| Date of Report: Thursday, 11th June 2026 |
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Name: Niel Malan Email: nmalan8@gmail.com Phone: 064 517 3811
General: This report covers the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 May 2026. It is an absolutely stunning winter’s day in Plettenberg Bay…. but I am not on the water. Why not, are you crazy? Or just getting lazy? Well, it is a long story, but read on for the short story…. Yes, you guessed it. Never start a reporting period on the 1st of April, April Fool’s Day. Somebody is going to come and play a prank on you! And that is exactly what happened. Well sort of. In this case it was not by a person, but Mother Nature herself. The reporting period started off fine, in fact there were early reports of some good catches coming in from all over the Garden Route, but just when we started relaxing, we receive some severe weather warnings from the South African Weather Services. Predictions of a cut-off low, severe rains and strong winds resulted in a level eight warning. That’s massive. When Disaster Management Agencies were placed on high alert and schools closed, I still thought that they most likely got it wrong. Soon afterwards the storms hit the entire Garden Route, and further afield, in all earnest. Water bucketing down, all streams picking up speed and muddy torrents coming down from the catchment. Literally every single estuary flooded and not only did it flood and rearrange the sandbanks and channels, but Mother Nature chucked a 100-year flood event at us and then sent in the winds to topple young and old trees, all alike, blocking roads and leaving others without power for weeks. But back to the rivers and estuaries – the strong currents and high water levels wreaked havoc. Soon the social media became flooded, if you will excuse the pun, with photos of trees, jetties and even boats coming down the rivers. In the Breede River even an entire wooden house seemed to be floating down the river. In short, it was chaos out there with houses being flooded and people having to be rescued from the roofs of the houses. In short, this was a major storm, maybe a 100 year event, and I think Robin Fick summed it up correctly: “Rain stopped play”. Certainly for our fly fishers. And then, just as the systems started to return to normal, another flood hit the Garden Route again! So, not surprisingly, the report for this reporting period is not as extensive and full of catches as in the past but as you can see in this photograph from Mike Dohlhoff the sun will shine again and in fact in the long run these floods will have a major positive effect on most of the estuaries. On the other hand, it is not all good news. People have lost their lives and there are billions and billions of Rands of damages to roads, bridges, houses, wastewater pump stations etc. Talking about pump stations – this is the reason I am not on the water today. In Plettenberg Bay several pump stations flooded and manholes overflowed, some flooding our backyard, and the river is severely polluted right now, so be careful out there for the next week or two. But as said above, in the long run this will be positive for the estuaries and we look forward to a very good summer season.
Fig 1. A stunning photo taken by Mike Dohlhoff that not only shows the aftermath of the floods, but also the sun coming out again – signaling the rebirth of the systems. In the meantime Chris Wood has arranged a get-together for the Garden Route Fly Fishers on the 11th of June where we will look at the impact of these floods on the estuaries. We have a guest speaker from the South African National Parks, Kyle Smith, and that should be an informative event not to be missed. During this event there will also be an opportunity for members to share some of their recent stories, successes and failures. One of these will be by Paul Andrews entitled “Don’t tuna me grief”. Apparently it is not about a tuna, but about a huge Barracuda. With a title like that I, for one, am totally hooked and will be there. So, while we wait for the rivers and estuaries to clear up and the fish to return let’s attend this event, have a few pints and get ready for a bumper summer season.
Fig 2. Details of the next planned event.
Till next time, tight lines. GARDEN ROUTE FLY FISHERS MILESTONES:
FIRST (GARDEN ROUTE) SALTWATER FISH ON FLY:
Fig 3. A happy Brad Kilman with his first Garrick.
Fig 4. Sasha Mitchell with a rather fat Cape Moonie – something to smile about!
FIRST GARDEN ROUTE SPOTTED GRUNTER ON FLY:
Fig 5. Alan Fraser with a prized Keurbooms River Grunter.
