Between Gariep and Van der Kloof - Anyone fished there?

[JadeDsantos]

Hey Guys

A friend of mine has a substantial stretch of river between Gariep and VDK. Has anyone fished out there before? I was thinking of doing a drift trip between the two sections. On Google Maps it looks like largie water to me, so wanted to ask and see of anyone in the group has had any experience with that section? Dont think I have to worry about flow fluctuations like VDK since Gariep is more constant, or am I wrong?

Thanks for the help guys.

Cheers

Jade

[Circus]

Jade, I remember somewhere on the forum a mention of fluctuations with the flow rising to about 50 cubes, but nothing like Vanderkloof's 300.
Obviously the further downstream you are, the smaller the changes.
My guess is that the peak flow times will be similar to VDK, i.e highest from 18h30 to 20h30. And half as heavy from 09h30 to 12h00.
Seeing as the total elevation change from the Norvalspont bridge to VDK over 60km is only 35m, and much of that stretch is >200m wide, flow changes should be absorbed quite well.

I'm very jealous, there is some superb looking water there. Please post some info/pics once you've been there.

[JadeDsantos]

Jade, I remember somewhere on the forum a mention of fluctuations with the flow rising to about 50 cubes, but nothing like Vanderkloof's 300.
Obviously the further downstream you are, the smaller the changes.
My guess is that the peak flow times will be similar to VDK, i.e highest from 18h30 to 20h30. And half as heavy from 09h30 to 12h00.
Seeing as the total elevation change from the Norvalspont bridge to VDK over 60km is only 35m, and much of that stretch is >200m wide, flow changes should be absorbed quite well.

I'm very jealous, there is some superb looking water there. Please post some info/pics once you've been there.

Thanks man! Appreciate the information. It is a long term project, and something that will require solid planning etc. More like a 3 week NZ backcountry adventure, rather than a quick Orange drift trip.

[Korrie]

The problem with a raft float trip is how much time you want to spend on good water to fish, and how much drifting you want to do.
I know of 50km trips that did not progress past the first 10km of water as the water was "SOOOO GOOOOD"
You end up having to paddle the last day, to reach the pickup point in time.
The opposite is also true, where you do so much paddling and drifting that the last 2 days you are at the pick up point, waiting for the pickup.
Upstream wind can also be a problem in certain areas.

WHERE WATER IS RELEASED, MAKE SURE YOU CAMP ABOVE THE HIGHEST WATER MARK!!!!!!!!!!

[Circus]

Jade, check out the narrows at 30 32.42 S ; 25 16.36 E
It looks only 10m wide, should be fun to shoot that in an inflatable.

Depending on the time of year, you may also find a smallie migration into the river to breed.

[JadeDsantos]

Thanks Circus, I saw that narrow slot! What I want to do is find a section of good water I can motor between with a 5hp on a Crocoduck, so I dont mind having a static camp. I dont think doing the whole section as a drift would be a goo idea, as there is a huge amount of flat water on that stretch too. Didnt think about the fish migrating up . . .

@Korrie Agree with you, I would rather find a few good sections to fish within a large stretch of river and concentrate on that rather than just drift section to section till I hit Gariep . . .