Recently i took my son to do fly fishing at the Mathioya River in Muranga county which is famous for trout. The river is nestled in between tea plantantions and is famous the kenya fly fishers club which is located on the banks of the river. We left nairobi on a friday and drove to Aberdare fishing cottages where we had put up for 2 nights. The road to the lodge is quite scenic as you pass the pineapple farms of del monte in thika and then branch off to kenol, which is an agricultural town in central kenya famous for avocados. We had bought our gears from Maimun Fishing Tackles and ordered our flies from their online shopping platform shop.mft.co.ke 3 weeks before our fishing trip. Their flies are expertly tied and the quality of the flies is exceptional.

We reached the lodge after a 4 hour drive with the last 3 km being murram motorable road. our small car was able to make it to our destination without hitting any bumps on the way. We were welcomed by our host, Mr Zackaria who invited us for some fresh tea and samosas. the lodge has 3 types of accomodations.

1. Tented camps

2. wooden Cabins

3. Eco lodge.

We put  up at the eco cabin which is made up of recycled material. It is truly amazing the efforts people are making to build sustainable homes. After dinner, we retired to bed so that we could get up early next morning for a day of fishing at the river.

In the morning, we were welcomed with some fantastic breakfast consisting of baked beans, sausages, fruits, eggs , tea and coffee. The breakfast at the lodge was superb. Later we were introduced to John our local fishing guide who is a fishing veteran in the area. He has been fishing all his life and was taught how to fish as a young boy by his uncle in the aberdares.

We drove to the fishing site, through a muddy road, fearing that our car would get stuck but ultimately we made it through and reached our destination. We parked our car on the side of the road and then went down to the river where we started setting up the gear so that we could begin fishing.

The sound of the river flowing, and the smell of the lush green forest surrounding it was spectacular and its true that kenya is blessed with beautiful fly fishing spots. It felt like we were in a different world, away from the noise and polluted air in the city.

Once John had helped up setup the rods, we started working the river slowly as we tried different flies we had brought. We weren't in a rush to catch fish as the feeling of being in this place was enough to rejuvenate our mind , body and souls. It truly is a piece of heaven and i would encourage everyone to just go an sit by the river if not do fishing.

in the afternoon we went to another side of the river and thats where we got our first catch. My 4 year old son was overwhelmed with joy and he was elated to see the a fish in his net when he finally got it out of the river. I can never forget that look on his face and the sheer happiness he got from simply catching a small fish.

We then moved to another part of the river, where John the guide took my son to look for crickets and grasshoppers so that could fish with them. we continued fishing and we almost had another catch only for the fish to get off the hook on the last moment.

Finally at 5 pm we called it a day and wrapped up our gears and went back to the lodge.

Fly fishing is an amazing sport and hooby and if you happen to be in Kenya please do visity Mathioya River for a day and you will not regret it.