Catch and Release - 10 Do's and Don'ts

As fly fishermen we have a responsibility toward our quarry to ensure that they are handled in an ethical manner to ensure their chance of survival. If you handle a fish with dry hands, keep it out of the water for a long time and put it down on in the dirt etc. then it is pointless to practice catch and release as the fish will probably end up dying anyway.

If you do keep a catch or two for the pot then it is a different story, and one to which you are entitled to (depending on the species and relevant province's legislature) but still I believe that the fish should be treated with respect until such a time then when it is then administered a coup de grâce.

Here are 10 important techniques to remember when practicing catch and release:

1. Always handle a fish with wet hands. If you handle a fish with dry hands you damage the protective layer of slime that it has on it's skin. This will cause either permanent damage to the fish or death.

2. A fish should only be kept out of the water for as long as you can hold your breath. Imagine holding your head under water for as long as the fish is out of the water, not so much fun is it? Some people even say 5 seconds out of the water is too long but the best practice is to not even take the fish out of the water at all.

3. Fish barbless hooks. There is no reason not to fish barbless hooks. Barbless hooks ensure that the fish is released quick and easy and it causes far less damage to the fish's mouth than barbed hooks. If you have shop bought flies tied on barbed hooks, then use a set of pliers or forceps and pinch down the barb.

4. Use a proper catch and release net. If you have to use a net to land the fish make sure that it has a soft mesh without any knots (even better are the rubber mesh nets). An improper net could damage a fish's eyes or the protective layer of slime that it has on it's skin, which could result either permanent damage to the fish or it's death. The best net is no net at all. To unhook the fish whilst it is still in the water is the best method by far.

5. Never place the fish in the dirt, grass or on the rocks. This is not condoned and for obvious reasons as mentioned above.

6. Don't fool around when fighting the fish. Try to land the fish as soon as possible. The quicker you land the fish the stronger it will be when you release it.

7. Never throw a fish back into the water. You will damage the fish's internal organs which could cause either permanent damage or death.

8. Revive the fish completely. When releasing the fish don't let it go until it swims away by itself. Assist the fish by keeping it upright and letting the water pass through it's gills (in a river keep the fish's head upstream against the current). Don't move the fish back and forward, the fish can breathe by itself. You will feel when it is strong enough to swim off on it's own. Remember, the quicker you land it, and the quicker you can get it back in the water the quicker it will swim of again.

9. Don't be under gunned when going fishing. There is no point to be proved by going after Largemouth Yellowfish with a 3wt rod. You will just cause unnecessary fatigue to the fish which will decrease is chances of survival. Use recommended tackle relevant to the fish species.

10. Never lift a fish by it's jaw or gills. This will most definitely injure or kill the fish. Also make sure to support the fish adequately when lifting the fish out of the water (but don't squeeze it). Support it by placing one hand under the region of the Pectoral fin and the other between the Tail fin and the Anal fin.

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved. 

Smallmouth Yellowfish on the Vaal River

Not too long ago I was invited by a friend of mine to fish one of his "secret spots" that he has on the Vaal river. He mentioned that he was the only person with access to this specific stretch of the Vaal river and that we would be the only people fishing the spot. This was something that particularly excited me, as the Vaal can get quite crowded these days as it is the closest and biggest fly fishing destination to Gauteng and it's fly fishing enthusiasts.

It's that time of the year!

We left Pretoria early on Saturday and arrived at our location just before 07:00 am. The weather did not look very promising and with rain and wind forecast for the day we prepared ourselves for a miserable day on the water. None the less, we didn't drive all that way for nothing so we got into the cold Vaal river and started nymphing.

First fish of the day.

With my 3rd cast I was into a very big fish which was only the beginning of what turned out to be one of my best days ever on the Vaal. The fish took a mustard Caddis pattern that I tie on a #8 Knapek jig and which I used as my anchor/dropper fly to reach the bottom of the river.

