Top fly-fishing female, Lucinda van Niekerk, is making a splash in this man’s world!

In this very masculine dominated sport, it hasn’t been easy for female anglers to make their mark. That is until just three years ago, when the ladies received their own World Fly Fishing Championship. Prior to this, the highest level of international competition available to women was the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Tournament.

Van Niekerk proves her abilities quietly, without self-aggrandisement by achieving the position of top fly-fishing angler in Mpumalanga, outclassing not just the other women, but all the men too, including her husband. She stresses, “being able to represent my province and my country is a much bigger achievement for me than a placing or rank.”

You won’t find much about Lucinda van Niekerk on the internet. She prefers to keep a low profile, but there’s something about her quiet determination that could inspire one of those self-help books. She has the finesse of humble achievers, where patience, persistence and resolute intention are the qualities that help her achieve her goals. No glorification, egotism or attention seeking. Recognition inside her field of expertise is welcome, but it’s the camaraderie and lifelong friends she’s made through fly-fishing that she finds most rewarding.

In a rare mention of female anglers, yet still in the context of being the wife of fly fisherman Tobie van Niekerk, a macho fly-fishing magazine acknowledged that Lucinda has, “the most elegant casting I’ve ever seen.” This is indicative of her effortless style, which is of course anything but. “I practice a lot,” she divulges.

The Czech Republic hosted the third Ladies World Fly Fishing Championships last year and the home team excelled, not just because they were on familiar territory, but because of their commitment to practice and their technical skills, much admired and noted by Van Niekerk. Notwithstanding coming top in the SA ladies’ team, she asserts, “We are all winners for being able to achieve such a high level of competition in our sport and I admire every single lady for this achievement.

The ten thousand hours rule applies, but it’s easier for van Niekerk to practise than most. She lives and works at the Walkersons Private Estate close to Dullstroom and has fourteen dams and four kilometres of river just minutes from her front door. With some of the best trout fishing in the country, it’s no wonder it spawned talent the likes of Lucinda. Dullstroom is the trout-fishing capital of South Africa and the country’s highest altitude town at around 2,000 metres above sea level. Walkersons epitomises bucolic highveld countryside, with a famous country house hotel that incarnates as a seat of Scottishness. This theme has perpetuated at Walkersons Hotel & Spa for over thirty years, now in the hands of a third family of owners, who honour its traditions.

A beginner with exactly the right fly for the occasion, has as much chance of catching a trout here as an experienced angler. Walkersons Hotel provides tuition from an expert on request, although that won’t be Lucinda. She guards her secrets closely and her box of hand-made flies closer.  Lucinda tied the fly for me and showed me how to cast across the river – an entirely different technique to that of fishing on a stillwater dam – and in a flash I’d caught a rainbow trout barely longer than my hand. She used a dry fly the size and appearance of a piece of fluff you might pick off your sweater. It sits on the surface like a hairy-biker mosquito riding the ripples. On a small river like the this, you just cast straight out, no looping back and forth like you’d do on a larger body of water.

On the grassy banks of the dam, Lucinda encouraged me to use more wrist action and make that swishing sound I liked so much. “Put more power into it and don’t take the rod so far back.” She positioned her hand against which I should go no further, fearing that she would have to untangle my line from the bush behind me.

Lucinda has the charming quality of acting like each fish is the first she’s ever caught and was more delighted for me when I hooked a trout than I was. The glistening rainbow trout was netted, the barbless hook swiftly removed, cupped in wetted hands its shimmering silver and opal pink body was admired, before being quickly released. All this took no more than 20 seconds.

The closely guarded box of flies attached to Lucinda’s chest pack flicks open for a quick change of tactics.  The ability to cast her fly onto an exact spot comes after hours of practice on the lawns around Walkersons Hotel & Spa. Achieving the kind of accuracy required for selection into the Protea team, starts with casting the fly into a hula hoop laid on the grass, and ends with being able to land it within the size of a teacup.

Of the 800 flies Lucinda makes before a World Championship, I’m not sure if that includes the Colonel Potter. It’s a fly created for Dullstroom conditions by the current hotel owners’ uncle and also the name of the in-house bar. The menu of cocktails reads like a fisherman’s good (or bad) dream, depending on how the day’s fishing went; the Orange Blob, Wooly Bugger and Walkers Killer. What Lucinda was hiding in her box of bejewelled colours I didn’t know, and was not allowed to photograph. These are the tools of her trade and hopefully a winning combination for the 2025 World Ladies Fly Fishing Championships in Idaho Falls, USA. She won’t be using the small delicate flies we had toyed with, explaining that, “everything is bigger in America. That goes for the fish too, so the tippet and tiny dry flies I use here in Dullstroom, just won’t work there!” She points out the tippet, which is the thinner filament attached at the end of the leader line, making it less visible to fish.

Lucinda’s husband Tobie van Niekerk is the Walkersons Estate Manager and introduces trout to the river as fingerlings, then leaves them alone to breed. Over time, this has built a thriving population of wild-spawning river fish. They are smaller than those in the dams, which are stocked every three weeks with rainbow and brown trout weighing up to 1.5 kilos. All the fishing at Walkersons is catch and release, but numbers dwindle because of otters, fish eagles and natural mortality.  Everything has its place in the eco-system, even a highly manged one like this. Tobie explains that the otters are essential to keep the crab population down, as they dig hidey holes into the dam walls, which over time can destabilise them.

Tobie’s domain is across the 800 hectares of Walkersons Private Estate, which blends a nature environment with Walkersons hotel, spa and stables and private residences. While hotel guests eat their four-course menu du jour, nonchalant zebras descend in the darkness from the hillside reserve and snack on the sweet lawns outside the dining rooms. The blesbok, mountain reedbuck and skittish black wildebeest prefer to stay well away.

Exclusive homes are spread through this landscape, bisected by a river. Some residents arrive in their own light aircraft and one owner backing onto the airstrip converted his garage into a hanger. If you arrive by helicopter, the only obstacle to landing on the H in front of the hotel is persuading the two rescued blue cranes to move from their favourite sunbathing spot.

I asked Lucinda where her favourite spot is and she singled out the river. “When I get to the water, I clear my mind and relax. It might have been a stressful day, but I lift my head and say a thank you for the privilege of doing what I do.” She is sure the fish can sense if you are feeling frustrated and won’t bite. Her tension melts away by merely being there, rod in hand, choosing the fly and casting her line. I witnessed the result of this composed approach and watched her slink quietly along the riverbank and quickly catch a trout hiding in an eddy on the far side.

The strain of competition at world championship level is a different matter. This is where a good coach comes in, and Lucinda’s taught her meditation and visualisation techniques to bring her to a state of optimistic readiness. Sitting quietly for ten minutes before the start, van Niekerk visualises the whole process that leads to catching a fish. “When I open my eyes, I’m very calm and ready to start fishing.”

Many of the top male anglers have embraced their female counterparts and collaborate by sharing tips and techniques. For the doubters, Lucinda’s prowess speaks for itself. She stands serenely on the riverbank, resting on one foot, gracefully casts and hooks another trout. She embodies a state of grace that many aspire to achieve, but few do. DM

Author: Carrie Hampton