Fig 6. Petrus van Straaten met sy eerste Knorhaan. Wel gedaan Petrus! Petrus also got a bigger one (see details in Kromme River section)
NEW SPECIES OF GARDEN ROUTE FISH CAUGHT BY MEMBER (IF NOT ALREADY CAPTURED ABOVE):
Entry into the 50+ Club [Ed: 50 fish or multiples of 50 of a specific species from the Garden Route]:
BELOW IS SOME FEEDBACK PROVIDED BY MEMBERS RELATED TO THE SPECIFIC SYSTEMS: As always, thanks to all the members that have kindly offered information and stories. Without you this report would have been very short and feeble. That said, there are still many shy, or lazy, people that are not sharing their catches and info. This may also be partly as a result of them not wanting to share sensitive information. To accommodate for this a new “under cover” section was created – see section 15 below. Let’s hope this will help and that they will also soon come to the party. 1. BREEDE RIVER ESTUARY (WITSAND/CAPE INFANTA): Our regular correspondent Mike Dohlhoff reported: “Hi Niel ...I spent the majority of May involved in non-fishing activities and obligations. Just before the flood a friend and I did manage a really good Kob session where 11 fish were landed, biggest was 81cm and the average of the others in the 60 to 65cm class”. That is a stunning session Mike! “Unfortunately the following day the chaos started and although no significant damage occurred in the lower and mouth area of the river, this was the collection point of all the upstream misery. The once pristine sandbank and beach are covered with an enormous amount of debris ranging from many thousands of large trees, some very big as well as jetties, boats, drums, water tanks and general rubble. Efforts are underway to remove the man-made debris, but the trees, stumps and other flotsam will be here for some time to come. Of note is that preliminary reconnaissance shows some dramatic changes to the sand and mud banks as well as channels. The effect of this on the fishing will only be known in time. Of note is a short post flood session produced a really nice 70cm Kob in the very brown water. A few Blacktail have also come out further down the beach but no Grunter yet. By the next spring tide hopefully some normality will return to our damaged river. Regards Mike” Thanks Mike and congratulations on your stunning fish!
Fig 7. Mike with a beautiful 81 cm fish the day before the flood.
Fig 8. Mike with his first post-flood Kob. Glad to see that not all the fish left the system. 2. GOUKOU RIVER ESTUARY (STILBAAI): Our regular contributor Philip Meyer said that: “Hi Niel, despite my absence from the water again, reports from the Goukou River indicate that there are some fish around, however not in great numbers. The Grunter are more singles and scattered, the Leeries this year were quiet, mainly small fish and some Kob came out, mainly upriver from the bridge, but very few above the 60cm mark. The recent floods did not have such a great impact on the Goukou River compared to the Breede and Gouritz. I expected the river to come down in flood, it was high and discolored, but nowhere near compared to the adjacent estuaries and has settled rather quickly. At the time of writing this, it is raining again, strange season this. 3. GOURITS RIVER ESTUARY (GOURITSMOND): No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 4. KLEINBRAK RIVER ESTUARY: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 5. GROOTBRAK RIVER ESTUARY: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 6. TOUWSRIVIER ESTUARY (WILDERNIS): No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 7. SWARTVLEI RIVER ESTUARY & LAKE (SEDGEFIELD): Ian Gaylard managed to entice a Garrick, but was upset when the popper hook damaged the leerie’s eye: “This morning at Swartvlei. Straight after this, I changed to a sinking line to avoid injuring another fish. The hook point had come out through the eye socket. “Due to work commitments, I was only able to fish Swartvlei during the early mornings and late afternoons. I caught and landed two small Garrick and had numerous hook-ups that came off within seconds, as well as many follows — all on a popper. On Friday morning, two white steenbras were caught on bait. I spent some time targeting them, but without success”. Sometimes when the small Garrick are around it is better to move to another spot or switch to smaller flies that won’t hurt the fish.
