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The last few years Fine art Images in the platinum gallery such as "The last ranger" that won various awards, Urikaruus cloud , Sossusvlei collection amongsts others sold well and investments increased favorably. They also  represent me well on office and home walls across the globe. 

This year was good to me and the latter halve of the year allowed me to create a few additional images that will without doubt overtake these giants of the past. As a matter of fact I have created the most additional fine art work in the first halve of this year then I ever produced in six months.  No wonder I also worked the hardest and traveled the most. More than one third of the days were spend away from home travelling, scouting and creating images. These new images include amongst others the flagships  "Garden of Edens Forbidden tree" , "Eves tree", "My beach" , "Mooiplaas waterhole" and "Wagon eater" in Black and White and colour.  This years recently added creations to the Platinum range are even more awesome.  They can be seen in the Platinum album on the website. Off course there will be the unexpected fine art images that will surprise me with the public's reaction as it always happens with photographers. It is one of the surprises to see the response to the newly created images. Sometimes they are not even printed and are discovered years later. Lets wait and see. Then there are the Images of the railroads along the N1 that are some of my all time favorites without a doubt. The most surprising or biggest lesson however was the fact that lots of my new top images without a doubt were created within 10 kilometers of my home each time. Even after staying at each location for many years travelling past the scenes that blew me away ultimately. The stories of the creation of each artwork  will follow in sequence in the joelategan.com blog and facebook pages. 

Cheers

Fly fishing for Catfish

Fly fishing for the Southern  African sharptooth catfish (Clarius Gariepinus) and the Vundu (heterobranchus longifilis ) in Zimbabwe and upwards could perhaps be the most underrated or should I say undiscovered fly fishing adventures especially for the big fish hunters. I would go further to say that it could be the most underrated or again undiscovered species (from an angling perspective) in the world taking in consideration its distribution, success as a species, totals and sizes as well as its fighting capabilities. These two species belong to the air breathing group (Clariidae)of catfishes.

There are various other groups such as the squeakers( beautiful group fishes) , mountain catfish, butter catfishes, sand catlet’s, rock catfishes, grunters, electric catfish etc. Some of them very endangered. 

Where to go for them

Sharptooth catfish (clarius gariepinus)  can be found in most waters and have unfortunately been translocated into areas unlawfully and can cause great damage to local rare and small indigenous species. (The most widely distributed fish species in Africa) The Vaal /Orange river catchment is probably the best and has the largest specimens. They can also be found in Israel, Lebanon and Turkey. Likes most habitats but are essentially river fish. The Vundu can be found from the Zambezi upwards into Egypt. In the larger sections of the Vaal and the Orange would be the best places to target them with the Orange without a doubt delivering the largest specimens. Not that there are not huge specimens lurking around in the Lower Vaal river.  

How to fish for them

The sharptooth catfish and Vunu are omnivorous and will eat basically anything. As a matter of fact they are highly cannibalistic and eat each other when only around 1 and a 1/2 centimetres long. Therefore one has to observe the habitat of the catfish you are targeting to see what its feeding on to present the food source during the time of fishing. Of course they will eat a range of other foods as well but can be extremely particular during certain phases or seasons. 

It is very important to know the anatomy of the Sharptooth catfish and Vundu catfish when targeting them. Their eye sight is not that developed due to very powerful lateral lines and capacity to smell food with about the same if not better than that of a shark. So they rely on smell and vibration. The flies must thus be plonked onto the water and /or moved within close proximity of the catfish. It must be mostly of large size as well.

Night fishing along the banks especially when the catfish hunt in large groups into baitfish along the banks is also a great adventure. 

What tackle to use

Depends on the size of the fish you are targeting . If smaller sizes in small farm dams are targeted use a rod and gear in relation to it, but when going to the suggested areas for specimen hunting you require at least a 10 weight to have any chance but 12-15 are better choices. 10 kilogram tippet the minimum and heavy duty hooks such as those used for large tiger fish or saltwater . Heavy saltwater outfits are thus the preferred tackle. Floating mostly , intermediate and sinking line in winter to get to the deep pools.

