Bass biting at Hazelmere Dam

Trout - The Karkloof area was fished on the weekend and reports from the anglers suggest that fishing had been relatively slow, apart from the few fish caught in the deep on an extremely slow retrieve. Successful flies used included Olive Wooly Buggers, Peacock Wooly Worms and large Papa Roach's. All fish were caught on sinking lines in the deep. Remember that the most essential part of the sinking set-up is the fluorocarbon leader material. This allows the fly to sink at the same rate as the line, allowing for better presentation, less bow in the line and of course better abrasion resistance from that trophy fish's teeth. Kingfisher fluorocarbon is available in the perfect diameter for the application.

Carp - With the cold snap coming through late last week it seems that most shallow dams such as Hazelmere and private dams went into shock. Many reports of fish feeding in the deeper, larger dams such as Inanda and Albert Falls. Inanda produced some fine catches over the weekend of carp ranging between 6 and 12kg.  Hazelmere proved relatively quiet with larger fish, but with the amount of pick-ups with no hook-ups, it is evident that there were many smaller fish present. Bites were all on Spice or Aniseed Boilies.

Bass - Anglers did extremely well at Hazelmere Dam on their kick boats over the weekend, particularly on fly. Zonkers and large Wooly Buggers seem to be doing the job. Great reports from Inanda Dam with catches of bass on top water early in the morning, most were taken on Strike Pro Thai Sticks. A good report from a local angler using Mustads new Kevin van Dam signature series hooks. These hooks have a unique hold on the eye of the hook which holds the lure in place so well that even after 3 or 4 fish on the same lure, the lure does not slide down the shank. This not only works out to be cheaper on plastics, but also improves hook-up, as there is no bunch up of rubber in the bend of the hook when the angler strikes.

(File Photo:Gallo Images)

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