Author Topic: Vaal River Update (Read 566797 times)

Herman Jooste · « **Reply #540 on:** March 04, 2012, 03:48:48 PM »

Frederick, Pieter ( ICStuff ) and I fished below the dam wall again today. As per normal, I was slow coach and only got onto the water about 30 minutes after Freddie and Pieter. By then Pieter already had 1 in the net.

I fished that river dwars en deur, up, down, across and had 1 on off for my troubles

Freddie finally broke his Virgin status, with a nice muddie in the net. Hooked in the mouth noggal.

Pieter was Cormorant again with at least 5 fish landed and 3 lost.

After our session Pieter and I went to go have a look at the Barrage area to see for ourselves how bad it was.

Driving over the Riet, the river was brown ( normal colour ), but if you looked downstream towards the Vaal you could distinctly see where it turned green.

The river under the bridge just below the Barrage was greener than usual as was the Vaal under the N1 bridge to Bloem. However what suprised me was that the visibility from the N1 bridge, as well as the Barrage bridge was around 60cm, even thought the water was definately greener than normal.

Coming back to Vanderbijl off the N1 you could clearly see an Emerald Green "plug" around the Loch Vaal area.

A pic of Frederick with his first landed fish on the Vaal, followed by a pic of the river at the bridge below the barrage.

P.S. It's great to see the hyacinth coming back so quickly.

schloshd1 · « **Reply #541 on:** March 04, 2012, 07:55:57 PM »

nicely done Freddie

, it's about time too

icstuff · « **Reply #542 on:** March 05, 2012, 08:07:42 AM »

Congrats freddie! I have never seen a man so happy about a fish!

Lichia amia · « **Reply #543 on:** March 05, 2012, 08:43:51 AM »

Had a whistle stop session at Oord Nebo on Sunday morning , we were about 8 blokes on the water and not to many fish came out . The water in the area still looks good but guess it a matter of time before the green blanket reaches the Potch area . We had lunch in Parys on the way back and the river looks like a putting green there as well. Boys and girls this is not looking good !!!!!

Lichia amia · « **Reply #544 on:** March 05, 2012, 08:46:00 AM »

PS: Well done Pietertjie and Freddy !

FCLoretz · « **Reply #545 on:** March 05, 2012, 09:58:05 AM »

Herman, Pieter(ICStuff) and myself fished below the dam wall on Sunday.

Pieter had a good day on the water with 5 Muddies. and losing another 3

Herman Blanked

I managed to get my first Muddy on fly

i have finally popped my Vaal Cherry.

A big Thanks to Herman

for all the time he apent with me helping and guiding me to landing my Muddy.

Also to Andrew

who took a lot of time out of his fishing time on the river to help me.

icstuff · « **Reply #546 on:** March 06, 2012, 11:32:07 AM »

This info is taken from the reservoir.co.za website
IMPORTANT Release of water from Vaal Dam to flush out poor water quality in the Vaal Barrage

Friday evening 9 March 2012
Increase outflow from Barrage to 30m3/s

Saturday 10 March 2012
Increase outflow from Barrage to 50m3/s

Sunday 11 March @ 12:00 2012
Increase outflow from Barrage to 70m3/s
Barrage will drop by about 1m during Sunday evening to Tuesday evening

Tuesday 13 March 2012
Start releases from Vaal Dam @ 100m3/s keeping Barrage at 70m3/s
Barrage will return to normal level from late Tuesday but maintaining higher flows

Friday 16 March 2012
Close Vaal Dam @ 06:00 and return to normal operations

icstuff · « **Reply #547 on:** March 06, 2012, 11:33:50 AM »

This means that the level below the dam and the barrage will increase over the weekend and fishing is not recommended.

Herman Jooste · « **Reply #548 on:** March 06, 2012, 08:14:23 PM »

Thanks Pieter,
I was about to post the same thing.
Fishing below the Barrage will be kooking on Friday and Sat, as yellows seem to go into feeding mode on rising flows. Sunday will be fishable at 70 tons at certain venues, but NOT RECOMMENDED for the novice.

These increased flows will only reach the Potch area from Sunday afternoon to Wednesday, so if you have plans for Elgro, Oord Nebo etc., the fishing should be good.

Please, PLEASE post reports of any fishing you do below the Barrage over the next week, as I need to check against my flow/catch rate/ fly selection theory. No venue need be mentioned, just flow , catch rate and flies.

Remember, dark skies, dark flies. The same applies to water, dark water, dark flies. UV purple/black being the last seen in dark water ( apparently

).

