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Thread: Crytsl Pools in Gordons Bay

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
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    Uitzicht
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    44

    Default Crytsl Pools in Gordons Bay

    Has anyone fished these pools yet? A guy in my office was searching the net and found some photos of these pools, part of the Steenbras River. Or is this a spot which is off limits?

    Any information wrt species or fishability will be appreciated!

    QKSLVR_76

  2. #2
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    Mar 2007
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    Stellenbosch and Kuils River, Western Cape
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    Default

    I enquired about it some 8 years ago also after seeing some pics friends of mine took while on a hiking trip up there. Nice looking piece of water, however my recollection from the feedback I've received indicated that there were no trout up there. I always believed that there were trout in that stream as it flows out of Steenbras, which used to hold trout. I don't believe it has been properly explored with a fly rod and the possibility still exist that trout inhabits it waters. Unless its being kept on the hush

  3. #3
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    Oct 2006
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    Jonkershoek
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    124

    Default Stocking records

    From a quick browse through the records here at Jonkershoek I don't see any mention of it being stocked, though as Stan mentions it may well have been home to a few escapees from Steenbras. I reckon it'll be very much like the Palmiet with wrong ph to sustain trout...
    Trout are as much a part of South Africa as the oak trees are of Stellenbosch – not to be planted in wilderness areas where they do not already occur, but to be valued where they are established.

  4. #4
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    Nov 2006
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    Cape Town
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    Default

    I suspect that Ryan has it spot on as far as the ph is concerned.

    That doesn't mean that there are no Smallmouth Bass in it though. A couple of years back a bicycle shop, called Mavericks, had exclusive access to that farm to do mountain biking trips.

    Maybe take up mountain biking?

    Cheers
    MC

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Western Cape
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    Default

    Hi
    I heard in December that that whole area has been closed to the public due to some trouble up there a while ago. I had some people from overseas and they were told they could not go to the pools any more, I think this also includes the Steenbrass dam.
    Cheers

  6. #6
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    Mar 2007
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    Default

    I might be wrong here, but wouldn't the pH of the dam and the stream be roughly the same? If it is then the stream would have no problem sustaining a trout population as the dam contained them for several years.

  7. #7
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    Nov 2006
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    Cape Town
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    Default

    Ian

    How is this for the City's mentality: Steenbras is not closed to the public. You just cant go in there because the roads are inaccessible. That is the official attitude from the head of bulk water supply.

    I have an e-mail from him. I'll find and post it.
    Pathetic.

    Stanton

    The ph in the dam and the river should indeed be the same or similar. I seem to remember that the ph was ok for the fish to live in but they could never breed in it. At least not the Rainbows which came later.

    In the seventies, when nature conservation managed the dam (I could be wrong here), the dam was stocked only with Browns because the ph suited them. It was at this time - especially between 1976 and 1979 - that quite a lot of BIG Browns got caught. During the eighties the fishing was managed or controlled by the Dept of Water Affairs and they stocked the dam with something ridiculous like 2000 Rainbows per year. To put that into perspective, consider that we stock Lakensvlei with approximately 30 000 fish per year. After 1994, control was handed to the City of Cape Town and it seems that money ran out for maintenance, never mind stocking Trout.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    Cape Town
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    Default

    Ok, here is the mail:


    "The City of Cape Town has for the past 40 years never had any hiking trails open to the public at Steenbras Dam or its environs, with the exception of the Steenbras River Trail which leads from the Bennington Bridge at the river mouth up to the “Crystal Pools” (for info call 021 856 4975). The areas above the pools have always been closed to the public. The gardens below the dam wall did have a network of short paths, but they have been closed, along with access to the dam, for security reasons.

    LETLHOGONOLO MOTLHODI

    MANAGER: BULK WATER

    WATER SERVICES

    CITY OF CAPE TOWN"

    In a meeting with the City, this same guy and his boss, told us that it was closed due to the roads.

    These are the same guys who are keeping the CPS out of Wemmers.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    cape
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    Default

    Ja, used to fish there years ago. Never saw Rainbows and the Browns we caught were like pulling in wet sacks, no fight at all. I was fishing with a vicar once, and he hooked an 8 pounder. Thought it was another ubiquitous Protea bush or something. To land it, he pointed his rod down and walked backwards until it beached!

  10. #10
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    Dec 2006
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    Uitzicht
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    Default

    Thanks guys, I do mountian bike, so maybe pack the 4wt in my CAMELBACK and slip off the route and see whats happening. Will call the numbers and see what each has to say.

    Would love to get into the top Steenbras dams, must be wild with fish or we hope so!

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