Successful fly patterns.

Mouse scorpion, lizard, Lady purple, Pink panther, CatfishJoe guinea fowl, heavy weighted flies to get to the bottom if you know where they are resting in the big holes. 

The fight

The fight of catfish could be the most energy sapping in your fly fishing career. Some idiot spread word that they are lazy fighters. A catfish of 27 kilograms would be a true test of an angler ...if he could land it, especially in the rivers and not a dam. Of course it is easier to catch and land them in dams due to the reduced amount of obstacles in the water. A large specimen would almost certainly cause the angler to jump into the river with the cat and flow downstream for quite a distance. If a large (strong) enough rod is not used it is very difficult to lift even tired fish from the bottom of a river seeing that the head of a catfish forms a natural Shute fighting vertical from the bottom upwards. Buddy casting on the same spot by two anglers repeatedly also works well especially below fresh nests of birds. Casting scorpion and mouse patterns onto a rock and pulling it slowly into the water also works well in the vicinity of large catfish.

Record sizes.

IGFA line class records. I have caught them well over 40 kilograms on conventional tackle but have not landed these sizes on fly fishing gear. It is our objective to now land them on fly fishing tackle (over 30 kilogrammers)

Fly fishing for mudfish

There are at least 80 species of Labeo or mudfish’s. They are specialised feeders of algae and have large inferior mouths with developed complex lips with grinding teeth in the pharynx and very long, coiled intestine.

The “Labeo umbratus” group consists of four species. They all tolerate low oxygen levels and have small scales except the seebri .They do well in dams. They also have two pairs of barbells. They turn a very dark almost black when spawning. Eggs hatch after 3-4 days and they grow rapidly .They mature between 220 and 240 mm. They breed in large groups over very shallow waters and absolutely exposed to predators such as fish eagles, otters, and man. Although these fish are quit prolific in numbers riparian owners do not pay them the respect they deserve during the spawn periods. Females produce over 250000 eggs. 

The species relevant in this group are the Moggel (Labeo umbratus), Orange river mudfish (Labeo capensis), Tugela Labeo (Labeo rubromaculatus), Clanwilliam sandfish (labeo seebri)

Another group of Labeo of interest to the Southern African angler is the Labeo Niloticus group and consists of Manyame Labeo (Labeo altivelis), Rednose Labeo (Labeo rosae), Silver Labeo (labeo ruddi)

Other labeos include the Purple labeo Labeo congoro), Redeye labeo (Labeo cylindricus), Leaden Labeo (Labeo molybdinus), Upper Zambezi Labeo ( Labeo lunatus), Cunene Labeo ( Labeo ansorgii)

Where to go for them

The umbratus can be found in the Orange Vaal all the way down to the cape and major rivers.

The Capensis or Orange river mudfish is the major fish species in the Vaal Orange river system and luckily difficult to target by anglers. Very little anglers, whether fly or conventional target them although there are anglers that specialise in these on conventional tackle. Most fly fishermen accidentally hook into them and then discover the brute power of this species. As far as I’m concerned the most powerful pound for pound in African waters, especially in the stream or fast flowing waters. It is absolutely amazing to watch these species lying still in fast flowing water. A mudfish foul hooked that turn sideways feels like a trout 4 -5 times its size. And it has sustained power. Due to its specialised mouth and eating habits they are mostly foul hooked by anglers targeting smallmouth yellowfish. Sometimes they take a very large streamer I think due to aggression during the spawn .I have once caught a mudfish on a 10 cm artificial bass lure hooked in the mouth as well. Small bloodworms are sometimes taken if retrieved on the bottom between the rocks where they feed.

How to fish for them

Fly dropped to between rocks where they feed, slowly drifting or stationery. It is possible to sight fish for them.

What tackle to use

5/6 weight  tackle with float/ intermediate 2kg tippet. 

Fly patterns

Smaller winter flies for smallmouth yellows and algae pattern just after the spawn and bloodworms

The fight

You tell me!

Records

Conventional record in the region of 4 kilos. The Orange River definitely have specimens of over far over 5 kilograms, and they are caught on fly.