| News January 2009 |
| Written by Pieter Naudé | ||||
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The new year is already 16 days old (as I write) and I am sure that we are all looking forward to a much, much improved fishing year. The leerie hunters were effected the worst as we have really tried hard and put a lot of effort into our fishing with very, very little to show for it. Not even the recent rains and opened river mouths helped to improve the situation. I have received reports of one or two leeries here and there, but nothing to write home about. I personally fished the Keurbooms River in Plett, Goukamma in Buffelsbaai, Swartvlei in Sedgefield, Touw River in Wilderness and Kleinbrak near Mosselbay with one leerie as a reward for my efforts. But just as it seems as if we are doomed to another leerie-less year, something happened to give us new hope. To continue with the rest of the story, I copy my recent report to FOSAF. FOSAF Report – January 2009 The weather conditions along the Garden Route can best be summed up as windy (gusting SE and SW) and dry. There was some exciting moments during the past few weeks, not because of the number of fish that was caught, but because we discovered that one of our rivers hold a resident school of skipjack (Ladyfish – Elops machnata). This must be the greatest news of the past 5 years as we all believed that there were no more skipjack in any of the Garden Route rivers/lagoons. Long-long ago they were caught in Knysna Lagoon near the white bridge and in the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay. In late December, I received an SMS from Herman Pienaar to say that one of our club members caught a “skippy”. I did not believe him and asked for a photo to confirm that it was in fact a skippy .
See for yourself and you will hopefully agree with me that nature will continue to surprise us, when we least expect it. The name of the river and the location of the skippy pond will remain a secret for just a little while longer, until we have verified that this is in fact a resident school of these beautiful fishes. The day after receiving the SMS, I waited for the tide to reach the skippy pond, high up in the river and retrieved some skippy flies from an old flybox. These were given to me by Chris Shultz in PE some 5 years ago when I unsuccessfully tried to land some skippies in the Swartkops River. The wind was howling straight into my face and I had great difficulty casting into the wind. After flogging the water for two hours with-out a bite, I decided to pack-up and go home. As I was wading towards my car, the wind died down and I could not resist a last cast to raise a possible leerie. I tied a flipper onto my 9 weight and cast it across an unusually quiet pool and started a quick retrieve, creating a small spray behind the flipper. Into the third retrieve, and yes you guessed right, Bang! - and a most welcome and beautiful Leerie was landed. It was getting late, the sun was preparing to set and I did promise my wife that I would be home soon, but it would be unthinkable not to try my luck again.
Twelve chases and six landed leeries later, I left the river with my fist new years resolution for 2009 – Don’t give up, try harder, search deeper and don’t take nature for granted. Outeniqua Trout Lodge I spoke to the Lodge and they told me that due to the floods last year they lost their entire breeding stock, of which some escaped into the Kwaai River. They have not restocked the Keurbooms River and don’t intend to do so until March 2009, earliest. The water levels are too low and the temperatures too high at the moment. They will be open for fly-fishing from March/April and suggest that anyone interested, should phone first. The good news is that they will be stocking the rivers with another rainbow variety, referred to as steelhead. I don’t know anything about it but apparently it is smaller and can handle high temperatures better. River Status Report The good rains in the beginning of summer was welcomed by all, especially by the hard pressed fisherman who hoped for an end to a very dry fishing season. The rivers along the Garden Route were all opened by the flood waters and provided welcome relief to many trapped fish that made a welcome escape out to the fresh waters of the sea. 
Most of the rivers remain open to the sea, except for the Touw River that could not sustain a flow strong enough to breach the new sandbank created by the ongoing winds. Fishing in the lagoons have improved but not nearly to the levels of last year. Kleinbrak has been particularly rewarding with some good catches. We desperately need more rain and another good flush of all the rivers if the fishing conditions are to improve further. Responsible Angling This is an article I wrote for the George Herald, in which I tried to make anglers, in particular the Rock & Surf brigade aware of the need to respect and to treat humanely, the stars of our fishing show – the humble and willing fish that we target every day. Fish are living creatures that deserve our respect and compassion. Many anglers will immediately respond to this suggestion with disbelief and disdain – the mere mention of “respect” and “compassion” with regard to fish must border on the insane. How dare I suggest that we must treat fish with respect and compassion, when we live in a world that doesn’t even practice it towards it’s own kind. Fair point, but that does not exonerate us from respecting and showing compassion towards all living creatures of God’s creation. The Bible says in Genesis 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” To have dominion does not mean to exploit, abuse and destroy what He entrusted to us. In their defence most anglers will suggest the following: “Well, it's only a fish. Fish don't feel pain. There's lots of them, what if a few of them die. I don't care. Ah, you don't know what you're talking about. We've got enough other problems to deal with.” Does anybody really care about fish and how they are treated? Yes, some do, as is evidenced by a growing body of anglers, mostly among the flyfishing fraternity, that have committed themselves to a code or ethic of responsible fishing. They are, unfortunately, by far in the minority and it seems that we have a long way to go to change the attitude of those who think differently. What do we imply by “responsible fishing?” Firstly, we have to respect them as a created species and treat them in a humane manner. Secondly, we have to manage and protect them from exploitation and extinction. There exist a great deal of misconceptions about fish and a high level of public ignorance on this subject, such as the answer to the following question: “Do fish feel pain?” Honestly, I don't know, but scientists have no doubt that fish do feel pain and fear, like other vertebrates (animals with backbones) including humans. Dr B. Runciman, Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, University of Adelaide, Australia says: “Fish constitute the greatest source of confused thinking and inconsistency on earth at the moment with respect to pain. You will get people very excited about dolphins because they are mammals ... and about horses and dogs if they are not being treated properly. At the same time many anglers catch fish and allow them to asphyxiate on the beach or river bank, which is a fairly uncomfortable and miserable death ." I have observed this treatment of fish among some of our rock & surf anglers, in particular as it pertains to unwanted and bothersome species, such as sand shark (Lesser Guitarfish) and sea barbel (White Catfish). Is it too much to ask to immediately release any fish that you are not going to keep and to immediately kill any that you are going to keep. If you are going to release a fish, please handle it carefully and properly so that it has a fair chance of survival. Fishing with barbless hooks and practicing catch and release are good examples of responsible fishing. I encourage all anglers to examine their attitude towards the target of our sport and the source of our pleasure - “FISH”. Remember, they are living creatures and not disposable nappies- useful one moment and rubbish the next. Pieter Naude |
