This trip was my eighth hunt with Mike Payne of Save Safaris. The fun part of the trip started on 8 September when we arrived at "Wattle" - the small cottage Mike had rented in Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. The drive from Harare to Nyanga was very pleasant, and the hillsides seemed to be on fire with the Masasa trees in their spring red foliage. The next morning, we tried our luck with the "wild" brown trout in the Nyanga streams. These trout were stocked in the 1950s and have bred and survived well since. The browns we caught were small, as in the 8-10 inch range, but the fly fishing was some of the most challenging I have ever done. The following day we fished for rainbows at Brackendown, a small pond just below our cottage. The fishing there was quite good with several rainbows taken in the 19-21" range. On 11 September we headed for Matendere Ranch in the Save Conservancy for the hunt part of the trip. The goal was to harvest an old dagga boy - we wanted to leave the herds alone and concentrate on the old guys. Hunting was tough. It was very dry, and daytime temperatures rose as high as 115 degrees F. On the morning of 14 September, I took a young eland bull for camp meat with my V-C .375 Flanged Over/Under double rifle shortly after leaving camp. In the late afternoon, we put on a great stalk on 2 dagga boys, but we encountered a group of blue wildebeest between us and the buffalo. So, I took an old cow ngongoni with Owain Lewis's .475 No. 2 Jeffery double rifle. My shot was a bit far back, but Ray Charles could have followed the blood trail. The .475 Kynoch soft point makes a big hole in plains game! We found the wildebeest stone dead in about 300 yards. The next day, we were on 2 dagga boys early in the morning. Around 0900, we finally caught up to them and I took the bull running right to left at about 30 yards. He was hit well and only went about 50 yards. With my dagga boy in the salt, we returned to fishing in the local dam. We took enough bream to feed the camp lunch - the fish and chips we had were some of the best I have ever eaten. We also did some bass fishing with plastic worms and caught several in the 2-3 pound range. Overall, it was a great trip, and I can't wait to return.
Equipment used:

Hardy 4 wt rod with Galvan reel, sinking line, 5x leader and Hamil's Killers

Verney-Carron .375 Flanged O/U with Swarovski 3-9x36 scope. Barnes X triple shock 300 gr handloads

Jeffery .475 No. 2 Jeffery NE double rifle (formerly belonging to PH Owain Lewis). Kynoch factory 500 gr soft points

Very cool! Congrats and thanks for posting.

I've never made it to the Highlands while in Zim but am planning to make that happen on my next trip.

Cast and blast safari on steroids! Congrats!

Well done Dave! Good to see the Jeffery back in action again.

Well done, Admiral!

Outstanding Dave! I have been a fanatical fly fisherman for 43 years and love to fly fish anywhere I can across the world. I have enough fly fishing rods, reels, lines, flies and gear to start a fly shop. Seeing that makes me want to 'make a plan' for the next safari! Great trophies as well! Congratulations!

Well played, Admiral! Were the "Hamil's Killers" a nymph pattern ? I've fly fished for over 55 years, and have tied my own flies for 45 years.

The Hamil's Killer is a New Zealand pattern - it sort of looks like an olive colored Hornberg, and I think it is supposed to represent a dragon fly larvae. I get them on E-Bay from a shop in Australia. It is hands down the best pattern to use in Zimbabwe. You fish it on a sinking line like a streamer.

Well done, Admiral!

Love the old white faced warrior.

I've been now 11 trips to Zim since 1994 and I've NEVER seen clear water. It looks both drinkable and swimmable as well as fishable. The highlands are the only place I've never been to. I guess there is little if any hunting there and I don't know anyone there so it was never in my plans to go. After seeing your pic of the stream, I will detour there in 2017.
Thanks for this.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
I've been now 11 trips to Zim since 1994 and I've NEVER seen clear water. It looks both drinkable and swimmable as well as fishable. The highlands are the only place I've never been to. I guess there is little if any hunting there and I don't know anyone there so it was never in my plans to go. After seeing your pic of the stream, I will detour there in 2017.
Thanks for this.
Cal

We were told that the water in the stream where we fished for the brown trout was so pure it was drinkable right out of the stream. The Nyanga region where we fished is all a National Park with no hunting allowed. We saw a huge bushbuck, several wildebeest, zebra, and a few eland while fishing there. To me, the countryside there looks more like Scotland than Africa. There is also a beautiful old lodge there called Troutbeck where where some of the more affluent Zimbabweans come to play golf, relax, and fly fish in the 2 dams below the lodge. Troutbeck is a first class place - we stayed there a few years ago while fishing in the area. It has a great pub and restaurant, and accommodations are first rate. Check it out at "http://www.troutbeckinn.net". We have stayed in private cottages nearby the past 2 years as they were less expensive than the inn.

Taking three animals with your doubles now that is what I call a good hunt.

Wow great hunt admiral - somehow I totally missed this post. One day I will not cancel a hunt with you and Mike Payne.

Mike

Superb! A surf & turf trip. I must see the highlands.

Well done! That's a great looking buff!