From: 12/15/2015
To: 01/15/2016
Type of Water: Freshwater
Species: Brown trout
Here in the KZN midlands we have suffered the drought and the heat like the rest of South Africa this season. In fact, in the first week or so of January, we had the highest temperatures I have ever experienced in the region, and by that I mean the highest I can remember in my lifetime. I have however only noted temperatures for the last 22 years, so I might not be scientifically correct in that statement, but suffice it to say, it was awful!
The rivers and streams here, it could be said, were not in dire straits quite like they have been in the Eastern Cape Highlands (The Karnemelk, Bell and Sterkspruit come to mind). But the streams were certainly at what I would call “low winter levels”. When coupled with such severe heat, those are pretty poor conditions.
But we have a lot to be View more...Here in the KZN midlands we have suffered the drought and the heat like the rest of South Africa this season. In fact, in the first week or so of January, we had the highest temperatures I have ever experienced in the region, and by that I mean the highest I can remember in my lifetime. I have however only noted temperatures for the last 22 years, so I might not be scientifically correct in that statement, but suffice it to say, it was awful!
The rivers and streams here, it could be said, were not in dire straits quite like they have been in the Eastern Cape Highlands (The Karnemelk, Bell and Sterkspruit come to mind). But the streams were certainly at what I would call “low winter levels”. When coupled with such severe heat, those are pretty poor conditions.
But we have a lot to be grateful for here in KZN. We had just enough drizzle, and the odd 5mm rain event here and there, that things kept going, if only by the skin of their teeth. Roy and I ventured out around Christmas time, and found a minor flush of water in the Inzinga as well as the Lotheni. Both showed signs of having been much lower just days before, but I managed a 14 inch Brown on the Lotheni.
Likewise, the Mooi was rather slimy with algae, but hardly devoid of flow, and a few anglers reported hot and disappointing conditions, but n0o one was slitting their wrists. In the first few days of January Quentin Austin and I fished the very upper Mooi, and the flow was really quite respectable. Strangely we encountered no fish of any size at all, but vast numbers of fish so tiny that they could not swallow a #18 fly.
My friends Trevor, who is fortunate to live beside the river up in the Trout area has been keeping me informed since I was up there. After one rain event he reported that some of the algae had lifted and floated away (rather than being forcibly washed away), but he mentioned that the Reekie Lyn stream down the valley from him looked like it had had a good storm up in the catchment on Allandale. Then I saw a report from a fisherman staying at Giants Castle, that it had rained every day he was there and that the river was flowing strongly. That was probably 10 days ago (8 Jan or so). More recently Peter Brigg was up there with his son , and the water level wasn’t too bad, but not looking as awash as reported earlier. Since then the sighs of relief have almost been audible across the valleys. We haven’t had a deluge, and to be sure some springs are still dry. But there are steady reports of storms here and there, and the news is coming in daily. My friend Jac was up at Injasuthi this week, and believe it or not, he reports that the river was too high to fish it properly! Pictures from the Mlambonjwa at Cathedral Peak earlier this week showed something similar.
But the joy is not quite everywhere yet. I just got off the phone from a farmer on the Umgeni. He says the river is still low, and that all the good storms seem to have missed them. But he did end off by saying the river was up a few inches and off colour this morning, for the first time in 8 months.
With the severe conditions, most guys have been staying home and refining their fly tying skills. This probably explains the dearth of fishing news I have heard. But with the rains having finally begun to fall, we will be setting out with a spring in our step, at least to some of our destinations, be they stillwaters or streams, and hopefully next month’s report will include more actual fishing news.
