So I've recently discovered a dam that has some ni

A

aquadementia

Sealiner
So I've recently discovered a dam that has some nice healthy barbel in it and they dont mind eating plastic either!

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The first barbel in the pics was caught on the 3rd cast near where he came up, but retrieved slowly along the bottom. The second one was caught totally blind/randomly in open water. both caught on the same paddletail on different days in the same dam.

It has carp so the vis isnt great. I was given two 'pumpkin seed' crankbaits to try on turning fish but I was wondering what your go-to lure would be for blind casting for them? (i.e. relatively snagless and slow bottom retrieve? not?)

I will be emigrating to Gauteng (Pta east) next year so I guess I need to brush up on the freshie stuff!

thanks in advance
 
F

fishy_fishy

Sealiner
Good Morning :SSS

Can you please share with me what plastics/lures you used to catch the barbel? Additionally, how did you fish these particular lures?

The reason i am asking is because i've tried hunting barbel with lures for a while now but i've had no luck. Its driving me crazy. ::craz

Looking forward to your response.
 
A

aquadementia

Sealiner
"cast near where he came up, but retrieved slowly along the bottom"

the paddletail in their mouths

also caught on a small one on a dark purple bass worm but that was in very clear water and I cast into his mouth nearly
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T

The Owner

Senior Member
Nice catches! I have never had the luck of catching a cat on a plastic, but on lures I have caught plenty. The best lure if you want to retrieve slowly and not have many hookups is in my opinion an effzett spoon. Your spoon's size will depend on the size of the barbel you are targeting and if the water is dirty the bronze one's work better, while silver one's work very well in clear water. I have caught many decent size cats on spoons as well as my pb on casting of 12kg. My father caught a 18kg on a spoon while casting for them. Other good options are rattle raps(depending on how much grass the dam has) and sometimes even shadraps or salmo boxers as they hit the bottom with such amazing action that a cat can't resist them. Aquadementia when your in Pretoria you are welcome to contact me or my father and join one of the artlure clubs. You will learn a lot and have some very nice fishing trips with people that share the same passion.:wfish
 
A

aquadementia

Sealiner
The Owner wrote:
Nice catches! I have never had the luck of catching a cat on a plastic, but on lures I have caught plenty. The best lure if you want to retrieve slowly and not have many hookups is in my opinion an effzett spoon. Your spoon's size will depend on the size of the barbel you are targeting and if the water is dirty the bronze one's work better, while silver one's work very well in clear water. I have caught many decent size cats on spoons as well as my pb on casting of 12kg. My father caught a 18kg on a spoon while casting for them. Other good options are rattle raps(depending on how much grass the dam has) and sometimes even shadraps or salmo boxers as they hit the bottom with such amazing action that a cat can't resist them. Aquadementia when your in Pretoria you are welcome to contact me or my father and join one of the artlure clubs. You will learn a lot and have some very nice fishing trips with people that share the same passion.:wfish
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply! Never tried an effzett before, but then again they were made for freshwater so not my thing in the first place...

appreciate the offer and I'll be sure to take you up on it!

I take it winter is pretty dead there in terms of barbel?
 
T

The Owner

Senior Member
You would be surprised, I caught my pb in the winter and we had good barbel fishing right through the winter. We only change our technique a little in the winter, but the fishing stays good and the bigger barbel are easier to catch. Here is a thread on one of my winter trips http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=40576&forum_id=71 or you can just search "Big Surprize! Some good winter barbel fishing". Most dams around here stay productive in terms of barbel through the winter
 
A

aquadementia

Sealiner
nice report!

that klopping sounds like stacks of fun!

true I suppose the barbel cant migrate anywhere in winter and they still have to feed.. Our fish here just leave for natal in winter hehe

cool well this weekend may try some other lures for the barbel if we go, thinking poppers!
 
T

The Owner

Senior Member
Thanks man, it sure is a great fun. But most of the time we catch our cats on sight fishing by putting a leadhead on its whiskers and triggering a reaction strike. If its warm enough in the region and the water heat up during afternoons the barbel will be sunbathing. If their sunbathing in the shallows they can be caught. Here is a few cats me and my best bud caught at roodeplaatdam last week, also with callingrods using the sightfishing method. We were on the water for 4 hours and my friend managed to get 3 barbel in the last hour, while I caught one in the first 40 min on the water. Mine was over 8kg.

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T

The Owner

Senior Member
It was an fun session, but usually we catch way more barbel. They were more spooky than usual. Here is a pic of the leadheads we use.

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A

aquadementia

Sealiner
I tried a black and red wriggly worm/grub without success last time.. But tickling their whiskers they cant miss it!

found some of these in my plastics box, gonna give them a bash this weekend
http://www.stormlures.com/products/luresdetail.cfm?modelName=wildeye_live_anchovy&freshorsalt=Fresh&type=soft_lures
 
T

The Owner

Senior Member
I personally think the weight of the leadheads makes a difference when fishing for them trying to trigger a reaction strike. But if you can for a jig using the storms lures as a "skirt" it will most probably work just as well as our leadheads.
 
T

The Owner

Senior Member
Good luck with tomorrows fishing! Oh and congrats with all those species on lure, nice to see a fellow "fish collector". I haven't done much salt water in my life, but on freshwater I can school most people. Here is a post of my species so far http://www.sealine.co.za/view_topic.php?id=59654&forum_id=71
 
T

The Owner

Senior Member
Almost like a seabarbel, also has fins that can sting you and make you wish you were more careful in the first place. I have the SA record on medium tackle of 0,950g. Pretty small, but usually they reach about 0,500g. Its a carnivore that takes rapalas hard and gives a good fight for its size.

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They are found it large schools and you can easily get a double up if you find a school.
 
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