blog

2011 Fine art project

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:54:37 +0100

Besides the coffee table book project I have been busy capturing the fresh fine art prints over the past months. I will update individual creations in JoeLategan.com Blog and Joe Lategan facebook pages.

The last few years Fine art Images in the platinum gallery such as "The last ranger" that won various awards, Urikaruus cloud , Sossusvlei collection amongsts others sold well and investments increased favorably. They also represent me well on office and home walls across the globe.

This year was good to me and the latter halve of the year allowed me to create a few additional images that will without doubt overtake these giants of the past. As a matter of fact I have created the most additional fine art work in the first halve of this year then I ever produced in six months. No wonder I also worked the hardest and traveled the most. More than one third of the days were spend away from home travelling, scouting and creating images. These new images include amongst others the flagships "Garden of Edens Forbidden tree" , "Eves tree", "My beach" , "Mooiplaas waterhole" and "Wagon eater" in Black and White and colour. This years recently added creations to the Platinum range are even more awesome. They can be seen in the Platinum album on the website. Off course there will be the unexpected fine art images that will surprise me with the public's reaction as it always happens with photographers. It is one of the surprises to see the response to the newly created images. Sometimes they are not even printed and are discovered years later. Lets wait and see. Then there are the Images of the railroads along the N1 that are some of my all time favorites without a doubt. The most surprising or biggest lesson however was the fact that lots of my new top images without a doubt were created within 10 kilometers of my home each time. Even after staying at each location for many years travelling past the scenes that blew me away ultimately. The stories of the creation of each artwork will follow in sequence in the joelategan.com blog and facebook pages.

Cheers

Fly fishing for Catfish

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:51:30 +0100

Fly fishing for Catfish

Fly fishing for the Southern African sharptooth catfish (Clarius Gariepinus) and the Vundu (heterobranchus longifilis ) in Zimbabwe and upwards could perhaps be the most underrated or should I say undiscovered fly fishing adventures especially for the big fish hunters. I would go further to say that it could be the most underrated or again undiscovered species (from an angling perspective) in the world taking in consideration its distribution, success as a species, totals and sizes as well as its fighting capabilities. These two species belong to the air breathing group (Clariidae)of catfishes.

There are various other groups such as the squeakers( beautiful group fishes) , mountain catfish, butter catfishes, sand catlet’s, rock catfishes, grunters, electric catfish etc. Some of them very endangered.

Where to go for them

Sharptooth catfish (clarius gariepinus) can be found in most waters and have unfortunately been translocated into areas unlawfully and can cause great damage to local rare and small indigenous species. (The most widely distributed fish species in Africa) The Vaal /Orange river catchment is probably the best and has the largest specimens. They can also be found in Israel, Lebanon and Turkey. Likes most habitats but are essentially river fish. The Vundu can be found from the Zambezi upwards into Egypt. In the larger sections of the Vaal and the Orange would be the best places to target them with the Orange without a doubt delivering the largest specimens. Not that there are not huge specimens lurking around in the Lower Vaal river.

How to fish for them

The sharptooth catfish and Vunu are omnivorous and will eat basically anything. As a matter of fact they are highly cannibalistic and eat each other when only around 1 and a 1/2 centimetres long. Therefore one has to observe the habitat of the catfish you are targeting to see what its feeding on to present the food source during the time of fishing. Of course they will eat a range of other foods as well but can be extremely particular during certain phases or seasons.

It is very important to know the anatomy of the Sharptooth catfish and Vundu catfish when targeting them. Their eye sight is not that developed due to very powerful lateral lines and capacity to smell food with about the same if not better than that of a shark. So they rely on smell and vibration. The flies must thus be plonked onto the water and /or moved within close proximity of the catfish. It must be mostly of large size as well.

Night fishing along the banks especially when the catfish hunt in large groups into baitfish along the banks is also a great adventure.

What tackle to use

Depends on the size of the fish you are targeting . If smaller sizes in small farm dams are targeted use a rod and gear in relation to it, but when going to the suggested areas for specimen hunting you require at least a 10 weight to have any chance but 12-15 are better choices. 10 kilogram tippet the minimum and heavy duty hooks such as those used for large tiger fish or saltwater . Heavy saltwater outfits are thus the preferred tackle. Floating mostly , intermediate and sinking line in winter to get to the deep pools.

Successful fly patterns.

Mouse scorpion, lizard, Lady purple, Pink panther, CatfishJoe guinea fowl, heavy weighted flies to get to the bottom if you know where they are resting in the big holes.

The fight

The fight of catfish could be the most energy sapping in your fly fishing career. Some idiot spread word that they are lazy fighters. A catfish of 27 kilograms would be a true test of an angler ...if he could land it, especially in the rivers and not a dam. Of course it is easier to catch and land them in dams due to the reduced amount of obstacles in the water. A large specimen would almost certainly cause the angler to jump into the river with the cat and flow downstream for quite a distance. If a large (strong) enough rod is not used it is very difficult to lift even tired fish from the bottom of a river seeing that the head of a catfish forms a natural Shute fighting vertical from the bottom upwards. Buddy casting on the same spot by two anglers repeatedly also works well especially below fresh nests of birds. Casting scorpion and mouse patterns onto a rock and pulling it slowly into the water also works well in the vicinity of large catfish.

