MIDDLE VAAL RIVER UPDATE JANUARY 2007

Once again I am a few days late with this report… apologies. I am writing this report from the South Coast of Natal while on a beach holiday with the family. As has a lot of South Africa, we’ve had a lot of rain here. Because I have been away from the Vaal for a while this month’s report is assembled out of feedback from readers and from my experience of the River over the past 20 years.

WATER AND WEATHER

With the significant rains experienced over the past few weeks flows have been a little up and down, significantly limiting the number of fishable days in December…we’ll be very lucky if January is any better.

It seems that the heavy rains have not yet overpowered the sewage works resulting in fish kills: Of course fish kills may have occurred but not come to our knowledge, if you see dead fish in any numbers or smell sewage in the water please email me soonest.

I suppose an upside to the rains is it offers the fish some respite from very high water temperatures typical of this part of summer.

The high flows have brought the seasonal dirty water: Fishermen seem to go through a process of adjustment through the summer where in early spring water temperature is the primary catalyst to stir fishermen from the couch; by late spring it is about clarity, fishermen want to know the visibility in the water is pretty good; by mid summer it’s all about flows, if the flow rate is below 40 cumecs any other conditions are manageable. That’s where we are right now. The water is largely dirty and that can be a turn off for many, hey I don’t enjoy fishing in dirty water much at all! Regardless of your tastes it is worth noting that the Vaal is called the “Vaal” because it is a key characteristic of this river to be discoloured: this means that yellowfish are adapted to this water clarity, the largemouth yellows have eyes toward the top of their heads to allow them to lurk on the bottom and scan for prey by looking upward toward the sun, giving them significantly better visibility than if looking down into the depths as fishermen have to.

Bottom line is that the fish are happy in dirty water; I’ve caught both species of yellow in visibility under a single centimetre, and lots of them!

INSECT ACTIVITY

As per December:
Mayfly species: Large cream and tan clinger nymphs in and around the rapids (#14-16) and darker clingers (#16-18) in chocolate and dark coal/black.

Caddis species: Pupae “in drift” 24/7 and hatches occurring mainly from late afternoon and into darkness (especially on the hotter days). Big cream caddis adults (#8-12) and little tan/slate caddis adults (#12-16) are very prolific. The larvae are typically bright green or dirty olive with some exceptions in brown and cream.

Blackfly are very common now, small black and olive larvae (#16-18) can be very effective in the rapids and slower water. Remember not to wear blue if you want to avoid the itchy bite of the blackfly!

APPROACH AND TECHNIQUE

Flashy and black patterns work well in dirty water, as do red worms and bright orange nymphs.

These higher flows are a good time to hone your short line and Czech nymphing technique. These techniques both offer better contact with your flies than upstream nymphing, a critical factor in high dirty water.

Remember to protect yourself from the sun with appropriate clothing and make sure none of your clothing is blue or you will become a major target for adult blackfly.

If you don’t want to be in the sun at midday (as I often don’t on hotter days) get onto the water at about 4pm and enjoy the late afternoon and evening caddis hatches. Fishing from 6 until 7:30 should require no more than a single large dry fly on a long leader. Watch for rises in rapids and where the water enters the head of the pool.

MOVING ON

My family and I are relocating to the UK around the end of January 2007. We’ve decided it is time for a change of scenery and I have a significant business opportunity I wish to pursue. This decision has NOTHING to do with my severe addiction to grayling!

Moving away from my beloved Vaal River, my “home water” for 20 years this year, has not been an easy decision but I look forward to developing relationships with new rivers in the UK and Europe over the coming years.

I intend to remain involved in these reports and in the conservation of the Vaal River for as long as I bring value. I will guide a few close friends while they take over the role of penning these monthly reports and contributing to the yellowsonfly blog and website. You will meet these guys over the next month as we prepare the February report.

My email address will remain the same and I will be back in SA regularly to work, visit and fish. Thanks for all of your feedback over the years and to FOSAF for its ongoing commitment to yellowfish conservation.

I wish the fishermen, the fish and the River good fortunes for 2007,
Keith
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email: keith@yellowsonfly.com
web: http://www.yellowsonfly.com/
blog: http://yellowsonfly.blogspot.com/
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MIDDLE VAAL RIVER UPDATE DECEMBER

I’ve not been on the Vaal a lot the past few weeks: I’ve been focusing on other locations more and flow rates have not been agreeable when I wanted to get on the Vaal. It seems quite a number of you have done pretty well over the past month, thanks for the feedback on what’s been working for you.

