River Ettiquette & Conservation - Name and Shame

[Michael]

Right, following my own experience this weekend (and countless other times) as well as seeing the guys from Oord Nebo's report, and Et1's report of the guy keeping hordes of yellows, I decided to start this thread. Let's show these guy's faces and hopefully get the message accross.

I'm also in the process of printing up more pamphlets like the ones we did many years ago, to distribute to the tackle shops, venues, and fishing clubs. It briefly tells the guys about yellowfish and the importance of their conservation, as well as RIVER ETTIQUETTE and plain manners while fishing (respecting other anglers on the water's space, etc).

Now...here's a guy I came accross on Saturday 01 Sep 2011. Anyone know this guy?

Firstly, this guy suddenly appeared upstream from us, wading DOWNSTREAM, and started fishing a run about 20m ahead of us, right where we were heading! No clue (or don't care) about space, respecting other fishermen, nothing. (One does not walk DOWNSTREAM towards other anglers and basically stuff up their fishing spot.)
Secondly, the fish were actively spawning (you could see them thrashing about) in the water just to his right. These were the yellows he was targetting. Also walking all over their spawning beds.
Thirdly, having no net with him, he grabbed each yellow he caught by the head and gills, lifted them up vertically to his face, removed the hook, and chucked the fish back.

Anyone know him? Please help him right...

I have a new tactic...in future I will ask the guys the following questions:

1. Where is your fishing license? If you don't have it, it's poaching and you can go to jail and have all your tackle confiscated and your vehicle impounded. I think I will now call Nature Conservation and the police. (This should generally work pretty well).
2. Do you know about yellowfish conservation, and the regulations on how many you are ALLOWED to keep?
3. Do you know the difference between smallmouth yellowfish & largemouth yellowfish?

Anyway...if you come accross any other Tools, submit a reply here with pics if you can, registration numbers, etc.

[Shamwari]

His name is Nike Mewby...

[smallstreams.co.za]

Nice thread idea Mike.

Another suggestion is to perhaps carry 10 or so pamphlets in your vest/backpack to hand to the people in question on the river? That said, if they have the attitude they seem to have, it could just become trash in/next to the river

Then, is there no legal avenue to pursue in reporting a VENUE that allows such practices on "their" river?

[smallstreams.co.za]

Suggestion #2:

Is there no way to officialy appoint "marshalls" that has some sort of power to issue fines etc? Something like the Cape Rangers? Normal fisherman who care, and who have been assigned the power to confront and legally act against said people?

[schloshd1]

Suggestion #2:

Is there no way to officialy appoint "marshalls" that has some sort of power to issue fines etc? Something like the Cape Rangers? Normal fisherman who care, and who have been assigned the power to confront and legally act against said people?

We discussed this over the weekend at Oord Nebo and Angi is going to try set up a meeting with Nature Conservation to find out exactly what we as concerned fisherman can legally do.

[Ryan]

Right, following my own experience this weekend (and countless other times) as well as seeing the guys from Oord Nebo's report, and Et1's report of the guy keeping hordes of yellows, I decided to start this thread. Let's show these guy's faces and hopefully get the message accross.

I'm also in the process of printing up more pamphlets like the ones we did many years ago, to distribute to the tackle shops, venues, and fishing clubs. It briefly tells the guys about yellowfish and the importance of their conservation, as well as RIVER ETTIQUETTE and plain manners while fishing (respecting other anglers on the water's space, etc).

Now...here's a guy I came accross on Saturday 01 Sep 2011. Anyone know this guy?

Firstly, this guy suddenly appeared upstream from us, wading DOWNSTREAM, and started fishing a run about 20m ahead of us, right where we were heading! No clue (or don't care) about space, respecting other fishermen, nothing. (One does not walk DOWNSTREAM towards other anglers and basically stuff up their fishing spot.)
Secondly, the fish were actively spawning (you could see them thrashing about) in the water just to his right. These were the yellows he was targetting. Also walking all over their spawning beds.
Thirdly, having no net with him, he grabbed each yellow he caught by the head and gills, lifted them up vertically to his face, removed the hook, and chucked the fish back.

Anyone know him? Please help him right...

I have a new tactic...in future I will ask the guys the following questions:

1. Where is your fishing license? If you don't have it, it's poaching and you can go to jail and have all your tackle confiscated and your vehicle impounded. I think I will now call Nature Conservation and the police. (This should generally work pretty well).
2. Do you know about yellowfish conservation, and the regulations on how many you are ALLOWED to keep?
3. Do you know the difference between smallmouth yellowfish & largemouth yellowfish?

Anyway...if you come accross any other Tools, submit a reply here with pics if you can, registration numbers, etc.

After Mike became seriously frustrated with this tool in the picture, Mike left and went and fished elsewhere.. I was fishing the tail water of the rapid at the time. I had hooked into a fish and was busy trying to land it, when this guy came down the rapid, proceeded to walk straight across it and then went and stood exactly where Mike was fishing, which was about 3-4m away from me at the time.... I was furious!! I then decided to move along too as I was far from impressed.

BUT, it didn't end there... This "TOOL" eventually left the spot after realising it is far more difficult to catch fish using some skill as opposed to targeting them in the spawning beds. He now decided to fish close by us again, fishing another section of gravel bed where fish were obviously using to spawn too!!

People seriously need to be educated and I also feel that tackle shops should come to the party and advise these "TOOLS" before they ruin a day out on the water for others!!

[firephish]

hectic, sounds like you need some pepper spray on your zinger?