Record sizes.

IGFA line class records. I have caught them well over 40 kilograms on conventional tackle but have not landed these sizes on fly fishing gear. It is our objective to now land them on fly fishing tackle (over 30 kilogrammers)

Fly fishing for mudfish

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:50:42 +0100

Fly fishing for mudfish

There are at least 80 species of Labeo or mudfish’s. They are specialised feeders of algae and have large inferior mouths with developed complex lips with grinding teeth in the pharynx and very long, coiled intestine.

The “Labeo umbratus” group consists of four species. They all tolerate low oxygen levels and have small scales except the seebri .They do well in dams. They also have two pairs of barbells. They turn a very dark almost black when spawning. Eggs hatch after 3-4 days and they grow rapidly .They mature between 220 and 240 mm. They breed in large groups over very shallow waters and absolutely exposed to predators such as fish eagles, otters, and man. Although these fish are quit prolific in numbers riparian owners do not pay them the respect they deserve during the spawn periods. Females produce over 250000 eggs.

The species relevant in this group are the Moggel (Labeo umbratus), Orange river mudfish (Labeo capensis), Tugela Labeo (Labeo rubromaculatus), Clanwilliam sandfish (labeo seebri)

Another group of Labeo of interest to the Southern African angler is the Labeo Niloticus group and consists of Manyame Labeo (Labeo altivelis), Rednose Labeo (Labeo rosae), Silver Labeo (labeo ruddi)

Other labeos include the Purple labeo Labeo congoro), Redeye labeo (Labeo cylindricus), Leaden Labeo (Labeo molybdinus), Upper Zambezi Labeo ( Labeo lunatus), Cunene Labeo ( Labeo ansorgii)

Where to go for them

The umbratus can be found in the Orange Vaal all the way down to the cape and major rivers.

The Capensis or Orange river mudfish is the major fish species in the Vaal Orange river system and luckily difficult to target by anglers. Very little anglers, whether fly or conventional target them although there are anglers that specialise in these on conventional tackle. Most fly fishermen accidentally hook into them and then discover the brute power of this species. As far as I’m concerned the most powerful pound for pound in African waters, especially in the stream or fast flowing waters. It is absolutely amazing to watch these species lying still in fast flowing water. A mudfish foul hooked that turn sideways feels like a trout 4 -5 times its size. And it has sustained power. Due to its specialised mouth and eating habits they are mostly foul hooked by anglers targeting smallmouth yellowfish. Sometimes they take a very large streamer I think due to aggression during the spawn .I have once caught a mudfish on a 10 cm artificial bass lure hooked in the mouth as well. Small bloodworms are sometimes taken if retrieved on the bottom between the rocks where they feed.

How to fish for them

Fly dropped to between rocks where they feed, slowly drifting or stationery. It is possible to sight fish for them.

What tackle to use

5/6 weight tackle with float/ intermediate 2kg tippet.

Fly patterns

Smaller winter flies for smallmouth yellows and algae pattern just after the spawn and bloodworms

The fight

You tell me!

Records

Conventional record in the region of 4 kilos. The Orange River definitely have specimens of over far over 5 kilograms, and they are caught on fly.

Fly fishing for smallmouth yellowfish

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:49:58 +0100

Fly fishing for smallmouth yellowfish

Where to go for them

Many anglers don’t know the difference between the large and the smallmouth especially when they are around 300 mm especially beginners to the sport of fly fishing. Especially as some smallmouth yellowfish don’t have the very thick lips that most possess. They have two pairs of barbells though and eyes that are able to see below and to the sides. They occur higher than the largemouth yellowfish in smaller tributaries. They prefer clear flowing water of bigger rivers with sandy rocky bottoms. The Smallmouth (barbus aeneus) breeds in spring to early summer after the first good rains of the season. It is said that they migrate upstream to spawn on suitable gravel beds. Eggs hatch in 3-8 days and after a further 5 days begin feeding on microscopic organisms. The Vaal /Orange catchment is the major area but is also found in Gouritz, Kei, Fish, Limpopo and Zimbabwe and other areas. They mature at 200 mm. Females at 240 mm. They are omnivorous but gets more piscivorous when large. The Vaal River and Orange River have many great spots to catch them in large numbers. Our largest during October this year in the beginning of the season was a 12 pound fish by Hardus in the Lower Orange river where we operate our wilderness raft excursions. We expect very large specimens during our November excursions. The heavy floods of the beginning of this year 2010 have now cleared sand and silt over gravel beds and there should be more spawning areas than the 10 previous years .Already I have witnessed exceptional spawning by Mudfish along the Orange river.

How to fish for them

What is important is to remember the preferred habitat and to “match the hatch” . Also bear in mind that they prefer fast flowing water of around 1-1 ½ meters between interspersed rocks with some aquatic vegetation along the edges. Between large rocks and behind drop offs.

See our video on “How to catch Yellowfish volume 1-5”.Or buy our DVD on Yellowfish.