SPAWNING ALERT

The fish have been spawning on and off for the past month in their second spawning session for the summer: the rest period between the 1^st and 2^nd spawns seemed almost nonexistent in some areas of the river. I don’t know if this is due to global warming, pollution, shifting natural cycles or something else, but this year the timing of the spawning events are very different from those of the past 19 years I’ve been in amongst the yellows of the Vaal.

Remember to avoid spawners, if you see people casting at spawners and they don’t respond to your requests for them to stop, please email a photograph of the culprits to me, try and get a few shots of them in the spawning habitat and a few close-ups of the angler’s face. I intend building a “name and shame” blog where we can expose the idiots to a large audience.

WATER AND WEATHER

How and wet… well hot for sure, and a little wet with some good rains and 1 or 2 periods of high flows induced by rains. The long range forecast suggests a summer that will be hotter and wetter than average. For the angler this means being very aware of flows is key not only to knowing when the fishing will be at its best but also to avoid potentially life threatening situations: standing in the middle of the main current within 10kms of the Barrage outflow can be very dangerous if officials increase flows quickly to accommodate large volumes of storm water run off from the Barrage feeders. Watch the DWAF flows website at:

http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Hydrology/rtmain.aspx

This page can be viewed by most mobile phones with access to the internet, very convenient if you are away from your PC and want an update.

If you encounter any pollution along the Gauteng portion of the Vaal River and tributaries (sewage spills, dumping, mine waste water, anything that seems suspicious), please report the incident to the Department of Water and Affairs and Forestry. The contact person is Ephraim Matseba and his contact details are as follows:

(W) (012) 392-1371

(F) (012) 392-1359/1453

(C) 082-809-5727.

If you notice anything in other provinces (Free State and North West) contact me and I will connect you to the appropriate official.

I expected water quality to take a nose dive moving into summer due to the increase in storm water flushing the sewage treatment plants due to illegal storm water ingress, the heavy rains have not come yet; hopefully the municipal officials are prepared.

Water visibility has varied quite a lot over the past few weeks from as much as 75cms to as little as 5cms, the primary cause of reduced “vis” being silt from rainwater ingress (and erosion) and increased flows through the Vaal system (brown water) and from increased water and air temperatures boosting algal growth (green water). Visibility is remarkable changeable over relatively short stretches of water with it poor in 1 location and twice as good just 10kms up or downstream…. Sometimes worth moving around a little if the vis is poor where you are and there’s been know singular large event like big rains that will have dirtied the river over a large area.

INSECT ACTIVITY

It’s all happening, loads of mayfly species are coming off still (normally they being to slow toward mid summer and pick up again in autumn and winter). Size and colour seems to be ranging from large cream and tan clinger nymphs in and around the rapids (#14-16) down to smaller, darker clingers (#16-18) in chocolate and dark coal/black.

The caddis are really in full hatching mode with pupae “in drift” 24/7 and hatches occurring mainly from late afternoon and into darkness (especially on the hotter days). Big cream caddis adults (#8-12) and little tan/slate caddis adults (#12-16) are very prolific. The larvae are typically bright green or dirty olive with some exceptions in brown and cream.

Blackfly are very common now, small black and olive larvae (#16-18) can be very effective in the rapids and slower water. Remember not to wear blue if you want to avoid the itchy bite of the blackfly!

APPROACH AND TECHNIQUE

As per October, you can catch ‘em anyway you want to really, they’ll eat most appropriate patterns presented reasonably well (make sure you are connected to your flies via a straight leader or you will miss many takes): Czech nymph, New Zealand style upstream nymphing with an indicator, “dry and dropper”, traditional wet fly, leisinring style swings and lifts, even Stillwater retrieves in the slower pools, dries and emergers in the surface film… really, this is the time of the year to catch them on your terms. In winter you will need to conform to their requirements so make hay while the sun shines.

The fishing is so easy this time of year that many anglers over do it, in my view, by catch and releasing 40, 50 sometimes 100 fish in a day, that’s a lot of fish with holes in their mouths. Please consider trying something new when the fishing is really easy, move to another spot, see if you can get them on dries, do some bird-watching, do something to drop your catch rate. It is not difficult to catch lots of yellows in summer, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone, least of all at the expense of the fish that you “love” so much… let’s walk it like we talk it and be the conservators and stewards of the river we claim to be.

