Swartkops angling rite changes gear
WHILE the Swartkops River’s water quality count remains very questionable with potentially disastrous consequences, especially in the upper reaches, it’s time for an angling competition which has become an institution over the years.
The Rod Club “Skins” has always been a slaughter competition with all fish being weighed at the club’s weigh station. But this year all catches are going to be weighed and then released.
It will be a first for this competition (it has been successfully done on the Sundays and Gamtoos over the years).
The Rod Club Skins has always been controversial and seen by some observers as a clean-out of the estuary. When top anglers get together and target one ecosystem and all fish caught are compromised this cannot be good for sustainability.
This new format caters for the competitive anglers as well as all who are concerned about the future of the Swartkops River in its entirety. That includes the public and their future support through sponsorship of angling.
Moving away from the “blood sport” label is a good concept and organisers of such competitions should be commended. Sponsors don’t want negative publicity but are vital to the success and support of such events.
This past week saw the Argentine Coast Guard sink a Chinese vessel that refused to cooperate after it was caught in Argentinian coastal waters, which include squid grounds in an exclusive economic zone. The boat was sunk after shots put a hole in the hull. Here is a clear message globally governments are serious about combating poaching.
The Chinese Government is outraged at the incident, but I wonder what their stance would have been if the roles were reversed?
They have already depleted their stocks and are focusing on foreign waters. But the message now is that if you poach you could lose everything!
On Wednesday, at the angling social at St George’s Strand, a young wave garrick was landed by Ronnie Marshall. This species is not normally fished in our waters, rather much further north towards Mozambique. But we have witnessed these occurrences on a regular basis of late.
This weekend the west wind will prevail with low tide at about 8am tomorrow, making an early outing for a fry a good prospect.
As we approach spring tide around Wednesday the prospects look good all round. Visit the website www.tides4fishing.com , that allows the angler to speculate on when to fish. I also use www.windfinder.com