The Southern Drakensberg area affords more fly-fishing opportunities than any other district in South Africa!
A traveler cruising the N3 on a clear day may see far off to the west the snow clad peaks of the high Drakensberg. As the highway snakes coastward the high Berg twists away to the East and it is here, at the kink in the spine of the mountain that the finest of South Africa’s trout fishing is found. For here flow the mighty Umzimkulu, the lyric Ngagwana, Umzimkulwana, Ndwana, Pholela and Mkomozana.
Underberg and Himeville have long been favoured as a prime destination by wielders of the “long rod”, for they lie in the heartland of a trout fishing Mecca extending from the Loteni river in the North-east, through to Matatiele and Kokstad in the South-west. This is the Southern Drakensberg, which affords more fly-fishing opportunities than any other district in South Africa. From rivers wild-spawned fish of up to eight pounds are taken and from the dams come fish of ten pounds and more. Nowhere else in South Africa are so many heavy-flanked fish caught in such unspoilt surroundings.
Iconic fly fishing waters such as Lake Navarone, Giant’s Cup Wilderness Reserve and Castleburn are names that over decades past have come to resonate through South African trout fishing history and its literature, for they afford fly-fishing in a scenic majesty unmatched anywhere. They, together with destinations such as Riverlea, Sani Valley Lodge, Lake Glencairn, Goxhill Trout Lodge, Lake Dieu Donne and others, provide facilities and amenities to suit every pocket and expectation of the visiting fly angler.
Here lie the home waters of the Underberg/Himeville Trout Fly-fishing Club. Formed in 1954, it is the oldest surviving trout fishing club in South Africa and controls some of the finest river and still-water fishing to be found anywhere. They provide public access to visiting anglers on some of their waters.
Specialist stores in Underberg provide a range of fly-fishing gear and equipment.