Thursday 5th December 2013

Smalblaar River:

Summer seems to finally have arrived with a vengeance and the temperatures have risen considerably over the past week or so. I have been on the water a couple of times of late and for the most part have been (or the clients have been) successful. The water on the lower beats is already showing signs of warming later into the afternoon and the fishing going a bit off the boil despite very good flows for this time of year and I suspect that shortly they will not offer the best angling as things really heat up.

It is remarkable though that those beats equally provide the best chances of large fish and the quality of the trout lower down on the Smallblaar really has been quite something this season in particular. On a recent trip I managed to hook and land the same brown trout which I previously put a client onto. If I should see her again I shan’t bother her further but she does demonstrate the truly world class fishing that we enjoy.

Elandspad:

I have only fished the Elandspad once since the festival when I had a superb day with Gerrit Redpath and Gordon van der Spuy up on beat 3. The most recent visit was interrupted by students from the University of the Western Cape working supposedly on a PhD project on the “effects of water flow on riparian vegetation” or some such. I am all for getting and education and don’t really have major objection, they only disturbed a small part of our fishing. It is

however a little annoying that their permit allows them access apparently whenever they see fit and it seems to me that perhaps Nature Conservation could at least ask that they advise the office when they are likely to be traipsing about a particular section of stream with theodolites and such, particularly on a Sunday. If we need to book to avoid conflict with other anglers it would seem reasonable that the office is at least advised that someone else will be on the water such that anglers know and be prepared for it. To be honest I am not sure that the same shouldn’t apply to those “holy water collectors” who so frequently interrupt one’s day on Beat Six of the Smalblaar. That all said there were Nature Conservation officials in the car park at the Elandspad last weekend and I watched them turn a group of students planning a hike to the Krom River Trail. They were advised to go and collect permits from the hotel, so some kudos to Cape Nature for making an attempt to keep things somewhat under control and reduce the numbers of people on that section of the river which frequently sees swimming (not so much of a problem) and drinking and littering (which is getting to be a problem).

Holsloot River:

Things don’t sound too hopeful for the Holsloot at present with considerable damage having been wrought on the stream by the recent floods. It might have cleared out some of the vegetation but word has it that in some places the river has actually changed course or at least dug out new channels and currently the road is only in a state of temporary repair. I am not sure when things might be expected to return to normal if at all but would be very interested to hear from anyone who fishes the water. It represents a bit of a problem as of course this river is generally the one to fall back on during the hottest days of summer when the other streams are a bit too hot. Nature does have a way of sorting things out over time and the Holsloot was really beginning to show signs of improvement after previous flood damage and rock slides, now I don’t know if that situation will once again have received a set back.

Just in case you didn’t (as indeed I had not) get the idea of quite how much devastation has been caused on the Holsloot watershed some images courtesy of Craig Thom at Stream X.

Beats and bookings:

I have of late been somewhat concerned at the utilization ( or one might suggest misuse) of our beat system, notifications on Social Media and personal experience suggest to me that some anglers are not “playing fair” in that department. The beat system offers not only uninterrupted fishing but equally reduces the pressure on the trout and on the environment and in general keeps everyone in with a fair chance at getting the fishing that they want.

Of late I have noted a few people saying things like “ we fished beat 3 and 4”: technically the regulations allow you to book a beat for yourself, fair enough. Equally then one can book a beat and your mate another beat and you can then fish together the effect on availability is the same one can argue. On parts of the Smalblaar for example that doesn’t seem unreasonable where the sections are shorter than average, I think of perhaps beats 4 and 5 of that river as a prime example. It is hardly worth the drive out there to fish just one of those beats for a full day, even if like me you fish slowly.

However I recently came across anglers who had booked (I hesitate to suggest “fished”) beats 3 and 4 of the Elandspad. Now as I say that isn’t against the regulations exactly but it is dreadfully wasteful, particularly over a weekend when all the beats were booked. It is absolutely physically impossible to fish those two beats in a day, in fact it is darned near impossible to run up them and back in a day for that matter and personally I haven’t actually finished beat 3 of the Elandspad in its entirety in a couple of seasons. On the festival day, enjoying great fishing with three of us on the water (a special dispensation for the festival weekend to have three anglers on the beat), we only got to the halfway mark before having to bail out.

To my mind it is good that we have some longer and some shorter beats, mostly a function of access points more than any scientific measure of the numbers of fish or the amount of water. I would suggest that the short beats are best suited to those who don’t want a whole day on the water or have limited time to fish and can of course be combined as explained above on those occasions when you want more time fishing. The longer beats are more than sufficient for a full day and there is absolutely no reason to combine them. On the Elandspad most of the beats offer plenty of fishing opportunity to occupy and entire day out. As said, technically under the current regulations combining beats isn’t against the rules but I don’t believe that it is really being fair to other members either. Perhaps the beats need to be revised, and maybe it is something worth the committee’s attention, but even without over regulation or modification of the system I do think that it is advisable for all of us to be considerate and not book water that you have no intention or possibility of covering in a day. It is with that sort of thing in mind that I do everything I can to persuade guided clients to use week days, certainly we are well within our rights to fish whenever we wish but I try to leave the waters available to members over the weekends where at all possible and actually rarely guide on Saturdays and Sundays for that reason. So please be considerate of others, particularly over the holiday period when things can be busier than usual and not book water that you are not going to be able to fish. Of course for similar reasons it is important to cancel any bookings that you know you are not going to be able to use, the office is quiet efficient at reallocating water to people who are “looking for a beat” when the bookings are full and even a last minute cancelation may well give other anglers the chance of a day out.