(Below) Two Mustard Caddis on #8 Knapek Jig hooks as mentioned above.

Shortly after that Emile and Stephan (who's spot it is) was also into fish, and we then knew that it was going to be good day on the water! Another friend of mine, Edu then caught his first Yellowfish on fly which was a memorable occasion for him.

Edu with his first fly caught Smallmouth Yellowfish.

The technique that proved the most effective for me on the day was with a European nymphing leader setup as per George Daniel's Dynamic Nymphing book, but with a modification of my own.

The nymphing leader setup that I use (click image to enlarge).

I start off with a 9ft 1X Tapered leader to which I connect a 40cm  piece of sighter material with a blood knot or triple surgeon's knot. To that I connect a tippet ring (if available) or alternatively I make a perfection loop at the end of the sighter material to which I then connect 4 feet of 4X also with a perfection loop. The loop to loop connection ensures that the sighter material lasts a bit longer, but the tippet ring method is definitely my preferred way of doing it.

Another Smallmouth Yellowfish that couldn't resist a mustard Caddis.

What is nice about the #8 Knapek jig hook is that is has a big eye to which I tie my point fly. This ensures that the dropper fly is left open (which increases takes) as there is no line connected to the hook shank as with the conventional NZ style. I have found this method to be very effective, but everyone has their own preference.What I like about it is that it's stronger and faster to tie than the competition style 2 and 3 fly rigs (for me anyway) where you tie the flies onto tags created by making Surgeon's knots.

We finished the day with 36 fish caught, a figure which exceeded our expectations, considering that the weather chased us back to the city after only about 4 hours on the water. We did lose a number of fish, two of which was estimated at over 4kg's. This only gives us more reason to return to this remote and amazing piece of the Vaal river.

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.

Silent Hunter Suppressors

I recently purchased a Silent Hunter suppressor for my Howa .243 Winchester from Henk Viljoen in Bloemfontein who has been manufacturing suppressors for the last couple of years. So many people have been praising his products that I had to order one from him to see what the fuss is about.

The Silent Hunter Suppressor 

I was indeed pleasantly surprised with the results as there was a dramatic reduction in the sound and the recoil of the rifle. It is very compact (only 38mm x 180mm) and weighs about 500 grams.

I can honestly recommend Silent Hunter suppressors to anyone in the market for a good quality suppressor for hunting purposes. His prices are also very competitive and his products are rated amongst the very best, if no the best in the business.

Here is a short video to demonstrate the difference in sound before and after the suppressor was fitted:

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.

Howa .243 Winchester Review

We are often restricted by our budgets when it comes to buying equipment, (whether you are looking for a new rifle or a new fly rod) but sometimes more money does not necessarily mean more quality.

Not too long ago I started looking for an affordable plains/varmint rifle for Springbuck and Blesbuck sized animals that will be able to fire a light bullet (55gr to 100gr) at a high velocity to produce a flat trajectory, which has many advantages when shooting at longer distances.

.375 Holland & Holland and a .243 Winchester.

I narrowed my search and then decided to purchase a Howa model 1500 with a 22" factory barrel. It was not just the price tag that was the deciding factor, but the reviews from people who have extensively tested them, both on the range and in the hunting field. The caliber that will suit my needs most is the .243 Winchester. Although there are better long range calibers available these days, the .243 Winchester got my nod because of it's ballistic characteristics and it's availability of reloading components and accessories.

A good looking and good shooting rifle.

I fitted a Boyds featherweight thumbhole stock, a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14 x 42 scope with Warne bases and mounts and a UTG bipod. I am going to fit a Numenor 8 baffle screw on suppressor in the near future, which I will review on it's own.

I tested the rifle with 100gr PMP factory ammunition and the results were quite pleasing. At 100 meters I got a group of around 1", 200 meters gave a group of around 2" and at 300 meters the grouping was between 3" and 4". I was not bothered too much with the results as I am going to reload ammunition for the rifle which will produce better results. Currently I am looking at developing loads for 80gr Sierra Blitz Varminter bullets which will give me a flat trajectory and hopefully sub MOA accuracy!

