Part of the point of the What’s in The Bag articles is to get an insight into the thought processes of not only the guides and big names, but of the everyday warriors too. So when Wentzel Vermeuling (Yes, that will be a mouth full for our overseas readers!) dropped me a mail and offered his Largemouth Yellowfish thoughts, I jumped at it. It seems that he has been spending some time on the water and knocking off a good fish. Here’s what he takes with him!

“Hi fred as you can see my largy kit does not consist of too much bibs and bobs and I really try not to over pack. When it comes to largy fishing I am by no means an expert, I just really enjoy the challenge of fishing for them. They are definitely one of those ‘pain-in-the-arse’ fish that can drive you nuts under the best conditions. Below is a breakdown of my tackle and thank you for giving me the opportunity to share it with you guys.

Wentzel’ Kit

Rod:  Sage One 6wt – the norm in largy fishing is a 7wt, the reason I fish the 6wt is because it is an all round solid rod than can handle bigger flies, present them accurately and is light enough to cast the whole day without breaking a sweat.

Reel:  I fish a light large arbour reel that takes enough backing.

Lines:  7wt Sci angler Magnum taper floating- it is a line with a big head and works well with the bigger patterns. We mainly fish floating lines in the summer and in the winter we change over to intermediate lines. The reason for the change over in the winter is that the fish tend to hold a bit deeper and the intermediate presents well to these fish. An absolute awesome intermediate is Airflows sixth sense 6wt and the feel on this line is epic and it has no stretch and it those not sink with a belly, it has a uniform sink rate and works perfectly.

Leader and tippet:  Any good quality 9ft tapered leaders in 0x and then a short piece of 15 or 12 pound fluoro. The total length should be around 15 to 12 feet. I also build furled leader and the shock absorption and the turnover of this leader is only an advantage,I was shown this by Tim Babich during a largy clinic hosted by Fly castaway, I know it’s nothing new but it is definitely the way to go when fishing fly lines like the Airflow sixth sense it creates that split second more for reaction and shock absorption on the take.

Fly box: Large streamer box which is water proof and those not squash the flies. You will see most of the patterns are dark and are baitfish imitations. I stick to a handful of patterns and I try not to over complicate the patterns and then a small waterproof dry fly box for those just in case days.

Other:  A good quality hook sharpener, nippers , forceps , leatherman wave , floatant , headlamp, small fold up rain jacket and a small waterproof bag for anything that needs to be kept dry.”