NEW RESERVE?????

Search around here and you may find something, I could not.
Good luck.
http://www.deat.gov.za/

http://www.mcm-deat.gov.za/marine_protected/recreational_protected_areas.html

Before they don't update the facts on this website they really don't have any business telling you you may not fish there. Even if they did claim this area as a reserve I don't think the law will force you to pay any fines while they still advertise the incorrect boundary.

So as far as I know we are still safe for this weekends hottie fishing!!

Aai tog, nogals gedink hulle gaan een of ander tyd so n trick pull. What a shame !!!

Hopefully we can still catch some bottomfish near Robben. Why dont they just close the whole ocean then they can sit on there Asses doing nothing. I have also been chased from a nice bankie in front of Bakoven. No use arguing with these guys.

Still a big blow for the few of us that still value a nice fresh hottentot and enjoy catching them on light tackle....

Stywe Lyne    :ssswim:

So its true then? That is really k@k!

The chasing incident happened quite a while back. I looked up on the MCM webpage and there is no mention of an extention to the present reserve that only stretches up to Oudekraal from the Sentinal at Houtbay.

Johan as ek jy is sal ek die blasye op die webpage uit print en by jou op die boot hou. Saterdag lyk na n mooi dag op die Atlantiese kant.

Geniet dit en Stywe Lyne....:fishn 

Ek dink ook so.

I don't want make unnecessary trouble with these people but consider this - you do all the trouble of getting your boat&gear ready. You tow the thing to the slip which costs you, you head out to the west side and anchor which costs you.  Now comes this guy who says you not allowed to fish there.

I very rarely head out to the west and then still pass around the island especially for hottentot. Its just too expensive. So you now tell this guy that the website still gives this area up as fishable. Obviously he will tell you that it changed. So now you ask him what are the new coordinates. Whats the closest border to this place where I may fish? I doubt he will be able to tell you.

So what do you do then? These thing usually turn out a lose lose situation. It makes me the moer in just thinking about this!  We actually pay these people to not do their jobs properly and to be a hassle to us.

But enough moaning from my side

Best bet is to head out there 3 boats or more with plenty crew!

Bingo, where you heading? This wind will make it unpleasant to go crayfishing at rooi els and kommetjie I don't know at all.

At the moment no where, my laatie by my die naweek, wil hom nie nou al saam neem vir n voldag trippie nie. Julle moet maar die vissies gaan uitsniffel.

Agree with you on goiing to robben for hottentot only. I have been checked by the police and MCM at the back of Robben, busy fishing for hottentot as well. Mcm guys wearing livejackets and police just checked our paper work. We were he only boat out that day out of OPBC. The next day I heared over the radio that they arrested a few perlemoen poachers the next morning.

Maybe I make a plan and make a quick launch in the morning....

 

Thanks for all the help so far guys.Have researched the links plus goverment gazettes and can find nothing to say I can,t fish there.So as far as I am concerned it is open season there.They have to prove it to me otherwise in black on white

Hiya

IvanJc, be very carefull!! The onus is on YOU to find out what the laws are. If you are caught, you will simply get told :"ignorance of the the law is no excuse"

Provoking the law enforcement guys would not be wise. Since you're now fishing in a marine reserve, you're technically poaching and they can very easily confiscate your vessel.

Hi Miles,
I agree that ignorance of the law is no excuse.But what do I do when I have looked at all the places the law is supposed to be written,and I can find nothing.Should not the authorities have updated their websites if this was the case?

Exactly my point. I don't expect them to put a commercial ad on the tv to advertise it but to at least update their resources on the website.......come on!

But yeah I agree you cannot provoke them on the sea, you will lose in 100% of the cases!

Yes I agree the issue is not to try provoke them.Simply remain friendly yet enquiring all the time as to where these regs are posted.Even a mag like ski boat has not published it.They are normally the first to place changes in any sort of fishing regulations.For something to be be law it has to be published,and the info should be freely available to anyone enquiring.I have now spent countless hrs reading gazettes and law gobblygook and have found not even the mention of it.In fact just the opposite.The co-ordinates of the reserve are clearly listed,and where I want to fish does NOT fall within these co-ordinates

Hallo Manne.

Made a late launch from OPBC on Saturday morning, they did a major repair job on the slipway. Took my nearly six year old laaitie out on the boat for the first time. He was very excited and lucky for him the sea was very flat with nearly no wind.

Made our way to my usual spots in the vlak in front of Clifton and Campsbay. The water was gin clear and very cold, 10 deg...

We managed to catch a few hottentot, not very big. I lost the fish of the day, a monster because I was to lazy to use the net and tried to lift it in the boat on a 6lb leader.... Saw one or two other boats also fishing in the area. No hassles from the police.

 

Die mannetjie met een van sy vissies, hooked for life.

 

If a law is not stipulated/shown /published in the goverment gazette its not a law as far as I'm concerned. I'f I was to fish a area where last week I could and this week I could'nt and they chased me in a reasonable manner I'd lift my anchor and try another spot where I may actually fish. BUT. if they tried to "take my vessel" or any shit like that, well that would be another situation all together.,,,,,,

I reckon at the end of the day conservation laws are there only to protect and preserve certain species and that in its own is benefficient to us(the angler and the future angler) in the long run.

I reckon there must be someone one can phone, find out what the story is,and if they state you can/cannot fish there,get it in writing from them and then you know.

Fishing is all about fun,and I personally dont wanna sit on a boat where I have to look around the whole time thinking to myself "May I be here or not?"

I am not aware of the extension of the reserve.

The Withuis reserve has its Northern boundary round about where the flea market is on the side of the road. If you stay in line with them or are on the Cape Town side of them then you should be safe.

I was spearfishing near the flea market a few weeks ago and had a chat with a very decent inspector who was polite and cordial andconfirmed that the boundary of the reserve was just before the flea market.

Please get a full report from the owner of the vessel as to exactly who chased him off.

The new harbour master at Hout Bay will have more knowledge than most.

There is a theory in the diving fraternity that the inspetors are colluding with the kreef poachers in the area  and are keeping the prying eyes of the recreationals away. I find it a little far fetched but when it comes to MCM's compliance section I am ready to believe a lot.

Hi Jb2.We actually spoke to the skipper of the vessel and he reckons the police chased him away simply because he is a commercial.I find that hard to believe.There must be some other story there.

I have been thinking about this a bit more and I think the problem comes in with the definition of a Marine Protected Area. I remember something about the whole of the Peninsula being given a special management status but only certain parts are closed for fishing.

If the skipper of "Odette"  has more details, I would love to follow it up with our boys in blue.