Flying Trout The Elandspad from airlifting to aerial stocking by Campbell Lyons

It was early evening as we sat on the stoep of a small restaurant next to the road between Riebeeck Kasteel and Riebeeck West. In the distance the sun was setting and it cast a golden hue on the wheat fields that stretched out across the valley. The mountain ridges on the other side of the valley had started to turn to a feint orange. Our discussion was heading towards the culmination of a series of previous uconversations about the human history of the Elandspad river.

This culmination resembled in a sense two people walking down a dusty farm road, exchanging thoughts and now and then discovering an item of interest along the way before finally parting. Along the way he had mentioned something that, although both of us were caught up deep in conversation, was as if a loose stone had been absent-mindedly and inadvertently kicked into a bush on the verge on the road and, in the process, flushed out some birds by accident. One of these was the mention of the airlifting of trout into the upper Elandspad on 28 November 1961.

Many years after this particular conversation and after going through past issues of the CPS journal Piscator it seems that the airlift of 1961 was an outcome of the earlier exploration of the middle and upper reaches of the river by Alan Yates in 1957. Yates had made the case for stocking this stretch of river in a report by the CPS exploration group and recorded that ”Gradually I formed the conclusion that the Elandspad offered something unique… Witels

type scenery and terrain, magnificent upperreaches angling water; copy- book breeding and development areas – and was, by the accident of one waterfall, as yet only a quarter developed… If the lower waters of the Elandspad provided the sport they did – what might not the upper reaches produce: granted that they could be stocked? … in the Upper Elandspad we have, I think, a trout line that hasn’t even yet been drawn. And one, moreover, that is capable of infinite possibilities.” (Piscator,1957:92) 1

The exploration was followed up in 1958 with a hike and portage of trout to be stocked along the upper reaches by Alan Yates and the exploration group. Approximately 800 fingerlings, bred from wild rainbow trout in the Wemmershoek, were carried up in polythene bags placed in cartons and loaded into the middle of backpacks covered with newspapers and with dunnage around them. The fingerlings were successfully released into the river above the waterfall mentioned in 1957, following a seven hour hike. Alan Yates writes the following regarding this stocking: “it was on the basis of these (sketch maps from the exploration in 1957) that the December 1958 expedition was planned. I was firmly convinced in advance that the job would prove well worth while; examination of the river on the spot (even though a short section of it was scrutinised) more than confirmed this conclusion was justified. Splendid pools and runs abound. There is plenty of shade and plenty of depth. The trout should do well there…” (Piscator,1958:85)

The 1961 airlift and stocking of the upper reaches of the Elandspad, by comparison took a mere 2 hours and considerably less effort. 1800 Brown trout from the Jonkershoek hatchery were loaded into a SAAF Sikorsky S55 helicopter and distributed along the middle and upper reaches following landings at several locations along the river where they were carried down to the pools to be released from plastic containers.

The plantings followed a very much similar route to that of the 1958 stocking. (see photo) The senior officer of the SAAF crew involved in the operation indicated that the stocking was possible because it formed part of the crews’ routine mountain rescue exercises.

The airlift stocking was covered in the Piscator and was novel and significant enough to make the front page of both the Cape Times and the Cape Argus, both of which covered the operation in some detail. The Cape Times carried a front page preview of the operation on the morning of 28 November 1961 with the title ‘Helicopters will Airlift Boland Trout’, while the afternoon newspaper, the Cape Argus, carried two front page photographs of the stocking earlier in the day and a report on page 13 with the title ’Trout flown by helicopter to Dutoitskloof’. To read the content of these articles see https//www.piscator.co.za/CPS2/ from-the-piscator/history/helicopter

The helicopter used in this airlift was designated with the SAAF registration number A6. Three of them were bought from the USA in 1957 to form the nucleus of 17 Squadron at Langebaan Air Force Base under the command of Major Geoff Tatham, who was the pilot of the Sikorsky S55 in the 1961 airlift. They were designated with the registration numbers A4, A5, A6. All three were sold to Autair in 1967 which later became Court Lines and then Court Helicopters after the acquisition of the company by Murray and Roberts.

They were highly sought after at the time, as the power-plant was a 9-cylinder Pratt and Whitney Wasp radial. The earlier versions used by Autair had a 7-cylinder Wright cyclone engine and the extra 2 cylinders of the SAAF Sikorsky engines added an extra 100 hp for each cylinder. The Sikorsky S55 that was involved in this unique operation, after the acquisition by Autair, was used for shoreto-ship replenishments before being writtenoff substantially while cleaning some hightension power lines for Eskom outside the own of De Aar on 30 November 1970.

My companion along this conversational long and windy dirt road, Hans Visser, mentioned that the last two trout from this airlift were caught in 1968. At the time of the airlift stocking the land along and around the Elandspad remained fallow and was used for grazing until 1963 at which time he made a very small and tentative start in establishing a hatchery at the confluence of the Kraalstroom tributary tributary and the Du Toit’s stream which feed the lower Elandspad.

