The Mission Fly Fishing Magazine

20/11/2025

B A T S • O N • T H E • F L A T S
“When Kyle Simpson saw my first ‘bluebottle fly’ attempt he had a good laugh while he fiddled with it and said something along the lines of, “What the hell is this supposed to be?” The next day I was out on the flats with good friend and guest Avron Karen when we stumbled upon a big group of bats. Our day was over and we had caught some nice fish so I asked Avron if he minded if I tried my new batfish fly before heading home? A minute later, first cast, first bat, and tight. I was on. The batfish stuck its head out the water and inhaled the fly off the top.”

There are fish you target on the flats because they take flies and others, like batfish, that you observe and regard as beautiful weirdos that ignore your advances save for the odd Clouser (much like your love life). Until now, that is. Matt DeFilippi and the Alphonse Fishing Company guides appear to have cracked the batfish code. In issue 54, he tells us how it went down and what the breakthrough fly is all about. Learn about the Batman at the link below.

Matt DeFilippi and the Alphonse guides appear to have figured out fly fishing for batfish on the flats, using a bluebottle/ jellyfish fly.

17/11/2025

5 of the worst things you have picked up from guiding?
1.⁠ ⁠Undoubtedly early onset skin cancer. Always need to be better about sun protection.
2.⁠ ⁠An affliction for places that are not easy to get to.
3.⁠ ⁠Busted teeth. I bit my mono/fluoro for almost two decades against doctor’s orders. Save teeth - use nippers.
4.⁠ ⁠Boat problems. This season I had the pleasure of burning through two engines. Always go with the warranty.
5.⁠ ⁠A weakness for an occasional ciggy. Once I’d ran out of s***f on my first stint in Kamchatka in 2017, the Russians' habits wore off on me. Rule of thumb, do not try to keep up with Russians when it comes to vodka or smoke, you will lose.

5 things you didn’t expect about your career in fly fishing?
1.⁠ ⁠That I would find a woman who loves it as much as I do and understands what I do.
2.⁠ ⁠That I’d one day work for a large scale operation - in about six weeks my fiancée and I are headed to the Maldives for the season with COMO Maalifushi. My good mate Craig Richardson helped them get a fishing op off the ground for a few years pre-Covid. The resort sleeps around 130 guests and has a staff of about 250. Getting excited!
3.⁠ ⁠That by the time I was 25 I would witness the decline of fisheries I grew up on.
4.⁠ ⁠I didn’t expect guiding to take me to many of the places I’ve been. I feel very fortunate.
5.⁠ ⁠I didn’t expect I’d ever get tired of international gigs, but at a certain point it’s kind of a jack-of-all, master-of-none thing. I’m looking forward to slowing down and laying roots. Living in The Keys the better part of the year is a dream come true.

From Kamchatka to The Keys, Oman to Baja or the Maldives, whether he’s guiding clients into fish or off on a hunt, Noah Thompson lives the dream of the globe-trotting guide. Read his full High Fives interview at the link below.

From Kamchatka to The Keys, Oman to Baja or the Maldives, Noah Thompson lives the dream of the globe-trotting fly fishing guide.

17/11/2025

N E W • B U F F • W H O • D I S ?
Featuring the iconic The Mission wallpaper design by Conrad Botes, the versatile Original Ecostretch Buff®️ is as at home on a river or creek as it is on baking-hot flats or up a frosty fjord, and now comes in the limited Sea Salt colourway. Grab yours now at the link below.

We don’t have to school you on the real McCoy of multifunction neckwear, but in case you’re from Mars, Buff®️ offers UPF50-certified sun protection and is made with 95% recycled content. Thanks to its seamless four-way stretch construction, it is versatile and elastic, so this neck gaiter can be worn in different positions for a better protection in cool environments – around your neck, over your face, under your eyes, as a bandana, a beanie, a hairband for your man bun, a wrist covering… Whatever floats your tube.

The Mission Original Ecostretch Buff® in Sea Salt is as at home on a river or creek as it is on baking-hot flats or up a frosty fjord.

12/11/2025

H I G H • H O P E S • T H R I F T
“A bottle of brandy, about 3 kgs of broccoli and chops down, and we were raving around the outside braai area like okes at Afrika Burn. Trav kept tickling the beard of one of the wildebeest mounts, tuning me that he reckoned he could tie a lekker fly out of it, so I went and got my vice and tying gear. He cut a bit of the beest's beard off and strapped together a black streamer made of wildebeest hair, zonker and bit of flash. The fly was nothing to write home about but maybe, just maybe, the secret ingredient we needed was the Wit Wildebees!”

When Smokey the Bear and his compadre Trav () set off on the equivalent of a buddy cop road trip at the tail end of last summer, they were hopeful about what they'd find in two very different fisheries - Thrift and Vanderkloof dams. In his inimitable style, Smokey tells the tale of what went down in part one of their journey at the famed Eastern Cape stillwater. Read the full account from issue 54 at the link below.

When Smokey the Bear and his compadre Trav were hopeful about what they'd find in two very different fisheries - Thrift and Vanderkloof dams.

10/11/2025

K W A G G A • S M I T H
“The best advice I have ever been given came from my dad. He said keep doing what you enjoy and try to do more of it, because then you’ll be a better person. For me that means being on the farm and investing in my own little dream that I have. I get so much joy out of it that if everything else doesn’t go my way, it doesn’t matter. It’s just temporary. At least I’ve always got the thing that I love to do.”

