| Date of Report: Thursday, 23rd January 2025 |
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Name: Niel Malan Email: nmalan8@gmail.com Phone: 064 517 3811
General: This report covers the period from Xmas to 22 January and I sincerely hope that many of you would have received some new flyfishing toys as presents. Or at least those that stayed in accommodation with chimneys. And no, having two chimneys don’t seem to help much. That said, I have had good success by sneaking in, at the very last moment, a present under the Xmas tree labeled from” Father Xmas to Niel”. And surprisingly he knew just what I wanted (not needed)! More importantly, we had a magnificent season with beautiful weather and warm water resulting in even more flyfishers seen in the Garden Route. And many of these were rewarded with their first ever saltwater fish on fly, a new species or a fat grunter. Talking about grunter, over the last 12 months we have seen an even bigger focus on trying to tick this difficult species off peoples bucket list, with some now arriving here from abroad to specifically target this species. We have also seen the development of new flies and techniques, the more intense studying of grunter movement and behaviour etc. This has led, I believe, to a slowly improving catch per unit effort. And let me remind you, there is no specific magic fly for grunter. It is like catching trout – different situations call for different flies and techniques. And catching a grunter on a specific fly on a specific site during a specific tide doesn’t mean that they will even be there the next day or that it will work again. That said, during the reporting period we have heard about two cases of grunter double-ups (see detail below). I suppose we can say “Give those guys a Bell’s” or rather “Give those guys a double-Bell’s”. So, cheers to having fun while trying to unravel this special fish.
Fig 1: Johann Rademeyer and Deon Meyer with a rare grunter double-up. The smiles says it all.
Fig 2: Recently, this very old black and white photo of Niel Malan and Matt Zambetti with a grunter double-up was, apparently, discovered in the South African Museum. Looks like that photo was taken before the rinderpest, half eaten up by the fish-moths and that only the two pests survived. Talking about special, Bryan Peens even bribed his girlfriend (Tané Brand) to draw him a beautiful sketch of a Spotted Grunter! Finally, just a reminder that GRFF stands for Garden Route Fly Fishers, and not like many believe another Grunter Released Flippen Fantastic!
Fig 3: Tané Brand’s beautiful grunter sketch Garden Route Fly Fishers Milestones: First (Garden Route) saltwater fish on fly:
First Garden Route Spotted Grunter on fly:
New species of Garden Route fish caught by member:
Entry into the 50+ Club [Ed: 50 fish or multiples of 50 of a specific species from the Garden Route]:
BELOW IS SOME FEEDBACK PROVIDED BY MEMBERS RELATED TO THE INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS: As always, thanks to all the members that have kindly offered information and stories. Without you this report would have been very short and feeble. Breede River Estuary (Witsand/Cape Infanta): Mike Dohloff reported: “Hi Niel ....fishing is still surprisingly slow considering the better than usual conditions....grunter, kob and garrick are around but not in the numbers we have been accustomed to over the years.....persistence has produced a few fish and I remain hopefully that it may turn on properly anytime.”
Fig 4: Mike Dohloff with a beast of a garrick.
Fig 5: Another sexy kob caught by Mike Dohloff. Goukou River Estuary (Stilbaai): Philip Meyer reports from Still Bay: “Well, December and early January saw me more ashore with family than on the water, while Stilbaai was buzzing louder than a vuvuzela at a soccer match, not sure how anyone can rest on a December “holiday”. Despite the aquatic uproar, some grunters decided to play along, with fellow fly fisher Danie Pienaar celebrating his first two grunters on fly, fishing early mornings before the crowds hit the water. The water's been hovering around 21°C, making it perfect for bonnies offshore and a fair number of leeries also around. Yesterday, January 21st, I landed my personal best grunter on fly—a 69cm fork-length beauty, tempted by a sub-surface prawn. This fish unexpectedly took the fly in a shallow side channel and bolted over a sandbank into the main channel. Armed with only 6lb tippet I was engaged in an epic tug-of-war and needless to say slightly stressed during the fight. I landed another one around the 50cm mark. Again, a boiled leader based on Luke van der Heever’s formula made the difference”. When asked, Philip added: “The fish gently sipped in the fly in shallow water and then just stood on its head static, initially I thought it was just an average fish, but couldn't move it much during the first 10 seconds of the fight, then it took off over a sandbank into the main channel where most of the fight lasted. Had to bring it back over the bank, through the side channel to shore. Met 6lb tippet, my hollietjie het geknyp”
Fig 6. Philip Meyer’s new PB Grunter. Awesome Philip, a beaut of a fish!
