Ed Herbst writes: South Africa's stillwater fly fishers face a new and serious regulatory threat. The Department of Water and Sanitation has published proposed regulations for the management of government waterworks — the dams and reservoirs where many of us fish — and a critical provision buried in Regulation 9(2) would create a legal pathway for gill netting within those waters. Rather than an outright prohibition, the draft regulations allow gill net use provided the operator obtains a water use authorisation. FOSAF has submitted detailed comments to the Department arguing that this conditional structure is ecologically indefensible, internally contradictory, and inconsistent with the National Freshwater Fisheries Policy already incorporated by reference in the same regulations. The submission, filed on 13 April 2026, also raises broader concerns about constitutional compliance, administrative gridlock, and the disproportionate burdens the regulations would impose on clubs, landowners, and recreational users. The articles below set out what is at stake and why this matters to every stillwater fly fisher in the country.