The Annual Midmar Camping Trip – Take 2

Bass, Fresh Water, Trip Report
[caption id="attachment_1635" align="alignleft" width="300"] Carnage during a hail storm at Midmar[/caption] Our annual Midmar camping and bass pilgrimage got off to a rocky start on Friday afternoon when I received a photo of a decimated gazebo from Nick. He'd taken a half day and had headed up early with the family to get a small advantage over me with the bass bashing. Much to his dismay however all that this had resulted in was him setting up camp amidst a huge hail storm, which in turn had left his gazebo looking like nothing more than a trodden on spider with too many legs. Not deterred by his cries Sharon, Emma and I packed up the car and headed for Midmar with the new Cassa da Priors. We arrived shortly before…
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Back To Midmar

Bass, Fresh Water
[caption id="attachment_1416" align="alignleft" width="199"] Nick with a nice Midmar bass[/caption] It's that time of year again when the fishing options are endless. The harbour is starting to perform with the summer game-fish arriving. The rivers have finally been opened and have received some rain. It hasn't yet got too hot so the dams are still producing some nice trout. The yellows have moved up into the rapids. And the bass are coming into the shallows. With so many possibilities it was tough to choose a weekend's outing. However we eventually settled on Midmar and some bass bashing. Why? Well, the recent rains had possibly discoloured the rivers and we didn't want to drive all that way for nothing. We also wanted to make use of the boat and have some…
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A Sad Day Of Exploration

Bass, Fresh Water, Yellowfish
[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignleft" width="300"] Testing out my new Fortuner in the Umgeni Valley[/caption] A year has passed since our last Heritage Day but the memories of a day spent fly fishing under snow capped mountains (and the adventure that followed) is still fresh in my mind. It therefore seemed only fitting to spend this Heritage Day in search of yet another adventure and fishing for a purely indigenous fish, the Natal Scaly. Having just picked up my "new" vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner, we decided to head for the Umgeni Nature Reserve knowing they had a 4x4 route down into the valley. I'd last fished the venue with my dad in around 2007 and fondly remember the fun we had with the scalies. As such is seemed like the perfect choice. I…
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Midmar Bass Bashing

Bass, Fresh Water, Trip Report
[caption id="attachment_888" align="alignleft" width="300"] Launching At Midmar[/caption] Amazingly it had been 8 years since Nick and I last visited (and camped) at Midmar Dam in the Kzn Midlands. Yes, it's not as scenic as the mountains and bass are not as fondly thought of as trout by most fly fisherman; but we're not most fly fisherman! So when a long weekend popped up just before Christmas we packed the vehicles, hitched the boat, and took the families up to Midmar for a relaxing weekend with a "little" fly fishing. We arrived at around 6pm on Friday evening which left us just enough light to pitch the tents and get camp ready before darkness fell. Then the beers came out, the fire was lit, and we began the usual discussions of…
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