by booking as soon as possible.

Please note that the date for the competition usually held in September had been moved forward to the 15^th of October 2011.  We had numerous requests for another ‘Night Fishing Competition’ and it was decided to include a ‘night fishing’ in the program for our Annual Fly Fishing Festival. We therefore had to move it to the closest full moon phase which happens over the weekend of the 15^th of October. Final program will be available closer to the time.

Regards

From Your committee.

9^TH ANNUAL LADIES FLY FISHING COMPETITION 20-22 MAY 2011

Early registration and light refreshments were served on Friday evening giving the ladies and their partners an opportunity to meet and mix with other competitors and the organisers. As usual the ladies received their well stocked “goody bags”.

Unfortunately for us many of our usual entrants had been selected to go to Nationals on the same weekend and whilst we missed them it gave 20 ladies the opportunity to spread themselves around the dam. After several requests we decided to open up the days fishing to those gentlemen brave enough to cross dress. This was well received by the ladies who welcomed them with good spirit.  Saturday morning late registration took place from 6.00 am and at 6.45am when all competitors drew for positions and took to the waters for a very tough days fishing with only one fish being caught in the first morning session. The fish were there but only 6 trout were caught in the morning and 19 in the afternoon.

Brunch was served at 11.30, followed by a fly casting demonstration by Hendrika (one of the cross dressers) who also offered to help any of the ladies with casting problems.

The afternoon brought great excitement when Davinia (Dave Hepworth ) landed a 60cm trout weighing in at 3.3kg, a record for the day  but not for long for only half an hour late Angelique Bailey landed a 64cm trout. She had entered our competition for the first time this year, congratulations Angelique we are sure you will be back next year.

The prize giving dinner attended by competitors, partners, and officials followed a strenuous but fun days fishing..

Heather Harvey won the trophy for the longest bag for the 3 rd time previously having won this competition in 2005 and 2010. The total value of her prize was R7950, which included an accommodation voucher from one of our main sponsors valued at R5500. 2^nd prize, valued at R6860 went to Robyn van Leeuwen.  3^rd prize, valued at R5820 went to Justine Smit. The longest trout measuring 64cm was caught by Angelique Bailey and her prize was worth R4150.

There were also prizes for our cross dressers.

All competitors received Lucky Draw Bags at the end of the evening and competitors, officials and guest received thank you gifts of bulbs from Hadeco.

Congratulations to all the participants, especially the prize winners

LONGEST BAG           Heather Harvey                      LONGEST TROUT Angelique Bailey

2^ND LONGEST BAG    Robyn van Leeuwen                WINNING TEAM Chantie Minnaar, Natasha Bean,   3^RD LONGEST BAG    Justine Smit                            Angelique Bailey and Christelle Price

4^TH LONGEST BAG     Thelani Scholtz

Other prizes were awarded to Natasha Bean, Charmain Calcutt, Ina Meyer, Chantie Minnaar, Mariolette Nel, Franciska Pile, Thelani Scholtz and Justine Smit.

Franciska Pile, Justine Smit and Glynis Shoebotham were presented with their 5year awards for having fished 5 of the 9 competitions to date. They join 11 other ladies 2 of whom have fished all 9 events. Thank you for your loyalty.

The Sunday competition for competitors, officials and their partners was held on Sunday morning and the weekend ended with lunch and another prize giving where a number of prizes were awarded and lucky draw prizes were distributed, all couples received a goody bag.

The Belfast Fly-Fishing Association raised sponsored prizes worth R104 000, making the annual event well-worth entering. Our 10^th Competition will be held from 18^th to 20^th May 2012, please diaries now to enter early and ensure your place.

THANK YOU TO ALL THE SPONSORS WHO MADE THIS EVENT POSSIBLE.

With out you there would be no competition.

