I’ve been interested in art lure fishing for quite a while now, not just for bass but for species including barbel, carp, tiger fish and whatever would be interested in the lure. Taking the time from my busy schedule however is sometimes a daunting task and reading up on this facet of the sport was left until a week or so ago when we got invited to a bass lodge in Nylstroom. I’m sure as is the case with most newbies to bass fishing, the variety of rods, reels and lures left me flabbergasted. So as the well known saying in IT goes, “Google is your friend”. Armed with my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on one of the pages in the newest Tight Lines, I filtered through the vast variety of information that was yet again presented to me. Experts and beginners alike gave some valuable insight into art lure fishing, all comming to the same conclusion, a conclusion that is simple, a conclusion that I will be following next weekend, a conclusion that is spelled out below!

What equipment do I need?

As a begginer you do not need a boat, the most expensive rods and reels or a fast number of lures. First make sure that you really like this facet of fishing. As a carp angler I’m sure I would love art lure fishing, but different people have different interests! So start off with one of those old light weight fishing rods that is probaly lying around the house somewhere. If you do not have a small rod lying around, borrow one from a friend or buy one of those cheapies. A begginer bass combo (rod and reel) can cost anything from R300.00 to R1000.00, but if you are prepared to start of with the absolute basics, you can get a light weight combo for R100.00 to R200.00.

When it comes to lures, start off with the tried and tested. Rapala is a well known brand in South Africa with a proven track record. Lures can be expensive and one or two is often all you need. To be honest, as a beginner myself, I chose two lures on nothing else but instinct and a bit of common sense. The first lure I chose is a white Bronzeye pop frog by SPRO.

The white Bronzeye Pop frog

The following is said about this lure on the back of the box: ” The Dean Rojas signature series Bronzeye pop frog was designed to attract bass out of the thickest cover with its loud popping sound…”. I chose this lure for a variey of reasons. It’s bright, it makes a loud popping sound, the hooks fit the bait perfectly and it floats. Because this lure float, it is ideal to use at fishing spots with alot of structure causing snags and tangles. According to the loads of information I went through, this kind of lure is especially effective early in the morning, fishing near features such as water lillies. The second lure now part of my arsenal, is the Rapal Shadrap.

The Rapala Shadrap

This was a choice based purely on the look of the lure. There is really not much to say about Rapala, almost every article book or other piece of information available on bass fishing make mention of Rapala.

Where to fish

It is clear that the majority bass anglers prever the smaller private dams. These dams are often human made with great structures providing the perfect habitat for breeding monster bass.

As they say, practice makes perfect, and hopefully the more I practice the luckier I will get!

Last week I got myself a new bass rod which I tried out over the weekend.

Because of the fact that we camped as a group my time for fishing was relatively limited, but I did manage to fish a few hours during the Saturday morning and afternoon.

When I got to the dam on the Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised by the neat grass banks surrounding the waters. Although the dam was not very big it wasn’t exactly small either. Fishing is allowed on the one side only, but if you are practised you’ll be able to cast almost anywhere in the dam.

Early morning at Weesgerus Dam

I’ve course I tried fishing for bass but I also had my two other rods set up just for in case…

It took me almost 2 hours of sweat and hard work to reel in my first fish, a very small Bass which I caught on artificial lure in the form of a Rapala.

First small bass

And then came the rain… Once again I was caught in a storm next to the waters, sitting under a small grass cover, waiting for the wind to blow the clouds over so that I could cast in again. After about an hour I had another bite on the Rapala. This time it was a Kurper who made sure for some excitement.

Kurper on a Rapala

Unfortunately we had to leave early the Sunday morning so my fishing trip ended with only two fishes for the weekend, but luckily I could prove that even though the one I caught was very small, there are definitely Bass in the dam at the Weesgerus Holiday resort.