Fig 9. Ian Gaylard’s Garrick. 8. GOUKAMMA RIVER ESTUARY: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 9. KNYSNA RIVER ESTUARY: Chris Wood’s client Sasha Mitchell managed to catch a rather fat Cape Moonie, his first ever saltwater fish on fly. Over to Sasha: “Big thanks to Chris Wood for a productive morning session today! Definitely backs up the group Slogan of "Fun, Friendship and Sharing". Always nice to keep on learning new techniques and how to fish different flies. Thank you!” Congratulations Sasha! Chris Wood also reported: “Monday 4th May - And that’s the season closed (for me), first time salty on fly and first time in Africa, well done Brad Kilman from Oklahoma.” See Brad and Sasha’s pictures in the Milestones Section. Adam Harris managed 4 leeries in Knysna and seems to have had a good time.
Fig 10. Adam Harris doing what he likes best! Fig 11. Adam Harris with one of several juvenile Garrick. Niel Malan fished Knysna one session and reported that he had a take from a sight-fished Grunter, but it didn’t stick. 10. KEURBOOMS AND BITOU ESTUARIES (PLETTENBERG BAY): Niel Malan, Bernard Schoeman, Garth, Dean Impson, Deon Stevens, Alan Fraser and a few unknown flyfishers fished this system during the reporting period. Between them they managed to land several juvenile Garrick, Southern Mullet, Spotted Grunters and a Cape Stumpnose. Nice. Niel Malan added: “I was away during the reporting period and only fished here 8 sessions, mainly before the floods hit.. I ended up with 6 Grunter, 2 Southern Mullet, 1 Cape Stumpnose and 1 Blacktail. Looking back at my notes it is amazing how different 2 consecutive days can be: “Day 1: Nou nie Å" Marius Rousseau sessie nie (See Kromme Section), maar was darem Å" goeie een vir my: Nice sunny wind-free conditions at mid neap tide. Session started slowly with few fish seen. Then I started seeing a few Spotted Grunter. I got about 12 follows, and 2 takes, before a smallish 41 cm Grunter eventually took the Goby fly. Then had a few more takes without hooking up. Why is this? Then I spotted a decent fish coming over the sandbank in calf-deep water. Thought I buggered it up when the fly landed too close to it and it turned away rapidly…. Only to turn around and nail the fly. Gave me a good fight - 54cm. Landed another 2 of around 45-48 cm, all on my Goby Fly. Happy days!”
Fig 12. Niel Malan with a very cross Grunter.
“Day 2: Water already higher than anticipated. Saw good numbers of Grunter, but all super skittish, bolting for even the lightest flies. Expected that a seal must have been hunting them, but persisted. Then 4 hours later I saw the seal nearby. Must have covered 100 fish with 4 different flies, but not a single follow in 5 hours!” Well, that is Grunter fly fishing”. Deon Stevens added: “Back from 5 weeks fishing in the antipodes, and first day out Alan Fraser snags his first Grunter here in Plettenberg Bay, earning an exclusive Tidal Loops Blue cap. Plenty of fish in the system at present, with less floating grass than normal in the system. Water cold, but good numbers of Grunter still about”. That was of course before the floods hit.
Fig 13. Alan Fraser deep in concentration – please, don’t let it come off now!
Fig 14. Alan Fraser and Deon Stevens with Alan’s first Grunter. Dean Impson and Bernard Schoeman made brief visits to Plettenberg Bay and caught a Garrick and a Southern Mullet respectively. 11. GROOT RIVIER – NATURE’S VALLEY: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 12. KROMME RIVER ESTUARY: Marius Rousseau, our regular respondent, reported that: “April was a very special month of fly fishing on the Kromme River. I guided Max Kroon and we had a great day, he landed 4 Grunter, a Kob and a Bartail Flathead as well as a Cape Stumpnose. This was not his first Grunter as he had caught 2 in a few years of fishing for them. I also fished with Gerard Muscat from Scotland and we were again skunked by the Grunter due to poor conditions but he will visit again in 2026. Jaromir Horak and Dave Ferrant also landed some Grunter and a Kob in April. A highlight for me was when I managed to land 11 Grunter on one insane session and ended the month on 119 Grunter since 03 Jan. Bolded by me – that is an awesome session and most likely a PB for South Africa! Mooi so my maat! Marius added: “I was fortunate to get a young Kob and a Steenbras and Bartail Flathead just before the big rains came and filled both the Churchill and Mpofu Dams to overflowing in 48hrs. The River has not cleared since then but I kept a close look out and ventured out almost daily. I was very pleased to get my 120th Grunter for 2026 on 27 May when some cleaner water pushed into the mouth on the high tide. Damage to the River and the banks seem fairly limited, some damage to property upriver was reported with jetties washed away etc. but not as extensive as experienced in the Gamtoos and Breede Systems. The mouth has opened and is probably a 100m wide on low tide which is extraordinary. The value of the Riverine grasses are clearly evident and they kept most of the banks fairly intact”
Fig 15. Marius Rousseau with a lekker Kob.
