Tobie van Niekerk with his winning fish of 4,9kg, 67cm
The Queenstown Flyfishing Club's Spring Gathering was held from Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th September at Aloe Grove just outside Queenstown.
Covid had its inevitable effect and reduced the number of participants by about a third. So, nineteen keen flyfishing enthusiasts gathered for two days of excellent fishing. The committee provided six experienced guides for the dams allocated. All dams had been producing notable rainbows with a few 30 cm browns. These browns were stocked in Nov 2020 as fingerings in selected dams. Their growth has been spectacular.
Friday morning mists burnt off to provide some challenging conditions. The wind as usual grew in strength as the day progressed, though calmed down in the late afternoon.
Saturday was a beautiful calm day, but the glass fell all morning and the fish sulked.
Snowdon was the pick of the dams living up to it name as the trophy dam. A team of four based around Dullstrom were delighted to catch and release fish well up in the 65 cm size. All caught their personal best and secured the first three prize spots. The largest fish weighing in at 10.9 lbs or 4.9 kg was a rainbow hen, claimed by Tobie van Niekerk.
The two juniors also fished Snowdon and landed a 64 cm and 51 cm cock rainbow each. These young ladies, all of 11 years of age have grown in confidence over the last year. The twins van Wyk will be Interesting to watch as they develop their fishing skills.
The fish in Pine Grove provided great sport as did the Birds River dams.
The entrants came from all parts of our beautiful land. Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban, Kimberly, PE and locally. It was also a time to renew old friendships and to create new ones.
Aloe Grove with its excellent staff provided another sterling performance in catering for all our guests. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed.
With a new birth and an admission into hospital a few of our regulars have rescheduled from this year to next.
So, 2022 Gathering from 7th to 9th July already has five booking, fully paid.
The Saturday evening prize giving Dinner was a lively affair with all entrants receiving prizes. An auction of a collection of Protea Wines and a very generous prize of a self catering weekend for four with guiding included from Barkley East Flyfishing produced a good boost to stocking funds.
As always grateful thanks to the generous sponsors and to our amazing landowners who make the Gathering a sound success. Lastly to the Grand Old Man of trout breeders, Martin Davies, our deep gratitude for providing us with outstanding stockings, each year. Look at the colour, tails, and shoulders of the trophy fish which display their amazing genetics.
Tobie van Niekerk (left) receives the first prize, the Godley trophy, from QFFC chairman Reg Morgan.
2nd prize went to Wian Terblanche for the biggest bag of fish seen here with a 65cm hen fish.
The Ladies prize went to Lucinda van Niekerk (Tobie’s wife) with her 64cm hen fish.
The Junior prize was won by Charmi van Wyk (11 years) with her 64cm cock fish.
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