CPS - Appeal to update Beats Demarcation
Hi everyone,
Perhaps this is something I should address to the CPS directly, but thought I'd get everyone's input here first. Its something I've been thinking about for a while now, but first time I've thought to vocalise it publicly... Perhaps its just me that thinks this, so if it is, ya'll can tell me to shut up and I'll crawl back to my corner...
I would like to find out if its possible for us to somehow mark the beats along the Smallblaar and EP better ? As in where they start and where they finish? Because in all honesty, they are pretty poorly marked, if they are marked at all... this may not be a problem for you guys who have been fishing the streams for years and years, or who fish them really often, and know each beat like the back of your hand, but for many others, myself included, its a serious problem...
I had two instances this weekend which highlight this. Please note this is NOT a dig at the CPS... not in anyway shape or form, but rather a case of highlighting what I feel is a concern, and looking for possible remedies to this issues:
I fished Transport Beat for the first time last week... beautiful section of water, but no mention on CPS site of this beat and its start/finish at all? Thankfully an SMS was sent to a person in the know, and we could get sorted....
Secondly, and this is more important, I fished SB1 on Saturday... ON reaching the area where I have always believed was the end of SB1, where the Klip comes in, and where the parking area for SB2 is, myself and the missus were fishing that last little section up before planning to exit and make our way back, when someone called us from stream side and asked us" What beat are you on? You're on the wrong Beat, this is SB2"... Of course I felt horrified by this, even though I thought I was in the right, the gentleman who stopped us seemed very authoritative, and of course I took him at his word... truth be told I wish he'd stayed around to explain to us where we'd gone wrong but he jumped in his car and drove off before we could catch up to him to find out how wrong we were...
I looked at the map I had on my phone, and was convinced I was right, but went back and forwards a few times trying to figure out what what, which pool is which etc, and figured we were in the wrong of course, for which I am hugely apologetic... I never want to be poaching another persons beat, but I gotta say, without clear marking on where a beat starts and finishes, its a pretty damn easy thing to do.... I must apologise to the gentleman who came to tell us off, if we were on your beat, but I do wish you'd stayed behind to at least explain to us, instead of just speeding off....
The problem for me is that the Map on the site has things like " Beat 1 runs from Boundary Pool to Picnic Pool".... Right, thats all fine and good, but how in Buddhas name am I supposed to know which pool is Picnic Pool, and which pool is Bubbas Pool and so on... ? The river also changes its look and feel completely depending on the levels, so what may look like a big long pool on a low water day, seems like just a large run on a high water day etc... Know what I mean?
Same goes for the marking of the entry areas off the N1 or off the path on the EP... unless you go with someone who already knows the beats, you are pretty much stumbling around in the dark trying to figure out where you should be fishing!
So my appeal is two fold:
1 - Make better roadside and path side markings/signs for the beats so that when one is driving along the ridiculously busy N1 you don't have to crawl along in the yellow lane at risk of getting steam rolled by a massive truck barreling along while you're trying to find some sign of where you should park for your beat...
2 - Somehow make markings on the Streams themselves on where a beat starts and stops... this could be something as simple as a painted marker on a large rock, or a pole put up stream side with a bright clear sign stating " START BEAT 2" or whatever so that when you are fishing your way upstream you are immediately aware that you are getting to the end of your beat....
Am I wrong in thinking this? Am I an idiot for not being able to read the CPS map clearly? Am I a heathen for not knowing the name of every single pool on every single beat? Is it a monetary thing that better signage hasn't already been implemented?
Please, I must express again that this is NOT a dig at the CPS.... Buddha knows the CPS has a pretty thankless and tiresome job of making sure we all have access to some world class waters, at a fraction of a cost of what it would cost us anywhere else in the world, and I for one am incredibly thankful for this... But I would love to be able to go out there and fish, knowing exactly where I should be fishing, and knowing that there is no chance that I will encroach on someone else's beat, they on mine... because it is a truly K@K feeling when you think you are fine and then you're informed that you are actually in the wrong place, you've fished through your beat and into someone else's....
Right, so that is my Monday morning ramblings.... Your thoughts and feedback would be appreciated... or if you need to tell me to shut up, thats fine too.... :-)
*** TO RIDE, SHOOT STRAIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH ***
Some people are like Slinkies.... Not really good for anything, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Hunter S. Thompson
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