What tackle t use

5/6 weight rod, floating line and tippet of 2-6 kilograms depending on the size of the fish and the ease of catch periods. I go for the large smallmouths and prefer the 6-9 weight rods as I don’t want to lose the largemouths that also from time to time take my large flies while catching for Smallmouths. Never go lighter than a 5/6 to minimise break offs.

Fly patterns

Dragon fly nymphs, wide range of caddis patterns, daddy long legs, TVN, stonefly nymphs, beetles, adult dragonflies etc. See fly section.

The fight

I have Nothing to say about the fight than that it is a few times harder than any trout. It is a very powerful fish and when catching a 4 kilogrammer in the stream it sometimes feels like you have hooked into a rock or got stuck. It then takes a few seconds to determine whether you have hooked into a fish or whether you got stuck. No feeling in the world can beat a good day’s smallmouth yellowfish action in a wide long rapid. Even better to do it where there’s no other people around in perfect surroundings. And even better if you sleep right next to the water and do some night casting in bright moonlight as well. That’s in summer when the water is warm and they are prolific in the fast water.

In winter it gets extremely tricky and very small flies with very slow actions will produce a fish ..or maybe two during June / July. Not really the time to target them. Just after the spawn is good .

Records

SA record I believe is 7.84 kilograms on conventional tackle. Large fish on fly as far as I’m concerned are over 4 kilos with everything over 5 kilos exceptional catches.

Fly fishing for Largemouth Yellowfish

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:49:08 +0100

Fly fishing for Largemouth Yellowfish

The Largemouth Yellowfish or Barbus Kimberleyensis is the largest scale bearing fish in Southern Africa and indeed in South Africa. It has a larger mouth than other yellowfish that terminates in thin lips. It has two pairs of smallish thin barbells with dorso –lateral eye placement. One of the differences between it and the smallmouth yellowfish is that you cannot see the eyes from below and more visible from the top. In other words they are good hunters of prey upwards. Their colours vary from silver to yellow but the younger fish of 300 mm are very silver in colour. It is said that the SA record is 22,2 kilograms. The females grow larger than the males and gets older. A very sensitive and scarce species but probably the most valuable sports angling species in Africa with the Perch, Tiger and Goliath tiger – to date. Of course the mudfish, catfish are two species together with the Clanwilliam yellowfish and other yellowfish and a few other fish species have not reached their full potential with fishermen though...may be a good thing!. It is my opinion that anglers up until now have not been able to land the larger Largemouth yellowfish specimens, even on conventional tackle. We specialise in monster catfish and the most brutal takes ever while catching catfish with 50 pound line and 80 pound leaders have been largemouth yellowfish. There is just no way a fly rod of 12 weight will land a 20 kilogramer in our rivers. Well let me say the chances are slim. Everything in our powers should be done to eradicate the conventional anglers that are successful with this species and kill every fish they catch. I know angler along the Vaal River that have only been fishing for this species and will catch as much as 15 Largemouths and above 5-10 kilograms on every outing and eat and sell them. At least small effort are made to research these fish over the last few years but almost nothing have been done as far as I’m concerned. The telemetry program on the Vaal have revealed nothing as far as I m concerned to really assist with the conservation of this specie.

The main reason why we should do everything in our powers to prevent the poaching and killing and even catching these species is that they take 5 years to grow only 300 mm and matures at 6 and 8 years respectively when the anal fin turns slight orange. Females the longest.

Where to go for them

The Vaal Orange catchment but they are not to be found in the higher altitudes of Lesotho and the Cape as well as in dams. Recently some very large fish are being caught in our dams by carp anglers. Most of these are also not returned alive. Deep channels in rivers behind boulders right into the rapids. Especially the shoulder or backwater. They are very active after the first small fish in the season starts breeding such as the mudfish. It is then good to fish for them between the thousands of small fry that are jumping around on the surface. They prefer cleaner water and therefore anglers seem to be more successful on fly in the beginning of summer before the water starts to colour form the first rain water. The cleaner waters of the Wilge, the Vaal, Orange, Riet rivers have been good. The Wilge River have produced the largest fish and most good sized fish during September/ October. The main reason for this is that these areas are controlled by farmers and poaching is strictly controlled and forbidden for long stretches of good habitat. The Lower Orange river produced the most fish we caught in relation to smallmouth yellowfish in the same area. Largemouth yellowfish of good sizes will be caught in the beginning of next summer I predict. The good spots are closely guarded secrets however and rightly so! As far as I’m concerned there is no area as good as the Lower Orange for Large specimens due to the same reasons the catfish grow so large over there.

How to fish for them

As they are predators they eat mice, rats, reptiles such as lizards, large insects that fall into the water, such as bugs, grasshoppers, scorpions, crabs, small fish, frogs, small birds etc. They are also quite omnivorous as all the conventional anglers records show. They take mielie pips, fish heads, fish fillets as well as etc as well.

So in essence the angler need to mimic the prey at the right habitat like with all other fish that are targeted. Slowly drifting and casting to right underneath trees where birds normally sit on overhanging branches, Casting a fly to above a boulder and allow it to drift into the eddy behind the rock. Along rocks sticking out of the water, in the back water of pools and even below rapids. No noise should be made and you basically have one cats per spot. Crab patterns work right onto the bank. The most underutilised areas .The crab can literally be dropped onto the bank and slowly pulled into the water .

