Part of the dam at De Voetpadkloof
Following our visit to Kolobe it became clear that I had much to learn about bass fishing. In my previous post Bass fishing, journey from beginner to pro I made some lure choices that seemed logical at the time but that was far from ideal for the conditions we were fishing. Fortunately for me and Willem, we gathered some valuable information from our trip to Kolobe and I were on my way to De Voetpadkloof to take advantage of my newly found knowledge. At Kolobe Andrew gave us quite a few tips on how to go about fishing for bass at a new venue. Let’s have a quick overview of the conditions I faced:
1. The water was a brownish color, but still clear enough to see to the bottom of the dam close to the side of the bank.
The coulour of the water at De Voetpadkloof
When fishing brownish, unclear or dirty water, a dark colored lure is most affective while a bright colored lure is most affective when fishing water that is clear. So I decided to use a dark blue junebug with a red number 4 worm hook.
The dark blue junebug used
Unlike carp angling where we prefer to use the smaller hooks to ensure great bait presentation and good hook-ups, the best results are achieved with big number 4 or 5 worm hooks when fishing for bass. According to some of the experts, red hooks are most effective because of it’s visibility, or rather lack thereof. Apparently bass is incapable of seeing red. My inner pessimist questions the prior statement and brings up the age old question, myth or truth? I wasn’t prepared to take any chances, so I took the statement with a pinch of salt and bought myself 2 packets of red hooks.
2. The water temperature was cool to cold.
The cold water conditions at De Voetpadkloof
When the water is cold, try fishing the shallower spots, the bass usually prefer the warmer water early morning and late afternoon.
3. Quite a few anglers were fishing various spots around the dam.
Try fishing the spots not frequented by other people. Taking my chances with the one or two leopards prowling around , most of my bass were caught at a small secluded section of bank at the opposite side of the dam.
My fishing spot at De Voetpadkloof
Taking into consideration all the above mentioned conditions I were hooked into my first bass within the first few casts.
My first bass
The bass at De Voetpadkloof is in great condition and even the smaller ones gave me a good fight on the lighter tackle.
Another beautiful De Voetpadkloof bass
Unfortunately I also lost one or two good looking fish on the jump. Let me explain, bass will often jump out of the water once hooked and although this causes majour excitement and a preview of what is at the end of your line, they sometimes succeed in getting rid of hook, line and sinker!
Putting my new skills to the test
Most of the bass were caught between 4:00 PM and 6:00PM, with the occational exception of course.
Night time fishing at De Voetpadkloof
As mentioned in Bass fishing, journey from beginner to pro, I’m a beginner bass angler myself and these posts are written to aid my fellow amateur anglers in mastering the art of bass fishing without being overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information they are bombarded with.
The bug have bitten
So lets have a quick overview:
1. Have a look at the visiblity of the water. Use dark colored lures for dark colored water and visa versa.
2. Use red number 4 or 5 worm hooks.
3. Test the temperature of the water. Opt for the shallower fishing spots in cool to cold water.
4. Avoid fishing spots that is frequented by other people.
PLEASE REMEMBER that the above mentioned points are just some guidelines and that bass as any other fish species can be unpredictable.
My last bass for the weekend
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) I looked at the little fishy gliding through the water as I pulled pulled on the rod and then… I caught my first bass! It literally took me less than 5 minutes of trying!
