Mission Man
Senior Member
holy mackerel those are some nice biggies
Hi guys, I have been running my winter fishin
- Thread starter nobbles
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Mission Man
Senior Member
going fishing for the wkn at loboya bay for the first time today, so lets hope i can get some biggies
Mission Man
Senior Member
well finishing wise i blanked, but was still good for recon purposes. so got some valuable knowledge about the conditions, water level for summer once the water pushes up, knowledge of where the water starts to drop off etc. so this wkn going to a different spot on the vaal for some more fishing/research, who knows with the weather warming up this week maybe just maybe i will catch something.
Mission Man
Senior Member
well the dam is so low that the water level was about 130m from the high level point. it sloped so little that if the dam was full and i walked in till there the water would only have come up to my knees. this slope continued for about another 10m into the water where it the dropped to about 3-5m deep. for bait i was using day old chicks. the wind however was so bad that it blew my tent away and forced me to make the kids sleep in the car. just a quick one, the bait that was left over, can i use it again or should i rather get new one?
thank for any advice.
thank for any advice.
How bad does it smell, lol. I have used some very frot day olds and had success. I usually have a couple really bad smelling ones and a couple fresh. Some days they the only thing to get eaten others not.
Did you see any rises on the water?
But wind in my opion is the worst thing that can happen when you barbel fishing. I very rarely ctach when the wind is blowing and have had quick bites right after wind has died. So that may have been the issue for you. I would most certainly always put baits out at the drop off. When your water level rises again i would mark the drop off and put baits 50m past and than stagger them, so one at 50m past one at 30 m past and one 1om past. You should get picked up by smaller fish as the bottom drops down. But look for activity during the day and see where they are moving around the most. With the baby chickens, did you skin them? how did you present them?
Did you see any rises on the water?
But wind in my opion is the worst thing that can happen when you barbel fishing. I very rarely ctach when the wind is blowing and have had quick bites right after wind has died. So that may have been the issue for you. I would most certainly always put baits out at the drop off. When your water level rises again i would mark the drop off and put baits 50m past and than stagger them, so one at 50m past one at 30 m past and one 1om past. You should get picked up by smaller fish as the bottom drops down. But look for activity during the day and see where they are moving around the most. With the baby chickens, did you skin them? how did you present them?
Mission Man
Senior Member
yes i skinned them , head, wing and legless, hook through the spine. the whole time i was there i didnt see any movement on the water at all, well except for the "seagulls" but like i said for the 24 hours we were there, there was a period of about 30-45min that there wasn't wind, the rest of the time it was howling.
Ya thats is a pity. Dont know if any one else has a thought, but you have to be dead on money in wind or you just sit and watch lines. I am toying with the idea of taking a bait to a really deep area when the wind blows, either wind turns the fish off eating or it makes them move. In my mind the fish, if it does move away when there is wind, would move to a calmer area. To me if there are no sheltered bay's a deep part of the dam should be a little more calmer than a shallow area. Just a thought, butt i reckon worth a try.
Other wise i belive you did everything you could, just a bad days fishing
Other wise i belive you did everything you could, just a bad days fishing
Mission Man
Senior Member
Thanks, but like i said it wasn't a total loss as i got valuable knowledge of the area for when the summer rains come and the water level rises again. at least then i will know where the slopes are etc.
Ya skuim, I've noticed it over the last year or so. Its gotten to the point I go and sit in the tent when the wind gets up. Catch up on some sleep. 98 percent of the time nothing will take. As sson as the wind drops I sit by the rods.
@jugga. That first one was around 4kg if I remeber correctly
@jugga. That first one was around 4kg if I remeber correctly
Gcvanheerden
New member
But then again at venues where there is lots of wind that probally must not have such a big influence.At the venue i fish there is mostly winds in the day till about three then things start to calm down and i have caught when the wind was howling and fishing and casting was uncomfortable.
Does anybody have a input regarding this?
Does anybody have a input regarding this?
Mission Man
Senior Member
we going this wkn to a place in Deneysville, my brother says on the right 80m in is a tree and on the left 60m in are two trees. hopefully these structures should provide some support as they expecting a windy wkn again.
Mission Man wrote:
I would go for the two trees which are 60 meters out as the water would be warmer there at this stage of the season and it gives the Cats more structures to abuse there prey from. If there are nest in those trees and/or there are poo on the branches or rocks I would most certainly use day old chicks and/or 'dop' kuikens. Live bait would give you good results as well.
I would go for the two trees which are 60 meters out as the water would be warmer there at this stage of the season and it gives the Cats more structures to abuse there prey from. If there are nest in those trees and/or there are poo on the branches or rocks I would most certainly use day old chicks and/or 'dop' kuikens. Live bait would give you good results as well.
Gcvanheerden wrote:
Good point. Take places like Cape Town for example. But then again when the wind is howling there you don't get as much bites either.
Good point. Take places like Cape Town for example. But then again when the wind is howling there you don't get as much bites either.