Lower Orange report back

[JadeDsantos]

Thanks Korrie! Planning a small 4x4 trip from Pofadder to Vioolsdrif - Hoping the water settles down and isn't silted up completely.

[Korrie]

Thanks Korrie! Planning a small 4x4 trip from Pofadder to Vioolsdrif - Hoping the water settles down and isn't silted up completely.

I think you will have a super trip.
The water will recede very quickly now.
The various water boards will try and keep the dams as full as possible for the winter.
I think the big rains are over, now it is more a scenario of managing the flows as effective as possible.
The system would have had a good flushing, which normally makes for good fishing.

[Andre]

Thanks Korrie! Planning a small 4x4 trip from Pofadder to Vioolsdrif - Hoping the water settles down and isn't silted up completely.

Very nice. Its a good part of the Orange for fishing, and the road is not too hectic. I think there is only one place where you actually need to engage 4x4 for quite a steep incline with loose rocks.
Re the flows, Kioorie is correct, it might settle down. You are going to have to look at the Van der Kloof out flows, which get to that area in about 4 weeks or more, depending on how much water is comming down. Higher flow, tend to move quicker.
The out flows from the Van der Kloof are the only factors that will influence the flow where you are going. During the time between march and August, there is a lot of release for irrigation downstream, but hopfully you can strike it lucky.
My concern at the moment, is that the water from the Vaal floods, will not have reached that area yet, so it's anyones guess as to what will happen in the next few months with the flows on the Lower Orange.

[JadeDsantos]

Very nice. Its a good part of the Orange for fishing, and the road is not too hectic. I think there is only one place where you actually need to engage 4x4 for quite a steep incline with loose rocks.
Re the flows, Kioorie is correct, it might settle down. You are going to have to look at the Van der Kloof out flows, which get to that area in about 4 weeks or more, depending on how much water is comming down. Higher flow, tend to move quicker.
The out flows from the Van der Kloof are the only factors that will influence the flow where you are going. During the time between march and August, there is a lot of release for irrigation downstream, but hopfully you can strike it lucky.
My concern at the moment, is that the water from the Vaal floods, will not have reached that area yet, so it's anyones guess as to what will happen in the next few months with the flows on the Lower Orange.

Thanks Andre! I've done the trail a few times and caught many fish, but that was more my offroading days then FF. The guessing part makes me quite nervous - A was hoping to go early March, but it might have to be early April instead. Augrabies guys say its running 2400 cumecs! Eish

[Yellowfever]

Looks like the Vaal's water is already there. The graphs on the upper Orange show VdK at 400 cumecs; with the spike at Prieska - Augrabies was at 2400+, Viools at 2800. Unless we get more flood conditions (keep in mind all dams are 100% so no buffer) flows will settle, but the big issue is the clarity.

Sounds like the trip is on irrespective of the FF so the question is just do you take the equipment or not :-)

[JadeDsantos]

Sounds like the trip is on irrespective of the FF so the question is just do you take the equipment or not :-)

Thanks for the info YF - Yeah - I'm going on the trip to catch fish, one way or another in Early March or early April - Just got to make the mature decision of waiting for the water to clear or the severe need to catch some Yellows again. I could never go up there and not take a rod! I keep a back up 3 weight in the boot of my car and a 2/4 reel in my wheel well just in case I get a half day off work.

[Andre]

Thanks for the info YF - Yeah - I'm going on the trip to catch fish, one way or another in Early March or early April - Just got to make the mature decision of waiting for the water to clear or the severe need to catch some Yellows again. I could never go up there and not take a rod! I keep a back up 3 weight in the boot of my car and a 2/4 reel in my wheel well just in case I get a half day off work.

For fishing, early March is completely out of the question. As for early April, I dont know, as it might be a little early to tell. The flow from Van der Kloof takes about 8 weeks to reach the Richtersveld, so that would bring us to about six weeks to Viools drift. This would already take you ty the beginning of April. By my reconning, unless there is some massive extraction, forget it.
Hope I'm wrong.

[JadeDsantos]

Thanks Andre - I'm going to be watching the system closely over the next few weeks to try find a gap. I can go at the drop of a hat, so if everything comes together - I'm off. I've got some river guide friends near Augrabies who are on the water - trying to get hold of them now to get an idea of the water, clarity and flow prediction.

[chrisvd]

With regard to the outflow from Vanderkloof, they predict that the flows will be back to normal from Sunday. That means the flow was at 380 cumecs for only a week, so wont realy be that bad. the big problem is the flow of the Vaal in my opinion. From Douglas the flow of the Orange were and still is very high. I think if that water is already at Augrabies, you might still be on. I have some friends from Cape Town that will be fishing below Augrabies in mid March (plane booked and all) so will let you know how things went with them.

Regards

[JadeDsantos]

With regard to the outflow from Vanderkloof, they predict that the flows will be back to normal from Sunday. That means the flow was at 380 cumecs for only a week, so wont realy be that bad. the big problem is the flow of the Vaal in my opinion. From Douglas the flow of the Orange were and still is very high. I think if that water is already at Augrabies, you might still be on. I have some friends from Cape Town that will be fishing below Augrabies in mid March (plane booked and all) so will let you know how things went with them.

Regards

Much Appriecated Chris! Thanks very much - I'll be massively disappointed if things go pear-shaped