Natal yellow fish, also known as scalies, have been on the bite for local fly anglers of late.
Liam van der Merwe landed four while fishing the Mzimkhulu River, all in a morning session. One of these tipped the scale at slightly less than 1kg.
He used a 3-wt rod and attached a weighted pheasant tail nymph fly, tied on a #18 hook to a very fine tippet (breaking strain of about 1.5 kg) to avoid scaring the fish, that were very wary.
Fellow fly angler Steven Brand also caught a yellow fish, his catch of 30cm coming in the Umzimkulwana River (Oribi Gorge).
He was one of six anglers who fished the area. Between them they landed a total of 18 yellow fish over a period of two hours.
Most of the fish were small, weighing less than 300g, but four were measured at over 30cm, which is considered to be a decent fish for this river.
As is customary with club members, who fish with barbless hooks, all the fish were returned to the water.
When the trip was planned, in late April, some members of the club thought that it was a bit late in the season for these fish as they are normally more active in the summer months.
The river is, however, very clean at present, and has not yet been affected by any snow from the Drakensberg mountains (as of end May).
Because of the clear conditions, anglers had to use small weighted dark nymph flies, sizes #14 to #18 being preferred, together with very fine tippets (1.5 to 2kg breaking strain).
The fish were mainly holding in shallow pools and in the turbulent water, just below any rapids.
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