The Great Fishing Expedition

On the 24th of August Mr. Terblanche, Mr. Beaumont, Terry Ellis and Mike, a friend of Mr. Terblanche, accompanied by four pupils; Dylan, Tony, Marc and Nick left for what promised to be a very interesting fishing weekend.
We left school at the start of lunch break on Friday and made quick work of the road, and were soon at our first stop - an island in the middle of the off ramp into Howick! We soon discovered why we stopped - Mr. Beaumont?s son, Bradley would be joining us for the weekend. We were soon back on the road heading up to Kamberg and the mercury in the thermometer was quickly dropping. Shortly, we arrived at our lodgings for the next three days, The Spotted Horse Inn.

As soon as our bags were inside we kitted up and left for our first lake. After getting our novice, Terry, organized, we took to the water to see what was on offer. A howling wind and accompanying drizzle didn?t dampen our spirits. The more experienced fly fisherman of the group were soon casting entire fly lines out - then there was Terry, bear in mind this was his first shot at fly fishing. His casting methods were somewhat, agricultural to say the least. However, the first fish was landed by none other than ? our favourite Aussie!

This was shortly followed by a SECOND FISH!!! The first a decent three pounder, followed by an even more impressive four pounder. Now as for all the other fisherman this was quite an ego bruising but, remember beginners luck - we all had it once before.

Mike then hooked into a very feisty fish that gave him a good fight shortly after Terry lost what would have been his third fish in about 15 minutes. After our fingers began to go blue, and we started to battle to tie on flies we decided to call it a day and head back to The Spotted Horse.
We all thawed out in the warm atmosphere watching the Sharks play - all the Glenwood guys were waiting for Ian Adendorff to come off the bench for his first senior cap. We all soon became good friends with the cook, Francis. With his unique senses of humour and an accent to complement it - half Scottish, half Afrikaans, he kept everyone laughing throughout the trip. Then, it was supper time, we placed our orders? the notorious KAMBURGER - a challenge even for us Glenwood guys. All the masters were fed huge fillet steaks and we all agreed that this was the best food we had ever had.

Saturday

We started the day very early; we made sure we were up in time to get onto the lake at first light. Coffee makes a good early morning companion after which we were soon sorted and heading to Longclaw. Apart from Mr. Beaumont?s two fish caught in very short succession the fishing was very slow, we then decided to try our luck at the next lake, Jakkals.

There was great excitement when Nick hooked into a very nice 3kg cock fish. After a few hours prospecting the water we returned to Longclaw. After fishing long and hard Mr. Terblanche decided to show us how it was done and hooked a well conditioned 3kg hen. He landed the fish after some very hard runs, something Nicks fish didn?t feel was necessary. These two fish were the biggest of the trout caught. After a yet another very long, wet and windy day we returned home to the warmth of the Spotted Horse?s lounge, with its huge fireplace. Time to discuss all the ones that got away?
Conversation flowed and before we knew it midnight was near. Tomorrow was going to be a challenge. Having spent the entire evening talking to Francis and enjoying everyone?s company we were soon off to bed in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Sunday

Our final day started very slowly with everyone except Mr. Terblanche, battling to get out of bed. By the time we had all emerged and were ready to prospect Longclaw again we heard some very comforting news; apparently the weather would be clearing up and should make for some very good fishing. The fish were active at the surface and everyone was excited, the weather looked good, blue skies and NO wind ? Unfortunately even weather forecasts can be wrong - after about an hour the sky turned black and the wind began to swirl around. We then all decided that we would call it a day and return back to Glenwood.

What a wonderful trip - we are all looking forward to the next one!!!