The little Howa behaved extremely well and I am more than happy with it. It has a reliable extractor mechanism which is in my opinion better than the majority of push feed actions available. The trigger takes some getting used to but it is crisp and it has no creep. The sensitivity of the trigger can also be changed, however I will advise that it be done by a qualified gunsmith.

Over all I can highly recommend the Howa model 1500. It is affordable and it is great value for money, however it can easily compete with rifles in a higher price class.

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.

Smallstream Delights

We all develop a preference for certain fly patterns over the years, whether you are fly fishing for smallstream trout on the Smalblaar or whether you are targeting 20lbs Tigerfish in the Zambezi. It's a matter of personal taste in some cases and it might not even be relevant to the success of the pattern. It might just be because of it's looks, action, imitation aspects or for whichever reason. Sometimes flies catch more people than fish.

If you have confidence in your flies (and other equipment), you will catch fish. I think confidence is sometimes the difference between catching fish and going home empty handed. If you have a lack of trust in the fly at the end of your tippet you might as well have went with your wife to that craft market.

Here are some of my favourite smallstream flies that I almost always tie onto my leader. Not all at the same time though...

Oh yes, and they aren't just a pretty face, they lash fish as well!

Mercury Soft Hackle

#14 Knapek Nymph 

Hungarian Partridge feather

Black thread

Red thread

Silver Wire

Glass bead

Frenchie (Hot Spot PTN)

#14 Knapek Nymph

Brown pheasant feather

Orange thread

Orange sparkle dubbing

Silver Wire

Tungsten bead

 Mini Hopper 



#12 Grip barbless dry fly

Brown sparkle dubbing

Brown thread

Brown rubber legs

Brown foam

Elk hair

Orange egg yarn

Black Flashback Mayfly Nymph



#14 Knapek Nymph

Black pheasant feather

Black thread

Black squirrel dubbing

Saltwater flash

Silver Wire

Tungsten bead

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.

Carp on Fly

Now to many fly fisherman Carp aren't a very glamorous species to target on fly. Some people call them a trash fish due to them being quite adaptable to any form of water, which means that they aren't always found in the most pristine of waters. They will pretty much flourish any where they are introduced, which is not always a good thing for other fish species.



Personally I also have never been bothered enough to take the time to go and fly fish for Carp although I have caught a couple on fly in the past. Until one day that I went out for a quick Sunday session with a friend of mine to one of his private spots.



We were actually targeting Yellowfish but we could not ignore the big Carp swimming around in the river, so we decided to change tactics and target these big bodied busses! It didn't take long before my friend was into a big fish which after he landed it tipped the scale to just under 12 lbs! Not to trashy in my books...



This got me excited and was super keen to get into one of these Asian beauties. I took a black woolly bugger and made a cast about a meter in front of a fish. Luckily it did not spook as the water was quite clear and after investigating the foreign feathered object "BOOM" the fish ate it!

I had one of the most memorable fights on fly ever, and after releasing the fish I was so annoyed with myself for not targeting Carp on fly sooner.  

No more will Carp be a trash fish to me, but rather a very worthy adversary.

*Please note that all the photos in this post were taken by Pieter Taljaard.

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.

Exploring the Ash River

I think most of us (unfortunately) can only dream of fly fishing those exotic locations that lie beyond our borders. A trip to these idyllic destinations can cost an arm and a leg and it’s already hard enough standing up straight on two legs fishing in the Vaal!

Places like New Zealand, Idaho and Kamchatka are destinations that most of us will only see in magazines or on DVD’s.

But who would have known that we have some equally epic fishing here in South Africa?

