Meerhof, Hartebeespoort 3 June 2012

A few friends, Ettienne and Rudi, and I went to Meerhof at Hartebeespoort Dam on Sunday 3 June 2012. We arrived at the gates just before 6.00am and was able to secure a nice spot almost completely to the right of the venue. Started unpacking, but the cold didn't make it easy and I only had my first rod in the water around 6.35am. Made a blunder on the cast with the second rod and decided to warm up my hands with a warm cup of coffee and a rusk. Finally got both rods in and we were all eagarly awaiting for bites. It wasn't long when Rudi got a pull on kamoem mielies on a hair. But we suspect the fish were to small to get the bait in it's mouth.

Our spot

After one or two pulls I finally landed a nice Common Carp at 9.30am with Butter/Vanilla/Caramel on the bomb and kiana dough and plain float on the hook. Then it got quiet. We all got a few light pulls, but nothing on the line.

I tried various dips, baits and distances. Eventually got back to the butter vanilla caramel combo with a touch of Stuttafords on the bomb. Dough on one hook and float on the other. This got me two fish and quite a few bites as well. Ettienne also changed over to this combo and got bites on both rods, but unfortunately we were packing up at this stage and we ran out of time. Better luck next time Ettienne!!!

2nd Carp. All the fish were basically the same size.

So in total I landed three fish under 1kg. All were caught at least 100-120m out. All in all we had an awesome day at the water enjoying nature and good conversation. Would love to go again during the winter to see if some of the bigger fish want to bite.

Time to pack up....

PS: Thanks Ettienne for the steaks! The braai was well worth it! 

Update: 
Here is a map and approximate co-ordinates to get to Meerhof: -25.761424,27.894635

Thanks to Google Maps

The entrance

Cilliers Vaal Dam 13 May 2012

A friend of mine, Roelof, my cousin, Louis, and myself decided to take on Cilliers at the Vaal Dam on Sunday 13 May 2012. We overslept a bit as Roelof and I attended our annual club prize-giving the previous night and only got in bed around 2:00am.

We left Vereeniging around 8:00am and arrived about 40 minutes later. The spot we were aiming for is called Perdekamp, but it was already occupied by some club. We decided to head to a spot a bit left of Perdekamp.

We sat by the black arrow with Deneysville to the North.

It didn't take Roelof long to land the carp below using a combination(combo) of Boogeyman, Yellow Activator and one or two other flavours I still don't remember, lol!!!

2.5kg Mirror Carp

Not long afterwards I landed a nice carp on Boogeyman and Musk with a garlic floatie with a dough backing.

2.3kg Full Scale (Common) Carp

For the rest of the day day things went smaller until eventually we stopped getting any bites. Around 14:00 there was some dark cloud building up south of us and I suspect the change in air pressure had an effect on the catches. We started packing up as I still had to make it to Pretoria.

All in all, we had a very nice Autumn day at the water. My Cousin got one fish, small grasscarp, Roelof had around 6 or 7 fish including carp, mudfish, yellowfish and grasscarp. I caught 1 carp, 1 mudfish, one yellowfish and 1 grasscarp. Not bad for someone we got to the water a bit late and who haven't fished for 3 months. Had some trouble with getting my casting sorted as it takes a while to get back in the groove. Last few casts were good and it felt great to get to the water again.

Flavours that made a difference on the day was: Boogeyman(Duiwelsdrek base), Vaaldam and TCP, Yellow Activator(Garlic and Almond). The bank was very rocky and we did get stuck a few times. Holding the line tight and just keeping the pressure resulted in the trace getting released from the obstacles so we didn't leave lots of hooks and lines in the water, but patience was key.

Casting Tips

Here is a nice example of an overhead cast. In the first picture you can see how long the drop(lenght of line from rod tip to the end of your line) is. If the drop is too short the rod won't bend(load) properly.

In the pictures below, notice the left hand at the bottom of the rod doing most of the power work to realy bend(load) the rod. Right arm is kept straight as possible and acts as a swivel point for the rod. All the power from the butt section is transferred throught this swivel point to the rest of the rod. If your arm drops it reduces the power being transferred and thus reducing the distance of the cast.