What tackle to use

Anything smaller than a 7 weight is pushing it although 5/6 weights are used mostly as anglers targeting Smallmouth’s hook into them by accident. Of course it is easier to catch with a 5/6 all day than a 9 weight but a 9 is my preferred weight together with a 10 weight. They are predators that take insects when small but heavy piscivorous above 300 mm it is said. Floating to intermediate and at times sinking line for strong flowing waters . I don’t go lighter than 6 kilos with my tippet.

Fly patterns

Mice patterns crab patterns, streamers, deceivers, zonkers, pups, peddars dragon, Dahlbergs divers, Basic bugs, frogs and large nymphs

The fight

Well its statistics show that it almost always go 12 rounds.....and still win on a knock out. Lots of times they win the fight on a rod break off during the strike. Other times by pulling the rod out of the anglers hands during the take. Sometimes they snap the leaders or the fly and sometimes they just spit out the fly. Lots of times though they tend to “miss” the fly with the first take with a very large splash. It is not a known fact what happens during these misses. It could be that it is just so developed that it can in a fraction of a second feel that the content of the fly is not the real McCoy or the prey item.

Records

No IGFA line class records. The largest on fly on picture is around 10 kilograms. I shall be silent on our largest sizes and the location for the mean time.

Water temperature and fishing 2 micro.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:48:01 +0100

Water temperature and fishing 2 micro.

Importance of understanding water temperature in fishing from an academicals point of view.

Just as temperature and its fluctuation is important for fish and aquatic invertebrates so is temperature naturally important for the angler. Why ? Well firstly because anything that causes the fish to stop biting concerns us so we need to know at least the basics of thermal stress. Too large fluctuations too soon up or down will immediately cause the fish to stop biting and even cause death as we all know. The fish deaths after big hail storms on very warm water are normally the clearest example of this. The following article (extracts from a scientific paper ) will show how complex water temperature is in the aquatic environment and that the angler should apply his mind accordingly.

Spatial and temporal variation in water temperature in our rivers.

I have briefly touched on the factors influencing water temperatures earlier. (Hydrological, Climatic, Structural and regional.)

One must take into consideration daily and annual or seasonal fluctuations. Temperatures are normally lowest in early morning hours and warmest in the mid to late afternoons. This also shifts with the seasons. From winter to summer naturally. Of course large deep rivers , small heavily canopied streams have the least diel ranges in water temperature while on the other hand shallow streams exposed to direct solar radiation and braided rivers have the largest dial range of water temperature.

Seasonal temperatures will naturally have warmer temperatures in summer and lowest in winter. Then there is the inter annual variations like wet cold seasons or dry warm seasons etc . So the averages will thus differ.

“If spatial and temporal variations is combined three broad spatio-temporal scales may be defined (Gunderson et al.1995 cited by Rivers-More et al.2004);namely,

micro-scale (operating at areas ‹10m² (site or reach) and over a time period of hours (diel)];

meso-scale operating between 10m² to 10km²n (longitudinal) over a time period of days (seasonal)]; and

macro –scale [operating at areas ›10km (regional) and over a time period of years (inter –annual)].”Helen Dalas. University of Cape Town.

Of course studies recently ranged from thermal pollution by dams and powers stations to global warming . Detailed studies on the thermal characteristics of all our rivers are not well documented or shall I say water temperatures are not routinely monitored in South Africa.

When studying water temperatures they normally record either at different period of the day or measure hourly temperatures. Ecologically it makes better sense (latter) due to the fact that it allows for measurements of extremes that will have the greater significance.

Modelling water temperature

Water temperature model Studies are categorised so far into three broad categories namely, regression, stochastic and deterministic models .(Cassie 2006)

Regression models include linear (Stefan and Preud’homme 1993), multiple or logistic models (Mohseni 1998).

Simple linear models predict water temperatures asa function of air temperature (weekly or monthly) where multiple regression models include other factors such as discharge time lag etc, while logistic models account for ground water and evaporative cooling (Mohseni and Stefan 1999)

Stohastic and deterministic models are said to be more realistic as they require only air temperature as the input where deterministic models use all relevant meteorological data to calculate energy components. (Stefan and Sinokrot 1993).S o duration curves and degree curves are common outputs to compare cumulative warmth at a site within a season (Essig 1998, Rivers –Moore 2005).

Anthropogenic factors modifying water temperature.

Direct effects of change in water temperatures will direct and include thermal discharge, or indirect including land use charge, agricultural irrigation return flow, flow modification, (river regulation), inter-basin water transfer, modification to riparian vegetation, and global warming. The effect these have on South African rivers are not known as far as I’m concerned.

Effects of temperature changes on physical and chemical characteristics of water.

Temperatures have great effect on water including solubility, oxygen and other gasses, chemical reaction rates and toxicity and microbial activity (Dallas and Day 2004)

High temperatures reduce solubility of dissolved oxygen decreasing its concentration and thus its availability to aquatic organisms and when temperatures increase the vulnerability to toxins intensifies (cyanide, zinc, phenol, and xylene.)

