Nostalgia can creep up on you unnoticed. As a geoscientist, I have always been highly observant and aware of my surroundings when doing fieldwork. The same goes for hunting, but it can become a hefty liability while yearning for “the good old days”. Moving from the Limpopo Bushveld down to the coast near Mossel Bay recently, my nostalgia levels increased dramatically, and poor fishing conditions along the coast added to my despair.
These dark feelings were highlighted by my acceptance of a position with a Canadian company operating in North America. Spending several long summer months in the state of Montana (USA), our winter months in South Africa contributed greatly to my longing for our beloved mopane bushveld. Nevertheless, the unspoilt wilderness areas in the outback of Montana have their own allure. Beautiful, pristine rivers such as the Yellowstone, Boulder and Stillwater with their various tributaries cutting through the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains managed to momentarily lift my sombre spirits.
I never had much opportunity for fly fishing, but things changed drastically when I found myself in unspoilt America. Nudged by my colleague and friend, Albie, a long-time fly-fishing fanatic, I joined him one late afternoon on the Stillwater River. It was his first experience of the local fishing conditions, and he caught two beautiful rainbow trout
