Flyfishing report: Trout - Western Cape

Rivers.

As mentioned last month it has been a dry winter in the Western Cape, and river flows were lower than usual in September. Fortunately, there has been good rain recently which has given a boost to the flows but the forecast for the area is for a hot, dry summer.

Smalblaar: With the Elandspad closed the Smalbaar/Molenaars system has been busy even during the week and catches have been fair to good. Please note that the river will be closed from 16 to 18 October for SAFFA trials.

Elandspad. The hiking trail was washed away in the May floods which resulted in CapeNature closing the river for fishing but Beats 1 and 2 unlike 3 and 4 are not accessed by the trail and the CPS have asked that this section be reopened.

Holsloot: Sections of the river have been much changed since the floods and reports so far indicate that the average size of rainbows may be bigger than for the Smalblaar.

Witte: This lovely stream is little fished as the population of browns has declined sharply after the drought of about 5 years ago. The most recent group to visit caught nothing.

Lakenvlei.

This large stillwater near Ceres was badly discoloured by the floods of May but is gradually clearing and the dam level is still standing at 100%. It has been well stocked again this year with yearlings, and the fishing results have been somewhat varied with the more experienced anglers netting adequate catches. The CPS hut is booked every weekend until early November after which the water usually becomes too warm for productive trout fishing. Anglers are requested to kill all bass captured as is the case for the rivers.

The Smalblaar – photo courtesy of Myburgh van Zijl.