Kloof is the Afrikaans word for ravine or canyon and some of these steep-sided ravines near Cape Town contain trout.
The Western Cape has its major rainfall during the winter months stretching from May till the beginning of September and, during these months, the possibility always exists of snow or a cloudburst.
Entry to the Witels kloof is controlled by the University of Cape Town’s Mountain and Ski Club and no permits are issued from the 1st of April to 31 October.
In May 1992, a 30-yearold Rhodes scholar and African art collector of renown, Nicholas Penny, went river rafting on his own in the Witels gorge. Bad weather set in and his body was never recovered.
Two years later, further illustrating the dangers of flash floods in narrow ravines, a commercial river rafting company took a group of 20 clients and four guides, none of whom were equipped with flotation devices, into the narrow Storms River Gorge in the Southern Cape.
A flash flood in one of its tributaries resulted in 13 fatalities.
The photo which heads this folder shows Cape Piscatorial Society member Leonard Flemming in the beautiful environs of the Witels kloof.
He, along with Phillip Hills had to be rescued by helicopter in 2006 when a flash flood saw them trapped for three days.
Ideally, if you attempt to fish in these ravines, you should have a satellite-linked phone with you.
Cape Town is well-served by its mountain rescue teams, their skills honed by decades of experience in rescuing people in distress on Table Mountain. However, by taking the necessary precautions and fishing the kloofs in the correct seasons, the rewards can be memorable fishing in spectacularly beautiful surroundings without unnecessarily exposing oneself or others to potentially life-threatening danger.
This series of articles closes with a poignant account – ‘Where the Gorge Sings’ - by Dulcie Kirby, widow of playwright Robert Kirby, who loved fishing the Witels Kloof, but nearly succumbed to a flash flood there.
Accounts of the early explorations of the kloof streams near Cape Town are contained in the folder headlined ‘Trout in the Kloofs’ in the articles archive of Cape Piscatorial Society.