The beginnings were very basic and austere - a caravan for shelter and two plastic porta swimming pools erected on a concrete foundation under the old Oaks near the confluence. The first brood stock of forty-five trout were taken from the Kraalstroom. Years later, from such a basic beginning, it was finally established as a commercial trout hatchery in 1981 and at its height of production the fully developed hatchery held in excess of three million trout.

The hatchery that Hans built

What is left of the foundations of the original hatchery

1961 Upper Elands Plantings

The first eggs were sourced from Seattle for two years initially and then from Clearwater in the Isle of Man. During an interview with David Susman on 14 July 2004, he indicated that the ova from the hatchery that Hans built were highly sought after and in great demand in England. This hatchery adjacent the Kraalstroom has since been shut down and operations have been shifted further uphill to a new hatchery that has been constructed as a self contained, closed reticulation system.

Hans indicated that the story of the airlifting of trout did not end in 1961 and that there were others. It was in some senses merely the end of a beginning. This startling revelation came as a complete surprise to me and was straight out of the blue. In a much lesser known history, over a period of years a relationship grew between Hans and the helicopter crews from the SAAF who were involved in training, mountain rescues and fire fighting in the vicinity of the Elandspad area and who were by then using the Alouette 111 helicopter for their operational purposes. The Alouette 111 helicopters first entered service in 1962 and were finally retired in 2007. It was fondly known by the crews who flew it, as the ‘Draadkar’ – wire car. Legend has it that if you are able to hover the Alouette, you can hover any other helicopter. There is an example on display along with a Westland Whirlwind, the UK build version of the Sikorsky S55 under licence, at the Air Force Base Ysterplaat museum.

It was to the aircrews that Hans turned to ask for assistance with the stocking of the middle and upper reaches of the Elandspad river while they were in the area. The middle reaches extend from the Pothole Falls to Pofadder Pool below the MCSA hut and the upper reaches from Pofadder Pool to the grassy basin watershed adjacent to the Agtertafelberg. The middle reaches are in some places characterised by deep gorges and steep cliffs on both sides of the river, while the upper reaches are more open. His was a purely informal request for them to help stock some excess trout from the

hatchery while they were busy on their training sorties. These impromptu stockings took place during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The vast majority of fish stocked in this manner were brown trout.

The kind of aerial stocking that took place during this period was dictated by the severity of the terrain. In some instances, like during the 1961 airlift, the Alouette 111 helicopter would land on a flat area near to the river and the trout would be carried to the waters edge and gently released into the waters. In other instances, where the terrain was more difficult and the river not easily accessible by foot, a landing would be made close by. The flight engineer would then turn his seat round to face backwards and the crew would take off and then descend to a hover above the stream with the wheels almost touching the water. The trout would be poured out by the flight engineer from the polystyrene containers placed in the back of the helicopter and into the stream. This kind of flying required intense teamwork for the crew.

The Westland Whirlwind

In even harsher terrain and where the gorge was too narrow, steep-sided and a low hover not possible due to tight constraints, the trout were dropped in from a hover height of 150 feet into the river below. The height of the drop was a precautionary measure and the trout, six to a bag filled almost to the brim with water and tied at the top with a slip knot were dropped in from this height. In all the drops that were carried out over these years Hans indicated there was not one mortality. The bags would hit the water and burst open, spitting and squirting the trout out into the river to swim away. The aerial stocking was conducted from the beginning of the middle reaches of the Elandspad above the Barrier Falls and to the upper reaches adjacent to the Agtertafelberg.

As for the trout that were stocked during this period in the middle and upper reaches of the Elandspad above the Kraalstroom, both Hans Visser and David Susman indicated that the vast majority of them at most survived two years, gradually losing weight, becoming skinny as rakes and mere shadows of their former selves before they finally disappeared. The water was too peaty and insufficiently nutrient-rich to sustain them.

The influence of the Kraalstroom tributary on the Elandspad is significant in terms of the sustainability of trout. In the 2004 interview with David Susman, who had a holiday home on the upper reaches of the Elandspad, he spoke of the Elandspad as comprising two completely different rivers in one system.

Sikorsksy S55 near Agtertafelberg, 1961

In the middle and upper reaches, the water was peaty and acidic while below the clear running waters of the Kraalstroom tributary entering the Elandspad lightened the river and the acidity of the water was substantially reduced, making it more sustainable for trout. The difference between the two sections of the Elandspad when viewed in full colour from above is dramatic. This was highlighted during a helicopter flight over the river earlier this year. While the middle and upper reaches are dark, inky and black the section below the Kraalstroom runs clearer with a whispery golden hue.