Fig 16. Max Kroon with a decent Grunter.
Fig 17. Max Kroon with a beautiful Kob.
Fig 18. Marius with yet another Spotted Grunter!
Fig 19. A very cute White Steenbras that succumbed to Marius’s fly.
Dredging operations are continuing and are creating some interesting opportunities in the Surf where the sand is deposited to re-establish the beaches. A lot of Prawns, Worms and other Crustaceans are also deposited to the delight of a huge squabble of Seagulls who are literally so stuffed they only eat a snack that requires a minimum of effort to get to.I am still pondering the ethics of casting a fly into this fortuitous artificial Chum line. The full affect of the flood will only be visible once the River clears and returns to its normal rhythm but I am very optimistic.
Fig 20. Petrus van Straaten with his Garrick.
Guided Petrus van Straaten, he managed his first tiny Grunter blind and then sight-fished a small Grunter. Went out with him again the next day and he caught a Leerie. Well done on outstanding fishing and fishing effort Marius! Thanks also for taking the time to compile a very detailed and informative report. Guys, this is what we are looking for - awaiting reports for the other systems
Fig 21. Jan Bouwer with a White Steenbras nailed at the Kabeljous Estuary. Jan Bouwer snagged a White Steenbras at the Kabeljous Estuary: “This outjie also couldn’t resist the Goby fly, got it near JBay this evening…proper fun on a 6wt”. 13. ROCK AND SURF: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 14. OFF-SHORE: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 15. CONFIRMED CAUGHT IN THE GARDEN ROUTE, BUT IN AN AREA THAT IS TOO SENSITIVE TO DISCLOSE FULL DETAILS: This is a new section that has been added to allow for some sharing of information and highlighting the fly fishing potential in the Garden Route without disclosing the exact locations where the fish were caught. Normally this is because it might be a species that is endangered, can easily be impacted (especially by bait or throw net fishermen) or is in a tiny area with a limited carrying capacity. We certainly don’t want to see all catches being reported here, but this section will allow members some bragging rights instead of just withholding all information. If you read the reports here and you recognize the area, please keep it to yourself. I can also mention that sometimes if you read about the locations on Facebook, or Instagram, the mentioned positions might have been altered with good reason – it is Fakebook after all. Please send me your info and be sure it will be treated with due respect. No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! 16. RIVERS: Rens Techman reported: “Ek is op die bord! Darem 4 geles gekry in water wat lyk soos 'n red latté. Visibility was so 5 cm”. Rens has been working hard over the last few months, or that is what he wants us to believe, but glad he eventually managed to get out and bag four yellowfish at the start of the reporting period. Most likely all the others are now somewhere in the sea trying to find their way back to the rivers. Robin Fick reported that the Nel’s River near Calitzdorp is in flood. So are all the other rivers. 17. STILL WATERS: No information received during the reporting period - the storms came and messed up this section! That said, we were informed that the Portland Manor dam, one of the bass venues, was over-flowing, but no major damage occurred.
For more GRFF info and interaction also see:
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Garden Route Based Guides:
Fig 22. These swimming prawns are about 8 cm long and dig into the sand – you can see their glowing eyes if you walk around at night with a headlamp. Grunter snacks. |