AJF Agencies, Almar Groentemark, Alsumic Trout, Anford House, Angling Africa, Belfast Fly Fishing, Cape Union Mart,  Classic Blue, Colin & Jean Turner, Distell, Dunkeld Serenty Spa, Earth Gear, Elands Kloof Trout Farm, Elgin Farm, Embroidery Basket, Fishing Pro Shop, Fitzgerald’s Mica Hardware, Forelwater Trout Farm, Gani’s Witbank, Glendower Whisky, Grip Hooks, Hadeco, Harmonette, Harry Dickinson, Highland Rose Serenity Spa,  Highland Spar, Highland Springs Country Estate, Iain Stewart, Jandi Trading, Karel-Jan’s Country Cottage,  Kosmos, Machado Stud Lodge, Milly’s Restaurant, Mrs Simpsons Restaurant, OK Value, Orange River Cellars, Owl & Trout Guest House, Platanna Press, Perfume Direct, Peter Naylor, SA Philips, SDM Eyewear, Senqu, Stealth (Dave Lavene), Stuart Ormerod, Tabard, Tabrar & Earle, The Kingfisher Country Lodge, The Village Angler, Belfast Tops Bottle Store, Urban Fly Fishers, Valley of the Rainbow,  Verlorenkloof Estate, Wayne Plastics and Woody’s Place Guest House.

MPUMALANGA FLY FISHING ASSOCIATION

MFFA trials were held on the weekend of 4th and 5th of June 2011 and was hosted by the BFFA.

On the first morning fly fishers were welcomed to Longridge dam with warm fires and hot tea, coffee and rusks while registration took place, with 14 men, 3 juniors and 1 lady to make up the pack of 18 .

They then eagerly made their way down to the water to wait for the whistle to blow.  A total of 6 fish were caught in the first session which ended at 11 o’clock. A delicious chicken curry and rice along with drinks was served up during the break.

The second session ran from 12 till 3 and a further 7 fish were caught with Alison O’Brien showing the men how it was done taking the session with two fish.

The second morning 14 anglers arrived at the BFFA club house once again welcomed by fire, tea, coffee and rusks. Anglers made their way up to the golf course dam to start the days fishing. 4 fish came out during the 1st session. Anglers then made there way down to the club house where braai packs, pap, rolls and drinks were served.

With full stomachs the anglers started the second session. 3 fish came out during this session with Andre du Plessis landing 2 great fish measuring 59.5 cm and 60 cm.

The first MFFA trials went down without any hitches and the anglers had a great time.  A BIG thank you must go out to both Magda and Johan for all the hard work and organising and without them the event could not have been possible. Also, a big thank you to the BFFA and all its members for giving us the opportunity to fish on their waters.

Hope to meet you all on the water again soon.
Lyle Smith
Steering chairman MFFA

Hello Treeferns Trout Lodge,

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To view the photo, please click to: http://www.flyloops.net/showphoto.php?photo_id_search=7545

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Flyfishing Addicts Online

	Date: 29/07/11 Venue: TREEFERNS TROUT LODGE Fish: 11 – 15 Fish caught.
Conditions: Overcast Flies: white death,brown and white egg paterns,humpy

REPORT DETAILS:

Fishing and the view is outstanding at treeferns trout lodge.had real great success with the white death and egg patterns,did not catch to many on the dry fly,dams are stocked about every month so I had great success at treeferns the weirs are alright but I prefer catching at the bigger dams had little sukses in the weirs but every cast at the dam just below the weir I caught a fish and saw a lot of golden trout and  caught one on my final day at treeferns have any of you guys fished the trophy dam ?

Good news for trophy anglers!

We now have our own trophy dam. For those who know the set-up, it is the dam on  the hill, where the water is so clear you can see your trophy, but beware, he can see you too. Right now, the sizes vary between 3 and 4 kg, rainbow and brown.

This is the good news. The not so good news is that a control system will apply :

1. The gate to the dam will be locked

2. Fishing the dam will be on appointment only for a 1 hour session

3. No CAR will be allowed

4. The cost will be R100 per kg for the first 3,9 kg’s, thereafter R500 per fish

5. Mounting arrangements are available.

How about this!