The effect then on aquatic organisms and ecosystems.

Temperatures outside of an organisms optimal temperature range affects growth rate, behaviour, metabolism, reproduction, feeding habits, geographical distribution, community structure, movements and migrations, diseases and pollution. (Vannote and Sweeney, 1980 ) called it the “optimal thermal regime”. Quite logical stuff well defined you might say. Some organisms have a good tolerance level in extreme cold temperatures and some in extreme hot temperatures but within these two broad examples there are thousands of organisms living in a narrower temperature range within.

Physiological and behavioural effects

A 10° C increase in temperature level results in a doubling of organism’s metabolic rate (Hellawell1986) and causes stress due to increased respiration and oxygen demand. Metabolic rate increases drastically. Parasites increase drastically and predator prey relationships are altered radically. Hus fish have temperature thresholds at below which they stop feeding or slow feeding. Fish will move to cooler water if the water temperature increases to close to their threshold and visa versa.

Reproduction, development.

It is common sense that water temperature affects breeding, egg incubation periods, hatching success and duration and it is frequently during reproductive stages that organisms are very sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Fish spawning are known to be triggered by temperature, photoperiod, water level and flooding, intra-specific interactions and the presence of spawning substrates . The spawning periods are almost always during the warmer months when water temperatures are warm. One of the main reasons is that the food is most abundant. In South Africa the water temperatures of 18-19° C seems to be the most favourable for our indigenous fish species. It is also when the growth of aquatic insects are at its peak. Water temperature is also the most important factor in the growth rate of our fish species.

Some temperature/spawn studies on some of our species are;

The Clanwilliam yellowfish (Barbus Capensis) spawn in gravel beds in relative shallow water after upstream migrations between Sep and Dec. Temperatures at spawning beds were between 19.1° and 23.1° Celsius. Lower temperatures the next year however between 16.6° and 17.5° was the water temperature at the spawning sites due to late cold weather. No spawning thus occurred. 19° was thus proposed as a thermal threshold.

Labeo umbratus migrate upstream and spawn on flood plains even in heavy flood summer months such as the previous flood season in the Vaal Orange catchment. Larvae hatched at 22° C (Mulder 1971).

Oreochromus Mossambicus spawn in late November when minimum temperatures get to 18 ° and raising. (James & Bruton1992)

Barbus trevelyani (border barb) also will spawn at 18° celcius. (Bok and Heart 1982)

Both labeobarbus kimberleyensis (largemouth yellowfish, labeobarbus aeneus (smallmouth yellowfish), labeo umbratus (moggel), labeo Capensis (Orange River mudfish) and barbus natalensis spawn between 18 and 23° Celcius. Most of them when fresh water enters the system or the water rise they migrate to suitable habitat. The Labeo species prefer flood plains or the gravel that are exposed during the dry months. Thus very critically influenced by the water level control by dams.

Algae.

Water temperature greatly influence the geographical distribution of a specie. Algal species diversity increases from 0°-25° and decreases › 30°, while biomass increases at 0°-30° and decrease ›30°. Algal classes shift in dominance from diatoms(‹ 20°) to green algae 15°-30°) to blue green-algae (›30°) (DeNicola 1996). So the greater changes in communities occurs ›25 and less below 25°.

Lethal temperature effects on aquatic organisms.

Lethal effects on aquatic organisms are affected by.

1-Rate of temperature change ( up or down)

2- Acclimatisation. (Previous temperature history of organism)

3-Duration of exposure (acute vs. chronic)

4-Life history stage of the organisms

5-Physiological state of the organism (effects of other stresses.

6- Adaptive strategies.

There are also sub lethal effects like for instance on reproduction, spawning, egg incubation and hatchability, development and growth, survival of fry etc.

Ref; Helen Dalas (University of Cape town)

Summary.

The fishermen should thus not only keep track of the water temperature over a week period but for the duration of the season/s, and try and obtain a average, minimum and maximum during winter, summer, the minimum daily and daily maximum as well as the temperature range in the area he/she is fishing in. We should also know the threshold of our species and the organisms they feed on and have a good knowledge of the structure of the waters we fish in. A sort of mental underwater picture of the habitat and most favourable spots at various thermal regimes including a good knowledge of the waters above and below in rivers we catch in.

Water temperature and fishing 1 macro.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:47:10 +0100

Water temperature and fishing 1 macro.

Why is my fishing spot (pool) not so hot after the floods?

Recreational fishermen have for long participated in management and conservation of fish ...specifically because they mostly have a pool they call “my pool”. This could be a stretch of water ranging from 20 meters to 10 kilometres within a reserve or fishing resort, or a specific fishing spot along the banks of a major lake or dam. Now the contrary is also true in that many fishermen (sports fishermen that keep their catch) have totally depleted fish stocks in their pools or fishing spots and even more disturbingly, destroyed the habitat at “their spot” through various malpractices, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

However the “Catch and release” sport fishermen have favourite spots they want to protect because of the productivity at the specific location/s. 99 Percent of anglers don’t study the real reasons as to why their spot is productive; they just ride the wave as long as they can. They don’t normally get it right though for too long as somewhere along the line they will not be able to withstand the pressure to brag about the sizes and or totals and would tell someone that in turn will tell at least 50 others that don’t really have the same ethics, knowledge etc. as the initial “pool owner”. It is the egotistical problem of fishermen..Rarely do you get a fisherman that doesn’t care about the size or totals of the fish he catches. The fly fishing and specimen carp fishing fraternity I think fare the best in this regard.

