The Bell Blog

The Bell at Rhodes, 7-11-2011, dropped substantially compared to images below.

Bell Blog by Tony Kietzman 16-10-2011

 Yesterday Sean didn’t have the kind of experience that I like my clients to have (and He’s a nice guy) so I invited him to join me on a personal fish. I chose Jennerville on the lower Sterkspruit hoping to encounter some Yellowfish. The river as with all others in the area is running low but crystal clear. There is a build up of dead algae waiting for the first real rains to scour out the streambed. There are still clean channels and the trout that we found were all hugging the bottom on bedrock or clean sand substrate as opposed to the cobbles and gravel.

The Yellowfish were present, in droves. Large fish of about 24” were cruising around in circles and coming in and out of undercuts at quite high speed. They refused all offerings without even spooking. I suspect that these were females involved in some pre-spawning ritual, probably looking for suitable gravel to drop their eggs. Experience at Sterkfontein dam has taught me that these fish will not take a fly until they have spawned for the first time- they are multi-brooders. I can’t wait!!

Back to the trout. There were no noticeable hatches but a few were rising. Wind kept on blowing dries back from where I wanted to place them so out came my go-to fly, a size sixteen Zak and fish started coming out. We were fishing up and across the stream mostly. Very few fish took on the dead drift so I resorted to the Leisenring lift and corruptions thereof. What transpired was very successful day of flyfishing, infact cormorant style. We caught numerous fish using the lift. To me what was most remarkable was the number of fish that we managed to pull out of each spot. All the fish were over 11” in size and I was broken twice, once by a fish of about 18” and the other unseen, on 5X tippet.

Intuitively the the Leisenring lift goes against the grain but, it works !!!. Add it to your armory of techniques and it may well save the day.

Bell Blog by Tony Kietzman 15-10-2011

 I fished a client, Sean De Wet, a wonderful fellow from Natal. He is an experienced rock and surf angler who has seen the light and now seeks the rewards of a much more intimate experience- small streams. I chose Gateshead figuring that with low water levels the gradient would make the fishing easier (and I’m in love with the place.) That may well be the case but the near gale force winds certainly complicated proceedings.

During the course of the day there were significant mayfly and midge hatches but we hardly saw a rise or a fish either; this despite the crystal clear water and some concerted stalking. Sean nevertheless got a few small fish and we did however spook a fish of about 15” in one of the smaller pools. I think its time to get out the barometer excuse again, Sean with his rock and surf experience certainly thought so as well. As is usually the case we came off the water with another day added to the end of our lives.

Aside from the fishing; SPRING IS HERE. I awoke to the calls of a Piet-my-vrou for the first time in months. Another sign comes from the frog world, about a week ago we experienced a little rain and this switched the rain frogs on. These small warty amphibians do not live in the rivers but rather on the mountainsides and have a wonderful bird like call. Last Friday night their riparian cousins presented their first chorus. This was during a threatening storm. The thunder and lightning must have stimulated them because very little precipitation arrived. When compared to last season the chamomile is blossoming earlier but the Moraeas (vlei irises) that grow in the stream beds are late, perhaps it is the cold evenings that we still experience. Anyway, all is well at the centre of the universe as we await the first significant rains.

Bell blog – 9/10/2011- Wildside on the Kraai at Burley. - Tony Kietzman

 This was the first time that I have visited this water during the warmer months. The weather was very warm, in fact a heatwave. As all other stream levels in the area drop, the Kraai, which they all flow into, comes into its own. The Kraai itself is looking awesome with great water clarity and less algae build-up than I expected. There were yellowfish and trout taken in the faster water. The majority of the yellowfish have passed through on their way upstream already. We did however see a few cruising in the quieter water. I caught numerous trout in the 10- 14” range as well as a yellowfish of about 16”(my first for the season)

Bell Blog 8/10/2011 –Glass Nevin

This afternoon I was able to take the Tenkara for a walk along the Bell on Glass Nevin. There were good midge and mayfly hatches and the fish responded well to Rab’s and Klinkhamers. The water level is dropping by the day. This in turn leads to some quite exciting stalking of skittish fish. Numerous fish were taken, mostly in the 10-11” range with some up to 14”. These fish show a very high condition factor.

Bell Blog 2-10-2011 by Tony Kietzman

Kraai River, 1-10-2011

This was the first visit to the Kraai this season. We were searching for Yellowfish and found a few, Stephanus even caught one. The river is looking very good for this time of the year and we were surprised to find the water crystal clear with less algae build up than expected. Trout were seen feeding actively on the surface but most were taken on Zaks using a leisenring lift. The first rains chased us from the water in mid afternoon; actually it was the lightning. Once the rainfall raises the stream level the Yellowfish should start their upstream spawning migration. I took a few 10-13” trout, remarkable for their prime condition and fierce fights with lots of aerobatics.