Fig 7. Danie Pienaar’s first grunter. Mooi man! [Ed: Note the double fly setup] Gourits River Estuary (Gouritsmond): Riaan Heyns and Alecia fished this estuary, but the water was very fresh because of all the rains. That said, a boer maak n plan and they started targeting alternative species. Over to Riaan: “Alecia, in search of her first Gourits Grunt, this dude chases down the Jamfly! I'm always amazed how adaptable and tough they are. The eat was during a very briny pushing tide on the section below the bridge”.
Fig 8. Alecia’s new Spotted Grunter Carp Kleinbrak River Estuary: Anthony Dinham reported that “Interestingly I saw thousands of fingerling leeries at Kleinbrak the other day by the mouth. Actually, confused them for mullet at a stage. Was really nice to see such healthy numbers”. Rens Techman added: As a bonus Kleinbrak also fishes OK and I actually caught a few leeries there as well.
Fig 9: One of Rens’s leeries Grootbrak River Estuary: Benno Klinck kindly provided feedback on the situation at the Grootbrak estuary. He said that the water was very clean and that: “The activity in Grootbrak has died down a bit. Definitely noticeably less fish activity compared to the previous couple of months. Fishing has been difficult, and the usual spots haven’t been productive. Going to have to start searching for some new areas”. What he forgot to mention is that he also got his PB grunter of 62cm fork length. Lekker Benno! Touwsrivier Estuary (Wildernis): Rens Techman reported that: “The Touw is slowly picking up. Now that there are less sunblock in the water I managed to get a couple of small leeries”. Swartvlei River Estuary & lake (Sedgefield): Johann Rademeyer reported that: “Sedgefield has been fishing well. The busy waters made it tricky, but we still managed to end the holidays off on 58 grunters caught on fly and 21 leeries. Water is starting to cool down with the bit of east we are getting, and the fish are becoming more aggressive. The warm water did bring in some unexpected visitors. I found a Mussel Cracker of about 5kg swimming on the surface towards me. I tried to net it to see what was wrong and he just darted off as if it was completely normal for a Mussel Cracker to sunbathe in the estuary. Also seen some skippies [Ed: Lady Fish]. They are not in shoals and are single fish rolling. Difficult to get into range and keep track of where they are but a good sign none-the-less.” He added that one of the days was very special: “Not every day your client allows you to make a cast and then doubling up with grunters. Ended this session on 11 grunts and 3 leerie”. See figure 1. Michael Heinebach added that: “Swartvlei was fishing very well Dec/Jan. Lots of life everywhere. Lots of young, very hungry leerie (40-50cm range) in the lake. As they grow super-fast, I'm looking forward to the next few years. Within 25m of the fringes of the weeds are most productive on the fly. Also, Lots of juvenile Steenbrass and lots of tilapia in the weeds and fringes. He added: “I encountered schools of Grunter over weeds, in the shallow fringes of the lake. They seem to go there in numbers when the water is slightly up (the week around spring tide and after rain), as those shallow areas are more accessible. They appear focused on tiny brak-water amphipods (tailing with their heads buried in the weed) and the occasional opportunistic dash at fry (big slashes and chases). Due to their downward focus in the weed, it often took a number of casts to get their attention. Any fly landing within a foot of the fish typically spooked them, unless they happened to tail at the time. Landing the fly about 50cm away seemed to be a good distance, however, they sometimes rushed in from a number of meters away. They spooked almost every time when investigating a white Spookvlieg. However, with the fly in the picture, they committed or at least followed to the rod tip almost every time. Pausing the stripping and letting the fly sink to the weeds before starting again, often got a following fish to commit. One fish was hooked on its second take with this stop start approach! I Missed a lot of takes, I think this was due to the weed guard and eyes. So, I removed the eyes and the fly seemed to work just as well, with more hookups. I landed 6 but I lost many fish, even though I sharpened my hook. They'd just popped off sometime into the fight. I even tried strip-striking to set the hook a number of times and that just popped the hook out of the fish too. So still a lot to learn”. Good work Michael and thanks for the feedback.
