Overview of the area
and specific beats

Catchment Maps

EC Highlands
Rhodes, Bell Map
Sterkspruit Map
New England Map

Beat Grading Key

Vehicle
Car · Bakkie · 4×4 · Shanks Pony (foot only)
Tackle
Light · Medium · Heavy
Terrain
Easy · Moderate · Hard · Very Hard

Bell River — Rhodes Area

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Tenahead Bakkie Moderate 2.5 Bedrock with occasional pools and runs. Upper headwater reach.
Alpine Swift Car Easy 1.2 Similar to Lovedale, deep pools and grassed banks
Lovedale Car Easy 2.2 River eroded to bedrock in places. High, dead-wooded banks with deep topsoil.
Newstead Car Easy 2.8 As for Lovedale.
Tuschielaw Car Easy 0.5 As for Lovedale with more deposited gravel, silt, and boulders.
Rhodes Common Car Easy 1.5 As for Tuschielaw.
Earlstown Car Easy 1.6 Meandering beat with frequent pools on sandstone bedrock and deposited material.
Buttermead Car Easy 6.5 Meandering beat with frequent pools on sandstone bedrock and deposited material.
Claremont Car Easy 1.8 Meandering beat. Similar to Buttermead. Top section is the most fun.
Glass Nevin (upper) Car Moderate 4.5 Similar to Claremont with pools, occasional flat sandy sections and sandstone.
Glass Nevin (lower) 4x4 Moderate 9.2 Winding river in sandstone gorges with occasional long flat sections.
Steepside Car Easy 12 Meandering river with occasional pools between long sandy sections.
Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Tenahead Bakkie Moderate 2.5 Bedrock with occasional pools and runs. Upper headwater reach.
Lovedale Car Easy 2.2 River eroded to bedrock in places. High, dead-wooded banks with deep topsoil.
Newstead Car Easy 2.8 As for Lovedale.
Tuschielaw Car Easy 0.5 As for Lovedale with more deposited gravel, silt, and boulders.
Rhodes Common Car Easy 1.5 As for Tuschielaw.
Earlstown Car Easy 1.6 Meandering beat with frequent pools on sandstone bedrock and deposited material.
Buttermead Car Easy 6.5 Meandering beat with frequent pools on sandstone bedrock and deposited material.
Claremont Car Easy 1.8 Meandering beat. Similar to Buttermead. Top section is the most fun.
Glass Nevin (upper) Car Moderate 4.5 Similar to Claremont with pools, occasional flat sandy sections and sandstone.
Glass Nevin (lower) Car Moderate 9.2 Winding river in sandstone gorges with occasional long flat sections.
Steepside Car Easy 12 Meandering river with occasional pools between long sandy sections.

Carlisleshoekspruit

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Den Hagen Car Easy 1.6 Gravel bed with pools.

Kloppershoekspruit

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Loch Ness 4x4 Hard 2.0 Loch Ness is a 6ha self-recruiting still water, the highest in South Africa. The liliputian water with undercuts and small weirs may also be fished.

Riflespruit

Hillbury (0.3km) is a short stretch at the confluence of the Bell and Riflespruit. The longer Hillbury upper/middle/lower beats are on the Bokspruit — see below.

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Francisdale Foot only Very Hard 4+ Headwater gorge. Gradient creates runs, riffles, and pools. Do not fish alone. Allow sufficient time to walk out before dark.
Mount Mourne Car Hard 2.2 Easy access to beat at end of the Riflespruit road.
Thirlstane Car Easy 2.5 Wide river pools with gravel, silt, and boulder deposits at tail-ends.
Borestone & Bemerside Car Easy 7.2 Wide river pools with gravel, silt, and boulder deposits at tail-ends.

Bokspruit

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Gateshead 4x4 Very Hard 17+ Bedrock and boulders with frequent waterfalls and pools. Key at RIC office.
Brucedell Bakkie Hard 3.6 As for Gateshead with less gradient but one major waterfall.
Glen Nesbitt Bakkie Hard 7.1 Small boulder-strewn streambed with pools and outstanding flora.
Bothwell Bakkie Easy 2.4 Wide streambed with small pools and rock/gravel deposits.
Willow Leigh Bakkie Easy 1.4 Wide streambed with small pools and rock/gravel deposits.
Birnam / Killmore Bakkie Easy 3.9 Similar to Bothwell.
Knockwarren Bakkie Easy 2.3 Similar to Bothwell with wooded banks.
Buckstone Bakkie Easy 5.4 Deep and narrow lower down, widening to long runs with deep pools.
Hillbury upper Car Easy 1.9 Small with glides, riffles, and gravel-bottomed pools.
Hillbury middle & lower Bakkie Easy 3.1 Larger water with gravel and boulder-strewn bottoms. Pools, rapids, undercuts. Virtually every kind of water.
Eliasdale Car Easy 2.5 Similar to Hillbury.
Clefthill Car Easy 3.5 Wider with long open stretches, larger pools, rapids, and undercuts.
Clontarf Car Easy 5.3 Fish from north bank only. Wide bed, pools, long shallow stretches, lightly wooded banks. Excellent yellowfishing water in summer. Key at RIC.

Sterkspruit

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Knighton / Coldbrook Car Easy 5.6 Medium-width meandering stream with pools, gravel, and bedrock.
Farnham Car Easy 2.8 Similar to Knighton but wider.
Broadford Car Easy 2.7 Wider bed with runs and pools on occasional sandstone bedrock.
Branksome Car Easy 1.5 Similar to Broadford with fewer trees.
Birkhall Car Easy 3.6 Wide sandstone bedrock with deep pools and tree-lined banks.
Jennerville Car Easy 5.2 Wide open meandering river in floodplain with long sections and meander pools.

Vlooikraalspruit (Willow Stream — Wartrail Region)

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Balloch Car / Bakkie Easy–Moderate 3.2 Small stream in very scenic valley. Pools, rapids, riffles. Upper reaches hold browns (high-clearance vehicle required). BROWN TROUT SECTION CLOSED JUNE–AUGUST.
Burnbrae Car Easy 3.0 Small meandering stream slightly larger than Balloch. Alternating open and wooded sections with occasional pools and small dams.
Glencoe Bakkie Moderate 4.0 Similar to Burnbrae but a steep walk into the valley required for the lower section. Only recommended for the very fit.

Diepspruit (New England & Wartrail Region)

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Millerd & Avoca Bakkie Easy 8.0 Well-treed banks, shallow boulder-strewn runs and riffles connecting smallish pools.
Pitlochrie Bakkie Easy 9.5 Meandering stream in a very scenic valley. Shallow rapids and riffles connecting small pools. Well-vegetated banks.

Kraai River

Beat Vehicle Terrain Km Water Description
Lekkerbly Bakkie Moderate 4.0 Pools with bedrock bottoms big enough for water skiing with some tree-lined banks necessitating use of float tube or dinghy.
Donnybrook Bakkie Moderate 6.0 This is the Kraai as a mature river, wider and less gradient. There are massive ironstone pools. These pools are home to numerous Yellowfish and may well hold some sizeable trout. The scale of these pools may well surprise some. Key at RIC office.
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