Ably anchored by Marlize“ Blom” Heyns, South Africa’ s finest fly-fisherwomen recently netted both the individual and team titles at the World Ladies Fly Fishing Championships in Åkrestrømmen, Norway.
It’ s a first in South African fly fishing history, but to be blunt, Blom was simply born to fish. She spent her early childhood years on a farm in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, before moving to and growing up in Pretoria, and both her aunt and mom were regular fisherwomen.
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“ I was never thinking about an individual medal; it was all about the team because you don’ t win world champs as an individual, the team shares information constantly and there are late nights studying the different sectors of lakes and rivers.”
Blom netted a total of 51 fish over the five three-hour sessions at different venues, her longest individual catch being a 56cm-long whitefish, joint-longest of the championships.
Many people look at fly fishing and think it’ s a question of standing in a river with a rod, but Blom says the rod is the simplest aspect of all.
“ I think it was somewhere around sessions three or four that everything started to click and I felt almost fearless. There’ s an Afrikaans saying:‘ Ons bang niks nie’ [ We fear nothing ] and I just trusted myself and fished from the heart …”
“ I started when I was about eight and was always hanging around when my mom was fishing,” explained Heyns.
“ It’ s all about the water, the weather, wind, natural light, temperature, water level, the clarity, the insects around, how the fish are behaving … what fly to use, how to present that fly and where to present it … so many little things that can all change in seconds.”
Named“ Blom” because her mom regularly did flower arrangements for the local agricultural union, the nickname has stuck and now even her own two-year-old toddler’ s second name is Blom.
A qualified executive chef, feeding 50 people daily, who once studied fine arts, Blom’ s first international trip to compete was to Tasmania in 2012, but there was actually a time when her love for the sport looked like“ the one that got away”.
“ When I became a mom, that became my No. 1 priority and I actually think I lost a bit of my own identity, but the people who loved me could see that fishing was still very much a part of what I was,” she remembers.
“ My little girl was about six months old, and it was my extended family who all but forced me to go and compete at the 2024 nationals at the Vaal.
“ I was breastfeeding at the time, so I’ d be fishing, then breastfeeding and getting back into the water over the five three-hour sessions, and somehow I still managed to win it.
“ That title still means far more than a simple title – it meant that becoming a mother hadn’ t erased the person I was and I could still chase big things, or rather big fins.”
She makes it interesting by comparing fly fishing with more than five sporting codes.“ Like Formula One racing, conditions are constantly changing at pace and you’ re forever making tactical adjustments.
“ Then, like in golf, every piece of water presents a different problem and you have to read it correctly and [ adjust ] your approach.
“ And just as in tennis, we need reaction and timing, as sometimes you only have a fraction of a second to react.
“ Football and fishing have similarities because you’ re there as an individual, but it’ s very much about teamwork and tactics.”
Even rugby gets a mention.“ Despite what people may think, it’ s a very physical sport, as you have to wade through heavy or fastflowing water, climb over rocks, run up and down the banks.”
And lastly there’ s the cerebral side, like chess:“ You’ re constantly having to think ahead, as in: where are the fish, what are they feeding on, how deep they are, what’ s the angle to approach?”
Blom has braved scary conditions on her own continent, having had to swat away tsetse flies and fish in hippo- and crocodile-infested waters, but it was all worth it to be No. 1 in Norway.
She says the moment when her coach told her she was world champion, coming off the water,“ your brain doesn’ t know what to do … it’ s all about what went into the dream. It’ s not just happiness, it’ s a mixture of emotions: pride, disbelief, relief, gratitude, exhaustion, all of them at once!
“ Once again, it’ s all about the team – I had a great team of five ladies and a reserve and amazing coach / manager, my kid, my partner, my mom and also, if it weren’ t for our amazing sponsor, Q4 Fuel in the petroleum sector, none of this would have been possible.”
Hopefully Blom’ s big win will inspire the next generation to blossom, and she says fly fishing is a sport anyone can do.
“ It’ s a sport which can be as affordable or as expensive as you like. You don’ t need the top-end equipment and second-hand is always an option. We’ re notorious for accumulating equipment – I have an entire garage full.” She forgets to mention she also has a rapidly filling trophy cabinet. www. modernathlete. co. za 31