Yellowfish Fly Fishing - Some Tips for First Timer's

Recently one of our members wrote to me saying that he is new to Yellowfish fishing with fly and asked me about the best Yellowfish waters on the Vaal River, so I thought I would share my reply to him with everyone else here.
 
Good day,

Firstly, welcome to the world of Yellow Fishing on fly! There’s no easy start here unfortunately and it will require some patience and some experimentation until you get the hang of it, but once you hook your first Yellow and it gives you a fight that takes you down to your backing, you’ll be hooked!

Some of the best waters for Yellows in my opinion are the following places:

Yellow Fish Paradise (Vaal River) - http://www.fishfanatic.net/fishing-lodge/yellow-fish-paradise-south-africa
They offer day fishing and you need to wade up-stream a bit, on the far side of the river from where you enter the water, to get to the best yellow spots. Best fishing has been experienced below the rapids and above the rapids, however if you see them in the rapids then naturally give that a go.  Wading is a bit difficult here but if you don’t mind this challenge then you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Vaal de Sioleh (Vaal River) - http://www.fishfanatic.net/fishing-lodge/vaal-de-sioleh-river-lodge-sout...
They also offer day fishing and the best yellow waters are a lot more accessible, however the venue is a longer drive from Joberg. The area round the little island where you enter the water producing well most of the time. You are also welcome to try the area downstream of this as this is where I have caught one of my largest yellows to date.

Sterkfontein Dam - http://www.places.co.za/html/sterkdam.html
For one of the best places to experience Yellows on dry fly! Pretty much all around the dam you will find an abundance of yellowfish, which are keen to take a fly off of the surface.

Orange River Tented Camp (Orange River) - http://www.fishfanatic.net/content/orange-river-tented-camp-south-africa...
The Sterkfontein the Orange River is a longer trip from Joberg, I recommend making a weekend of it, but the quality the water and abundance of Yellowfish compared to the Vaal River is worth it!  The fish can easily be seen in the rapids feeding of the bottom and you will most likely yourself with sore arms by the end of the day. I made a few videos of my experiences here on the Orange River and have put them on Youtube – please excuse my poor camera work, it’s not easy fishing and video recording at the same time.
Video 1 - http://youtu.be/a8KC7Hi6o88
Video 2 - http://youtu.be/xZl2gaEYa1k
 
General Yellow fishing Tips:
Make sure to get your flies weighted properly so that they are going down fast enough and are on the bottom – don’t worry about snagging as this is part of the challenging, use the Roll-cast technique to un-snag yourself as this works best for me.  Your line and fly setup needs to be a modified Czech Nymphing rig – a picture is attached. Yellowfish on the Vaal take the fly very softly so always be prepared to strike on the slightest unnatural movement on your float. With time you will learn to see and feel the difference between a fish taking and a snag.
 

 
 
Some of the best flies to use are:
 
The Czech Nymph

 
Mustard Caddis
 
 
 
Green Grub Pattern
 
 
 
PTN’s

 
 
Hot Spots (depending on the time of year or conditions of water)

 
 
Flashback Nymphs

I Hope this helps you in getting started.
Let me know how it goes please.

Regards
Roman