Not too long ago I heard rumours of the Ash … tales of huge trout spawning wild in crystal clear, ice cold water coming out of the Lesotho highlands. Only a few people know of the Ash and its resident population of trout and most of them said the water is close to unfishable and that I would be wasting my time trying the water is so fierce and fast flowing. This sounded like a challenge to me, and one I couldn’t resist.



The Ash River is in essence a manmade river. It is part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project which channels water from the Katse Dam in the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho into the Ash River between Clarens and Bethlehem, then into the Liebenbergs Vlei River which joins the Wilge River near Frankfort before finally reaching the Vaal Dam to help ensure we have plenty of water up here in Gauteng.

We arrived in Clarens on Friday afternoon to meet our guide for the weekend. He was kind enough to arrange accommodation at a guesthouse situated about 5km from Clarens on the Fouriesburg road. We agreed that we would meet early on Saturday morning at Destination X on the Ash river.

As you can imagine I didn't get much sleep the Friday night, being quite excited and intimidated at the same time.

Saturday morning came and I was greeted with a flat tyre I noticed while I was loading gear into my truck, but this did not dampen our spirits, as we changed the tyre and made our way to the Ash River. When we arrived at the weir where the guide suggested we meet, I immediately felt under-gunned with my 5wt when I saw how fast the river flowed, and so I opted for my 7wt Horizon TRS.



He briefed us on possible areas we should concentrate on to find fish as well as dangerous areas to avoid. There were a couple of spots where the river bank has eroded and walking there you could easily fall into the river. He said that if we did fall in at these certain places you wouldn't be returning home.



I started out with a floating line and a big and very heavy tungsten bead head Woolly Bugger. My first tactic would be to try to find fish with this fly and then maybe switch over to a more natural pattern later. Again there were no rules, no proven tactics. The guide also said that there has only been a handful of people on this stretch and that no successful patterns or tactics had been established to date.



With my first cast I realized that it was going to be a long day because the moment my fly line landed on the water and before I could even mend my line, it was already washed to the side on the rocks at my feet. I then regretted not having my fast sinking line with me…



We tried to cover most of the 4 km of the Ash available to us for the day, and unfortunately we only had a limited amount of time, so we had to fish as much of the water as fast as possible.



Later in the morning I spotted a shallow and slower piece of water next to the river bank which I suspected could hold some fish. After having no success with streamer patterns (expect for one missed strike) I then tied a #8 two-tone caddis on as my heavy dropper fly and a #14 black flashback mayfly nymph as my point fly. I cast the New Zealand style rig without a strike indicator upstream and tried to maintain a dead drift on the fast water.

 I didn't have much hope as I suspected that my flies weren’t heavy enough to get down, but lo and behold, my fly got eaten.



It felt like a tree trunk at the end of my 3X tippet in the strong current and I didn't have much hope as I saw the shadow of the big rainbow trout that had taken my fly. It emerged from the bottom of the gravel bed and fortunately it decided to swim upstream.

If it headed downstream I would have probably headed home empty handed as it would have snapped my tippet like thread. I tried applying as much pressure as possible, and luckily my friend and cameraman, Quintin could handle the net and I only had to concentrate on landing a beaut of a fish!



We landed the fish and I could finally breathe again! I removed the little black mayfly imitation from its mouth, and when I lifted it from the net I couldn't believe how pretty this fish was. After taking a couple of quick photos I didn't waste any time getting her back into the water. The water was very cold, and without much reviving the beautiful hen fish swam back into the river.



Personally this was a very special moment for me and one I will treasure for years to come. We are indeed very privileged here in South Africa to have some pretty spectacular places we can go fly fishing and the Ash River is without a doubt one of them.



There are some very big fish in this river… I saw a couple of cell phone photos and I estimated one of the fish in the photos to be in excess of 10 lbs. I will surely return in search of one of those giants...

Here is a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXyk6KDwh8Q&list=UUd4HZ9NHMj5dzU4CoKZGyWA

© 2014 Hunter Hennie. All Rights Reserved.