Whats in your tackle box?

Whats in your tackle box?

I was thinking about this while listening to the rain outside and it being a while since I actually went fishing. I am taking off this year to get some of my tackle sorted for next year when i am planning to go big with comp angling.

We all know you need rods and reels and weight and hooks, but which of these work best for which type of fishing. Doesn’t help putting a 10/0 hook with dough in the water and hoping to be catching carp all day long.

So what works when and where for what?

I think it’s best to start with the basics. For general enjoyment we need a certain level of tackle. It does not have to be the best or the most expensive on the market, but it must at least be able to do what we want. Get the best you can afford. And before you buy anything, ask as much people you can to get an idea of how well the tackle will work for you.

The only stupid question is: "Why did I buy this?"

Kruger Farm at the Vaal Dam

Rods

If you have a boat or a bait boat for dropping your baits in the water, you probably don’t need to get the best casting rods on the market. You would rather look at rods suited to playing fish well.  Rods able of landing anything from small fish up to monsters without hook-pulls etc. Stick with 12-13’ rods as the length of the rods help when setting the hook, especially if your baits are quite far out(150m +).  I am not going to go into too much detail regarding branks and models as there are too many to mention and personal preference also play a factor.

For casting, i would recommend going for 12-13’ graphite/carbon rods with a strong backbone, but that is not too stiff.  Stiff rods make playing a fish somewhat more difficult as it is much easier to get hook-pulls.  If you do have to go extreme distances it is advised to go with something a bit stiffer, but landing the fish means one must get used to holding the rods with soft wrists as to compensate for any sudden movement the fish might make. One rod currently on the market that is setting a standard for decent casting rods is the are 13’ Sensation Rockets and the 13’ Sensation DC rods. For better rods, one must start looking at custom built rods with a Purglas 400/0 blank or even their slimline blanks. Blue Marlin and Loomis also make some excellent blanks and if you talk to a good rod builder they will be able to assist you.

Roodeplaat Dam Carp approx 3.5kg

Line

For social angling a prefer using 0.25mm main line with a 17lbs leader for casting. If you are not casting you don’t really need a leader as 0.25mm is strong enough for catching most fish in our waters.

For comps I mainly use 0.17mm (5lbs) main line with a 17lbs leader.  My reels for comps are loaded with cheap line for backing and then the last 200m will be my 0.17mm line. This 200m is easily replaced as soon as it gets old/worn. With my 12’ mid-range rods I get up to 148m casting a P3 weight. On my higher-end rods with low-rider guides I have done a few cast the other day and constantly hit the 160m mark with a P4 weight. Casting rietvlei trace with M1 weight and bomb I can easily reach 130m+ and on a comp it makes a huge difference.

Weights

Mushroom (M-type) sinker or weight. Used to keep the lielie bomb in place.

M0 up to M2 for most fishing. Always go as light as possible. If you can use a M0 weight for your type of fishing, don’t go heavier.  Only go heavier if you need more distance or if the wind is pumping and you need to keep the bait still on the bottom. The M-type weights are also designed for attaching your mieliebom/groundfeed to. Make a small ball with the bomb you intend on putting on. Then cut through to the middle of the bomb with the main line of the trace. Remould the ball around the line until you are happy that it is nice and round and properly form around the line. Now pull the weight into the bomb until it is secured. If done right, the bomb will not come off unless something else is wrong(bomb not mixed correctly etc).

Pear shaped (P-type) sinker or weight. Without the ring it becomes an S-type (sliding) sinker.

P-type weight are mostly used when distance casting/fishing. This is also mostly used with a bottom-rig(weight at the bottom and the hooks attached above it). One can attach a very small bomb onto the P weight as described above, but other ways can be used to get some feed and flavourings into the water like putting a plaster around the weight and then placing the dips onto the plaster and then shaking the whole thing in dry feed allowing the dry feed to stick to the plaster. Good sizes for getting proper distance would be P3-P6. Just make sure you rod can handle the weight. I will never even try to cast anything over P5 with my normal 12' 3lbs test-curve graphite rods.To really get distances greater than 130-150m one needs purpose built rods. There are quite a few rod builders who know their stuff and contacting them

Swivels

Barrel swivel.