What a month!!!!

From ultra heights to  ultra lows!!  Fishing was not so great  the past 4 months as it used to be.

A frequently asked  question is:  ‘When last did you stock the dams?…..When I get this question…. !

Treeferns Trout Lodge has a standing order with our supplier, Mr Tim Brewer of Katrinasrust Trout Farm. Each and every month of the year, January – December, we stock our dams with 50 -100 kg of fish.  With our trout management system, we also keep record of  every fish  killed by either  anglers or predators.  The sizes  of fish differ month to month  from 600 grams up to 3.5 kg’s. At this stage some of our dams are TOTALLY OVERSTOCKED!

Our main problems as previously mentioned are:

1.       Fishing pressure on our dams. Our occupancy is close to 100% over week-ends, and as we allow CAR, the fish  become fly-shy ; believe it or not.

2.      After 15 years the food cycle is now well established, and natural food is abundant.

3.      Since December we have had almost 1500 mm of rain, double the yearly average, and who says the weather  does  not   have an effect on fishing.

Despite this, the fishing was  still good, but VERY hard and challenging.

So, next time when you come to fish, please forget about standing on the dam walls!  The fish can see you and they will not go for your normal Woolly buggers, Mrs Simpsons, Walker’s Killers, etc.  Try something new, something exciting that fish don’t know….. something like a Woolly bugger, flashback nymph and DDD on intermediate line (in tandem) .  The more experienced anglers catch the big ones and good numbers of fish!  Why?….they also started to think like fish!!  Remember, fly fishing is almost like  hunting. It won’t be possible to shoot your buck when you have bright coloured clothing on, or making a lot of noise in the middle of the field etc.  This is the same with fishing.

Very important:

From the 1^st of May, NO catch and release will be allowed in dams no 4 and 5: (the ones in front of Panorama and Eros- Chalets).  Fortunately, you can hand in your catch from these 2 dams at the Kiosk where it will be sold to guests who are interested in fish that’s already been cleaned and wrapped up.

Dams no 11 and 12 will be our Trophy dams.  No fishing will be permitted in these dams without prior arrangement with management and no fish over 2.5 kg will be released.

This new arrangement will encourage new anglers to get hooked to fly fishing.  We must get better ‘rotation’ of the stock in some of the dams.

Competition: 29 October 2011

Remember to book your place in the competition, for we have only 40 spots available.  The detail of this competition, in conjunction with Diabetes SA, will be published in our next newsletter, at the end of May/ beginning of June.  Info on this will also be available on the website from June.

Our Kiosk/ Shop.

From the beginning of May, our shop will supply a very good variety/ selection of flies and other Fly fishing accessories. We also stock some of the best home-made jams in this region.  Firewood is available at R50-00 per 50kg bag.

Please, support us in this.

Cleaning services:

We do have a cleaning service available for your convenience.  Remember, our tariffs are as follows:

Per weekend:  R50-00 per chalet: cleaning service 3 x on the weekend

Or: R 30-00 per day:  cleaning service; 2 times daily.

You can make  payments with the cleaners  directly .

Smoking:

By Law, you are hereby (friendly) reminded that NO SMOKING IS ALLOWED IN OUR CHALETS.

To all smokers: Please, we have ‘Mini Bins’ available at our Kiosk (R30-00 each).  These bins are there to keep our place (dam walls) clean.  It is very unprofessional for Fly Fisherman to throw their cigarette buds all over the place… and especially on our dam walls.  We’ll appreciate your co-operation on this matter.

Forgotten items.

Please make sure you pack all your things, we cannot accept responsibility for lost items. However,  we keep items found in a safe place for collection, but we can’t keep it forever.

Keys.

On departure please hand  the keys either to the cleaner or  Reception. It will save inconvenience to yourselves and us likewise.

Till next time, enjoy your stay and fishing.

Morne.

2011/04/30