Fly Fishing in the
Eastern Cape Highlands

Access to over 200km of freestone waters in the Kraai River catchment – since 1991
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The Wild Trout Association

The Wild Trout Association (WTA) administers and promotes fly fishing on the rivers and streams of the Eastern Cape Highlands – the southernmost stretch of the Drakensberg, tucked against the southern border of Lesotho.

 

These are not stocked, put-and-take waters. The trout here have been self-sustaining in the wild since the mid-1920s, breeding naturally in the freestone streams of the Kraai River catchment.

 

The WTA administers access to more than 200km of this water, with access via more than 40 separate beats. The headquarters of the Association is the conservation village of Rhodes in the Eastern Cape, a 5-hour drive.
 

‘Wild water, wilder fish, unchanged since 1991’ change to ‘Access to wild water, wilder fish since 1991’

Access to wild water,
wilder fish since 1991

Wild, Self-sustaining Trout

Rainbow trout and Smallmouth yellowfish are wildspawned in mountain streams. Brown trout may occasionally be found in special places. Largemouth yellows flourish and breed lower down in the catchment.

200km of Access

From lilliputian headwater streams above 2500m to wide, pool-studed lowland rivers, the WTA administers a great variety of trout and yellowfish breeding waters in a single catchment.

A Village Like No Other

Rhodes is a declared heritage conservation area with very limited commercial development – only catered and self-catering accommodation venues, pubs, restaurants, an information centre serving a community of farmers, fly fishers and adventurers.

Quick Access

Get a Day Permit

View Beat Maps

Find Accommodation

About the Festival

Read Fishing Articles

Editorial Note · Foreword to the 2026 Guidebook

The 2026 WTA Guidebook marks more than three decades of the Association’s work in the Highlands. The general trend in day permit sales has been upward — a direct reflection of the growing popularity of fly fishing in the Eastern Cape, and the loyalty of anglers who return year after year.

Many first came here in the 1990s and have since brought their children and grandchildren. The annual festival continues, subject to bio-security protocols agreed with our riparian members in response to the Foot-and-Mouth Disease epidemic. The cooperation from our farming community has been, as always, exceptional. The relationship forged in April 1991 remains the foundation of everything the WTA does.

Dave Walker

Chairman · Wild Trout Association · February 2026

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