Cape Chapter

[fish]

Since the first meeting of the Cape chapter was well attended last week we thought it would be suitable to create a separate forum discussing issues related to the conservation and promotion of all yellowfish species. The idea is to involve all fly fishers (start separate threads more related to your area), since we can surely use your input and ideas and most importantly working to wards solutions and not get carried away by the problems we face. For obvious reasons the Cape chapter will mainly focus on Clanwilliam yellowfish, Sawfin and Whitefish. I am aware that there exist healthy populations of smallmouth yellowfish in the Southern Cape and also in the Orange River in the Northern Cape, these should also be looked after and promoted.

The main focus for the Cape chapter will be the highly endangered Clanwilliam yellowfish, Sawfin and Whitefish. With this in mind I would like to kick off with ideas and get your input.

Apart from poisoning whole stretches of river with Rotinon and reintroduce the yellows and all other micro and not so micro organisms I though of the following potential strategy after an interesting conversation with a fellow fly fisher.

There might be merit in the idea to help the Clanwilliams fight the bass and bluegills.The Clanwilliam yellowfish took a huge knock after the introduction of smallmouth bass in the river systems. As an additional food source Bluegill sunfish were introduced into the same systems, which I believe has a severe impact on the Clanwillaims as well, since these little fish are highly aggressive. Smallmouth bass spawn mainly in spring and as far as my knowledge goes the Clanwilliams a bit later. By the time the Clanwilliams spawn, the adult bass are probably off their nests and feeding actively taking in mouths full of baby Clanwilliam yellows. If Clanwilliams can be bred and/or netted in designated dams (stocked with Clanwilliams only) and grown to a reasonable size (bass proof - 700 grams) and released as soon as the bass are on the spawning beds. These fish can start feeding on bass fry. Bass at this stage are easy to catch. By identifying a specific river, the releasing of the yellows can coincide with some sort of bass classic/competition. This event should take place yearly and the numbers of bass caught should be recorded to determine the impact of the strategy. By working with the bass guys, the interest is spread amongst the sport fishing community. The bass caught can be released in waters like Voelvlei where the bass population took a knock since carp and barbel thrive. By doing this the bass guys feel (I believe smallmouth bass is a prime sport fish) it's not a matter of the fly rodders just wanting to slaughter bass.

I'm still thinking about how this can work, but I'm sure there might be a way where the Clan yellows fight the bass with our help. I'm not sure when Bluegill spawn but the same strategy might also work. More scientific information and your ideas are needed.

Cheers,

Philip

[rols]

hi philip
regarding the whitefish. what do you need? why i'm asking is, when the carp club fishes at brandvlei a lot of whitefish come out. i know they are endangered and they are always released. do you need to put some somewhere else? debbie has all the contacts if you need. the clubs are fishing the next three saturdays in a row at brandvlei prison
cheers
roland

[fish]

hi philip
regarding the whitefish. what do you need? why i'm asking is, when the carp club fishes at brandvlei a lot of whitefish come out. i know they are endangered and they are always released. do you need to put some somewhere else? debbie has all the contacts if you need. the clubs are fishing the next three saturdays in a row at brandvlei prison
cheers
roland

Thanks Roland,

We'll have to speak to Cape Nature regarding the strategy for the whitefish. As far as I know the first step is to have a trip to Beaverlac where Clanwilliams will be netted and stocked into certain dams.

Cheers,

Philip

[Chris Shelton]

Philip, I like your idea very much and I think we need to give it some serious thought and discussion when next we meet. I am also not in favour of mass slaughter of bass and if we can work on a plan to relocate those adult fish that we do catch in yellow sensitive systems to more suitable bass waters, it would be a real win win situation. In a sense, inadvertantly the working for yellows group will be working for desirable alien species aswell by means of redistribution of these species to more suitable waters. I like it!

[rols]

definately a better idea. not keen on killing bass or any others. phil i spoke to someone recently and he has made a system for someone at uct, forget his name now and this thing uses current of varoius degrees and stuns the fish for easy counting or transportation. my explanation might be quite basic but from what i understand, especially being the varsity this method has gone through some stringent tests.
lots of help available out there i think
cheers guys