Queenstown Gathering 2023
The Queenstown Gathering 2023 Every July, the Queenstown Fly Fishing Club hosts its annual gathering in Stormberg, located in the Eastern Cape. The club boasts approximately 10 waters that are home to some of the largest trout in the country. The gathering accommodates around 36 anglers, with each team assigned to a specific water. The…
Essential Tips for Extending the Lifespan of Your Waders
As a cold water angler, a reliable pair of waders is an invaluable investment. However, considering the substantial cost of premium waders these days—often exceeding R10 000 —it’s essential to take proper care of them. While waders will eventually wear out, following a few maintenance practices can significantly prolong their lifespan. Let’s explore some valuable…
A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Right Fly Fishing Rod!
A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing the Right Fly Fishing Rod! Fly fishing can be an incredibly rewarding and relaxing outdoor activity, but choosing the right equipment can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to selecting the perfect fly fishing rod. In this beginner’s guide, we’ll take you through the essential factors to consider when choosing…
Swartberg Hosted Trip May 2022
The Sawrtberg is a special place. Driving out of Underberg the landscape quickly changes to rolling hills, grasslands, and expansive pieces of water. The Swartberg is home to some of South Africa’s biggest trout and we are lucky enough to have access to these amazing waters. Over 100 fish were landed during the first…
Job Opportunity- RETAIL SHOP MANAGER
Do you have a passion for Fly Fishing? We are looking for an individual to join our team at Xplorer Flyfishing in Durban North. The Retail Manager position at The Xplorer Fly Fishing Concept Store requires high attention to detail and a dedication to developing a high level and diverse knowledge of product and retail…
HASTING EXCLUSIVE FLY FISHING FESTIVAL 2021- by Shaun Dickson
It’s that time of year when the temperatures are falling in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands and light frosts are blanketing the ground in the mornings. This means only one thing, FESTIVAL time. Team Xplorer consisting of Richard Gorlei, Graeme Pitt and myself made our way to the annual Hastings Exclusive Fly Fishing Festival that was…
June Bug – tied by Keegan Kennedy
There is no hiding the fact that the Orange hotspot PTN is arguably the best producing yellowfish fly across the country. After spending some time with Gary Glen-Young on different KZN rivers chasing Natal scallies with Jig buggers and seeing many impressive fish landed on these patterns. It was a no brainer to merge the...
THE NANOSILK BEETLE – BY ED HERBST
Gudebrod 10/0: It’s a true midge thread, wonderful to tie with. My life is changed. Ed Engle Tying Small Flies Stackpole Books 2004 A beetle imitation may not only be the most useful all-round terrestrial but the most valuable fly for general searching. The deerhair Crowe beetle serves me better than a grasshopper or…
Nkamba Bay Lake Tanganyika- by Jeremy Rochester
Preparing for a trip to the unknown is always a challenge. The Wildfly crew had been invited to Nkamba Bay Lodge situated in the Nsumbu National Park on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Northern Zambia. The thought of fishing the longest fresh water lake on the planet with over 350 species of…
Right Place,Right Time- by Jeremy Rochester
How often do we sit around waiting for the perfect conditions to hunt trophy trout? Looking at all the different weather apps, following the moon phases and making every excuse why not to be wetting a line. Living in the foot hills of the Natal Midlands I have no excuse for the lack of waters…
Touring the Xplorer T-50 10ft’s in Slovenia- Simon Hunter Bunn
I have spent a lot time on the waters in Slovenia guiding over the past few years. I’m constantly amazed at the size of the fish that hold up in some the bigger holes and pools along my local stretch of the Soca river. These holes tend to be out of reach from the more…
Chasing Salmo Marmoratus in Slovenia by Simon Hunter-Bunn
The Marble trout , Salmo Marmorauts , endemic to the western half of Slovenia , have to be one of the most elusive of the salmonid species on the Globe as in the simple fact of if you can’t find them, you won’t catch them. It’s pretty rare that one just wanders onto the river…
Kamchatka Zhupanova Float Trip- Jeremy Rochester
I had been preparing the tackle for a bunch of mates heading off to Kamchatka in Russia, months before their trip. Listening to all the stories of this last frontier, the jealousy was starting to kick in from my side. Two weeks before the group were to depart on their adventure I got a call…
STORMSURE Products- a must for all anglers- John Geils
It’s not often I get excited about a new product range, but when I came across Stormsure Products a few years back, I knew there was a market for them here. We often get customers that have come to us with waders that are torn or have fallen out of their warranty period and have…
Natal Scaly on the Tugela River by Jeremy Rochester
With Spring in the air and all the social media hype of good Natal yellows coming out on the Umkomass and the uMzimkhulu rivers I decided to steal a day or two and head to Zingela river lodge on the Tugela River. The trip didn’t start well. There was a bit of political unrest in…
Chalk and Cheese- Northern Ireland by Christopher Bryant
I remember a mid-February stroll down the banks of my local river last Year as if it were Yesterday. The sun shone bright and warm as the last remaining patches of frost thawed, leaving columns of steam rising from the riverbank vegetation. The daffodils and crocus had made an unusually early appearance and The Horse…
Kamchatka and the Xplorer Fly rods – by Jerome Mitchell
The fly fishing world has changed vastly since I picked up a rod some 30 years ago. The rods and lines are far more technical and have probably improved our experience. Even the clothing is now referred to as ‘technical’. We don’t even store flies and tippet in jackets any more, hip packs and sling…
Changing Tactics by Jeremy Rochester
After many years spent targeting Brown Trout on our local rivers I have had moments when you think you know it all and within days you get stumped again. Our local rivers in the Natal Midlands offer so much variation from fast flowing rivers to small creek fishing, each river has so much to offer….
