Environmental indicators are often subtle and difficult to see.  As fly fishermen we rely on these indicators to inform us of good times to be on the water.  You all know the old fisherman's poem about wind direction..." when the wind blows from the west the fish bite best and when the wind blows from the east the fish bite least and when the wind don't blow the fish don't want to know".  I would love to know where and by whom that was written, because it is certainly true for my home waters.  I don't even take out my rod if there is an East wind blowing, unless it has been blowing for a day or two.

Much has been said and written about reading pressures as a means of predicting how good the fishing will be.  Well at Sterkfontein dam this is very important factor.  It has nothing to do with what the pressure is and everything to do with what the pressure is doing.  It is the change in pressure that affects the fishing not the actual pressure.  There are other environmental factors that play a role, things like water temperature, cloud cover and turbidity.

These are then all the factors that will play a part in whether the fishing is going to be good or not.  Right now I can tell you that the water clarity is still superb the air pressure is there, the cloud cover is ever changing, the water temperature is still at a respectable 16 degrees, but you aren't going to catch fish.  Many people ask me this question, why don't we catch yellows in winter at Sterkfontein?  And from now on my official response is going to be:  "They are inter-African migrants and that they are now enjoying the warm waters of the Barotsi Floodplain."

OK... so I don't know where the fish go in winter and until some fly-fishing outfitters launch their 22mm neoprene wader I am not going to be near the dam finding out.  If there are any brave souls out there that want to go and dredge the waters of Sterkies with a sinking line looking for yellows, be my guest.

Winter is a time for trout, log fires, red wine and warm days riding mountain-bikes with the kids in the midlands.

Sterkies is for summer, warm water, terrestrials and sight fishing.  So until the Piet-my-vrou starts calling again, I hope the yellows enjoy their stay in the floodplains of central Africa.

A summer-caught largemouth