Fig 10: Michael’s fly that brought him success [Ed: Note that he later removed the eyes to improve hook-ups] Goukamma River Estuary: Jaco Theron was brave enough to tackle this difficult estuary and walked away with a big smile on his face. Over to Jaco: “Hi Niel, apologies for replying privately regarding the GRFF - I am new to the group. Would like to add regarding Goukamma; I have not seen too many guys giving it a go over the last couple of years, where juvenile leeries are in abundance, as well as most other targeted species. As stated by Deon Stevens from Tidal loops and from my own experience; “the grunters are notoriously difficult”! I finally managed after 3 years of intense trying and with many, many follows and close calls, I finally managed to hook and land my first Goukamma grunter on 24 December 2024. Success to be found on a small sand-coloured crab, with a silver hook”. Craig Smith is also of the opinion that: “Goukamma grunter are the trickiest of the lot”. So well done for persisting and getting your first grunter in such a difficult system. Sweet, or is that sweat, success!
Fig 11: After 3 years Jaco can eventually pose with his first grunter. Awesome! Knysna River Estuary: Craig Smith reported that it was: “Great to see that the Grunter are back and in such healthy numbers and also to see how different conditions can be 200m away. While fishing on Fri 17th of December on the mid-tide (between Spring and Neap) the Ghost [Ed: Also sometimes referred to as “Smokey”] landed 2 and lost 2, Mr O snapped off a PB and I made a total of 2 casts. The 2 blankers set out on their own to fish different sections while the Ghost went home for early beers. After a 6-hour session I finally found one in water deeper than I like to fish and managed to get it to eat. Across the channel from me Mr O stopped watching my success and hooked one of his own. As this was to be his first for 2025 (having lost 5 already) he was desperate for a photo. Reaching into his pocket for his camera he pulled it out together with his fishing license. As we all know how expensive they are he absolutely did the right thing and clamped down on his reel as he stretched for his already soaked license. Grunter are not stupid - realizing there was a lapse in concentration the Grunter successfully went on another run - making it 6/0 to the Grunter. Despite taking good photos of other people's fish Mr O is always a calming quiet influence on a boat thus securing a seat for Saturday. What a day - fish everywhere with all 3 fishermen landing grunter - 2 being their first for 2025. As we were leaving (fish had dried up) we noticed another mate had snuck into a spot 200m down river from us. When he called later to ask why we had left we told him it was due to us seeing no more fish. He nearly choked on his false teeth he laughed so much. Apparently, he must have cast to over 50 grunter less than 200m away from us. Good news is he also landed his first for 2025. Craig added: Possibly my PB but no-one came running to take a photo. Between 65 and 70cms”. Guys and girls, indeed all members of GRFF, please make sure you join Strava and start exercising now – we cannot let Craig down like that again! News just in: I can confirm that the Ghost caught 5 more grunters today somewhere over the grass banks and lost a further 2 – this guy deserves a few more beers.
Fig 12: Craig’s unconfirmed PB grunter [Ed: Anyone know where I can buy one of these micro-nets?]
Fig 13: The Three musketeers. Simon Clarke, Craig Smith and Kyle Ovens. Chris Wood added: “How’s it Niel, I have been up in the “darkest Africa” so have not fished much but had a fling about a week ago and was knocked about by some decent Leerie. No pics but they were in the 50cm range…….. the waters are proper salt now even though we had a big (40mm) deluge last week. Asking local bait pumpers, the pickings are slim and small. Crabs are also small and rare, the masses of small ones I use to see scattering away as I plodded the beat are almost non-existent. The big crab poachers have also left the area, so it leads me to believe that the heavy rains we endured last year have had an impact on the upper reaches. Mullet are now around hence the leerie present. The system will return but I am focusing my efforts on fishing near the mouth. We are not even seeing the Angling Club cabin cruisers up here plundering the Grunts anymore. On the environmental front we are seeing green turtle, otter and no seals”. Keurbooms and Bitou Estuaries (Plettenberg Bay): Niel Malan, Malcolm Pannell, Deon Stevens, Deon Wilken, and Matt Zambetti fished this system during the reporting period, while Tom Lewin, Eddie Raal, Luke Pannell, Dirk Le Roux and others also made guest appearances. Between them they managed to land several juvenile garrick, Southern Mullet, Spotted Grunter, White Steenbras, Bar-tailed Flatheads and a lone Black-tail and Striped Mullet. Malcolm Pannell reported that: “There are only 3 steps to heaven …..Step 1 - take your son Luke, recently arrived from London, down to Keurbooms lagoon where you have yet to hook a Grunter (which actually goes for the whole of the Garden Route). Show him the water but fail to hook anything. See Niel close by, bemoan the absence of Die Spookvlieg in your bag (or on your cap for that matter). Step 2 …..Adjourn to Niel’s place to commiserate over a couple of glasses of red wine and accept his last 2 Spookvlieg flies. Step 3 ……..get on the water, clear and sunny the next morning. Paddle over to Niel’s kayak (this is the most important step) and replenish his stock with a bottle of Breede Rivers best, Wild Boar Cabernet Sauvignon. Wade over to the far sandbank and watch your son's delight as he catches 3 Grunts before anyone else is on the scoreboard. Don't feel bad about blanking yourself, just be proud that this is the boy you taught to fly fish as a 5-year-old, knowing that the pupil outshines the teacher, that his passion is an inspiration and that you have another grand memory and a great photo! Post script: Luke went out on a boat 2 days later, trolled flies as the boat crew told him he was nuts, got stuck into the Bonnies before the lures and then cast to the fish and hooked half a dozen more - burnt through the fishing glove. He then ended up with a Leerie on live bait!! Ed: I saw a pic of the leerie, a really big bugger. While not on fly, it must have put up a stunning fight and it is good to know that they are out there. Well done, Luke, and Malcolm. And thanks for the wine which I am saving for a special occasion.