About our “pools”, let me start by saying that floods cause the water temperature to change and therefore the fish move or migrate or species swop pools or just zones within pools etc. I’m not talking about the initial temperature changes when the water flushes down, following heavy rains but the fact that the habitat has changed dramatically due to heavy rains for long periods that thus causes extended periods of high flows. Exactly like the previous rainy season (summer) in South Africa along the Vaal and Orange River system. In some instances the visibility in the Vaal River was still affected in September due to the Heavy rains in the beginning of 2010. The difference in the “pool” we fished in October in the Lower Orange River for 12 years have changed so dramatically that I realised that some of us fishermen don’t really understand the complexities of water temperature and the responses of the aquatic organisms to thermal variances caused by this hydrological and structural changes to the habitat as we knew it for years prior to the floods. Either as a result of nature causes or thermal pollution. Thermal pollution for example occurs at power stations and below impoundments or where irrigation water “runs back”.

It is also the dramatic climatic changes that have wiped out many forms of life on our planet such as the Dinosaurs and others in the past. Just in a smaller scale do radical changes once every 10-50 years change the habitat along rivers. Things then have to “settle” again. Constant even flowing water start carving out pools or filling deeper holes, vegetation increases etc. Let me say categorically that this flooding is only initially bad for fishing, for instance in the season of the flood such as the beginning of this year fishermen rarely got the opportunity to fish. And the beginning of the next spring and summer ( Sept/ Oct) also showed very bad catch records in all fishing aspects. It is however very good for the survival of the fish as the silting up of our rivers due to the down wash of top soil due to bad farming practices etc washed the rivers clean and gravel beds opened up very nicely for fish to spawn in. The Mudfish must have doubled their totals in the Orange river if I gauge it in the duration of the spawn and the prolific flood plains that opened up and had enough water into the September and October months. This in turn will be very good for the Largemouth yellowfish and the Catfish in the Orange River system.

The thermal characteristics of rivers are affected by Hydrological, Regional, climatic and structural influences.

1-Hydrological influences would be Sources of water, Contribution of groundwater, Rate of flow or discharge, water volume and tributaries.

2-Climatic influences are Air temperatures, solar radiation, Cloud cover, wind speed, vapour, precipitation and evaporation.

3-Structural influences are Topographic features, Aspect and slope, Riparian vegetation, Channel form /morphology, geology, water depth, turbidity and percentage channel as pool.

All organisms have a range of temperatures at which optimal growth, reproduction and general health occurs. Scientists call this the “optimal thermal regime”. Temperatures outside of this range affect metabolism, growth behaviour, food and feeding habits, reproduction and distribution, migration, movement etc. amongst others.

With the heavy floods that occurred the reeds along the embankment were washed away, trees died due to prolonged periods under water-longer than previous years, sand washed into deep pools, shallow areas are now deep pools, rocks washed open creating exposed rocks and more gravel and this all had the most profound impact on the water temperatures on the micro level. The exposed water along the banks that used to be in the shade and thus had cooler water temperatures will have warmer water. The deep pools will now provide the suitable habitat for largemouth yellowfish and large catfish to relax in with warmer water. The water below the rapids that created suitable habitat for yellowfish pre-spawn now was not suitable at all for the pre-spawn at the same time they preferred to spawn during previous years. Deep pools behind large boulders held large fish in previous years with no obstacles but are now unfishable due to large trees and other debris that washed in behind the boulders so more fishing lines break off after flood years cause anglers cast to normal structures and are familiar with the boundaries of break offs.

So it is my advice that anglers take some time to investigate the habitat or morphology of their waters. Something little fishermen do in any case. A sad case will also be that you could have more drowning as people will venture into known waters that will suddenly be very deep or dive into shallow areas that used to be deep.

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 3 cont. The answers.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:45:31 +0100

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 3 cont. The answers.

Cont,

3-What are the sizes of catfish in the area you are targeting and the size of the schools?

A very large catfish that have a defined territory will not be too aggressive when swallowing a piece of bait as it is not worried that a competitor might grab the bait before him or out of its mouth. It has a very unique type of bait but one of the easiest to recognise if you are used to the large catfish.

4-Do you know what the habitat looks like where you are fishing?

In other words if you know the catfish in the respective holes and you drop your bait right in front of it there’s no immediate competition between fish so there could be a less aggressive take.

5-What is the predominant bait/prey during the season or period you are fishing?