Hans’ account of the aerial stocking of trout in the middle and upper reaches of the Elandspad in the ’80s and early ’90s, particularly in terms of the drops from a 150 foot hover altitude, seems at first to be unbelievable, but is it really? A short online literature review of aerial stocking techniques tends to dispel this

Early experiments with aerial stocking of trout in the USA in the 1940’s and 1950’s came about as a result of the difficulties in accessing remote lakes by vehicle and the long distances required for the transport of trout for stocking. In addition, particularly following World War Two, there was a glut of aircraft which were cheap to acquire and there was more than enough crew available to fly them. Modest starts were made initially with floatplanes and trout loaded into milk cans, which were poured into the lakes after landing. This was however too time consuming and some state departments began to experiment with aerial stocking so that greater loads could be carried and more lakes stocked in a single sortie. Some of the early attempts were very rough and ready. A notable account is the early experimentation by the Department of Fish and Game in California.

In his article on ‘How to properly throw trout from an airplane’ on Gizmodo.com, Anders Halverson describes that the kind of flying required in the early days of aerial stocking resembled something out of the Dambuster’s movie of RAF 617 squadron legend: “Reese persuaded the department (of Fish and Game, California) to purchase a military C45 transport plane and also hired another pilot. A man named Carrol Faist who had flown forty missions on B-24 Liberator bombers in the Pacific. One July day in 1948, Raise and Faist set off for their first drop into an actual alpine lake. While one of them flew the plane…the other went into the back, loaded up a hopper, and peered through a four-inch-byfour-inch hole cut in the bottom of the plane. As soon as the lake was visible through the hole, the bombardier released the fish. The sudden reduction in weight caused the plane to bounce twenty feet higher, making it a tricky and dangerous job for the man in the back.

Nevertheless, the drop was a success.” The trout were dropped in at a height of 200 feet and at a speed of 200 mph. For a detailed context of the socio-economic factors that led to the experimentation with aerial stocking see his article on Gizmodo.com.

Paul J Fournier writes that the technique of aerial stocking was developed by Maine Service aircrews in the 1940s and ‘50s using an old Stinson Reliant which was fitted out with interior tanks and with chutes opening through the bottom of the fuselage. The fish were released by the pilot reaching back and pulling down hand levers. From these initial successes the techniques of aerial stocking were further refined as more modern aircraft, such as the Cessna 185s and the Piper Super Cubs, became available.

The optimum speed and height for these drops to ensure successful stockings and minimise mortality rates was found to be 70 knots and at a height of between 50 to 70 feet above ground level. See Paul J. Fournier, 2006 ‘Trout raining from the skies: Pilot’s use 1950’s method of aerial fish

stocking in remote areas of Maine’. www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/ 2006/may/01/trout-raining-from-the-skies

From such early beginnings these days the aerial stocking of trout has become a routine and standard practice in the USA for stocking lakes. For an account of current standard aerial stocking techniques see the article by Eric Pikhartz ‘The only way to get there: Aerial fish stocking in Utah’s mountain lakes.

Pikhartz puts the optimum drop height for aerial stocking of trout at between 50 and 150 feet above ground level. The video that goes with this article can be viewed at www.wideopenspaces.com/aerial-fishstocking-Utahs-lakes-video. For a detailed account of current aerial stocking practices in terms of load capacity, number of trout per drop etc see http://www.utahfishfinder.com/ articles/flying-fish.html. In tighter confines helicopters are utilised and the trout are stocked by a collapsible bucket slung underneath the aircraft, or by a converted snorkel pipe which is used to pump the trout out from onboard tanks into the waters.

There were inevitably some misses in the aerial stocking of trout, particularly over tightly confined lakes. Fournier writes that one of the more memorable ones involved a group of fishermen who were making their way through a forest near the water’s edge of a lake, blissfully unaware of any stocking scheduled to take place, when they were suddenly hit by a deluge of trout crashing down on them from the tree tops, followed by a fine mist.

As they looked at the incredible sight of trout flopping and flapping around them on the forest floor they failed to make the connection between the sound of the aircraft passing low overhead and what had just befallen them. Later that day when they came across a crew stocking fish in a brook they approached them and blurted out: ‘You guys ain’t gonna believe this, but…’

Notes:

1. For a description of the Elandspad river system and its location; Alan Yates (Piscator, 1957: 84) writes the following: “The Elandspad is really the upper portion of the Smalblaar and it rises at the back of the Wemmershoek Tafelberg. Sheltered b y the Wemmershoek and Klein Drakenstein mountain systems it is ‘protected from the immediate rainfall of the N.W. winter gales. It is, in fact, refreshed in winter only by the overcarry from the Wemmershoek and Franschoek ‘re-entrants’ and were it not for the second ‘step’ of the Du Toitsberge being in close proximity on the N.E. side wewould not have the Elandspad system at all. This is amply demonstrated by the bowl-like erosion on the S.W. slopes of the Du Toitsberge, from which springs the Kraalstroom, the largest tributary of the Elandspad. Still further to the east (completing the third side of the box) lies the Stettynsberge, and in the general area of source the Elandspad shares a common watershed with the Holsloot. The Elandspad and the Kraalstroom are separated by a splendid ‘Arrow-head’ of sandstone which can be clearly seen in the panaroama and micro photographs accompanying this report.”