From: 10/15/2015
To: 11/18/2015
Type of Water: Freshwater
Species: Brown trout
I am afraid it is not good news. The word on the lips of every farmer and fisherman in “drought”. When I wrote a report a few weeks ago, I did mention that it was very dry, but I certainly didn’t make out that we were in dire straights. So what changed?
Although it was dry six weeks ago, our spring rains were overdue, and were expected any day. It seemed as though the inevitable was close at hand. We were wrong to assume! Apart from some drizzle, cold days, and half-hearted thunderstorms, we have still not had the spring rains one would have expected, and we are well into summer. The streams are in a terrible state!
Last week-end the Natal Fly Fishers Club (NFFC) and Vagabond Fly Mag, hosted a river fishing clinic at Glengarry in the Kamberg. The paltry state of the rivers was a do View more...I am afraid it is not good news. The word on the lips of every farmer and fisherman in “drought”. When I wrote a report a few weeks ago, I did mention that it was very dry, but I certainly didn’t make out that we were in dire straights. So what changed?
Although it was dry six weeks ago, our spring rains were overdue, and were expected any day. It seemed as though the inevitable was close at hand. We were wrong to assume! Apart from some drizzle, cold days, and half-hearted thunderstorms, we have still not had the spring rains one would have expected, and we are well into summer. The streams are in a terrible state!
Last week-end the Natal Fly Fishers Club (NFFC) and Vagabond Fly Mag, hosted a river fishing clinic at Glengarry in the Kamberg. The paltry state of the rivers was a downer, and barely any fishing was to be had. However the presentations and information sharing were of the top order, a great many friends were made, and the area’s fly-fishermen received a moral boost.
The Little Mooi is barely flowing, and the Mooi itself is as low as I have seen it, but I would not say that the Trout are at risk of being wiped out or anything like that. On both rivers the very low flows will however mean that there are few bubbles, so oxygen levels will be low. We just hope that this is not combined with severe heat! As I write this, we have had thunderstorm activity over several days, so we live in hope.
The Umgeni is treacherously low, and the Elands has stopped flowing. The Bushmans is low, but probably best off.
Many of the stillwaters are very low too, especially those which are used as irrigation dams.
Those which are not pumped for crop irrigation, are really the only option. Of those, Highmoor is an obvious choice, being at a high altitude, and therefore cooler. Friends of mine who have tried their hand there have in fact had good fishing in recent weeks.
Last week-end a group of anglers fished the private syndicate in the Dargle in an organised gathering in memory of the late Bill Duckworth. The rule applied was that those in attendance could only use the DDD….that famous dry fly invented by Tom Sutcliffe and named after Bill (Duckworth’s Dargle Delight). What a moving touch! I am told that the fly limitation was hardly an imposition: 72 Trout were caught!
So for now, fishing is limited, and fly tying and tackle preparation are the order of the day.