During the first hatching of mudfish in rivers for instance the small fish that breed out in the first two weeks are fed on aggressively so catfish munch on hundreds of them. If you bait up with a small strip of baitfish with scales you might have an aggressive take especially if you fish with artificial lures or move the bait. The larger pieces of bait like half fish or large heads will not do that good. You could experience a lethargic take on older not so fresh baits.

6-What is the water temperature?

Cold temperatures make any fish eat slowly or not feed that heavily. Catfish like the warm temperatures but also have a tolerance level at a certain temperature. I found that when other fish start going off the bite due to warm water temperatures they (catfish) seem to hone into the slow reacting fish especially in the beginning of rapids where the fish tend to congregate in the cooler water over rapids especially in the evenings.

7-Pre spawn, spawn or just after spawn?

After the winter season as the water starts to heat up the catfish eat aggressively due to the low metabolism during the winter. During the spawn they go off the bite but can still be caught if they take lures or a fresh strip of fish with scales on that are cast on top of them. I don’t know if it is due to aggression or hunger. But directly following spawn they feed prolifically and can be caught on a variety of baits and sizes.

8-Are there other predatory fish species of relative large size present in the habitat your fishing in?

Sometimes there are other large fish sharing the habitat or various similar sized specimens and when bait is dropped between them they will not take time to swallow. They will swallow the bait immediately. They will swim away quite fast with the bait however.

9-What is the barometric pressure stable dropping or rising?

As with other fish the dropping barometer will reduce bites but not as much as with other indigenous species. We still had excellent fishing well into cold fronts at the right period though.

10-Should I wait to strike for longer than 5 seconds to let the cat really swallow the bait or should I set the hook when I hear the real run.

It is common knowledge that the catfish does not want to feel resistance as it takes hold of the bait. There are however fish that if they feel slight resistance, immediately take the bait more aggressively as they don’t want their prey to escape as the catfish is a very successful predator. And predators don’t play with food. Especially with competition nearby. It is my feeling that it is the h line that the fish don’t like to feel on its body and not resistance of the bait so much. Or let me put it this way the resistance must be related to the size of the bait. A catfish that bites a small piece of chicken liver and at same time feels a weight of a few ounces and a tickle of a line halfway down its body gets confused with the bait size and make up.

Catfish chickens, blood, other concoctions and light line.

The practice by competition or organised anglers to catch catfish with tons of dead chickens or chicks, litters of mammal blood and other horrific concoctions are a disgrace and reflects on the selfish attitude of these sports anglers. Most of them will then be found in church on Sundays. Our Waters are already so polluted on the earth that we can ill afford these malpractices. Besides the fact that it’s against the law to do this. The other worrying factor is that organised angling allow for only 4 kilogram line to catch catfish. Catfish are our largest species of fish and many hundreds are broken off during one season by one club’s members only.

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 2.The answers.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:44:50 +0100

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 2.The answers.

To be able to correctly answer the question of when to strike you have to approach the situation from a scientific point of view and forget about what the winner of the previous competition told them or led them to believe.

To do this one needs to look at the anatomy and behaviour of the catfish and indeed any other fish that is targeted to be able to determine when to set the hook or lift the rod. Also understand that there is division between fishermen about this aspect as well , whether it is necessary to strike the rod or just to lift the rod as the hook will set itself. And both have merit as far as I’m concerned.

The catfish in our waters most certainly is the top predator and dominate the scene from as small as 1 and a half centimetres. They first start eating their own brothers and sisters as soon as it has a 15 % size advantage over each other. This is why so many catfish farming attempts have failed. The product eats the profits. So they are extremely cannibalistic and born hungry.

But let’s look at the larger fish, the ones we target for competitions or when going for specimens.

Firstly catfish are river fish and therefore thrive in river systems and as far as I’m concerned grow larger due to the ease of getting hold of prey in rivers .The prey come to them . They don’t have to search for the prey. So the question arises, do dam catfish and river catfish differ in their approach to the prey or bait in our instance or do they take prey and bait the same way in rivers and in dams.

To get clarity on this we need to go underwater and observe a catfish taking natural prey and when they take bait and during various seasons. The next question that arises is whether a fish head for instance would be taken differently than a piece of chicken livers for instance. Maybe there are differences. And would live bait be taken differently from a small piece of fish that are taken by a catfish.

The other problem or obstacle to analysing this problem is that in my experience with them most scientists don’t really expose their findings especially to anglers as they know the damage anglers do to the habitat across the world. To add to this they will definitely not do a thesis on how a catfish takes a piece of bait or when to strike. That will be left to us. There are however many scientific documents completed on the predator prey relationship of catfish. And even if a scientist tries to tell me he can go to bed for as far as I’m concerned no scientist in south Africa has spend as much time as us observing catfish with a rod in their hands especially to try and hook them.!! They get Doctorates and things like that..we just take photos and memories we don’t brag with. Well some of us. Sad fact is most anglers kill their catch. As a matter of fact various scientists have used my input and observations as indicators. And I don’t want to sound arrogant but what got me fishing for catfish in the first place is the bullshit and myths around catfishing specifically. It is as far as I’m concerned natural to reduce the size of a catfish by halve when anglers talk about the sizes of catfish. (Outside the competition or organised angling where there’s witnesses).

