Conservation

[Brenden]

hi Chaps
please see emails and requests from Olaf Weyl that is doing the research on our dams as well as Richard our WCBAA president. If anyone can assist in any way please email Richard on <!-- e --><a href="mailto:richbass@telkomsa.net">richbass@telkomsa.net</a><!-- e -->.
WCBAA and WP will be assisting from the conservation fund which has been put asside for this.
Because we are all so pationate about our sport i thought it would be good to post it on this site as i have been doing all along.

Hi Gents

I need you to discuss this with all relevant Club Chairman soonest; I need to know if there are any clubs, provinces or individuals that could assist with some form of funding for this initiative.

This is our sport, and as you will see, most of the effort will be done in our waters.

I will take this up with SABAA for funding as well.

Please treat with urgency as I am sure Olaf will need feed back soon.

Regards

________________________________________
From: Olaf Weyl [mailto:O.Weyl@saiab.ac.za]
Sent: 28 November 2012 03:39 PM
To: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:richbass@telkomsa.net">richbass@telkomsa.net</a><!-- e -->
Cc: 'Craig Fraser' (<!-- e --><a href="mailto:craig@itscomputers.co.za">craig@itscomputers.co.za</a><!-- e -->); Cyril Schwartz; Clint Lentz
Subject: SABAA and industry support for visit by Dr Mike Allen

Dear Richard, Cyril and others,
As you know, much of my research is geared towards better understanding our inland fisheries.

CapeNature has asked me to have a closer look at Quaggaskloof, Theewaters, Groenvlei, Voelvlei and Clanwilliam. I am also planning to keep monitoring Wriggleswade and will most likely start work on Mpofu as well. The main aim is to make management recommendations for the fisheries. To this end I have two students whom will be working on the dams. I will introduce these to you at the Theewaterskloof tournament in January (they can also assist at the weigh station). More details will follow but we will need the support of bass angling on this.

More importantly is that I have asked Dr Mike Allen, a well-known bass researcher that writes for BASS-times (some of his very interesting articles are attached). His advice on fisheries management will be very useful in developing these management plans. The only issue that we have at the moment is that we are looking for sponsorship for his visit. At the moment the visit is coming out of my research grant and we are looking for sponsorship. Mike will request assistance from BASS in the united states. The question is whether there is any chance that SABAA or some of your contacts in the tackle trade can contribute to costs? His flight is in the region of R16,000 so every little bit helps. He will be visiting from 6-19 March and we will be giving some public lectures in the Eastern Cape. Off course we will be writing popular articles based on his visit for BASS-Times in the USA and will also put something in the local magazines. I will be taking him to the Amatola Classic to experience a SA bass tournament first hand. I thought I would give SABAA the opportunity to get involved so that you can use this visit to your advantage. Let me know what you think.
Cheers
Olaf

[Riprap]

Don't worry, us fellows here in the EC will help out as well as we are getting something in return as you can see from the mail. Olaf is a star for putting this together.

[breedesmallie]

If Cape Nature asked him to look into mentioned dams, what are they looking into, the barbel and carp problem ?, or is it about all invasive species. To be honest, I don't trust Cape Nature. If bass is involved I am not interested, if it is about getting rid of the barble and carp, I am in 100%. To many stories going around that Cape Nature want to get rid of all invasive species including bass. Why do they want to look at Clan ? There are no barbel, I believe they want to get rid of the small mouths because they believe the smallies are the problem to the Clan yellow's, so did they believe that smallies are the reason the witvis disappeared out of the Breede river system. Smallies are not the reason, all the damn walls in the Breede are the reason, the witvis could not passed the walls up stream to spawn. All they had to do was better designs like fish ladders and so forth. Many years ago I saw how the witvis try to go upstream during spawning to go to the spawning flats and at the walls the locals just net them out. That was the problem, not the bass. Kwaggas is a good example, there was never any problem between the witvis and bass, the problem started when barbel apeared, sorry to say, it is to late, we will never ever get rid of barbel in this province. The only solution will be a genetic engineered virus that destroys only barbel.

[Navrik]

I am sorry to say but I have stories of barbel being caught at Clanwilliam as well

[Smiley]

As far as I understand they trying to manage the fisheries. Twk and quaggas I reckon they going to try bring down the population of barbel and carp and encourage bass growth. I've heard of people saying they would try setting up fish farms where they farm bass because you can't just drop bass into the dam and expect them to adapt to the ecosystem.They would have problems with PH levels aswell as adapting to food source.As far as clan goes they have noticed a decline in quality of fish as this may be due to the introduction of largemouth or the decline in food and maybe the bluegill population.I have heared that there is no way to get rid of the bass and they are looking at improving the bass dams due to the amount of revenue the sport beings to the particular areas.

[Smiley]

Just support the dude coming down from America, he's coming to help save the BASS

[breedesmallie]

If that is true gents, I am in 100%. I will do anything to better bass fishing. If every bass angler donate 200 bucks in the Western Cape I believe the dude's ticket is almost payd for in full.
Ai Navrik, barbel in Clan, that is bad news.

[jaki1979]

I will make an effort towards that dude's plane ticket. Imagine the wealth of knowledge he can share.