I will be out of range of the Vaal a few times over the next few weeks, out of the country a few times and then down on the KZN South Coast staring at the sea over my belly for a while. I won’t be focusing on the Vaal but will post a report at the end of December.

Feel free to email me over December and let me know how’re you doing on the water, we all learn from each other.

Happy happy,

Keith

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email: keith@yellowsonfly.com

web: www.yellowsonfly.com

blog: http://yellowsonfly.blogspot.com/

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MIDDLE VAAL RIVER UPDATE NOVEMBER

I’m a little late with my monthly report…sorry… I’ve been away on business in the UK and Zimbabwe: I got some nice grayling and browns in the UK, no fishing in Zimbabwe.

SPAWNING ALERT

Seems some yellows have already started their 2^nd spawn for the summer in the Vredefort dome area, boy this season is getting weirder and weirder! So once again, please try and avoid these fish and abide by a few basic principles of respect as outlined here:

http://www.yellowsonfly.com/uploads/Guide_to_safe_catch_and_release.pdf

WATER AND WEATHER

I’ve not been on the river much this past month. It seems the flows have been a little up and down but largely fishable. This time of the year the Vaal dam and Barrage will both increase flows to coincide with canoe races, be aware of these releases in advance to avoid disappointment on arrival to find your favourite piece of water flooding.

Visibility is averaging around 25cms at the moment, better in some areas, worse in others dependant on local rains and discharges (sewage, industrial effluent, fertilizers etc) which often add silt or create algal blooms.

Flows will probably go up over the next few months given the long range forecast suggests above average rains: also the Vaal Dam is sitting at virtually full so there is no buffer to absorb run off from rains.

Make hay while the sun shines and monitor flows over summer to take advantage of low flows as they occur.

Of course the increased rains will result in raw sewage discharges as most of the sewage works around the Middle Vaal (and the rest of the country for that matter) are already at or above capacity and moves to fix the problem are in the “tool little too late category” on the whole… is this sewage contaminated water harmful? You buys your day ticket, you takes your chances.

INSECT ACTIVITY

Hot weather has brought on dense mayfly (mainly clingers with a few swimmers) and caddis hatches (the little tan ones and big cream ones): hotter weather, later hatches and vice versa… don’t leave the water before the fat lady has sung [in the dark].

Small caddis pupae are thick in the water column this time of year… capitalise on this.

APPROACH AND TECHNIQUE

The fishing is typically so easy this time of year and the fish so forgiving you can pretty much apply the technique that appeals to you on the day. Last few weeks I have heard from guys who are upset because their fishing “buddy” against which they were competing on the water got 56 fish and they only got 49! This would be impressive in mid winter, this time of year it is gluttony, proving nothing but a desire to swell the ego with little regard for the fish or a real desire to grow as fly fishermen. When the fishing is that easy try changing techniques, see if you can get them onto dries, go super small, experiment with swinging flies, try anything to increase the degree of the challenge! Hey, stop and have a cold beer.

There are 2 types of fishing condition that are best suited to thinking out of the box: when the fishing is really difficult and when the fishing is really easy… enjoy the latter because before you know it you will be faced with the former

Thanks to all the guys that kept me up to speed on my favourite river while abroad,

Keith

more on spawning: Identifying spawning habitat and fish

Thanks for the post Steven,

Good question, how do you recognise spawning fish and spawning habitat?

smallmouth yellowfish spawn where their eggs are exposed to well oxygenated water, typically this is up in the fast water at the eye of a pool or in long stretches of rapids. This water is usually shallow (less than 30cms). The fish will often not spook until you are right on top of them. They will probably be rubbing against each other (unless they have dropped back a little to rest): the males use their rough textured gill covers to stimulate the females to release eggs. When the female releases her eggs this is often done with a wild thrashing sometimes sending water spraying a meter into the air.

bottom line: when in doubt, relocate.

respect the fish,
keith

MIDDLE VAAL RIVER UPDATE OCTOBER

Spring has sprung and the spawning’s begun!

SPAWNING ALERT

The fish started spawning on many parts of the middle Vaal around 20 September, in many places they have already finished their first spawn of the season, expect the second spawn around mid summer in December and the third spawn normally at last summer rains in late Jan early Feb. typically the first spawn occurs in early October so this year they’ve spawned a little early relative to the calendar we humans follow. Also the various species normally don’t spawn simultaneously in the spring spawn. The normal sequence is carp, smallmouth yellows, mudfish and barbel last: this spring the yellows jumped the queue and went first. Also I have noted yellows and muddies spawning simultaneously in separate rapids this past week: this is not natural, fish tend to avoid spawning at the same time as other species to avoid potential cross-breeding. I’m not sure why the confusion has occurred this year and hope it is not a sign of the river and its inhabitants swinging even further out of balance.

