Will & Dre

At first I wanted to do a separate post on the second time I blanked at Rietvlei, but I then decided that it wouldn’t  be very exciting so instead I will tell you a bit about the second time I blanked at Rietvlei in this post and then I will tell you how I managed to catch something on our third trip.

Where I finally caught something

Following some exciting conversation about camping and the outdoors, I (being the influential person I am ) convinced my friends that a fishing trip would be the ideal thing for the coming weekend.

We decided to give Bon Accord another try so I visited the dam the day before just to make sure they have the necessary facilities our group required and to see that the dam is okay for fishing. Everything looked fine. In fact it looked much better than the previous time I visited Bon Accord. The water was clear and I saw keep nets everywhere. A good sign!

So the next day we got there. All ready to go! But as we entered the gate we were simultaneously shocked and amazed. My words to Wilhan became ironic. I told him that the dam looks great, in fact so great, he’ll be amazed.

The picture below says everything.

Hyacinth in Bon Accord

We had to make other plans so we went to Rietvlei where we stayed over because the dam was so full that we almost had to wait our turn to fish

Our camping spot at the beautiful Rietvlei Dam

The dam really is beautiful, and although we didn’t catch anything, probably partially because we had to take the spot we camped (we were late and beggars can’t be choosers), I enjoyed the peace out there in nature. Thanks to my buddies who joined me! We’ll do it again.

Roasted by the sun (always wear sun block!)  we ended our trip to be followed by another trip with Andre about a week later.

This time, for a change, it was Andre who blanked while I caught two small Kurpertjies. The first one was so small it didn’t even shake my line.

Me holding the small Kanarie. Carefull or it'll sting!

This all happened after we were excited by a good pull on one of my rods, but it seemed that it was spit out by the fish which left the line hanging silent. Then after I fixed my bait and cast in again there was another pull. I took the rod, released the brake and fastened the reel. It was huge! It was strong! But it wasn’t a fish…it was the guy fishing on the spot next to us. This was really disappointing but at least it made me happy for a few moments.

My huge fish

Even though we only caught the two small Kupers I can still happily say that I braked the long silence at Rietvlei… What do they say? Third time lucky!

The days summary:

Fishing period: +- 7am to 4pm

Fish: 2 small Kurpers

Bait used: Oorlog dipped worms

Distance the fish was caught at: +- 50m

Fishing spot: About in the middel GPS: 25 degrees 52’13.02″S, 28 degrees 16’11.05″E

Conditions: Overcast

I need to warn you that the water in Rietvlei may not be as clean as it looks due to chemical pollution. I was however unable to find any recent proof of this (it is probably fixed then) so all I say is be careful and responsible.