Warren Prior – Baha Fly Fishing

08Dec 2018 by Warren Prior No Comments

Trying My Luck At Turon Gates

My family and I recently spent a magical weekend at Turon Gates. Despite not being considered a top trout water, the Turon River is apparently stocked with around 7000 brown trout fry per year (according to unreliable sources). The river is better known for it's carp population, and also holds the odd bass. Despite poor fishing reports I was excited to get knee deep in a crystal clear stream, missing my home country rivers, like the Bushmans and the Pholela, In preparation for the trip, and at the advice of local fishermen, I invested in a pair gaiters to protect me from the various venomous creatures Australia has on offer, and bought a fresh supply of dries, nymphs, and other trout flies. A new trout net sadly eluded me. The…

30Sep 2018 by Warren Prior 1 Comment

My First Session in Australia – Toowoon Bay

Salt Water

According to my blog the last time I flicked a fly was at the 2017 Xplorer UHTFC Festival, which was way back on the 24 September 2017. WOW! I'm truly embarrassed. How can it be that for well over a year I never flicked a fly?! Putting the embarrassment aside for a second, I was massively excited to step out onto the beach, fly rod in hand, with the only 6 flies I own in my pocket. My target? Tailor (that's shad for my South African friends)? Luderick? I wasn't really sure to be honest. I just wanted to wet a fly. My family and I were in Toowoon Bay on camping trip, and I'd managed to sneak away for an hour in the early afternoon. The wind was howling,…

26Sep 2018 by Warren Prior No Comments

Buying My First Flies in Australia

Randoms, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_2981" align="alignnone" width="1600"] My first 6 salt water flies bought in Australia[/caption] Back in February I sadly got rid of all of my flies, as well as all of my tying material, when immigrating from South Africa to Australia. It was perhaps a little drastic, but considering the volume of natural fibre in both, it seemed like the most logical and simple thing to do. After all, I didn't want to be the next victim of "Border Security." Now while this may have made the packing process easier, it was perhaps little short sighted. With a weekend planned at Toowoon Bay, I headed down to a local fly fishing shop on my lunch-break. Much to my dismay each of the flies I purchased cost around $10 (R100). Considering these…

18May 2018 by Warren Prior No Comments

Bonito in the Bay (and Mackerel)

Bait, Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_2969" align="alignright" width="267"] Nick with a mackerel caught on lure[/caption] A family wedding meant that Sharon, the kids, and I boarded a plane and headed to Brisbane. Nick picked us up from the airport and, much to my wife's dismay, immediately started discussing the day's fishing plans. We dropped the family off at Nick's place, had a quick cup of coffee, hitched up the boat, and headed for Moreton Bay. Conditions on the bay were near perfect - well, for us humans. A warm autumn day with sunny, blue skies and not a breath of wind. The water looked like glass as we skimmed across, it heading for some structure between Peel Island and North Stradbroke. We started the day with some bottom fishing, using squid and pilchards as…

24Sep 2017 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Xplorer UHTFC Festival 2017 Video

Event, Fresh Water, Trout, Video

24Sep 2017 by Warren Prior 7 Comments

The Xplorer UHTFC Festival 2017

Event, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

Having hosted a very successful (inaugural) fly fishing festival in 2016, we (the UHTFC committee) decided to build on the event by hosting our second festival in 2017. We updated the format, extending the festival by a day to 2 days, and then threw in a formal dinner and braai. Although Neill and I were fishing in the festival, we were also partially responsible for putting the event together, and therefore had to do our due diligence. As such we drove up early on Friday morning and spent the day checking the condition of the festival waters, unlocking the various gates and boat houses, packing goodie bags, and setting up the evening venue. One of the waters was slightly off-colour, and we therefore removed it from the festival, otherwise all was looking good. With…

22Jun 2017 by Warren Prior 2 Comments

Castleburn

Fresh Water, Review, Trip Report, Trout

I was lucky enough to win a 5 day stay at Castleburn in last years Xplorer UHTFC Festival. After (accidentally) letting it expire I managed to get it extended by a month and took the family up for a much needed break. Having spent the weekend fishing the Boston Fly Fishing Festival this was intended to be a family trip. I did however manage to pack the fly rod and to sneak away for the odd hour here and there. And I'm certainly glad I did - the fishing was great. For the full (family) trip report please head over to my personal website. This blog post is going to be more focused on Castleburn's fly fishing, as well as any activities related to fishing. The Venue [caption id="attachment_2907" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Sunrise…

17Jun 2017 by Warren Prior 1 Comment

The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2017

Event, Fresh Water, Trip Report, Trout

Arrival and Registration The 7th annual Boston Fly Fishing Festival was once again held on the weekend of the 16th June. And for the 5th year in a row this meant missing my wedding anniversary in favour of the event. Thankfully I have a forgiving wife, and had booked a week-long family holiday at Castleburn, and was therefore given the much needed pink slip. Baha Fly Fishing entered the same 2 teams of four as the previous year. The South coast team was once again made up of Dave, Dan, Andrew and Richard, while the Durban team consisted of Neill, Bruce, Keegan and myself. Now while I named the team's Baha North and Baha South, the South Coast boys had other plans. They arrived at the festival early and used…

17Jun 2017 by Warren Prior No Comments

The Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2017 Video

Event, Fresh Water, Trout, Video

02Jun 2017 by Warren Prior No Comments

Durban Showing Off

Salt Water

[caption id="attachment_2860" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Neill fishing the Durban beachfront[/caption] On Friday morning Neill and I took to the Durban beachfront for a pre-work fish. Despite being winter the water was warm and conditions looked promising for a few wavies. Consistent offshore winds in the preceding days had flattened the swell, other than a rather large shore-break which did hinder fishing slightly. Durban itself put on a great show with a beautiful orange sunrise illuminating the glass-like surface on the ocean. We fished for between an hour and an hour and a half, with not so much as a bump from the smallest wave garrick. This was irrelevant though, as it was great to just be out there with the sand between our toes before a tough day's graft. Fishing was followed by a…