By Brendan Seery
Nelspruit - John Hunter shakes his head as the wind whistles around us. “We couldn’t have chosen a worse day,” says the Scotsman. The surface of the farm dam has been whipped up into flecks and the light trout lines are snagged by the wind with every cast.
John, a fly fisherman with more than40 years’ experience, has taken us to a private dam rented out by the Dullstroom Fly Fishing Association, a few kilometres outside the Mpumalanga highveld village. He has agreed to give a casting lesson to Neil Wassman, who is anxious to catch his first trout – but casting into a wind like this is not easy.
Me? I don’t really care. I tell John and Neil that the best thing about fly fishing is watching it. Generally, you’re in an open, alpine or hilly spot that is often devoid of people. And there’s something relaxing about looking at the gentle swish-flick of the trout line as an experienced fisher places the fly further and further out with each cast.
That is true of this Dullstroom morning: despite the whipping wind, it is not too cold, because the sun is out in a cloudless sky. The rolling yellow hills are spotted with clumps of trees and knots of cattle. The feeling of space is such you can almost taste it. It’s a lot like Scotland in this part of the world, says John. And Dullstroom, in the heart of the Mpumalanga fly fishing triangle – more a rectangle because it is bounded roughly by Belfast, Machadodorp, Dullstroom and Lydenburg – is “all about fly fishing”, says John.
Quite why one would want to spend time in a beautiful place like this torturing a fish is beyond me. Often, with fly fishing, though, the torture is all for the angler. Earlier we watched as two others abandoned things and headed home. You need skill to catch a trout, for sure, but you need patience even more.
But Neil is not doing too badly, and is getting the hang of casting. Suddenly, they look about 20m out into the dam. Was that a fish following the fly? John quickly decides this is time for his old stalwart, the Brown Woolly Bugger, a hand-tied fly that has been a favourite of anglers almost, it seems, since time immemorial.
Then he takes the rod and casts out for Neil (because he is, with his experience – including being a competition angler in Scotland – better at casting) and allows his pupil to slowly bring in the line, agitating it this way and that. Suddenly, there is a tug on the line and then a splash as the hooked fish fights to get away. Neil has caught plenty of other fish in his time, so doesn’t make a mess of the strike.
Like a proud parent, John watches from behind as Neil slowly reels in the fighting fish. Eventually it’s landed. Neil doesn’t want to keep and eat the fish – but he also knows that if you are not careful when catching and releasing, you could inadvertently kill the fish.
He washes his hands in the dam, so he can pick up the fish. This is so that no human germs, bacteria or substances can damage the protective slime on the scales of the animal. I didn’t know that. You learn something every day.
Eventually, Neil and John return the fish to the water and it swims slowly away.
“Well done! Well done!” exclaims John. It’s hard to believe his enthusiasm is as strong as it always was, despite his having fished for more than 40 years.
Neil is happy, too: he borrowed the angling kit from a friend and was told he should not expect to catch a fish first time.
“Not everyone gets to do that, for sure,” says John, whose family runs the Village Angler store in the village. He is kept busy teaching newbies the intricacies of casting and preparing the line and also puts those who have done it before through a refresher.
John says women make good fly fishers – because “they don’t try to beat everything into submission, like men, and they listen to what they’re told”. His wife and daughter are experts and he says more women are giving it a try.
What is it about fly fishing? It can’t be the success rate – you don’t catch all that many.
John thinks. “First of all, it is about being out in nature. As you can see, fly fishing normally takes place in high cold areas, which are beautiful. And, even when you’re not catching, you have the time to sit and think about life. It’s a great stress-reliever.”
He adds: “You speak to the partner of someone who goes fly fishing. After a morning or evening fishing, that person returns in a much better frame of mind. Fly fishing makes you a better person.”
Another reason why fly fishing is so addictive, says John, is “that it is all about skill. Skill that takes a long time to acquire. Because it is not an easy sport, success is really, really satisfying.”
Really satisfying for me is being in that bracing mountain air. In Dullstroom, you don’t have to be a fly fishermen to appreciate the space. You can go for long walks or hikes, mountain bike or drive. The settlement – with its mix of tar and gravel streets, and simple chain link fences around plots – speaks of a less frenetic, and safer, time when many small dorps across South African were like this.
Also on offer are archery, horse riding, golf and clay pigeon shooting. The area is also a good spot for birders. Because of its altitude and abundance of wetlands, the highlands in and around Dullstroom are perfect habitat for cranes – the endangered wattled crane; the blue crane, our national bird, and the Grey Crowned Crane. Less than 15km outside Dullstroom is the Verloren Vallei (Lost Valley) reserve where cranes are found, although not year-round, as we discover when we visit.
There is, surprisingly, quite a lot to do other than angling and most of it will get you hungry. In Dullstroom, that is not a problem because there are as many restaurants as there are fly-fishing places.
If you range slightly further afield – heading for the quaint settlement (it is not big enough to qualify as a village) of Tonteldoos (Tinder Box), pop in at the Cat & The Cow, whose person in charge, Liz Lane, will whip up a home-cooked meal – just don’t expect a menu, what she cooks depends on what’s available, but she says her steak with roquefort is to die for.
As we head home along the N4, I think Dullstroom is yet another example of how much we have in South Africa. It is tourism (and fly fishing – sorry, John) that keep villages and towns like this going.
So, go local!
l www.thevillageangler.co.za
A self-catering cottage hard to beat for attention to detail
Often, when it comes to arranging travel accommodation on the internet, what you see on the website is not what you get when you see the property. So I was somewhat sceptical that the Behind The Inn self-catering house in Dullstroom would live up to it’s claim to be “boutique”.
It certainly did.
I have seldom been in self-catering accommodation that is furnished so well – with quality furniture and appliances – or where such attention has been paid to detail. Example, at the door, on hooks, are umbrellas. Given that the weather can be changeable in Dullstroom, even in winter, this is useful.
There are fireplaces in the downstairs, two-bedroomed Garden Cottage and in the upstairs Honeymoon Suite, as well as electric blankets. Nothing better to find in a chilly place like Dullstroom.
And, when did you ever see a self-catering establishment welcoming you with a note to help yourself to a complimentary bottle of wine? The selection came from a wine rack stacked with good quality wines, too. Oh – and there is a full, proper “sommelier’s tool kit” for wine enthusiasts...
The house – two units – can be rented as a whole, or separately. Each unit has a kitchen – that downstairs has a full stove, a dishwasher, microwave and coffee machine. There is a long verandah that would be the ideal place for chilling in the hot days of summer. A nice touch on the verandah is a bird-themed clock that erupts with a different birdsong on the hour.
Another nice touch is that wood is provided for your first fire: although it wasn’t too cold when we were there, it was great to have a fire adding to the cosy appeal of the house.
Issues? Try as I might, I could not find a teapot, although there were three machines for brewing coffee.
The main issue, though, is this: every other self-catering place is going to look a bit downmarket.
DULLSTROOM FACTS
l It is just under 300km from Joburg, and 640km from Durban.
l Cool mountain climate, with chilly winters and mist and fog, but warm summers.
l One of the coldest villages in South Africa.
l South Africa’s premier trout fishing area.
l Home to the highest-altitude railway station, 2 076m above sea level.
l The only place in the country where elm and beech trees grow in any number.
l The only region in South Africa where you will find the endangered blue crane, the crowned crane, as well as the critically endangered wattled crane.
l Has a craft beer brewery and a whisky bar that has the largest collection of whisky in the southern hemisphere.
l Has a specialised clock shop, with the largest collection of clocks in the southern hemisphere.
Source: behindtheinn.co.za
Saturday Star