Vaal River Update

[MaXiMuM]

Just saw the weather forecast...

Looks like its going to be a little wet...

[Gael]

Yesterdays ave at barrage was 53 cms, flow at 7am this morning 40cms.

[dlampert]

Yesterdays ave at barrage was 53 cms, flow at 7am this morning 40cms.

Hi Gael,

Just out of interest, what do you guys consider a good flowrate for fishing ? We were fishing between 350 - 600 cumecs on the Orange which was a bit of a joke. Granted the Vaal is probably narrower then the Orange which means you feel the higher flow rates a lot quicker.

Regards,
Darryl

[Gael]

Personally I like it up to 30cms and you can fish most venues below the barrage comfortably, though you may find an area at a venue where it’s a little too fast but the rest is fine. There are a few venues on the upper/middle Vaal the are still fishable up to about 80cms, but those are where the river has a bit of width to disperse the flows and it’s hard work

Further down stream towards Orkney (though not all venues), the river can be quite wide and is less affected by the high flows, but the reduced clarity does come into play then.

If the flows are high, I prefer to wet wade and in shorts (not the usual long pants) as the drag will from the quick-dry pants can become huge.

[MaXiMuM]

Just out of interest, what do you guys consider a good flowrate for fishing ? We were fishing between 350 - 600 cumecs on the Orange which was a bit of a joke. Granted the Vaal is probably narrower then the Orange which means you feel the higher flow rates a lot quicker.

Actual, from the pic you posted, the Vaal is not much narrower. The best is when the flow is between 10 and 30, but it can be fished up to 100 in certain places… your 300 to 600 must have been tough.

The problem with the Vaal is the flow is directed into channels and they pump… so crossing and fishing them is tough, it looks like where you were fishing the river flows as a single unit.

[dlampert]

Personally I like it up to 30cms and you can fish most venues below the barrage comfortably, though you may find an area at a venue where it’s a little too fast but the rest is fine. There are a few venues on the upper/middle Vaal the are still fishable up to about 80cms, but those are where the river has a bit of width to disperse the flows and it’s hard work

Further down stream towards Orkney (though not all venues), the river can be quite wide and is less affected by the high flows, but the reduced clarity does come into play then.

If the flows are high, I prefer to wet wade and in shorts (not the usual long pants) as the drag will from the quick-dry pants can become huge.

Thanks Gael,

Clarity was a major problem, at best about 5cm. In those kind of conditions, the only way the fish will see the fly is if it bumps him on the nose or foul hooks him. It still amazes me that in those conditions we caught most of our fish in the mouth. It's in these kinds of conditions that I think hot-spots come into their own.

I wet-waded in longs all the time, more for sun protection then anything else. I do agree though that in those conditions they caused a lot more drag.

Regards,
Darryl

[dlampert]

Actual, from the pic you posted, the Vaal is not much narrower. The best is when the flow is between 10 and 30, but it can be fished up to 100 in certain places… your 300 to 600 must have been tough.

The problem with the Vaal is the flow is directed into channels and they pump… so crossing and fishing them is tough, it looks like where you were fishing the river flows as a single unit.

Hi Mike,

In that pic what you are seeing is one channel ! The river was several hundred meters wide at that point with two or three channels ! We had no chance of trying to cross channels at De Hoop, we would have ended up in Oranjemund. At Potjiespram which is much shallower, we were able to cross a couple of the shallower channels but needed a wading stick. Chris and Kevin fished late one evening and had to swim across one of the deep channels - not something they wanted to repeat in a hurry.

Regards,
Darryl

[Herman Jooste]

Hello all, the flows at the barrage Yesterday (21 Dec ) were around 70 cumecs, still fishable at Silverstrome.With all the rain we'eve had and more rain forcast Please check on the flows before setting out. It would not be good to spend 2 hrs or so getting to the river to find it unfishable due to a raging torrent. ( It's a loooong hike back from Bloemhof )

[pieterkriel]

Hello all, the flows at the barrage Yesterday (21 Dec ) were around 70 cumecs, still fishable at Silverstrome.With all the rain we'eve had and more rain forcast Please check on the flows before setting out. It would not be good to spend 2 hrs or so getting to the river to find it unfishable due to a raging torrent. ( It's a loooong hike back from Bloemhof )

yep, I think we are in for some high flows for a while, it would seem that it is raining in all the places that will cause this..

[chris williams]

yup over 70 again today - good luck/swimming guys!