Catfish are predators like hyenas and they only recently discovered that hyenas are just as effective hunters as lion and even better but are successful scavengers as well. A catfish is very similar to a hyena. They can individually lie and ambush prey fish that swim past or they can smell food very far away or the can feel the movement from very far away ..Therefore the not so good eyesight.

So what are the factors to consider in our problem of when to strike? Let’s take two factors to consider for now and continuo with the rest in a follow up article.

1-What does the habitat of the fish you are targeting look like if you target stationery fish , in a hole or behind well known structures for instance. Or does the fish roam the banks of a dam to get to the food?

Fact remains it stays a predator. Take a river for the first example. There are various scenarios to consider such as, when the bait is dropped in a river the flow normally causes the bait to stop before or behind an obstacle –large or small. Let’s say the dead bait a mudfish head is used it can lay between two small rocks. The catfish gets anxious and pushes its head into the rocks but in the process moves around the bait with its body and bump the line continuously causing beeps on the alarm. Does the fisherman know what is happening or does it think that the cat is starting to bite? To take it a step further as soon as the cat moves the bait out between the rocks, the flow of the river washes it down causing faster alarm sounds similar to a take. What does the angler know? Zip! Exactly the same alarm sounds will be caused by a catfish actually swallowing the mudfish head while lying on the spot then moving slightly down or upstream. The one scenario the cat was ready to be striked and in the other scenario not.

Now if the same situation played itself of in a dam much less needs to be considered. I leave it up to you to decide.

2-Does the catfish know instinctively that the food it is about to eat is dead or alive and does it then behave differently in each instance. In other words if the prey or bait it is about to target move or not and does it know when it detects blood that the prey or food is already dead and therefore behave differently in each situation.

Catfish feeding on for instance a spot where local’s gut and clean fish every day will feed in a pack and will swallow food immediately. If there was only one catfish on that spot everyday it would feed passively. On the other hand there is just no way that a catfish will play around with live bait. It will swallow it in a split second. Waiting before you strike in this situation would be nothing less than foolish.

What have you observed regarding this point?

I will continue with the next factors in the follow up article!

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 1.The question

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:43:40 +0100

Catfish –to strike or not to strike 1.The question

In the decade and more that me and my boys have been targeting and researching specimen catfish and its habitat, it soon dawned on me that the biggest question from most serious catfishermen was .. “when should I strike.” When the indicator or alarm makes the slightest noise in other words “single beeps” to “short bursts of beeps” or should I wait until the alarms makes a “continuous fast nonstop series of beeps” or “ machine gun sounds”..in other words when it is clear “the fish has hooked itself”? Of course if there’s no alarm the sound of the reel is the tool to gauge the bite.

Even when fishermen arrive on guided trips during fishing excursions and we have to assist them with this part of the fishing sequence it is always the most difficult part to explain as I believe every bite is unique and only experience of various factors should be considered at various locations habitats and periods. Most rely on us to tell them when to strike but we leave most serious fishermen to select their preferred method of terminal tackle and leave it up to them to decide when to strike. When they are not that successful I we will take over and show them our method- if they request us to. Of course some guys never learn and will not even do this on the last day of their trip.

For this reason only I found that the beginner catfishermen or the fishermen that allows us to indicate to them when to strike are by far more successful with the amount and sizes of their catfish on our river trips. Without question the amount of crap that are fed to each other by organised or competition fishermen are something to laugh about. You get very intelligent people but as soon as they start talking fishing strategies they sound like sci-fi movie script writers. There are many reasons for this and I will write about this phenomenon separately.

What is generally agreed upon is that the catfish don’t really want to feel resistance on the line when it first takes the bait therefore the line needs to be given until a specific point and that is the point of debate. It seems that by far the majority of league anglers and competition anglers for catfish believe the catfish have to “really swallow” the bait before they strike. Upon asking them what the catfish is actually doing with the bait during the period when the alarm goes off they get a bit vague and seems to ignore the realities. This fishing normally takes place in dams where the obstacles are much less than in rivers so they get away with this practice..But what is the catfish doing while it is clearly busy with the bait when the rod tip is moving and line is being stripped off the reel before the angler strikes. ...very little anglers can tell you besides the ones that have physically filmed or observed this behaviour. I have!

The answers I got from fishermen so far include mostly the following;

1-“The catfish needs to swallow the bait properly first so I let him run with the line for a while”.This means the catfish has a swallowing problem. Or it is scared to swallow its food. To the contrary any one that has a little knowledge of the ferociousness of a catfish hunt or attack or eating habit swill know it is nonsense.

2-“They have to swim a distance and then really swallow the bait is another r answer”. This means the catfish once again does not want to swallow food and swim with it before something makes it decide that it is now time to swallow. Now what that is, I DONT KNOW. Also nonsense as catfish is on top of the food chain and they know they have to swallow food as there are many hungry cats in the area. They have big mouths because they eat big food. Further the anglers that have heard catfish swallow small fish and prey on the surface will tell you that it is a sudden aggressive and noisy action.

3-“They first want to investigate the bait before swallowing it so they nibble on it”...Is another answer

Etc.

What is your opinion on when to strike?