I was chatting to a bassing buddy of mine last week and we were talking about the demise of bass in general in the Cape. He had just returned from a few bassless days at Voelvlei and told me about a chat that he had with one of the other equally unsuccessful anglers there. This guy recently caught a catfish in Clanwilliam dam! I have no idea if this is old news yet, but it is the first report I have heard of catfish in the Olifants system. The implications of this are far reaching. It is just a matter of time before they enter the major tributaries, the Doring being one of them.

Although this introduction will benefit the Clanwilliam yellows to a large degree, it is sad to see historically great bass fisheries like this falling prey to sharptoothed catfish at such an alarming rate.

The question is, how are the catfish getting into all our waters? Wading birds are being blamed for transporting the eggs, which apparently adhere to their legs. If this is the case, then the bass in the Cape are doomed, because before long, every last bit of water in the Cape will have catfish in it.