Trout farmer at Kareekraal, rugby star and the spark that fires the Springbok’s (Springboks) Bomb Squad into life, Kwagga Smith (Albertus Kwagga Smith) is a freaking legend of the oval ball who (as far as the fan boy editor of this rag is concerned) should never have to pay for another drink for the rest of his life. He’s also issue 54’s Lifer. Read the full interview below.

Trout farmer, rugby star and the spark that fires the Springbok's Bomb Squad into life, Kwagga Smith is a freaking legend of the oval ball.

10/11/2025

O F F • T H E • R O C K S
OK, we’ll say it: Many of the films on the international tour circuits are incredibly same-same. The same kinds of people doing the same kinds of fly fishing, shot in the same kinds of ways. That’s why Grasshopper, a new film set to be released at the 2026 F3T, seems like such a breath of fresh air. A “frothy swoffer”, swimming out to rocks along a wild Australian coastline to catch Aussie salmon on fly? Now that sounds like box office to us. We sat down with the subject of the film, Jackson Murray, and filmmakers Gareth Shrubb and Jess Wallace to find out how they do what they do. Read the full interview from issue 54 at the link below.

04/11/2025

I S S U E • 5 4

https://themissionflymag.com/magazines/issue-54/

ROAD TRIP! We’re not really the kind of magazine that does themes, but if we had to give this year-end banger a theme it would be the road trip / buddy cop / boys on tour one. Our cover feature sees rock-hopping Aussie salmon frother Jackson Murray and filmmakers Gareth Shrubb and Jesse Wallace poring over Google Earth and Navionics looking for fishable conditions amid big swell and heavy rips while shooting their new film, Grasshopper. Then we have two skollies, Smokey the Bear and Trav Hanratty on a hilarious Thrift to Vanderkloof roadtrip complete with wildebees interventions, awkward bar chats and big fish. Then two finance bros, Stenton McKenzie and Kyle Harrison, tell us how they saved for four years to make their bucketlist trip to Tsimane in Bolivia a reality, while Peter Coetzee and Álvaro Lorenzo head into the Spanish countryside in search of skinny water barbel.

What else? A lifer with rugby legend Kwagga Smith, a High Fives with guide Noah Thompson, a review of Patagonia’s latest book Pheasant Tail Simplicity, a Garden Route kob undercurrents from LeRoy Botha, some booze, some beats and much, much more.

Read The Mission Issue 54 online for free or, if you live in South Africa, you can grab a free copy from your nearest STOCKIST this week.

29/10/2025

H O N G • K O N G • R E D F I S H
“The main reason redfish are in Hong Kong waters is religious practices, particularly among Buddhists, who release fish and other animals into the wild to gain good karma. This practice is very damaging to the environment throughout Hong Kong, but there are no laws prohibiting it. I’ve seen this practice many times while out fishing or travelling to and from beaches in the summer. Buddhists will hire a big boat, like a cruiser, with 30 to 40 people on board. They say prayers, and they have a large stainless steel slide into the water. Customers can say prayers and release the fish into the ocean. When organisers of these religious events go to China to purchase fish, they naturally buy the largest quantity of the cheapest fish available to maximise profit. For the last 20 years, that has been redfish. One boat over the course of a weekend could release up to 2 000 fish.“

Redfish in Hong Kong? What next, tigerfish in the Bayou? Lured in by bulls, but alert for BS, we investigate what local angler Martin McConnell () is up to. Read more about the Hong Kong fishery at the link in bio.
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27/10/2025

E D D I E • R A L L
Somewhere in the South African veld, usually besides a river or some still water, is where you will find guide Eddie Rall. Between catching fish and shooting things, he spoke to us about life, klapping gym and collecting guns and grappies. Read more about Eddie in his High Fives interview at the link below.

5 fishing-connected items you don’t leave home without before making a mission?
* Leatherman. (Leatherman). Good for trimming flies, fixing and repairing boat motors and general camp things.
* Headlamp. Tying flies in the evening, collecting firewood (avoiding scorpions and snakes) and braaing for the clients.
* Power bank. For phones and cameras, to ensure I can capture the best moments on the river.
* Rain jacket. Mainly because my girlfriend won’t let me leave without one and secretly packs it into my bag. But it has its purpose.
* A lot of grit. Guiding clients with different personalities in remote areas with limited access to essential needs can take a toll.

Somewhere in the South African veld, usually besides a river or some still water, is where you will find Diamond River Outfitters guide Eddie Rall.

21/10/2025

W I S H • L I S T • F I S H
“As a species, gundu are a bit of an enigma. A strange fish that we don’t know much about, gundu sport a tigerfish’s body with what looks like a grass carp’s mouth. They also possess the most bizarre human-like teeth.”

Rob Scott of African Waters, and fish nerd, Russel Brian Tate weigh in on gundu, one of the weirder fish species caught in Tanzanian rivers. Your best bet to catch one? By visiting Dhala or Samaki camps run by the African Waters team in Tanzania. Read more about issue 30’s Wish List Fish at the link below

Rob Scott and Russel Brian Tate weigh in on gundu, one of the weirder fish species caught in Tanzanian rivers.

15/10/2025

C I R C L E • J E R K
A dirty water pattern built to imitate a platanna tadpole, Pieter Snyders’ () Circle Jerk is packed with movement and triggers like a long tail, a marabou wing and a shiny belly. It’s a valuable addition to any streamer box, particular for largemouth yellowfish on the Vaal or Orange Rivers. Watch the full step-by-step tutorial at the link in bio.
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