1 January to 11 January 2010

2009 is now behind us. We, Bill and Maadje and those involved in keeping Yellowfish Paradise running, wish all our patrons a prosperous and healthy new year.

All readers and patrons are aware that we do not publish reports during December, however if we did publish report it would have been a very negative one. We had severe electric storms knocking out Eskoms power supply to us, thunder storms and heavy rain every second day. The lightning and thunderstorms played havoc on the swimming pool discolouring the water to a nontransparent blue-green.

The riverbanks were soggy and slippery. The tributories into the Lochvaal overflowed their banks. Klipriver, Sugarbush and Rietspruit received more than a fair share of rain and all this water flowed into the Lochvaal. The Barrage normally lets out between 22 to 25 cubic meter of water per second. At one stage the outlet was in excess of 150 cubic meter per second and even now, well in January 2010 still in excess of 80 cubic meter per second. Yellowfish Paradise being below the Barrage naturally suffered the efects of the rising Vaal river, at one stage more than one meter. Wading became hazardous as many of the rocks on the reef between the two major pools were under water and prime fly-fishing spots became practically impossible. Even the bank anglers found fishing difficult.

However, some big Carp and Barbel were caught as well as the odd Yellow. The strong flow made fly-fishing in the river and rapids very dangerous. But let us not be negative. We need the rain to restore the negative effects of winter. Lots of food came down the river for the fish and this makes fly-fishing for the remainder of the season even more challenging.

11 January to 19 January 2010

It is wet, wet, wet. The rain just does not seem to stop. The Vaal river below the Barrage seems to be in a constant state of flood. Today the 19th of January, the flow rate is 139 cubic meter per second at the gates. It is reported that the Klip river is flowing in at 155 cubic meter per second and the Sugarbush river is flowing at 30 cubic meter. The Rietspruit is also running full. All this water flows into the Loch and out at the Barrage gates. It can therefore be expected that the flowrate at the Barrage may still increase.

Some hardened fishermen did however enjoy their weekend at Yellow Fish Paradise. Bank anglers caught some fair sized Barbel with a mixed bag of Carp and muddies. Muddies and two fair sized small mouth yellows, one in excess of 3kg were taken on brilliant green caddis with a beadhead and flashback tail. The fly patrons went in on large "Kyaks" as the flow was too rough for wading. At present wading is still taboo and the water colour and temperature not quite right for pleasant fishing.

19 January to 25 January 2010

Sorry to disappoint our patrons, but with the tremendous amount of rain, the river is still in flood, the grounds are extremely wet and fishing is very slow. Unfortunately, the bad weather has also taken its toll on the swimming pool and we are still battling with a discoloured pool. Please bear with us we hope that the weather will soon change for the better. For the hardened camper who does not get frightened by rain, please do not hesitate to visit us.

25 January to 1 February 2010

He or she that is not aware of the downpours and storms in the Vaal catchment area, can enjoy a once in every 10 year spectacular view. All the sluice-gates were open at Barrage wall the last weekend( all six of them ) to make way for the outlet at the Vaal dam which at one stage was 120% full.

With the spectacular views both at Vaal dam and Barrage comes a very sad tragedy. Hundreds and thousands of fish died. Below Vaal dam and below Barrage piles of dead fish Carp, Yellow, mudfish and moggels of varrying sizes lie on the banks. At Yellow Fish Paradise in the gullies many dead fish are washing up as also all the way downstream. It is such a waste of fish. It will take the Vaal system some time to recover. Some of the fish burst open, I assume due to the pressure when they were forced or washed through the sluice-gates.

All the campers and rondawel patrons enjoyed a relaxing weekend, spending precious family time together. The weather still play havoc with the swimming pool and the river overflowed its banks and viewing big trees washing down was the order of the day.