Mount Kenya- Ragati Rainbows by Jeremy Rochester
I was recently fortunate to visit the Afro- Montane rain forests of the Ragati Conservancy, with the Wildfly crew. Fishing for Rainbow Trout on the equator was something I was trying to get my head around. The thought of catching trout in these amazing forests with Leopard, elephant and buffalo roaming around the forest floors,…
The Snatcher- Tied by Keith Falconer
The Snatcher style fly is very popular fly in Europe and has found its way into fly boxes worldwide. Originally tied to imitate large buzzer pupae on the Scottish lochs where fishing subsurface in the waves is very popular. Ideally the patterns should be fished as a team with a slow figure of 8 retrieve….
LESOTHO PLACE OF DREAMS- by Jeremy Rochester
Over the past twenty years I have had the pleasure of travelling to the Kingdom of Lesotho, mostly roughing it along the rivers and staying in the odd back packers. Lesotho has so much to offer, with rivers flowing in almost every valley. My main reason for exploring Lesotho started out as the hunt for…
Going Ultra-Light in Ulster- Northern Ireland- by Christopher Bryant
Words can’t describe the feeling of connection the one has with nature when wading through water with a fly rod in hand, and for me, the smaller the stream, the more intimate that connection seems. I was delighted to receive some kit a few months ago from Xplorer, including the 7’9’’ Guide II, 1wt (for…
Ivanhoe Flyfishing Fundraiser -September 2016 by Dayle Mack
It’s always exciting when a private farm offers the opportunity to the public to have a fly fishing compo on their pristine waters in the KZN midlands. Ivanhoe farm in the Dargle area of KZN opened up their waters on Sunday 11 September 2016 to the general public as a fundraiser to a local school. They…
Migratory Monster Trout Of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland by Christopher Bryant
Situated in the Heart of Northern Ireland, and covering a total area of some 151 square miles (392 km2) lies the largest body of freshwater in the British Isles, Lough Neagh. It is about 20 miles (32 km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide and at its deepest point, about 80 feet (24 m). With regards to fly…
Boston Fly Fishing Festival 2016-by Jeremy Rochester
Joining the masses at a fly fishing festival can be quite a shock to the system. I joined a team this year to fish the Boston festival that was held in the Natal Midlands in the midst of winter. I arrived at the Boston Country Club a little early, to put up some Xplorer Branding. This…
IFTD 2016 ORLANDO USA- by John Geils
IFTD 2016- Orlando Florida Sitting in the Orlando airport, waiting for my next flight, I’m trying to recall how many Fly Tackle Dealer shows I’ve attended since Xplorer started. It’s somewhere in the region of 17 or 18 shows since 1996. I was discussing all the destinations the show has been over the years with…
Kosi Lakes- by Jeremy Rochester
On a bit of a nostalgia trip Glen and I headed to Kosi Lakes to join Ewan Kyle on a guided adventure. We made base at the Natal Parks Board chalets nestled in the indigenous forests and settled in for the afternoon getting the tackle rigged and ready. The bird life around the chalets was…
Tillietudlem- Exclusive Game and Fly Fishing Eco lodge- By Keith Falconer
As us Fly Fisherman are always looking for the next still water venue that has it all… great fishing, scenic views, beautiful accommodation, amazing food and warm hospitality. A venue where your other half can enjoy the sunset with a glass of wine while the grazing wilderbeest and eland roam the hillside and you land…
AUTUMN TROUT- by Jeremy Rochester
AUTUMN STILL WATERS Over the past few years I have spent countless hours at the waters edge trying to figure out the behavior of our Trout before the winter sets in. The fishing seems to get really tough at times and all the tactics come flying out the tackle bag. The past two weeks we…
Tying the PERDIGONE- by Keith Falconer
Fly tying: River Nymphs. The perdigone / ‘pellet fly In the world of fly tying there are constantly new patterns and ideas that are being tried and tested. One that has grown quite popular over the last few years is a nymph pattern called the Perdigone. The concept comes from the Spanish which when translated…
Elgro River Lodge- Yellowfish Festival 2015- by Keith Falconer
Recently Elgro river lodge hosted their annual Small Mouth River Festival on the banks of the vaal river just outside Potchefstroom. For those of you that have had the privilege of fishing this amazing stretch of river know that it is one of SA’s top fisheries. With the target species being Smallmouth Yellowfish and for…
Spring Trout 2015 by Jeremy Rochester
It’s that time of year when the waters start to warm up and the insect hatches are at the best, it’s like someone turned the lights on. The Trout start moving and feeding actively and to me probably the best time of year to target these fish on the dry fly. The August winds are…
Day off on Alphonse Island by Xplorer Pro-Staff Kyle Simpson
Being a guide on Alphonse Island in Seychelles, I only get one day off a week, so I make it count. It’s normally on my own because the other guys are out on flats guiding clients. I took one of the skiff and ventured out on a secluded flats of Alphonse island to try and…
Float Tubing for Monster Trout- July 2015
On a recent visit to the Swartberg area, I was joined by a good old friend to tube some pristine waters for the day. A crisp winters morning with the temp sitting at around -5 degrees at 7.00 am we were a bit hesitant to brave the cold bobbing around on a tube. A shot…
Bokong Trip – May 2015
Every year, the Xplorer team closes shop for a day or two and heads to a new destination for a few days to blow off some steam and put our tackle to good use. This year’s excursion was to the majestic mountain kingdom of Lesotho and the Makhangoa Community Camp established by Tourette Fishing. The…