During the winter in Gauteng, South Africa, the Vaal river temperature
drops to between 6°C and 11°C. During this period the smallmouth yellowfish and
most other fish species resident in the river, moves into deeper glides and pools.
By deeper I mean between 2 and 3 meter deep. We target these fish with #18 mayfly
nymphs and blood worm (midge larvae) imitations, fished slowly under an indicator.
Long leaders and 6X tippet setup (longer than 18 foot) are used to get these
flies into the feeding zone which is normally close to the bottom. Although we
predominantly fish for smallmouth yellowfish in this fashion we sometimes catch
monster mudfish weighing more than 3 kg.