Botton line is, we KNOW there will be increasing flows, so if you are fishing use common sense. Don't get caught on a point which becomes an island, don't get caught on a rock which becomes submerged, keep your eye on your exit route, if it was deep going in, then don't go in, find another place to go in.

Tight lines and look forward to all the reports.

icstuff · « **Reply #549 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:23:48 PM »

Me and Herman took a drive to venue X only to find that fishing is now banned until notice is given

Next we wanted to to try Vaal Streams as we heard a lot of

stories, only to be baffled by a lack of signs - who in their right minds runs a public business with out signs to their place

So we did the troll ting and went to the Italians and it turned out to be a great outing. Within minutes I had my biggest yellow on the line, only to be beaten by a bigger yellow a few minutes later. This fish was a bit camera shy and ducked before Herman could snap a pic. I even sneaked up unto some feeding carp but they did not take anything I threw at them. For the next 30mins we did not even see a fish.

After Herman lost his last control fly without scoring a bite we tried the lower rapids and was greeted by some rapid flowing water that I would not recommend for a newbie, but after just a cast or two Herman was into a nice fish after a short inspection it was released. He lost two more fish and I landed another yellow. To top the day I took one beaut of a dive that filled my waders with water.

My fish where caught on an orange hotspot and a copper john/dragon fly thingy.

Lichia amia · « **Reply #550 on:** March 11, 2012, 06:31:03 PM »

Nice on Pietertjie and Herman ! After the chemical spill in that part of the Vaal, how healthy do the fish look ?

icstuff · « **Reply #551 on:** March 12, 2012, 07:42:53 AM »

The fish in both rapids looked healthy, the fish in the bottom rapid had a lovely yellow colour

Rory · « **Reply #552 on:** March 12, 2012, 07:45:52 AM »

Nice Pieter, pity you couldn't get a pic! Of the fish I mean, not the shuffle!

Quickbite · « **Reply #553 on:** March 12, 2012, 07:46:45 AM »

Quote from: icstuff on March 12, 2012, 07:42:53 AM

The fish in both rapids looked healthy, the fish in the bottom rapid had a lovely yellow colour

nice pieter - tell me what is the troll thing- n where is the italians?

icstuff · « **Reply #554 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:04:42 AM »

Go to deneysville(freestate) R549 just before the bridge you will find the venue(cant remember the name), if you see a sign "welcome to the freestate" turn back. You can fish the rapids just under the bridge, or the one downstream.

Rory · « **Reply #555 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:13:20 AM »

Quote from: Quickbite on March 12, 2012, 07:46:45 AM

nice pieter - tell me what is the troll thing- n where is the italians?

Hey Quick, if you fish there please wade really carefully, proper boots and a wading stick. The currents are incredibly strong and the wading is pretty trecherous.

Quickbite · « **Reply #556 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:31:26 AM »

thanks guys... tell me - any GPS -coordinates for place...do they have website... any fees etc..

Lichia amia · « **Reply #557 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:40:54 AM »

Quote from: Quickbite on March 12, 2012, 08:31:26 AM

thanks guys... tell me - any GPS -coordinates for place...do they have website... any fees etc..

Have a look at the Google Earth Map , little primitive but might help . See Italians as well on the right of map.

Vaal Streams Location Veekraal turnoff from R716
GPS co-ordinates : S 26° 51’ 30.8” E 028° 04’ 29.9”

Quickbite · « **Reply #558 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:48:16 AM »

Quote from: Lichia amia on March 12, 2012, 08:40:54 AM

Quote from: Quickbite on March 12, 2012, 08:31:26 AM
thanks guys... tell me - any GPS -coordinates for place...do they have website... any fees etc..

Have a look at the Google Earth Map , little primitive but might help . See Italians as well on the right of map.

Vaal Streams Location Veekraal turnoff from R716
GPS co-ordinates : S 26° 51’ 30.8” E 028° 04’ 29.9”

thanks Lichia - this helps :)

icstuff · « **Reply #559 on:** March 12, 2012, 05:35:35 PM »

Quote from: Rory on March 12, 2012, 08:13:20 AM

Quote from: Quickbite on March 12, 2012, 07:46:45 AM

nice pieter - tell me what is the troll thing- n where is the italians?

Hey Quick, if you fish there please wade really carefully, proper boots and a wading stick. The currents are incredibly strong and the wading is pretty trecherous.

Rory is correct, you work like hell for your fish. And even though the flow might be low it goes through a narrow channel. This is the reason I fell, the current ripped my from my perch. today I feel like I have had a workout at the Gym because of climbing up and down all the rocks, my knees and shins are also showing some marks.