Please avoid the spawning fish. I write about this every year and I still see guys sneaking into a spawning bed for a few easy fish… you know who you are. I think I’ll buy a high powered paint ball gun with a permanent bright pink ink. I’ll stalk around the better know spawning grounds and fire upon you idiots…

Please respect the fish and treat them carefully, here’s a brief guide to how to effectively catch and release, these principles apply even more strongly at spawning time! http://www.yellowsonfly.com/uploads/Guide_to_safe_catch_and_release.pdf

WATER AND WEATHER

Weather and flow rates are pretty much as good as it gets for this time of year: flows are averaging between 15 and 22 m^3/s and the water temperatures are already averaging around 19-20 degrees (dawn minimum).

Looks pretty rosy doesn’t it?

I’ve received a lot of email requesting my views on the Vaal river water quality situation especially in response to the article in the October issue of The Complete Flyfisherman (TCFF) magazine. Those of you that have been visiting my website for a while will know that I am quite involved in understanding and remedying the water quality issues surrounding the Middle and Upper Vaal River and its tributaries. By reading through previous monthly reports on www.yellowsonfly.com you’ll see regular mention of water quality issues.

The TCFF article is fundamentally correct in its analysis of the water quality situation on the Midddle Vaal River by stating that the recent fish kills earlier this year were the result of large amounts of partly decomposed matter being lifted off of the river bed and into the water column by high flows. However, organic matter moving off of the substrate and into the water column and thereby trapping the available dissolved oxygen is only half of the story, raw sewage entering the river system is also a massive factor, read the press release I posted at the time of the fish kills here http://www.yellowsonfly.com/uploads/YWG_release_Vaalpollution_250106.pdf.

I am concerned that the sewage treatment plants that contributed to the disaster in January are still operating at above capacity (>100%) and the first major rains will force huge volumes of raw sewage into the Middle Vaal once again.

Driving over the Klip River on the N1 traveling to the Vaal is becoming extremely unpleasant as the amount of untreated and partially treated sewage entering the river at this point is so large that I smell the sewage through closed windows… I believe we are a few weeks from a major disaster.

INSECT ACTIVITY

It’s really all happening at the moment: almost every time I’ve been on the water in the past few weeks I’ve experienced strong hatches of a variety of caddis (Hydropsychidae) ranging from the big cream adults to the small dirty grey/tan chaps. The spring mayfly hatches are in full force with the overlapping activity of the winter Baetis species (swimmer crawlers), that have emerged a little later this year than normal, and the spring and summer Heptagenidae (clingers). Also the blackfly are emerging in large volumes (and biting in larger volumes). Remember to avoid blackfly bites (the nasty itch that last for days) avoid wearing anything blue, natural tones such as olive, tan and brown tend to keep the blackfly off of your back.

APPROACH AND TECHNIQUE

With the weather as hot as it is the caddis are emerging into the evening quite often now so don’t leave the water at dark, hang around the river bank in casting range of a tongue of current entering a pool: as the dusk descends drift large adult caddis patterns across the surface and be ready to give line when the big ones bite. Mayfly emergers are also very effective at dusk, try to get the fly within a foot of the fish’s nose as it rises… I know this sounds difficult; you just need to practice a little… a good reason to go fishing more!

I’ve had a lot of fun swinging soft hackles (flymphs) with my 10’ 4 wt Greys Streamflex this spring, what a magical way to fish: this technique is extremely effective now with all the insect activity in the water column at the moment. If you are new to this technique may I suggest you visit www.flymph.com for a little background info? There is a huge amount of info on the internet about soft hackles and techniques to tie and fish them and it is an absolutely brilliant way to catch yellows and muddies. You’ll never tie on an indicator again!

