Will & Dre

Day 1:

Arriving at the dam the weather is terrible, clouds are closing in from all sides, it’s starting to drip and the wind makes it difficult to get the second of two tents up.  The second tent are up just in time to watch an enourmous storm unfold infront of our eyes and I feel a familiar pain in my heart as I realize that not much fishing will be taking place throughout the day. At about 10pm I decide to at least try and get a line into the water, but quickly decide against this idea when getting outside.

The two tents

Day 2:

The rain stopped but the wind is still going at it and the sun is nowhere in sight, at least I can prepare some bait now. The water is brown from all the rain and it’s probably best to stick with the stronger dips like mint, garlic, TCP and duiwelsdrek. 2 hours pass… nothing, the sun is starting to break through the clouds and it’s already 9am. The fish in Rietspruit love ‘Wit deegies’ with anything sweet and I decide to stay with the tried and tested. Knowing this dam I quickly prepare a combination of white dough dipped in pineapple and peach for each of my two rigs knowing that I should land my first fish within in the next 20 minutes or so. And surely enough 12 minutes later there is a slight pull… wait … (this must be one of the small muddies or smallmouth yellow’s, they are plentiful in this dam and they love the sweet stuff). There is a slight pull again and this time it takes the bait by full force, I lift the rod and can feel the fish will probably not exceed  300g. A minute or two later I’m unhooking the smallmouth yellow and putting it back into the water. Willem didn’t come with me on this trip and it’s just not the same giving this fish a name… (It’s just not that much fun sharing this tradition with MYSELF!)

The first fish of the trip

The rest of the day is rather productive, nothing big but every hour produces at least 2 – 3 fish all caught on white dough and sweet dips.

Day 3:

Day three starts with an exciting run on my left rod, as I pick up the rod I think to myself : “Wow it feels better than the 15 or so small fish caught on day two”. I’m still busy reeling in when there is a run on my right rod, now totally confused I put down the left rod and take my right rod, I can hear my left rod going at it again, the fish on my right rod do not feel that big and I decide to rather land the fish on the left first. +- 10 to 15 minutes later both are landed, a carp (not as big as hoped) and a small muddy.

The carp that exited me so much

The rest of the day was pretty much the same as day two.

About the dam

This dam probably have some of the best camping facilities that I have seen at a dam. The banks are beautifull there is electricity and the water is clean.

The neat bank - (With mr. SA himself)

The dam

The dam is 99% safe and a great venue for children. My little niece caught 7 -10 fishes at a distance of +- 10m.

My little niece with one of her catches

GPS coordinates: 26o24’34.9″S – 26048’38.4″E

Fishing summary:

Conditions: day two: Overcast, day three: Sunny and warm
Season: Summer
Bait: White dough with anything sweet
Fishing spot: B2
Entrance fee: Apparently this venue is rather expensive compared to other dams, but according to me it wasn’t to bad. It was +- R300 for three days, 2 people