I tend to be philosophical about this if i'm fishing a "busy venue". You know you are going to have loads of people walking up and down the river, and i've caught enough fish next to my feet (not to mention next to my fishing partners feet ) to not really be worried about anyone spooking nymphing yellowfish.

This is the sad reality of fishing within spitting distance of a major city. If i don't want to see anyone i'll go park myself up a small side channel or halfway down the elgo drift!

That said, there is no excuse for wading through spawning beds, and cutting in front of you - what did the guy say? Did you explain to him he's being pretty rude and decimating future generations of fish?

[smallstreams.co.za]

People seriously need to be educated and I also feel that tackle shops should come to the party and advise these "TOOLS" before they ruin a day out on the water for others!!

I hope educating will work. From experience though it takes a while, and a single reprimand on the river will not work. Changing attitudes is a long term thing. Good luck guys, I really do hope you get some sort of solution for this.

[Ryan]

hectic, sounds like you need some pepper spray on your zinger?

I tend to be philosophical about this if i'm fishing a "busy venue". You know you are going to have loads of people walking up and down the river, and i've caught enough fish next to my feet (not to mention next to my fishing partners feet ) to not really be worried about anyone spooking nymphing yellowfish.

This is the sad reality of fishing within spitting distance of a major city. If i don't want to see anyone i'll go park myself up a small side channel or halfway down the elgo drift!

That said, there is no excuse for wading through spawning beds, and cutting in front of you - what did the guy say? Did you explain to him he's being pretty rude and decimating future generations of fish?

I didn't say anything.... Cos I felt like drowning him... I can appreciate what you saying Michael, but the Vaal is a big river and there really is no feed to #$5&* stand on top of me... But it was funny to see how he thought by standing where Mike was he would now haul out fish.... He clearly has a heck of a lot to learn!!!!

[Michael]

hectic, sounds like you need some pepper spray on your zinger?

I tend to be philosophical about this if i'm fishing a "busy venue". You know you are going to have loads of people walking up and down the river, and i've caught enough fish next to my feet (not to mention next to my fishing partners feet ) to not really be worried about anyone spooking nymphing yellowfish.

This is the sad reality of fishing within spitting distance of a major city. If i don't wat to see anyone i'll go park myself up a small side channel or halfway down the elgo drift!

That said, there is no excuse for wading through spawning beds, and cutting in front of you - what did the guy say? Did you explain to him he's being pretty rude and decimating future generations of fish?

I always have pepper spray with me anyway...it's mostly in case I come accross an angry boerboel or rottweiler from a farm...

I did not speak to the guy...after shouting some choice words up to him, which were ignored probably or fell on deaf ears, I was foaming at the mouth a little so decided to rather go fish another channel. If I went to "speak" to the guy in that frame of mind one of us would have ended up face down in the river. So I just left to calm down.

Worst was...I dunno where he came from, he obviously did not park where we parked, on the farmer's land we accessed. Maybe a venue downstream, or accross the river, I don't know. But where he was fishing, he definitely did not have permission from the farmer that we spoke to.
I don't even really mind that...river can accomodate quite a few people...and I am tolerant...as long as the other people show the same respect I show them, in terms of giving their fishing area's a wide berth, not wading upstream of them, etc.
There were a few other guys fishing the same venue we were, and parked where we parked, and they respected everyone else's fishing area's. Which is great. But there's always some tools who have no manners (and no conservation ethics either). And the days where guys plead innocence or ignorance is gone...there's enough media out there (and their mates) who know better, talk about it, articles in mags that they surely must be reading, tackle shops, etc etc.

Mario's suggestion about carrying some pamphlets in our backpacks is a good one. Also to stick on car windows, where the guys park. Having rangers patrol the rivers would be fantastic...however I think that's not going to happen as there is not enough man-power in Nature Conservation to do it, and secondly land-owners would have to be spoken to as well to arrange this, and there are PLENTY along the Vaal, at Parys. I mean it's not like one farmer has 20 km of river on his land...there are many farmers along short stretches of river. Some only have like 300m of river frontage. They are right next to each other. This is why you may park somewhere and have permission to fish there...but wade 100m or so upstream and you're already on someone else's land.
It would be a huge task to patrol all these landowner's river frontage.

The joke is the "Yellowfish Conservation - support catch and release" signs at some of the venues (Oord Nebo being a prime example). They may put it up there, but do they actually care or enforce the rule? No ways. As I mentioned elsewhere...their revenue is probably 95% papgooiers and guys who don't give a sh1t about conservation, and 5% guys like us who actually care...so who do you think they will support? As long as they get their entrance fees, they don't care. It's frikkin sad!

Eendekuil is another example. Many years ago when the guy realised the potential he had there, Keith Wallington spoke to him about conservation, and the importance thereof. He told him to open the water to the public, but to control it. Limit the anglers to maximum 8 per day, and make the guys aware of the river ethics and conservation, spawning, etc etc.
What happened? He pushed his entrance fee up high, and limits the number of anglers to 20 per day! WTF??
But I know that even that rule (even though too much anyway) is not enforced.
It's all about the money...as soon as these farmers sniff that they can make money out of flyfishers, all conservation thoughts go out the window.

Place like Eagle's Nest...just go there on a Saturday to see what I mean. One day, some years ago, I stopped in to see what it was like again after some floods. I counted 25 guys in the water, right in front of where you park...in a stretch of water about 200m long. Ridiculous.

It's no wonder guys are getting secretive about spots.