R I V E R • S L A M
“First cast to the far bank — bang! Something silver darted around like a maniac. Not a bass, not a carp… I briefly thought maybe a witvis from last summer’s stockings? Then it came off. Bugger. Cast again — same thing, but this time I landed it. A wild rainbow trout, flawless fins, perfect colour, but this trout looked like Gerrie Coetzee that had been boxing with carp and bass all its life.”
While targeting the finicky carp of his home waters, the Berg River, Platon Trakoshis lucked his way into his first Berg slam - starting with a butter ball smallmouth bass, followed by a trout that looks like it swam into a dam wall, and finally a common carp to round it off. Story at the link in bio.
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#thecultofflyfishing #flyfishing #flyfishingnation #flyfishingaddict #flyfishinggear
G N A R L Y • F R O G
The Gnarly Frog is a topwater bass fly designed for warm water surface fishing. Besides having a space-age foam popper head design (courtesy of @ArnoLaubscher at Gnarly Headz aka @scientificfly ), this frog’s appeal is the two reverse-tied zonker legs that give the popper a splayed-out frog-leg silhouette and a French chef an erection.
In this video, Platon Trakoshis (@platon_300 ) goes through the steps on how to tie the Gnarly Frog from tail to top, explaining the details behind what makes this padda pop.
Watch the full step-by-step fly tying video on The Mission’s YouTube channel at the link in bio.
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#thecultofflyfishing #flytying #flyfishingaddict #flyfishing #basspopper
E D’ S • H O P P E R
As with most things in fly tying, you can make hoppers as complicated and layered as you like… Or, you can keep things really simple and effective. Ed’s Hopper, originally developed by venerable Cape small streams guru Ed Herbst (@ed_herbst346 ), is one such pattern.
In this step-by-step tutorial Platon Trakoshis (@platon_300 ) demonstrates how to tie this effective terrestrial pattern. Link in bio.
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#thecultofflyfishing #flytying #hopperpattern
L A L U • B U G
Platon Trakoshis's (@platon_300 ) Lalu Bug is a heavy dragonfly nymph pattern that rides hook-point up, imitating the stubbier dragonfly nymphs naturals from the classes Libellulidae and Gomphidae. This pattern evolved from a fly that Platon initially used for targeting carp on the Berg river, and now in its final form, is used to fish for an array of species, but still very similar to its buggy ancestor.
The Lalu bug is tied with a heavy scud body intended to sink the fly into fish-feeding zone extremely fast, just as Pla uses it to lead feeding carp in the fast flowing Berg. Full tutorial at the link in bio.
🎥 @polaroidmatt
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#flyfishingsaveslives #flyfishing #flyfishingaddict #flyfishingculture #flyfishingonly #flyfishinglife #thecultofflyfishing #flytyingporn #flytyingvideo #flytyingmaterials #flytyinglife #flytying #flytyingjunkie
B U L L Y • B E E F • F O R • T I G E R F I S H
The Bully Beef, named after an iconic South African canned beef brand, is a baitfish pattern designed for targeting tigerfish in the Okavango and Zambezi freshwater systems. It imitates the coppery bulldog baitfish, and comprises partly of a red jelly chenille gill plate, and a magnum rabbit zonker tail.
In this step-by-step fly tying tutorial, Platon Trakoshis (@platon_300 ) of Lucky Bastards (@themluckybastards ) talks about the African fisheries this fly was developed for, how the Bully Beef is fished, and how to tie it at home. At the link in bio.
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📸: @polaroidmatt
#flyfishing #flyfishinglife #flyfishingonly #flyfishingsaveslives #flyfishingculture #flyfishingaddict #thecultofflyfishing #flyfishingafrica #tigerfishonfly #tigerfishing #tigerfish #flytying #flytyinglife #flytyingvideo #flytyingjunkie #flytyingaddict #flytyingaddicts
It is very sad news for South African and International Fly Fishing, friends and family of an incredible man, Tom Sutcliffe, who passed away recently.
Personally, Tom's books taught me how to fly fish for trout. They are entertaining and informative but kept simple and real. There are tricks in there that I will use forever and remember him every time.
I was lucky enough to have got to know him and a highlight for me was when I filmed the Fly Fishing & Fly Tying EXPO that Gordon van der Spey organised so well. He didn't want to be interviewed per se but preferred to just have a chat about fly fishing. He spoke so well that we ended up using his voice for the narration.
His passion for all things fly fishing and the creativity of all the people featured in this video runs so true for everything he believed in and supported. We shared a passion for photography as well and he was very intrigued by the video-making process as with so many things in life.
He will be sorely missed by many and remembered often on trout streams all over. Rest in peace, Tom.
#tomsutcliffe
We still have space available for our hosted trip to Majestic Rivers in Tanzania and for those who missed it . . . . . - NEW RATE - US$4,940 for 7 nights accommodation all inclusive at the lodge and a private 1-hour charter from Dar to the camp airstrip and back to Dar. You just need to get to Dar es Salaam.
This is just for this season so don't miss this great opportunity to fish a very special place for huge tiger fish and other species with us.
Dates 16th to 23rd September &
23rd to 30th September 2023.
We still have space available so DM us for more details or e-mail us at [email protected].
Fly fishing at the Majestic Rivers Lodge will be a proper epic mission to one of the wildest places in Africa, and the chance to chase some incredible fish, most of it on foot, and with huge species diversity and some days on boats going for the really big tigers.
Follow the link in our bio to read the Majestic Rivers article in The Mission Fly Mag. @majesticriversfishing #tigerfish #tigerfishing #tigerfishonfly #tanzaniantigerfish #yellowfishonfly
NNNNNNNinteen, is out. Very stoked to add this to the collection and can't wait to dive in. The genius behind these publications can't be missed so get yourself a copy. @bitterkomix@soutiepress #bitterkomix #soutiepress #comics #southafrica #southafricancomics
