Trout In Retreat

You know the story of the canary in the coal mine? Contributor ANDREW FOWLER laments the degradation of our country’s waterways and the culprits responsible.

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A love of trout combined with an interest in history, a personal thermostat of European origin and a book-collecting addiction have come together to form in me a conservation ethic of a particular nature. These influences have also seen to it that I am experiencing a rising sense of alarm. It is a deep concern, which should arguably be shared by a great many more fly fishers than it perhaps is. Let me explain.

In the South African fly fishing literature you will find references to the survival and indeed success of trout in the following places: the Bushman’s River near Estcourt, the Lions River, the Yarrow (Mpolweni), the Elands River below the main Underberg road, the Inzinga near Impendle. Also the Mkomazana at Willowbrook, the Umgeni below the Dargle Falls, the Little Mooi lower down near the Hlatikulu, the Nyamvubu and Walters Creek. Forgive me for the entirely KZN-based set of examples, but they are the waters I know. All of these places are no longer considered to be trout waters. Who remembers Rockley Lodge and Willowbrook? What of Trent Lodge, Moor Park and Carshalton? Gone. No longer in the logbooks or places-to-visit lists of trout fishermen.

GLOBAL WARMING

Why? The reasons are not complex, but they are significant in combination, even if some of them are arguable. First off is the notion of global warming. This might be controversial, but it has to be said that if you were to ask locals why there are no longer trout in the places listed above, the most common answer is likely to be, “Too warm.” A hundred years ago, however, these areas were not too warm for trout, and there is recorded evidence that trout thrived in those places. If, for a moment, we park the notion of widespread global warming, let us consider what else might have made these places too warm, or in some other way, less suitable for trout.