A last minute decision to head for Kwaggas put me on the water at 9.30 AM with 2 other bass boats out already and, surprisingly, another boat just launching to ski in the 10 degree water.
It was another stunning day in Africa, a light breeze, water quite clear with a temp of between 10.5 and 11.5 degrees. First stop was a grove of blue gums where I picked up a few taps but no fish. I was surprised by one that chased the lure right up to the boat, it hit it as I was cranking it in for another cast, I got such a surprise that I struck too soon and pulled it out of it's mouth. Round 1 to Mr bass.
Next spot was a spindly bush, in just over 1 metre of water on a sand bottom where I really didn't expect to find fish but one hit my worm hard. Once again I was caught by surprise and missed it, but I marked the spot to come back to later. Continuing up the bank I was casting to an area that I know has a bunch of tree stumps in around 2.5 metres of water, a slow retrieve, crawling the worm along the bottom resulted in a good largie of just over a kilo.
After about an hour I was back at the bush where I missed the fish earlier, pitched in a Texas rigged lizard and the fish was on. Strong and aggressive, it just had to be a smallie, no doubt about it. I lip landed it and weighed it in at 1.28 kg, a fat healthy Kwaggas smallie.
Across the dam I met a couple of youngsters who had also picked up a few fish. Another spindly bush resulted in my 3rd fish of the day, a 1 kg largie.
The north westerly wind was starting to pick up and since it was close to 3PM with a 2 hour drive back home I decided to call it a day and head back. What a stunning day, the fish, while not plentiful were catchable, the water is quite clear and rising steadily. I didn't cross the wall to Brandvlei but saw a couple of boats heading that way, don't know how they fared. When I left the wind was kicking up some hefty waves so it must have been a hairy ride back for them.
It was another stunning day in Africa, a light breeze, water quite clear with a temp of between 10.5 and 11.5 degrees. First stop was a grove of blue gums where I picked up a few taps but no fish. I was surprised by one that chased the lure right up to the boat, it hit it as I was cranking it in for another cast, I got such a surprise that I struck too soon and pulled it out of it's mouth. Round 1 to Mr bass.
Next spot was a spindly bush, in just over 1 metre of water on a sand bottom where I really didn't expect to find fish but one hit my worm hard. Once again I was caught by surprise and missed it, but I marked the spot to come back to later. Continuing up the bank I was casting to an area that I know has a bunch of tree stumps in around 2.5 metres of water, a slow retrieve, crawling the worm along the bottom resulted in a good largie of just over a kilo.
After about an hour I was back at the bush where I missed the fish earlier, pitched in a Texas rigged lizard and the fish was on. Strong and aggressive, it just had to be a smallie, no doubt about it. I lip landed it and weighed it in at 1.28 kg, a fat healthy Kwaggas smallie.
Across the dam I met a couple of youngsters who had also picked up a few fish. Another spindly bush resulted in my 3rd fish of the day, a 1 kg largie.
The north westerly wind was starting to pick up and since it was close to 3PM with a 2 hour drive back home I decided to call it a day and head back. What a stunning day, the fish, while not plentiful were catchable, the water is quite clear and rising steadily. I didn't cross the wall to Brandvlei but saw a couple of boats heading that way, don't know how they fared. When I left the wind was kicking up some hefty waves so it must have been a hairy ride back for them.
