Venue Reviews

Venue Name: Treeferns Trout Lodge

Date Visited: August 2008

Duration: 1 day

Access and Vehicle required: Tar road all the way until the Machadodorp turn off (from the Dullstroom side). Not a bad gravel road, but probably not a good idea to drive down in your new BMW Z4.

Species: Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Golden Trout.

Type of water: Small weirs about one tenth of a hectare. Dams from half a hectare to a hectare.

Difficulty: Easy

Daily Rod Average: 9

Flies that worked: Strip Leech (black), GRHE, Black Fritz, Yarn Egg (orange and chartreuse), San Juan Worm.

Tips and Tactics: Go for sinking or intermediate lines with big bodied black flies fished deep and fast. Late afternoons seem to be a prime time for blood-worm fishing on their dams. Go with a floating line and a non-beaded San Juan Worm when you see the fish rising. Cast along and towards the many reed banks.

Weather Conditions: Sunny and warm. Strong wind.

Area: South Africa, Mpumalanga

Fishing Write-Up: The fishing started off slowly in the morning as we tried out the smaller dams closest to the chalets. We moved down to the bigger dams at the bottom and as the temperature and wind picked up, so did the fishing. John and Collen both landed nice fish of over 2kg. We all farmed our fair share of fish which is expected from the extra gutsy late spawning trout. Our double-hauls were well practiced after a day of casting into the wind, a good skill to have mastered when casting to fish many meters out from the bank. The average size of the fish caught was respectable and we went home smiling.

Venue Write-Up: Tree Ferns Trout Lodge is hosted by the farm Vlakfontein about 20km from the village of Dullstroom. A short drive on a well maintained dirt road gets you to the Tree Ferns gate where, upon arrival, you will see a few of the eight dams available for fishing. There are four weired up sections on their stream holding trout. Accommodation is available in the form of four very affordable self-catering chalets. For those not wanting to flyfish there are opportunities for hiking, farm tours and mountain biking. There are a number of bird species to be seen on the farm including the Sacred Ibis and White-Faced Duck.

Contact Info: http://treeferns.co.za/

Mavungana rating: 6/10
How the Guides Voted: JB-6, JT-3, CT-9, MC-6

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