Fig 14: Luke’s first grunter 1 of 3 that session) Niel Malan added: “I was surprised that there were so many grunter in the shallow areas near the mouth over the peak season and can only think that it were fish that tried to avoid all the boats zooming around upriver. Of course some of these boats have no problem going past you 5 meters from where you are fishing and then proceeding upriver to fish. While very annoying, it is very satisfying catching the grunters right under their noses while they report back that they didn’t even get a bite! While I had a few blank sessions, I also had some stunning sessions in the Keurbooms and other Garden Route estuaries. Amongst others I caught a 55 cm Striped Mullet, 49 cm garrick and 11 grunters. At the moment there are fewer grunters in this area, but I will just go and look for them elsewhere”.
Fig 15: Niel with a decent Striped Mullet Groot Rivier – Nature’s Valley: Dirk le Roux reported that: “He managed a small grunter, White Steenbras, a Cape Moonie and a few juvenile garrick. His friend’s sun also bagged some garrick. Kromme River Estuary: Marius Rousseau, our regular respondent, reported that: “Hi Niel, I unfortunately do not have much to report since Xmas, being away during Xmas till second week in Jan. I have however fished and managed a total blank on three occasions apart from one Grunter that broke me up. The Kromme still has some residual holiday traffic but it is much quieter now. The water is extremely warm and very clear.The fish have been extra skittish on the sand and very scarce in grassy areas that I am able to access. Numbers of big Grunter have been seen chasing and harassing others more so than normal and I assume these are Male fish pre-spawning behaviour or maybe just territorial disputes. Here's hoping that the fish will settle down and be more cooperative in the coming weeks. I have not tried for Leerie since I returned but there have been some good reports from the Seekoei River near Paradise Beach over the spring tide. There are also a lot of Baitfish with Bonnie and Yellow Tail action in St Francis bay and at Cape St Francis for those fortunate enough to have access to a Boat”. Rock and Surf: No feedback received. Off-shore: Anthony Dinham reports: “Niel, plenty of Bonnies being caught off Mossel Bay and Gouritsmond. Currently a run of big Leeries off the Point at Mossel Bay. Been casting my arm off for them the last 3 weeks - close but no cigar. They are actually quite spread out all the way down to Diaz. I can tell you about plenty more missed fish, but don’t want to get myself all frustrated again. When prodded, he added: “Plenty of Bonnies around in Mossel Bay at the moment. Massive schools around the point, occasionally stretching down to the shallower water by De Bakke and the deeper drop offs by Fransmanshoek. Good variety of reef fish on the shallow reefs by De Bakke, all the way along the rocks to the point. De Bakke is quite a bit shallower so you can get the fly down which helps. Unfortunately, not very accessible from the side so a boat is preferable”.
Fig 16: Anthony’s Santer – so pretty! He also landed some Bonnies. Mike Dohlhoff reported from Witsand: “Offshore Bonnies have been around but not as consistent as they should be in our bay....bottom fish have also been slower than usual but Santer and Roman are available, as always, if you dredge the reefs between 15 and 20m.”
Fig 16: Mike’s Bonnie. He also landed Santer and Red Roman. Very special. Rivers: Benno reported: ”Het gister weer gaan geelvis vang. Het seker so rondom 20 geelvis gekry tussen twee van ons. Grootste geelvis was so 32cm gewees. Mooi karp ook tussenin gekry. En so een of twee 5cm bass.” [Ed: He and his buddy caught around 20 yellows, 2 small bass and some carp].
Fig 18: Benno with a nice Gourits Yellow Fish Still waters: No info received. For more GRFF info and interaction also see: |
