Depth

J

joekin

New member
What is the "ideal" depth i should look at for dropping a fish head or full bait fish.

Fishing the vaal dam this weekend at UJ island.

I have a little dingy but no fish/depth finder, so can i just use a peice of line with a sinker on it and troll around "feeling" for depth.

I have tried twice,both times whole fish as bait, fill plates removed and a few openings. Second time same setup, rod was in the water for 3 days and not a single nibble.

Hence i want try a fish head first, smaller, and then if that works maybe switch to full fish to target a bigger specimen

was thinking about injecting the baitfish with chicken blood or similar.

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M

Mission Man

Senior Member
depending on the time of day / night, as at night they came in to shallower water has its warmer, but generally 3m depth should be a good target depth
 
S

Skuimkop

Sealiner
3 meters is very good but as Mission man mentioned you can bring your baits into the shallows at night but then there must be no noise and/or light close to where you're planning to drop your bait. Use BIG baits as there are big boyz in the Deneysville area.
 
K

Kosie

New member
Ek hou da van om die margins te vang in die aand, ek stap gewoonlik so 100m links of/en regs van my kamp af en gooi die aas daar in. So is da geen geraas of lig wat die vis pla nie. Ma dis ook net moontlik as da nie mense sit nie.
 
C

Cheetha FS

Sealiner
Ek hou daarvan om een lyn vlak te le so 3m water en dan die ander lyn met groot aas in die diepste gat wat ek kan kry. Ek glo nog steeds die groot babers hou van donker en diep water.
 
G

Gcvanheerden

New member
Why do you guys think that there are more and bigger barbel in deeper water where there are drop offs,holes etc?Maybe they try to "hide" in the deeper water or the temp is more consistent?
 
C

Cheetha FS

Sealiner
Gcvanheerden wrote:
Why do you guys think that there are more and bigger barbel in deeper water where there are drop offs,holes etc?Maybe they try to "hide" in the deeper water or the temp is more consistent?
Click to expand...
I think everybody will have there own opinions about were the big ones hide. I say deep water cause they wont be easily detected and wont be bothered that much by smaller cats. Ive caught at many damwalls with deep water and my catches has been allot bigger than at shalower water. I have caught one or two bigger ones in shallow water but mostly during night when they are most active and hunting. So i use the theory of deepwater at damwalls with the rest of the dam aswell and have had some great sucess.
 
K

Kosie

New member
Ek stem saam dat daar n paar opinies sal wees. Ek persoonlik dink dit het baie met skuiling te doen. As jy kyk in amerika hoe hulle die groot katte uit gate uit haal. Die groot vundus in kariba hou ook van om in sulke tonnels in die gras/riete weg te kruip. Nou natuurlik is dit ook om hul prooi voor te le, maar ek glo dat die grotes die diep gate opsoek vir skuiling in venues waar daar min of geen struktuur is nie. En natuurlik is dit ook n natuurlike plek vir kos om op te eindig. Sal graag meer opinies hieroor wil hoor.
 
G

Gcvanheerden

New member
Ja ek het ook maar altyd aangeneem van die skuiling.Wat ek ook dink 'n groot invloed het op hoe ek my spot sou kies is as dit gereen het.Ek sal dan so naby as moontlik aan die inloop probeer vang want al die kos en goed spoel daar in na die reen.
 
N

nobbles

New member
I love this debate on depth. I sit on the wall with depth. I agree that big fish hold to deep holes, they feel safe and can rest with out being disturbed, than they will hunt in the shallower water. If you put a bait in that hole like cheetha does you will have great success and you know there will mainly be large cats there. I know skuim likes water below 6m to fish in, my self I like to look at the contours of the bottom and find active hunting areas. But as you don't have a fish finder I would, as always, take 3 rods and postiton baits in likely areas and find the fish. The sinker attahced to line is a good idea, and I use to use this a lot. Find your deep spot. I normally take one bait out far than one close than one inbetween it. That way I'm covering a large area and if I get 2 cats in one area I will position bait around there and focus as there is food there for them and naturally they will be feeding in the area.

As far as leaving bait in the water for 3 days. Yes I agree, but I will only leave baot in an area for a length of time if I know the water well and know I will get a bite there. If its a dam I don't know 6 hours is usually my limit before I will re-bait and try another spot. Some times it really is a case of you finsing the fish rather than the fish finding you. By all means use the chicken blodd, any extra smell or scent trail is a huge plus.
 
G

Gcvanheerden

New member
The sinker thing works but don't troll it over the bottom does not really work,what does work for me is going to a place and dropping the sinker and pulling it up again and going to the next spot the sinker also helps identifying the type of bottom.If you don't have a fishfinder a marker rod that you paddle out(further distance and does not ristrict you to casting) far works and the sinker thing works for finding the bottom, but the best really is going for a swim and feel the bottom for yourself I am lucky as the dam I fish is very low so I can just walk across the dam when there is not a drop off,if I find the drop off I just place a temporary marker and paddle my baits to there.Most of these methods you can do if you don't have a fishfinder and might be hard work finding the depth but pays of when you catch fish on that spot you worked so hard for,and way better than going in blind.
 
K

Kosie

New member
Ek dink die seisoen speel ook n rol. Ek dink veral lente en herfs beweeg hulle dalk meer rond tussen diep en vlak water soos wat hulle n gemaklikke temp soek. konstante warm of koue temperature kan hulle makliker op een plek hou. Maar ek dink soos die temp verander in lente/herfs kan hulle dalk meer rondbeweeg veral gedurende die oggend en agter middag.
 
N

nobbles

New member
I use an old spool of line. Just paddle out a bit and drop sinker. Than I let myself drift or paddle as slowas I can and let the sinker bounce of the bottom. Just make sure you don't snag something. But the sinker will follow the bottom and you can get a feel of what's down there and if it slope into deeper water.
 
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