Rocky Bay Fly Fishing

My alarm went off at 3:45am on Sunday. Ouch! After rubbing the sleep from my eyes I climbed into my car, started the engine, and cruised quietly towards Rocky Bay. On route I was treated to the most amazing shooting star right in front of the car. Quietly I prayed that this would be a good omen for the day’s fishing.

When I arrived at Rocky Bay it was still pitch black and Graeme was nowhere to be seen. Slowly the sun began peaking its head over the horizon and at around 5:20am, just as it was getting lighter, Graeme pulled in much to my relief.

We chatted for a while until it was light enough to fish and then kitted up and headed to the beach. The surf was huge thanks to the previous days howling winds but thankfully the pouring rain did not seem to have discoloured the water.

At first we headed south scouting various rocky gullies and ledges before realising that this was a lost cause. Eventually we settled on a small bay and began fishing the surf. Sadly, less than 10 minutes later, a bait fisherman started kitting up behind us which essentially made the bay unfishable due to rods, lines and his presence.

We then headed back to the main beach, and launch area, where we tried fishing in the heavy shore break for a while. This too was a lost cause but we gave it a bash anyway having driven all the way down.

Entertainment was provided by a boat trying to launch through the huge surf. After making it through the shore break we watched the skipper battle for around 30 minutes to get through the backline. Eventually even this got boring so we packed up our kit and headed for the Scottburgh Wimpy to enjoy a cooked breakfast.

Yes, we caught no fish, but on the up side it was a spectacular morning. The air was crisp and I got to test out my new Columbia Raintech jacket. Although it wasn’t raining it kept me warm amidst a chilly wind and, even more impressively, didn’t cause me to overheat once the sun rose and the wind died down. I’m hugely impressed.

The sea at Scottburgh was browner than I’ve ever seen it. Amazingly however the big seas seemed to be holding it against the shore and backline was completely clean. The surf was being held up beautifully by the wind and the ocean was full of body boarders and surfers.

They seemed rather brave to me when seen paddling out through the chocolate water but, as I mentioned earlier, once they reached backline it was clean and worth it.