by Graeme Addison

The faint swish of the tapered fly-line is all that disturbs the peace of the river. Occasionally, there is the plop of a fish rising, spreading ripples across the pool in the Vaal River where flyfishermen come to hunt the clever and elusive large- and smallmouth yellowfish.

Once dismissed as bottom-feeders without any interest or romance for serious fishermen, the yellowfish has come into its own as one of the world’s best freshwater fighters. If you can see the fish rising and you can’t catch ‘em, say the old hands, then your technique is at fault. That’s why at Otters’ Haunt we run clinics for beginner and intermediate flyfishers, who come here for the instruction and to explore the great variety of river conditions in our corner of the Vaal. Just two kilometers down from Parys on the North West Province bank of the river, we are secluded beneath a small koppie with many island channels in front of us.

These channels vary from fast whitewater to small, shallow rills over rocky ledges, with most areas being wade-able. They offer the sports enthusiast the opportunity to try different flies and different methods of stalking and casting. By comparison with other stretches of the Vaal, where the river tends to be open, slow-flowing and sometimes scenically dull, the river around Parys is broken up into picturesque, boulder-stewn islands with hidden turns and silent creeks where the otters lurk.

Nothing could be more peaceful than an early morning or late evening excursion along the banks seeking place where the yellows lurk. A light mist lies on the water, the golden and scarlet light paint it in serene colours, and it is hard to imagine that you are only 120km from the clattering city of Johannesburg.

The smallmouth- (Leobarbus aeneus) are sleek and fast, the average catch weighing around 1-2kg; the largemouth yellow (Leobarbus kimberleyensis) tend to be bigger but are harder to find and are much sought after: the older monsters can weigh 6kg or more for a good catch, and even grow to 9kg.

The river here is sleek and powerful. The bubbling rapids and strong currents are ideal for the yellows. The amazing geology of the Vredefort Dome has made the river what it is in this area. Recently declared a World Heritage Site because it marks the largest and oldest visible asteroid impact crater on Earth, the Dome is circular granite plug about 40km across. (The total diameter of the crater, which stretches from Johannesburg to Welkom, is about 180-220km).

The Dome in the centre is flanked on the northwest side by a semicircle of mountains called the Bergland, the “inner collar” of the crater. Parys and the nearby town of Vredefort nestle in the foothills of the Bergland. As the river makes its way across the granite it carves numerous vein-like grooves between which there are hundreds of small islands. Called an anastomosing river (after the way our blood vessels branch under the skin) this riverscape creates a unique ecology for the local stretch of the Vaal.

The tumbled rocks of the riverbed been “plucked” off the granite shelving and rolled along by successive floods. Underneath these rocks and on the downstream side of pourovers are rich nurseries for the larvae of river insects and crustaceans: the diet of the yellowfish. Knowing something of the habitat of the fish, and of their habits, helps the fisherman who must match the fish in cunning.

Fish upstream, not down, as then you will be behind the fish. One can often see the smallmouth whose shadow moves along a gravel bed up towards the whitewater where it seeks food. But it’s no good dropping your fly on top of the fish – that just spooks it and the fish will make off to safer pastures. Best let the fly drop in the whitewater and float down towards it. Be secretive, keep your shadow off the water, and move quietly!

Yellows are of the Family Cyprinidae (minnows or carps) and both types found in the Middle Vaal need to be conserved with a strict catch-and-release policy. It is also unfair to catch them when they are spawning in spring and summer.

Largemouth are on the IUCN’s red list of endangered species, with a low resilience and population doubling time of around 14 years. The largemouth is the largest scale-bearing indigenous fish species in southern Africa and the adults are found flowing deep channels or below rapids. It preys on insects and small shelled river creatures, often hovering in the current with its large mouth open to catch what comes its way.

The more plentiful smallmouth, although not listed as endangered, have fairly low resilience with a minimum population doubling time of 4.5-14 years. The smallmouth is a shallow bottom feeder whose diet includes various insects, water fleas, snails, plankton, mussels, small fish, algae and other nutritious matter. It breeds after the first rains of the season in spring through to midsummer, and moves upstream to spawn over suitable gravel beds.

The existence of well-fed yellows is regarded as an indicator of environmental health, so I am happy to report that around our place there are plenty of them! On some clinics, beginners have pulled out their first fish within a few minutes, and catching five or more in a day is not unusual. One has to be aware, though, that various parasites and tapeworms have been found to infect these fish even in the area of the Vaal Dam where the water quality is good.

The fact that sewage finds its way into the Vaal mainly below the Vaal Barrage – where local authorities either don’t care or don’t have the capacity to control overflows – has brought negative press publicity to the area. We swim, paddle our canoes, and wade in the water, though always washing off afterwards. It was landowners like us who first campaigned for the conservation status of the Vredefort Dome, and we’ll keep up the pressure.

We are always asked what kinds of fly, strike indicator, and hooks to use for the yellows. This is a complicated subject on which much late-night oil has been burnt, and braai meat burnt too while the argument rages. The experts love to dispute their favourite tricks but don’t reveal their pet secrets anyway. I am not going to get into it. Suffice to say that the most successful flies are those that imitate the normal diet of the fish, such as caddis fly, mayflies, buzzers and blackfly.

“Dry fly” refers to any fly fished upon the surface of the water, and usually made of non-water-absorbent materials and designed to look like the adult stage of aquatic insects. One can also use spinners, shrimps, crabs and even small fish as trolled bait, though this gets beyond flyfishing.

The best way to learn about all of this is to get out and do it. We can usually tell when a beginner on the loose because the amount of expensive new kit – rods, waders, toolboxes, flies – is directly proportional to the ignorance of the user. Never mind, the experts are out there and willing to help, just sign up for a class that will save you weeks of frustrating trial and error!
If you are buying for the first time, we recommend the rod should be anything from a 5 weight upwards to about a 9wt.

“Fishing requires crossing rocky channels so wading is essential, it can be tough and physically demanding but there’s always a shady tree close by,” says Craig Eksteen – until recently the lead guide on our clinics. He’s now gone off to start a new river operation at our farm on the banks of the Orange River in the Kalahari, where there are fewer trees and bigger fish. But that’s another story.

The clinics run from early spring, so contact us when you’re keen. Graeme or Karen Addison at Otters’ Haunt or email info@otters.co.za. Go to our website www.otters.co.za for more.