I was also broken up by a trout in excess of 20” in length.

Bell Blog by Tony Kietzman 29-9-2011

Branksome, 29-9-2011

Branksome on the Sterkspruit is looking really beautiful, the stream bed is starting to get a bit covered with dead and dying algae. The first rains should scour the bottoms. As usual, when confronted by fish behaviour that I can’t explain, I get the Barometer excuse out. The water looked beautiful and a few fish rose to the dries presented. When nymphing, the fish were not at all interested in the dead drift but responded well to the Leisenring lift or induced take.

One memorable feature of this outing was when I flushed an African Black Duck from its nest at my feet. She disappeared upstream and put on quite a show of being cripple and disabled in an attempt to draw us away from the nest, this probably disturbed the fish upstream.

Bell Blog 26-9-2011 by Tony Kietzman

Francisdale, 26-9-2011

Miles Divett, the owner and I visited Francisdale on the Riflespruit.

The river was running low but we still experienced some exciting sight fishing in the faster shallow water. The importance of stalking was brought home to us and the dry fly proved to be the downfall of many fish in the 10-14” size range.

 The first reasonable rains on the escarpment should scour out and flush the system and I’m sure the season ahead should be awesome in light of the very high condition factor of the fish we were taking.

Bell blog 16/9/2011 by Tony Kietzman

Spring is here with flowering fruit trees and almost synthetic green willows. The first veld flowers are appearing in amongst the greening grasses. Winter may still visit as it is wont to. The water temperatures are up and the streams clear. When the wind isn’t blowing conditions are near to optimum at present but we could use some more rain in the near future. There are regular hatches often with more than one species of mayfly coming off the water. Consequently there is great dry fly fishing to be had.

This is the quality of  fishing that the area is famous for. There are lots of juvenile fish 8-10” but adults fish over 14’ are also being caught.

The bottom line is that we haven’t had conditions as good as this at this time of the year for the past few seasons….so get here now !!!  

The Bell River at Rhodes, 13-9-2011 - although running substantially better than during the past decade at this time of year, the "Great Snowmelt of 2011" is almost at an end.

Bell Blog 2/9/2011 by Tony Kietzman

At the centre of the universe, it’s certainly starting to look like spring. The Weeping Willows have leaves, fruit trees are in blossom, other trees are starting to sprout and the lawns are even showing signs of growth. Every day, the daylight hours lengthen with attendant higher ambient temperatures and what we used to know as the August winds have arrived. On the river there are sparse hatches of mayflies and midges. Moths are the first sign of spring to come to the lights at night and while tying flies last night the lamp also attracted the first mosquito and flying ant that I’ve seen this season. I still expect a few cold snaps over the next month and possibly even heavy snow falls.

Oh yes, what used to be the river season opened officially yesterday. The river levels and water clarity are awesome, the best I’ve seen for at this time of the year for quite a few seasons and the water temperatures are rising  I’ll only get to fish for the first time tomorrow. Other angers report fish, mostly smaller coming up for dries but the adult fish seem to be stuck to the bottom; they are however taking on the dead drift.

Here’s looking forward to a season of note.

Bell River from Maartenshoek bridge, 27-8-2011

Bell River, 24-8-2011

The Bell River, 20-8-2011

The Bell River - 9-8-2011

WTA Blog 14/8/2011 by Tony Kietzman

 Here at the centre of the universe we experienced the last significant snowfalls at the end of July. The lengthening days, rainfall and rising temperatures caused the snow to melt and flow rates are way better than at the corresponding time last year. The water also has a lovely green glacial tinge.

 Over the past two and a half months I have fished the icy cold streams with limited success. There are occasional mayfly and midge hatches but this elicits little surface activity. Strangely enough, we have taken fish during snowfalls as well as on bright sunny days but no real pattern emerged. When nymphing, fish respond to the “Leisenring lift” or “induced take” rather than the dead drift. There have been occasions when fish responded to dries but these have been mainly juvenile fish.

 The Bell river’s temperature is five degrees Celsius at present and I assume that fish inactivity can be attributed to this fact. Adult fish when located seem to be more interested in restocking the waters than their diets. Once the water temperature approaches ten degrees and the fish have finished with their breeding activities, I’m certain that things should start cooking especially in light of the present water levels. Even if we do not experience more snowfalls, the flow rated should still be good when the official season opens in September.

 The one major unpredictable fact remains the weather and we may well still experience heavy snowfalls well into September.