Equally it actually is likely to improve your own fishing by slowing down and taking more care, if you imagine that you can fish two beats on the Elandspad in one day you are certainly fishing far too carelessly to be actually making the most of it.

The Weather:

As said things are warming up, you will note that the overnight temps have also warmed considerably over the past week or so. There is some chance of rain in the mountains on Sunday, but looking at the temperatures that would appear to be more likely of the “thunder shower” variety than the frigid cold front type. The wind is consistently coming out of the SE for the foreseeable future so that doesn’t suggest any untoward surprise cold fronts or barometric pressure drops. All in all things are looking good from the weather

perspective.

Useful Weather links from yr.no

Rivers (De Poort) Witte (Sneeukop) Lakenvlei Cape Town Strand

Letters:

An important correspondence from Ryan Weaver recently of which you should be aware. Apparently higher than normal levels of e Coli have been found in the Smalblaar system and you are advised that it isn’t a good idea to drink the water on that river. Although I often drink the water on the Elandspad I haven’t consumed any lower down for some years but I think that this note from Ryan is worthy of your attention.

Roland’s comment on the CPS Facebook forum a while back prompted me to get a series of water tests done on and around the Du Kloof and De Poort trout farms. I asked our fish health service provider, Dr Leonard Flemming, to perform the tests. The first test was merely at the outlets of the Du Kloof (hotel) and De Poort (upper Smalblaar) and revealed high levels of E.coli in the water below Du Kloof and a negligible amount at the De Poort farm. This alarmed us so we took further samples along our pipeline, above our farm’s off-take to Du Kloof (Hotel) and just above the tunnel (Smalblaar 6). These tests showed high levels of E.coli all the way up the system. So for now we can say that there is E.coli in the Smalblaar of a concentration that is unlikely to make users sick, but it is not advisable that people take a chance and drink the water. We can confidently say that the two trout farms are not the contributing source, but that we do not know for sure yet where it is coming from. Walking down a few of the access paths to the river from the pass road one sees occasional human excrement which may well be where the problem lies. From my side I intend to take this up with SANRAL and CapeNature as it is a threat to the water quality used for both of my production units. Dr Flemming can be contacted for more technical details.

I will keep you in the loop and would like to thank Roland for bringing it to my attention.

Regards,

Ryan Weaver MOLAPONG AQUACULTURE – FIZANTAKRAAL

I must say that I find Ryan a very proactive young man and trust that he does all he can to both preserve his fish but equally the quality of the river system where possible. He has been very good at notifying us when there is likely to be turbidity in the river due to activities at the trout farm and has been working to improve the water quality coming out of Du Kloof through implementation of a wetland soak system which I believe is still getting established. That said it is important that we keep track of the water quality on our streams and report any apparent problems to the office or committee. There have been some reports of poor water quality on the higher Elandspad of late and it is critical that we keep track of such things. The trout farm up at Fizantekraal is generally speaking very high tech and unlikely to cause any damage to the water quality but that said we should always be keeping an eye on things.

Save the Rhino Auction: I don’t have final figures but the fly auction organised by Gordon Van Der Spuy and Flyloops closed at the end of November and I think raised considerable funds for the cause. Well done to all those contributors and more so I suppose the bidders who certainly helped the project beat its target figure. Hopefully more on that in a later issue when I have some more details.

Forthcoming Events:

TONIGHT: CPS Christmas function and farewell to Jean. Please do make an effort to come along, say thanks to Jean for all her years of work on our behalf and equally to commune with fellow anglers, share some festive cheer and perhaps a bit of fishing talk.

February 6th: Orientation meeting with Graham Avery: This is open to all but it is essential for new members. There have been more than a few instances of transgressions of the rules, people on the wrong beats and such all of which are easily avoidable with the proper information. The Orientation meeting serves to explain the regulations, the beat system and answer questions from members. Understanding how and why things work the way that they do helps keep the system running smoothly. As said if you have yet to attend one of these sessions, even if you have been fishing for a while it is highly recommended, if you are a complete newbie then as far as I am concerned it borders on mandatory.

March 6th: Nymphing-different approaches with Korrie Broos. Korrie has probably spent more time on understanding and perfecting various approaches to fishing subsurface patterns than anyone in the country. There are times when you need to go subsurface and there are equally times when you simply might wish to. It is frequently easier to deceive a fish with a sunk pattern and also there are conditions when sunk flies are by far the most effective. There are a plethora of variations and this is your chance to better understand them and when to use them.

Finally:

The end of an era in some ways as Jean leaves the CPS office after some two decades of service, I am sure you will all join me in wishing Jean well and equally all the best to Elizabeth and Denise who will be looking after our interests and keeping things organised at the club into the future.

With nice weather on the horizon and still good flows on the streams the opportunities for quality angling abound, despite the problems with the Holsloot. So make the most of things and bear in mind that the office and therefore the newsletter will be taking a break over the holidays. That need not stop you fishing though, Craig as Stream X will be taking over the bookings function for the duration of the office closure.

If you are off to the water over the weekend, as always “Be Careful Out There”.