[Brenden]

hi guys i dont know how to post attachements so i just copy and paste some interesting articles written by Dr Mike Allen

Myths about spawning bass busted
Bass spawning season is upon us across
much of the country. I’ve heard quite a few
myths about bass spawning activities over
the years, and for some of these myths we
have scientific evidence that may shed light.
Let’s summarize the science about bass
spawning behavior.
Bass spawn primarily on hard, sandy
bottom.
This myth is absolutely not true. Scientists
around the country have found bass
nesting on a wide range of bottom types. In
lakes with lots of aquatic plants, fish often
nest on tangled roots on the bottom, which
is the most common spawning habitat in
many Florida lakes. Nests around the country
also are also common on rock, gravel,
and even on submerged stumps found
in deeper water! A recent study by Zach
Lawson and colleagues from the University
of Wisconsin showed that largemouth
bass preferred to nest either on or very
near woody debris. In lakes that had large
numbers of docks and little woody cover,
largemouth bass built nests in deeper water
where woody debris could be found. This
suggested that bass preferred to nest near
woody structure if it was available. Bass
clearly have the capability to take advantage
of a wide range of habitat for spawning, and
they don’t require a hard sandy bottom.
Each female spawns with only one male.
In fishery biology, the term “total spawners”
means that fish lay all of their eggs at
once during each spawning season. Many
trout and salmon species are total spawners.
Largemouth bass are what we call “batch
spawners”, which means that females deposit
their eggs in batches over the spawning season
and not all at once. Batch spawners mature
their eggs in small batches and spread
them over multiple spawning events each
year. Genetic studies have confirmed that
female bass spawn with multiple males
across a given spawning season.
Males build one nest per year.
Evidence from Florida indicates that male
bass can, in some cases, build more than one
nest per year and protect the eggs and larvae
until they disperse, which is the point where
parental care ceases. This process is a lot of
work for male bass, because protecting the
eggs from predators is nearly a full-time job,
leaving little time for feeding activities. However,
my graduate student Stephanie Shaw has
found that in some lakes, the average male
raises at least two broods per year. The long
spawning season in the southern states makes
this feasible. It’s less likely that males can successfully
raise more than one brood in the
northern states, where total spawning duration
may be only a period of two to three weeks.
Fish spawn only in shallow water.
Bass nests have been confirmed with photos
as deep as at least 20 feet of water, and
the depth of nests is influenced by available
spawning habitat and water temperatures.
In general, we find the shallowest bass nests
early in the season, where water temperatures
are warmest in the upper water column.
As the season progresses, bass nests
are found in progressively deeper water. The
average depth of bass nests in the Florida
lakes we are studying is about 4 feet, with
nests commonly found as shallow as 1 foot
and as deep as 10 feet. The Wisconsin study
mentioned earlier found that bass nested
in deeper water if there was little cover,
and shallower water if the shoreline lacked
woody debris. That study found bass nests
as shallow as 6 inches and as deep as about 5
feet in six Wisconsin lakes.
In summary, all of these myths can be dispelled,
at least to some degree, with evidence
seen in field studies. The take home message
is that bass are extremely adaptable and able
to spawn effectively across a wide range of
habitat conditions and depths.
If you have other myths for consideration
in future columns, feel free to drop me an
email at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:msal@ufl.edu">msal@ufl.edu</a><!-- e -->.
Mike S. Allen
Bass Times_changingthehooks_treblehook.indd 1 4/2/12 1:05 PM

[BillyBass]

Guys lets support Dr Olaf Wehl and his american counterpart in their studies of our waters. Olaf is an avid bass angler and just like all of us on this site will do as much as he can to conserve our sport so instead of approachimg this in a negative way lets rather grab this oppurtunity with open arms and do all we can to support him. We at outdoors365 will be sponsoring the baits that Olaf will be needing to do his studies as well as donating some money from our personal accounts towards the costs incurred to get Dr Mike Allen here from america. Apparently a bank account will be set up shortly for anyone who wishes to donate anything towards the flight costs. We will most certainly be doing this and hope that those of you who can afford to do the same will be joining us. After all its all in the name of conservation and something we are in desperate need of..... :blue-idea:

[Hayden]

Guys, this is the best thing to happen to bass fishing in a while, this could change everything around for our worsening bass waters.

SABAA has decided to sponsor R10 000, thats right, 10 grand, to the above cause.
WCBAA may be allocating 5% of the budget to the above cause as well.
Guys, this does not mean that everyone can sit back and relax, any money or help that can be offered will be a huge help and will better our sport!!!

Please support where you can!!

:blue-biggrin:

[jmgravenor]

Nice article Brenden! :blue-smile:

[Brenden]

Hi Chaps
here are the bank details for Olaf Weyl conservation project as discussed last week. Please assist if you can.
I would also like to send a special thanks to SABAA for donating R10 000 for this project which will benefit the WC dams in the future. WP bass will also be donating R2100 and WCBAA will also be contributing. This is for the future of bass in WC and i am very excited that we have the authorities on our side. see below


BANK DETAILS:

Name of account: South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Bank: ABSA
Branch: Grahamstown
Branch code: 420517
Account no: 40-4922-9976

SWIFT code: ABSAZAJJ


Please provide notification of payment/transfer to:

The Accountant
SAIAB
Private Bag 1015
GRAHAMSTOWN 6140
South Africa

Tel. Number: +27 46 6035819
Fax number: +27 46 6222403
email: <!-- e --><a href="mailto:w.sweetman@saiab.ac.za">w.sweetman@saiab.ac.za</a><!-- e -->


Street address:
South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
Somerset Street

[Rubberdog]

Small contribution made and proof of payment sent.

[Brenden]

Thanks Ruberdog I'm sure every bass angler will appreciate ur effort one day