Free your mind from reality, reset the time of urban clocks and set yourself free
– Ivan Sonnekus
Simple words to most…but then there are people like me, that see the world for something remarkable, we see great things around that leaves us wandering away from the rest as we set ourselves apart from the normal by the power of observation.
Over this past weekend i had the privilege to go Bass fishing along with a good friend and one of his daughters, we were talking about going out for a good session for most of last week so when Sunday morning arrived i sent the man a text to confirm that we are still on for a day out next to the water. At the time he replied my text I was busy with another mission at home that involves my camera, HSS speed-light and a water balloon but that will be featured in another post very soon so be sure to keep an eye out!
Back to fishing, I started packing away the camera gear and sorted some of my fishing stuff and charged my Sjcam for a short duration just for in case i need to document a big catch 🙂 Andre came to pick me up from my house and off we went to a local farm dam that i haven’t fished before so i was quite exited for the trip. on the way there into the mountains the clouds were coming in at quite a quick pace and we started to wonder if we are not maybe going to get some rain but none the less we were determined to get some good fish!
Just as we arrived on the farm we were driving up to the dam from below the dam wall so i still couldn’t see the water, and by now i’m super anxious to start fishing this dam. As soon as we parked i got a shock to see that there is absolutely no structure to fish other than a makeshift float to keep a water-pump away from the bottom of the dam, and the thoughts are running through my head about what technique and lures should i be using…
Whilst i was busy rigging my old faithful lure (Zoom bait co. – Horny toad in the South African color) to my one rod i suddenly hear a screeching scream of excitement from the dam side on the other side of the bakkie as to where i was standing. I peeked around the back of the van as to see what was happening and to my surprise Bella was on with a fish! after a quick battle between young girl and predator fish she landed it, and boy oh boy, what a monster to be breaking the ice with! now i’m thinking to myself today will surely be a good day fishing if the 1st fish the dam produces is one of that stature!
I now calmly reset myself double checking my knots and lure presentation as i am busy walking down towards the water, this is it…my 1st cast for the day, lets see if it can replicate the results. I place the lure right up against the floating barrels as i’m sure there should be fish, as my horny toad hits the water i leave it do drop down to the bottom whilst i cast my other rod coupled with a DAMIKI crank bait called the boggler 60 in the baby bass color and i start reeling that bad boy in as I almost forget about the horny toad.
The rattle infused boggler came back empty handed as i set my rod down to pick up the other one and start working back the horny toad slowly on the bottom, also not producing any results. Now i’m wondering where to go with my next cast as by now my friend Andre was also on with a fish, and i’m still working the water hard! Next moment i see a swirl in the water right next to where my lure hit the water, excitement takes over and i have to force myself not to over react to that bite and rather be patient and make sure so I leave the lure to drop down when…all of a sudden the line starts running through the water off to the one side, this is it! i’m on!! I strike and start working the fish towards the bank. alas…its a mid size fish, very healthy and full of life, i,m happy as my fail safe lure produced my required result as now at least i have one fish to build on 😀
Happy to have my 1st fish i decide its a good time to try some other lures as the Horny toad wasn’t delivering top results so i went with a neon Lime-treuse Fluke made by the CATS bait co. i have been quite successful with this particular fluke with other recent fishing trips so lets try. Hooked up to my Daiwa rod i start working the water again, casting far from the bank and leaving it to sink down to deeper water as i am still fishing weightless i leave it for about a minute or so to make sure its down nice and deep before i start twitching the rod for the lure to start doing its thing down under 🙂
Fishing started slow as we were fishing whilst a cloud front starts pulling in with quite a coldish wind howling around like a wild animal that doesn’t know where to go. By now i have worked my way around the one half of the dam to the opposite side as to where Andre was fishing,still using my trusted fluke i battle the wind and work the water with fast actions, slow movements and varying depth to try and find a pattern for the fish to bite on, then suddenly i got a hit as i was about to take the lure out to replace it with a different one again. This time round its a bit better fish! i mission my way down to the side of the water as i was standing a bit higher up at the time, and when i saw the fish i was even more happy as now i have 2 for the afternoon 🙂
Now i am on a real mission as i’m picking up more fish! I continue to move along around the dam catching the odd fish here and there but they were still not biting like i would like them to, could it be this crazy weather or are they just getting enough to chow naturally…
Eventually i made the trip right around the dam and found myself back at the bakkie and within range of my 2nd rod that i left on the bank as i started my round trip, so i decide its time for a new tactic, one i’m not usually a big fan of but nevertheless i tried it. I lay my Daiwa rod down to the side as i pick up my Sensation adventure ii rod armed with that Damiki Boggler 60 crank bait and i started casting. Now Andre and myself are standing quite close to one another as we work one of the corners of the dam close to where the bakkie is parked, Andre and his daughter are catching fish on a constant basis and i’m still trying to catch up to them…when out of nowhere i’m on with the crank! i pull out a little piggy that almost swallowed the whole crank and i’m thinking to myself this has to work again!!
Snapped a quick shot of the fish after i eventually got the 3 prong hooks dislodged and set the bad boy free once again, at this stage Andre just hooked a smaller fish and as he was just about to lift it out of the water a monster suddenly came from the depths to chow the smaller fish! i could not believe my eyes! he almost hooked up a major fish! Andre then just casually flipped the small one back, still on the line as he was hoping to get a run with that big boy lurking in the waters in front of us. It went a bit quiet and then all of a sudden there were two big fish battling for the smaller one not even as far as 2 meters away from the side!! Time and time again he flips the bait back and gets a run with a big fish until…
Andre shouting and almost jumping with excitement, he is on!! i see his rod bending like he is pulling a brick wall but the fish is coming! little by little he reel in the monster, as i get to him he said its the smaller of the two big ones that took the bait but none the less he is bringing this one for a landing. he took it out and i grabbed a pic of him with his big Bass and we carried on to fish.
Now i am very eager to also get on with a big boy although i know my chances are slim as time is running out and the fish are getting spooked by all of the action that’s happening as i am by now pulling out a bass roughly with every 3rd cast i make, i cannot believe how well the crank bait is producing! we carried on to fish for another half an hour just about before leaving around 16:30 heading back to Newcastle again.
What a great afternoon fishing in a dam that is new to me, i will most surely organize another trip along with Andre to hopefully maybe fish the whole day and i would then take my Fluid fishing kayak along for a bit of deep water action.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoy living life! be sure to check out my other feeds and albums and stay tuned for more great adventures to come!
cheers!
-ivan
