Day 24
Mike went out to fish early and to look for some new pools further from downstream from the camp. He managed another two small rainbows but also found a new campsite. While taking a nap our campsite got turned into a construction site as guys were digging out sand to manufacture bricks, leaving big holes around our campsite barely missing our fire place.
Day 25
Mike went out fishing around 5 am , while I stayed in camp to look after the bakkie! Mike returned back around 10:30 and having caught 5 fish. We were busy making breakfast when the sand diggers arrived again. With the clouds coming up we opted to make a potjie in the tent.
We packed up and went to buy Norwegian salmon trout from William who worked for Highland trout. We headed back to Lejone to find a place next to the river. After a brief visit to Motebong lodge the old man there directed us towards Kao Mine and fish from the bridge about 4km from the lodge. Unfortunately, no fishing there as the river was practically dry.
And so we take the road to Kao mine once again. 20km of 4x4 across the river that was now flowing slower than 3 weeks ago. After some detouring on gravel roads before Kao mine towards LDMC we finally reached the A1 and passed recent hail that looked like snow on the mountain. We headed to Afriski and booked into Vail cottages. By this time it was now raining and freezing cold. The next day we would be heading back home.
Day 26
General
If you want to go fishing in Lesotho, you should get your gym shoes on as Lesotho is not for the faint of heart. We walked well over the 100km’s during the 3 weeks and the terrain is quite challenging too.
I have not done a lot of river fishing before this trip but learnt a lot as we went along. A big thanks to Alfie from the JFFC for all the information he provided for the trip.
In regards to fishing the rivers – stealth is key. To me, sight-fishing for trout was almost impossible. It seemed like they would just swim right by the presented fly without even showing the slightest bit of interest. Another issue was that the rivers were very low, thus making fishing limited to the pools. When rain would fall the rivers would turn chocolate brown but clear up within a day or two.
Accommodation in Lesotho is readily available but camping next to a river is another great option. We had very little issues with the locals except for the one incident mentioned in the day to day account.
Thanks to my wife Yolanda for all the effort of putting this day to day accounting together!