07May 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
The Freedom Hawk, Freedom 12

The Freedom Hawk, Freedom 12

Reviews
Having done my fair share of kayaking (including the Dusi Canoe Marathon and the 50 Miler) I've spent many an evening contemplating fishing skis and whether they're fly fishing friendly. The thought of combining the paddle with the rod definitely appealed to me and it made perfect sense for both estuary fishing as well as to open the doors to some "deep" sea fishing in the form of nearby reefs. But was the standard fishing ski (or kayak) a genuine option for a fly fisherman? I'd certainly heard of people fly fishing off of them but it sounded both uncomfortable and inconvenient. And then one day, while browsing fishing websites, I came across Freedom Hawk's range of fly fishing kayaks. My eyes widened and I immediately sent them an e-mail inquiring about availability in South…
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01May 2013 by Warren Prior 2 Comments
A Day On The Bushmans

A Day On The Bushmans

Fly Fishing, Fresh Water, Trout
It's been a slow river season for the Baha Boys with only a few trips having been undertaken. And of those trips Lesotho is the only one really worth mentioning. A raging Lotheni River over Christmas meant 5 fishless days for myself, and the birth of my daughter also meant a short lull in the fishing. So when Worker's Day rolled around, and both Nick and I had a free day, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands and headed for the Bushman's River. I guess there's no real point in introducing the Bushman's as (almost) every trout fisherman in South Africa knows it as perhaps the best wild brown water in the country. That said there have been numerous recent reports around the vast number of rainbows coming out…
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21Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
Two Days, Two 4am Starts, And A Handful Of Fish

Two Days, Two 4am Starts, And A Handful Of Fish

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
Although I consider Casino Beach to be a low tide venue, it is actually ideally fished at neap tides. This is when the wave action is not too overpowering and the holes open up nicely. Low tides means a flat beach with fewer holes while high tide means fighting the surf. So when the tides reached neap (or near neap) on a Wednesday we decided to go for a quick pre-work session. Nick picked me up at 5am and we planned to meat Neill on the beach at sunrise. Things took a turn for the worse when we reach the beach and I took my rod tube out the car. It was empty! My only hope was that Neill (who lives nearby) had not yet left home and could bring…
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17Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
Another Casino Outing

Another Casino Outing

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_1144" align="alignright" width="300"] A little wavie at Casino Beach[/caption] After a night out at the rugby (and a few too many beers) I decided that a quick trip down to the beach was in order. I was in desperate need of fresh air as well as a little exercise,  and a flicking a fly into the surf checked all the right boxes. Checking the tides indicated a roughly mid-day low so I threw my kit into the car and headed for the beach. There was a fair amount of wind around but not enough to deter me. The beach was crowded and it was great to see an abundance of surfers, children, people running on the boardwalk, others building sand castles and more generally having fun. I opted for my…
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07Mar 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
Pre-work Surf Session

Pre-work Surf Session

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words. Yesterday morning, before work, was one of those days... [caption id="attachment_1083" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Fly fishing the surf at sunrise[/caption] If you're interested in the conditions, they were close to perfect. Neap lows, a slight breeze and manageable surf. The result; a handful of bastard mullet and largespot pompano. What a way to start the day. And you'd rather be at gym?
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24Feb 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
Inanda Dam Domination

Inanda Dam Domination

Bass, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water
[caption id="attachment_1074" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Releasing a largemouth bass[/caption] With Inanda Dam so close to our humble homes it's amazing that we don't pay it more frequent visits. It could be that we take it for granted. But it could also be due to the ever present fear of crocodiles. That said I don't know of any recent reports so I like to put that thought into the back of my mind. On Sunday morning Nick and myself headed down to Inanda Dam for a  6am start. Many of you may remember our previous fail when we arrived at 5am only to discover that the gates only opened at 6. Well this time we arrived at 6am only to find out that the gates had been open since 5. Can they…
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17Feb 2013 by Warren Prior 1 Comment
The Gurneys Are Back!

The Gurneys Are Back!

Fly Fishing, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_1059" align="alignleft" width="300"] Simon and Christian releasing fish[/caption] With Nick being up in Mozambique I decided that a trip to the harbour was in order. After all, I didn't want him to get an early lead in 2013. The low tide, which is essential for wading the sand banks, fell at around 1pm. Although this is not ideal for the game fish, the nice thing about the harbour is that there are always some fish around. With that in mind I climbed into my Jeep and headed down to be there at 11:30. Things got off to a ropey start when I came to a stand still on Field's Hill. A taxi had potentially hit another car and had rolled. After not moving for 30 minutes they finally opened…
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15Feb 2013 by Warren Prior 2 Comments
The R10 Bar…aka Carlo’s Bar

The R10 Bar…aka Carlo’s Bar

Fly Fishing, Randoms
Back in 2005 Nick and I made our first visit to Ponto do Oura, Mozambique. Amidst all the fishing we took to my trusty Pajero and explored the surrounding areas for both new fishing spots as well as any adventure that lay around the corner. Now you must remember that in 2005 the Pontos were completely different to what they are today. There was far less tourism, very few holiday resorts, and far fewer bars. So when we stumbled across a small reed bar in the middle of nowhere we thought we'd hit gold. And we had! Our first beer was a 2M dumpy which cost us R10. We then threw back a Laurentina dumpy which also cost R10. Realising that we were bound to have a few more we inquired about the price…
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29Jan 2013 by Warren Prior No Comments
The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel

The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Fishing Reel

Fly Fishing, Reviews, Salt Water
[caption id="attachment_1027" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Xplorer XPS-S with a decent wave garrick[/caption] The Xplorer XPS-S Large Arbor Fly Reel is Xplorer's premium range of salt water reels. They're designed to have BIG FISH stopping power and having fished with the reel I would certainly stand by that statement. Upon picking up this reel I was immediately impressed by the build quality. It is a fantastic looking reel which is CNC machined from bar stock aluminium. It has a black, hard anodized finish which means it appears as a slick black on your fly rod. I assume this comes from the good old days of fly fishing when reels were finished in black to make them less reflective and therefore prevent the reel from glinting which can easily spook fish. This may…
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