Snap swivel.

 I almost never use any other swivel than a barrel swivel and a snap swivel. #10 works nicely for most freshwater angling, but if I target anything bigger, I will upsize to #8 or even #6.

Hooks

There are so many type and sizes out there its confusing...

The type of hook we normally use in Conventional Bank Angling. Sizes range from #0.5 to #6.

The type of hook known as a bait-holder hooks. Note the extra barbs on the shaft to hold meaty baits like worms in place. The size of the hook used is determined by the size of the bait and the size of the fish targeted

Size does matter. 

For social angling I prefer using #3 up to #5 so I can put on bigger baits like 2-5 maize pips or big floaties and dough. One tends to catch bigger fish using bigger baits although the waiting period is also longer. But it is worth it.

For comps one can use anything from #0.5 for muddies up to #2. I use #2 most of the time and I do catch a lot of fish. Anything from a single floatie to a small piece of dough or worms etc... The logic behind using smaller hooks is that a small bait amongst all the groundfeed would not stand out and scare away the fish. It must look like a piece of groundfeed and thus as the fish are feeding, it gets sucked
in and the fish gets hooked. Its about catching as much fish as possible in the allotted time. So basically the fish doesn’t go for the bait, but the bait is rather sucked in as part of the feed.

Baits

The two pictures above show how I bait up some of the time. The top picture is of n #2 hook baited up with a plain floatie and n sweet white dough(SWD) backing. On the bottom we have a #2 hook with a single maize pip also with a dough backing.

For comps and social I always have the following:

-Floaties: Plain in various colors and some flavoured, like bunspice, garlic and almond. Used alone or with dough or pap backing or with worms.

-Dough: I make my own from Semolina or Cake-flour or I buy ready-made Semolina dough from the shop. My favourite flavour dough is plain and sweet, garlic, strawberry. Dough can be used as is or alongside other baits like maize, floats or worms or even pap…

-Worms: I prefer the longer earthworms(also called snake worms or “springwurms”). These can be use in a bunch or just a single one on the hook. They can also be used with a floatie to lift it out of the mud or if the fish are not feeding on the bottom.

-Maize: I don’t use maize a lot during comps as they tend to take longer than other baits to get a bite, but on rare occasions they do tend to catch more and bigger fish on certain specific days so don’t leave them at home. When I social, I like using maize as they do mostly tend to get bigger fish. For comps I would only use 1 or 2 on a hook, but for social I would even use as much as 5 or 6. Works best during winter, but you need to be a bit patient. Let it lie for at least 2-3 hours(not good when comp fishing). My favourite flavour is Supercast Juana an Power-Baits Bloutrein(Spirits).

-Bread bait(pap):  Mostly overlooked, but very successful bait. It is normally made with various recipes handed down from father to son over the ages. Easiest pap to make is to take a slice of brown bread. Remove the crust. Pour some dip of your choice over it (not too much). Add a little custard powder over it and start kneading into a smooth paste. Pap can be use as is or as a backing for any of the abovementioned baits. 

Example of a sliping Rietvlei Trace loaded with mieliebomb and baits. Some dip added to the bomb to attract fish to the feed.

Another example of a loaded trace. This time the hooks are stuck into the mieliebomb to make the whole thing more streamlined for casting and to prevent the lines from tangling or the bait from getting knocked of. As you can se the one hook is loaded with dough and the other with a single floatie.

Dips

Now this is something that some of us have boxes full of! Mostly unnecessary of course… We don’t need to chuck around 50 dips to the dam. Most of the time we need at most about 20-30 and to me that is still too much, but it does give you some options for when the fish become finicky. If we do some research before going to a venue we will soon find that there is a pattern with regards to dip flavours. Places like the Vaal Dam you can get fish on anything sweet most of the time and certain combos are successful 80% of the time. Just remember that there are no hard and fast rules regarding dips as fish tend to change their preference from day to day and from venue to venue. Play around a bit, but don’t saturate the water with too much flavour as this will chase the fish away. Rather use less flavours if you are not sure what is working for the day. Rather change distance that change flavours. The right bait in the wrong place won’t catch any fish.

