Big bass on big baits in KZN
Carp - Deep into winter, cold mornings, mirror-like dams and bleeping alarms, with the cold fronts that hit us over the last two weeks, water temperatures in most of our dams have dropped considerably. This is a good thing for the anglers fishing for that personal best specimen. Now is the time for those 18mm boilies. Shongweni has not seen many small fish being landed recently, but a few of over 10kg have been reported. Inanda Dam has been fishing very well with bigger fish in the deeper water. Most fish have been landed on FX Flavoured hook baits.
Bass - From one cold front to the next, bass angling has been as unpredictable as can be. The cold water seems to have brought through some bigger bites in the deep, on big baits such as Zooms 7" fluke monsters and the larger crank baits fished deep and slow. Reports from Inanda indicate that the fish are feeding and good catches of 20-25 fish per day are being caught, but the fish are all over the place and anglers are needing to travel from spot to spot to locate these fish. Fish up to 3kg have been landed in the Taxi Bay region. Albert Falls seems to be right up there with regards to bigger fish over the last week. Two fish over 3kg were reported from the dam wall area during the most recent front, caught on a Zoom swimming super fluke paddle tail in the houdini colour. When fishing deep into winter and in depths of more than 30ft, it is imperative that either braid or fluorocarbon lines are used. Winter fish will not bite aggressively so every bit of sensitivity is needed to detect the bite. The low stretch in the braid and fluorocarbon, matched with a chemically sharpened Mustad hook, will assure you a much better hook-up rate.
Trout - Trout anglers will be having a terrible time getting out of bed, but a great time on the water after the bone chilling weather we have been having. Reports from around the Kamberg area and Underberg area suggest that the trout have been more than willing to hop onto a fly in the deep. Flies of choice seem to be Mrs. Simpsons, Big Wooly Buggers, Papa Roach's and also Zonkers.
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
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