Holsloot Dam

[fishlover1]

I vote, form a posse and go m0er the farmer.
Come on, you know you want to.

Just let me know when, and I'll be there

[JCD]

I agree with Kevin's answer... years ago it was a great place for f.fishing ( still has its moments). Was there last year and noticed the weirs and the explosion of two things :
1) the bass... To much still and warm water is created by the illegal wiers.
2) fisherman.. In the past people staying at dwarsberg could fish along the trouthaven streach of river, the new rules are the campers have sole access to the water at their campsite. The outcome is every idiot with a spinning rod is pushed to CPS water (counted 13 spin rods on the top CPS beat last visit).
As much as they promote fly fishing they don't give a hoot....the advertising shows kids spin fishing and it makes a point of letting you know it is done.

[gkieser]

It means we now pay R6000/year for something that we used to get for free. In the current state of the economy we are not exactly overflowing with cash.



So let me try and understand your argument, you would be happy to lose access to fishing the river in order to feel good about doing what you think is the right thing? And you are off course sure that a couple of small dams lower down the river where the temps are pretty marginal for trout anyway, will have an effect on the upper reaches? What about the dams providing cooler water for the trout to survive in? What about the dams providing a place for fish to grow larger and then have them move up the river? I am off course sucking my thumb here but then so are you. My point was let's discuss it at the committee meeting and decide on a course of action for the club to take. We do have people like Ed who are on very good terms with the Stofbergs. We also have people like Andy who may be able to provide some more scientific insight into what effect the dams might have. If you, Craig and others would prefer an all guns blazing approach then by all means don't let me stop you.

Hehe - Darryl i think you are in your mode where you just feel like arguing for the sake of arguing because it is specific people making the point. Initially, in my first post, i said that someone should probably check it out. If that isn't fantastic strategic fence sitting then i don't know what is. So please don't label me as someone that thinks we have to go in all guns blazing as you have. I didn't thumbsuck, cos i didn't say anything besides the facts that the river is bone dry by the time it gets to Rawsonville. How do you explain that being good for the trout, like your thumbsuck about the dams cooling the water for them etc? Maybe they now have nice new furrows that the fish can now swim down between beautiful grapevines - definately great real estate for a trout to live in so they should be happy of their environment?

All I am saying, is that the CPS (and you seem to be representing the CPS in your posts and not yourself) should be very careful about siding with the farmer because it benefits the CPS wrt access of the river, even if that is at the expense of the health of the river. In my opinion, thinking like that is just as detrimental as the farmer saying his needs require him to dam up the river.

[JCD]

Unfoutunately, I don't think talking is going to make any difference, look where the water gets diverted to before it reaches Rawsonville. Its a mind set, when the conference centre, etc. went up and the valley became commercial it all changed.

[Korrie]

Add to that that the river will change from a freestone stream to sand bottom in the space of about 3 years. I have seen it on my favourite yellowfish small stream. People dam up the river with rocks to swim. 3 years later it has completely silted up. This in turn provides very little structure for insects to live in and very soon you have a river with very few bugs. The fish then either go upstream or downstream to find a more favourable environment. The impact of wiers is often devastating and should be stopped.

I think this is a very wise answer.
a solution might be to explain to the farmer what will happen to the fishing and his "ponds" etc.
a. he might understand
b. he might understand and do something
c. he might not care, as the campers have/is become a PRIME source of income and say, I will just bulldoze the wier/sand away and make new dams.

[ArcherFish]

So let me try and understand your argument, you would be happy to lose access to fishing the river in order to feel good about doing what you think is the right thing?

What about the dams providing cooler water for the trout to survive in? What about the dams providing a place for fish to grow larger and then have them move up the river?

No one is going to lose access to the river because a private citizen reports some illegal activity. My action if reporting would not be on behalf on any organisation, and I will be B*** F**** on the town square before I allow any organisation to tell me how to act as a citizen.

I am sure that the farmers wiers heat up the water, not cool them down. Conversely a pool (without an unjumpable wier) further up the river with shade trees may certainly cool the water and provide refuge for trout.
No fish are going to grow large in these wiers, not with an armada of spinners attacking them on weekends.

[ArcherFish]

I think this is a very wise answer.
a solution might be to explain to the farmer what will happen to the fishing and his "ponds" etc.
a. he might understand
b. he might understand and do something
c. he might not care, as the campers have/is become a PRIME source of income and say, I will just bulldoze the wier/sand away and make new dams.

Korrie, I think his priority is to provide swimming holes for his guests. He knows that his section will be stocked from the upper reaches during winter. On special occasions he has been known to stock the pools.

[Mike Taylor]

Maybe contact the Worcester FF club (if they're still around). They fish the lower sections of the river and would be far more disadvantaged by weirs.

[NeilRowe]

My intention is to act as a private citizen.
Mark, you are spot on about water abstraction which is going to be a major problem in the future. Water hungry vineyards are replacing grazing, wheat and other low water use agriculture.

What do we do, boycott wine and drink beer?

Especially pumpkin beer

[NeilRowe]

Maybe contact the Worcester FF club (if they're still around). They fish the lower sections of the river and would be far more disadvantaged by weirs.

When you do manage to contact the WFFC, ask them for permission to fish the HeX River.