I have had a lot of email from guys new to the world of throwing fake flies at creatures with tiny brains: To assist you in getting started I have posted a piece on my website that I wrote for the FOSAF/Nedbank guide to fly-fishing venues of Southern Africa: this was the chapter on the Middle Vaal. I would strongly recommend buying the guide if you are in search of new waters and species, you can find the piece here http://yellowsonfly.com/uploads/Middle_Vaal_a_worldclass_fishery_rev_2_010404.pdf

I think that’s all I had to say this month (I lost my notes in migrating between laptops). Please feel welcome to email me if you require assistance, information or just want to talk about fishing, or you could post a comment on my blog site and throw the conversation a little wider so all of us can join in.

Enjoy the next few weeks, they could be the best of the summer,

Keith

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email: keith@yellowsonfly.com

web: www.yellowsonfly.com

blog: http://yellowsonfly.blogspot.com/

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Spring is in the air and the fish are spawning!

Hi guys,

The smallmouth yellows have spawned early (even earlier than last year's early spawn). They should normally spawn on 1st rains in early October when water temps hit a dawn minimum of 20-21 degrees (in my experience). Well we saw them start spawning in early evening a week ago in the Vredefort dome so they should be almost finished by now in that area.

Please be nice to the spawners and their eggs by not walking through shallow riffles and thereby trampling eggs.

With summer upon us your catch rate will probably increase massively, please check out this brief guide to safely catching and releasing fish.

I've managed to get on the water a few times in the past week or 2 and the fish have obliged nicely from the bottom of the deep runs, to the shallows to the surface on dries in the evening...get out there and have some fun!

keith (remember to post your comments)

MIDDLE VAAL RIVER UPDATE SEPTEMBER

Sheesh, it’s not been an easy winter!

WATER AND WEATHER

Base water temps are on the up, which means we are right on the edge of spring time action. Water is exiting the Barrage at 13 degrees this morning which means it should be circa 16 a few kilometers downstream: 16 is typically what it takes to send the fish into the shallow, faster water foraging for food.

Flows have been unusually high over the past 4 weeks or so: this is due to releases from the Vaal Dam sitting at 22m^3/s (normally around 10-15 m^3/s in spring before rains come) to dilute relatively high TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) levels in the Barrage (more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_dissolved_solids).

This high flow may result in a Yellowfish spawn as soon as water temps reach 20 degrees because yellows are triggered to spawn by a combination of flows and minimum water temp (water temp at dawn).

Visibility has been below expectation all winter, one of the theories is around high populations of diatoms (more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatoms) resultant from the floods last summer: regardless of the cause, clarity hasn’t been great and I don’t see it improving over summer with the increased heat and storm water run-off.

Hopefully the cold fronts are almost behind us and we can start looking forward to spring and summer weather. See the latest long range forecast here: http://www.weathersa.co.za/FcastProducts/ExtendedRange/MonthForecast.jsp

INSECT ACTIVITY

Finally the winter mayfly hatches have made an appearance (better late than never) although the fish did not really respond with much interest. Reports in from the past few days suggest flyfishers have seen increased mayfly hatches but only the odd fish making a real effort to capitalise on the easy meal.

The summer may hatches will kick-off soon and are often a combination of sizes and colours, you need creams, rust, olive, medium dun in a variety of sizes from 12-16, and don’t forget emergers!

Caddis hatches should start developing from now… be warned and arm your boxes with smallish cream adult patterns and lots of olive and green larvae and pupae. A report just in from Dirk Human in the Bothaville area suggests the first caddis hatch has come off, probably the large Hydropsychidae caddis (whitish cream adults, green larvae and pupae).

Oh yes, don’t forget the blackfly larvae, they are always around and the fish love’em! Basically they look like midge larvae, black and olive in colour and in sizes 16-20. The pupa are those little cone shaped cases on the rocks that look like caddis pupae.

APPROACH AND TECHNIQUE

Well if you dig nymphing you’re gonna love the next few months! Try to rely less on a yarn indicator this summer, you will develop more intuitive skills around where your flies are and what they’re doing and detecting takes, also fishing without an indicator allows for a more rhythmic approach to nymphing: Fishing into the swing at the end of the drift, fishing teams of soft hackles and fishing a lot closer in through the use of Polish/Czech/short line nymphing… trust me, you won’t be sorry… leave the yarn at home or in your pocket for a few months.

Thanks for your feedback via email. I know a lot of you had problems commenting on the blog, all is working now, it is easy and quick to post a comment, please do so! Your regular blog posts ensure everyone benefits from your experiences and not just me J

Yay, spring is on the way!

Keith

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email: keith@yellowsonfly.com

web: www.yellowsonfly.com

blog: http://yellowsonfly.blogspot.com/

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