FISHING HIGHLAND LODGE
This was a wonderful August to be fishing Highland Lodge because the trout were exceptional and the weather was a touch milder than in previous years.
Water temperatures were around 6 to 7 ° and clarity was down on previous years I think because of days of high winds blowing across very parched landscapes and depositing dust.
Darryl Lampert showed us all why he is such a successful angler. He thinks a lot about what he is doing, isn’t scared to innovate and never ever gives up. The highlight in my view was a day when he landed a dozen hefty rainbows many of them taken on size 16 Soft Hackle patterns!
Most days we left the lakes well after sunset when the air temperature dropped to around 0 to -2 °.
We did get some lovely images though, and once I have gone through mine I will be posting a full photo-essay of this year’s trip on my website.
FLY FISHING FOR TROUT IN KENYA FROM JUSTIN HEATH
Justin says
Herewith a photo essay on what Kenya has to offer trout-wise. Rather than going into specific rivers I’ll try and keep it general and give an overall idea.
Kenya has some fantastic trout fishing either in the rivers running off the five main water catchment areas of the Aberdares, Mt Kenya, Mau, Cheranganis or Mt Elgon or in dams and lakes on or near these water catchment areas.
The two most easily accessible, from Nairobi, and hence most commonly fished are the Aberdares and Mt Kenya.
These photos are from a river running off the Aberdares that we fished last Sunday. It’s in a forest and at much lower altitude (+/- 7000 – 8500ft).
Getting to the rivers can be challenging and the hikes in and out often long, battling through thick bush and stinging nettles, unless you find an elephant trail for a short while.
At this time of year the streams look superb and are much clearer than during the rains. I included this photo to give you another idea of the steepness/ vegetation getting in and as out.
You can see how high the rivers come from the log-jam on the right in the photo above.
If you pick up a few rocks then there are plenty or either very small clinger mayflies or these much larger ones. Size 10 Brown Copper Johns, Kenya bugs and Zaks all work well.
Probably true of most places worldwide, the further off the beaten track you go the better the fishing gets. On this particular stretch this was about our average size fish.