Caramel dips like FX are a must in any tackle box. It can be used in conjunction with most any other dips you might care to use.

Vaaldam dip is one of those sweet dips that is also found in every comp anglers box. It is basically a strawberry flavoured dip. Works well on its own or with a stronger dip like Garlic or TCP in a combo. Also works well as a flavouring when mixing doug.

Cinnamon and Bunspice type dips are also found in every comp anglers box. I myself use Cina1 and Perdeby. These work well on their own or as a combo with FX, Pinksweets and one or two others.

Pinksweet flavour is also a must have dip. My preferred pinksweets dip is called Kiana. Works well on its own or in combo with Predeby/Cina1, TCP, FX, Banana(Banjo).

TCP is always part of most anglers’ arsenal, unless that angler doesn’t know where to buy TCP…lol! Luckily for us it is again readily available since last year from any pharmacy under the name 3CP. A 100ml bottle costs about R35 and I mix mine 50/50 with tradisional syrup. I have used it with great success as a combo with Vaaldam dip on the bomb and TCP on the other side of the bomb.

Garlic  is always a winner at the Vaal. Some guys start every session with at least one rod loaded with garlic. Works very well on the bomb or as a dip for your bait(floaties/dough/pap). Also a great combo with Almond and there are even dips that are a mix of garlic and almond like Algar, Yellow Activator and Devilsfork. You must  have at least one of these in you box as well as these normally don’t last long, because it is used so much. There is also a dip named Strawlic which is a mix of garlic and strawberry. Also a winner, but you don’t need to have it if you already have garlic and Vaaldam in your box. Just use it as a combo. Any of these garlic mixes also work well as flavouring when mixing dough as well.

Looti is a very sweet berry mix. Must have dip as many a day has been saved with Looti. You can use lots of Looti on the bomb at a time as the fish love it! One of the best combos are a spot of Vicks(Eucalyptus) covered with Looti. Works very well on cold days and during winter.

Duiwelsdrek is a very smelly dip that works well when most other dips fail. Seems to attract bigger carp. I mix my own as it is cheaper than buying the dip. I buy Lennons Duiwelsdrek from any grocery shop and then mix it with honey or syrup in a bigger bottle(50ml). Works well with Musk-Molasses on the bomb.

Musk-Molasses is also a dip that I discovered recently to be an excellent addition to any box. You can pour lots of it on the bomb and it gets fish to the feeding spot. I normally have a 100ml bottle of it ready at all occasions.

These are a few of my must have dips. There are n few others that I would not leave home without, but they are mostly personal choice. These include Stuttafords(Wintergreen), Almond, Passionfruit/Granadilla, Muddy-Red(peach). All have their place in my arsenal, but they are not used as much as the ones mentioned above. As I said before, these are not set in stone and anyone can try anything they want and be very successful.

Rietvlei Trace

Here is a short tutorial of how I tie my Rietvlei traces.

Gummie stops, beads, swivels, hooks and weight.

This is what I use for the hooklinks.

This is what I use for the hooklinks.

This is what I use for the main shaft of the trace. Its the same stuff I use as a leader for casting

Now I attach the 17lbs line to the hooklink using a clinch-knot.

Then I slide a bead(to protect the knot), a weight(M1 in this case), gummie stop, another bead and then the swivel of a second hooklink onto the main shaft of the trace.

I then tie this double overhand knot in the top end of the main shaft line. This gets hooked onto a snap_swivel attatched to the leader and it enable one to easily change traces while fishing.

Suggestions

Please post any suggestions here and I will see what I can do...

PS: Older comments will be deleted eventually, but good ideas will be filed for later improvement of the site. Thanks!

Vaaldam 2011 and 2012

A few if the biggest fish I caught during 2011 and 2012 at the Vaal Dam.

6.3kg Barbel caught at Cilliers on Grasscarp head after a clubcomp during Summer 2011

4kg Grasscarp caught at Krugers on Juana Maize pips October 2011 during a social.

4.6kg Mirror Carp caught at Ardenza during Easter weekend 2011 also using Juana Maize pips.

5.8kg Barbel caught at Tago on Grasscarp head during January 2012.