Early last month we made our first trip to this absolute gem neer Ellisras. Caught 2 fish of 3,75kg among about 200 others.
Anyways, decided to take one of my friends Johan to this dam (or I couldn't say no when he asked me to go!). Arrived on Friday morning, pitched camp and launched the boat. The weather was not so good, clear skies and no wind to speak of. Adding that the water is gin clear, we were in for a tough time. We still managed to catch around 40 or 50 bass, with the biggest only 1,6kg.
Woke up on Saterday with a moerse babbelas, and the wind was blowing like crazy! Launcher the boat and off we went. By 10 we were gatvol to say the least. Caught 30 or so, all on the small side. Decided to make some brekka and catch a power-nap. Woke up again at 12:30 and the wind had died of a bit. Decided to go out and fish some sheer cliff faces,as all our fish in the morning were caught on the steeper banks. 1st cliff reached, and within 5 minutes I was on to a good fish. Johan thought a was pulling his leg, but this fish was taking line at a great speed (I was fishing 15lb line with my drag set TIGHT). After about 4 minutes landed a very skinny 3kg bass. It was the biggest bass he has ever seen! This fish would have easily weighed 3,5kg or more in full spawn. Wow! What a way to start the afternoon! In the next few hours we managed quite a lot of fish in the 1,5-2kg range, ending with a bag of 9,1kg's. Not bad for an afternoon's fishing! Most of the fish were sitting in the shade of the cliffs, but in deepish water.
On sunday we again had no wind/clouds and very clear water. Decided to try the river section as I've never been there. The water is also a bit stained there. Caught lots of jetfighters, again on the steeper banks. And I caught my very first fish on a chatterbait! Not big, but a solid keeper. But the fishing was slow, so we decided to hit the dam wall before packing up.
Got to the dam wall at about 11 and immediately caught a few jetfighters. We continued to work the wall, then hooked up to a fish that only weighed 1,3kg, but fought like a 2kg fish. The fish in this dam really are really very strong fighters!! 10 or so minutes later I was again picked up by a fish that put up a very good fight... landed a beauty of 2,2kg. This was on the exact place where I caught another 2,2kg fish on our previous trip. Continued to work the wall, fishing in 4-7 meters of water when I was picked up on the drop by something that ran like a train! From the moment I set the hook I knew this was a goodie! I immediately got the boat into deeper water away from all the rocks, but the fish kept taking line at will. It went around a random ancor rope that was in the water a few times, but after a few nervous moments and a very good fight of about 6 or 7 minutes (felt like an hour!), johan pulled a 3,6kg bass onboard!
Wow! What an end to our awesome trip! This fish was also quite skinny. I guestimated it to be 4,2kg, but it had already spawned. Still a great fish to end a trip!
Left the dam at 1, again with a BIG smile on my face. This is really a magical place for me. I've caught 3 of my 4 fish over 3kg in this dam in 2 trips. Not bad at all! You do catch a lot of small fish, but knowing the size of the fish that swim around I will definately return again...
Photo's will follow as soon as I have them.
Anyways, decided to take one of my friends Johan to this dam (or I couldn't say no when he asked me to go!). Arrived on Friday morning, pitched camp and launched the boat. The weather was not so good, clear skies and no wind to speak of. Adding that the water is gin clear, we were in for a tough time. We still managed to catch around 40 or 50 bass, with the biggest only 1,6kg.
Woke up on Saterday with a moerse babbelas, and the wind was blowing like crazy! Launcher the boat and off we went. By 10 we were gatvol to say the least. Caught 30 or so, all on the small side. Decided to make some brekka and catch a power-nap. Woke up again at 12:30 and the wind had died of a bit. Decided to go out and fish some sheer cliff faces,as all our fish in the morning were caught on the steeper banks. 1st cliff reached, and within 5 minutes I was on to a good fish. Johan thought a was pulling his leg, but this fish was taking line at a great speed (I was fishing 15lb line with my drag set TIGHT). After about 4 minutes landed a very skinny 3kg bass. It was the biggest bass he has ever seen! This fish would have easily weighed 3,5kg or more in full spawn. Wow! What a way to start the afternoon! In the next few hours we managed quite a lot of fish in the 1,5-2kg range, ending with a bag of 9,1kg's. Not bad for an afternoon's fishing! Most of the fish were sitting in the shade of the cliffs, but in deepish water.
On sunday we again had no wind/clouds and very clear water. Decided to try the river section as I've never been there. The water is also a bit stained there. Caught lots of jetfighters, again on the steeper banks. And I caught my very first fish on a chatterbait! Not big, but a solid keeper. But the fishing was slow, so we decided to hit the dam wall before packing up.
Got to the dam wall at about 11 and immediately caught a few jetfighters. We continued to work the wall, then hooked up to a fish that only weighed 1,3kg, but fought like a 2kg fish. The fish in this dam really are really very strong fighters!! 10 or so minutes later I was again picked up by a fish that put up a very good fight... landed a beauty of 2,2kg. This was on the exact place where I caught another 2,2kg fish on our previous trip. Continued to work the wall, fishing in 4-7 meters of water when I was picked up on the drop by something that ran like a train! From the moment I set the hook I knew this was a goodie! I immediately got the boat into deeper water away from all the rocks, but the fish kept taking line at will. It went around a random ancor rope that was in the water a few times, but after a few nervous moments and a very good fight of about 6 or 7 minutes (felt like an hour!), johan pulled a 3,6kg bass onboard!
Wow! What an end to our awesome trip! This fish was also quite skinny. I guestimated it to be 4,2kg, but it had already spawned. Still a great fish to end a trip!Left the dam at 1, again with a BIG smile on my face. This is really a magical place for me. I've caught 3 of my 4 fish over 3kg in this dam in 2 trips. Not bad at all! You do catch a lot of small fish, but knowing the size of the fish that swim around I will definately return again...
Photo's will follow as soon as I have them.
