“Quite recently I have been invited to a 4×4 family fun day in support of Xeroderma Pigmentosium Society organised by LedFly Canopies that took place at Olifants River Lodge in the Mpumalanga province in between Middelburg and Witbank. As it stands luck was on my side for this round when I heard that this lodge sits right on the banks of the Olifants river and thus that meant I was bound for some bass fishing action at some point during the weekend, so in short this would be another one of those adventurous weekend packed with stories to be told around future campfires.”
Olifants river lodge
This Lodge is quite well situated and a little bit hidden away from the ever-busy race that society finds itself in. I came in towards the lodge from the N11 from Middelburg side and for the last 40 odd kilometres I was starting to get a little bit worried that we were going to end up on some mining site in the area as that was mostly the only thing I could see in the vicinity, so here I was cruising down the highway with pictures flashing through my mind of 4×4’s climbing up old mine heaps and that the river would be in a bad state.
Then as the tar road eventually turned to dust, the smile on my face started growing as the area is starting to change quite dramatically very quickly as we were heading into a type of ravine then the last stretch of road turned to tar again as we went down hill and entered the lodge.
It’s a 3 star Lodge that offers quite a bit to its visitors, from heated swimming pools, to relaxing peddle-drive boat cruises up and down the river, the campsites are mainly stretched out alongside the river for the length of the lodge and they also offer villas for those who do not enjoy camping. I would most certainly recommend the “gramadoelas” Restaurant – they make great meals! The lodge also offers ample space for any conferencing or event that might need to take place in the area. All in all, it was a phenomenal camping weekend.
River Monsters…
By the time we were done on the 4×4 course and so full of dust that maybe my own mother would not even recognise me anymore, Michaela decided that she would go for a shower while I sit in the shade at our camp enjoying something cold but then as she walked away towards the ablutions I remembered that I have a bass rod on the back of the van and I recon that now is as good a time as any as I was not entirely sure how the rest of the weekend would pan out.
I rigged my newfound favourite bait (Keitech – Mad Wag in the Bluegill colour) weightless and decided to take a walk down towards the edge of the water. As I stood there looking at the water – slightly covered in some hyacinths, I was plotting as where my 1st cast would be, would I go for the vegetation patches or open water, deep or shallow with a quick or slow retrieve. Seeing the river is not flowing fast at all I decided I’m fishing it at a steady return on top water over the vegetation just to see if there would be any reaction. I then came to the quick realisation that weightless would not be doing the trick on these thick green patches, so back up to the van again to rig a tungsten weight but sticking to my Keitech bait. Every 5 or so minutes I just look over my shoulder to see if Michaela is not yet on her way back from the showers and then carry on casting working the river hard in the mid-day heat!
Cast for cast my lure came back empty and I start to think that I need to change tactics or baits as I then spot a school of bass passing by right in front of me and under the thick vegetation towards my right. I make sure my hook is rigged properly as not to hook any of those leaves then I flip my bait right onto the vegetation and just leave it there for a moment as I stare at the clouds full of thunder on the horizon. On the retrieval I decide to come in fast topwater bringing the bait like a motorboat over the leaves as the fish seem to react well to that and then as the lure is just about at the bank again, against all odds this monster bass lunged out of the water through the grass and in that split second I am trying to see if my lure is flying off to the side as it so often happens when a fish is coming from underneath grass and to my surprise I just-just catch a glimpse of my lure sitting in the corner of the jaw as the fish disappeared back into the water under the grass and at this point I start winding up and strike like there is no tomorrow as this lunker is not one I would like to lose, but as the rod bent and line tensioned I hear a cracking whip sound and had to perform evasive manoeuvres as the hook and a small piece of my 7” bait came flying towards my head…I lost it…so stunned I just stood there trying to just comprehend the moment and figure out wat exactly just happened. This fish would have surely been my new personal best and there I saw it swimming away with the rest of my lure dangling out the side of its jaw as he “chews” and leaves it be.
I have one final look at my hook and the little piece dangling on the bottom of the hook as my eye catches Michaela now returning from the shower.
During the remainder of that afternoon we had one crazy electric storm with wind crushing gazebos and tents alike, just laying in the tent trying to hold down and dry what I could. So the next morning I decide to head out just after 5am to da a morning session with some double bladed spinners and maybe a frog to see what interest I could spark but unfortunately nothing turned up, not even a bite, zilch, nada, niks…no bass for me on this weekend seems like, I believe the storm of the previous night has such an influence on the fish that they were just not interested in anything and just swimming by everything I threw at them so this round I will give to the fish…
Adventure calls
I will yet return to this prime piece of the Olifants river and re-visit the lodge for some epic fishing action as I do believe the big ones are lurking around there and if the weather plays along they are bound to be on the bite! All round it was an epic weekend of meeting new people, seeing new places and testing new waters, taking photos and surviving the storm and even though the fishing came out empty I would still do it all again and again as it is worth every second of it, few things in this world calms the soul to such a degree as standing next to a piece of pristine water just letting your thoughts run away so the fish might have won this fight but I am most certainly winning the battle in this modern day rat race we find ourselves in so until next time remember – keep those lines tight, rods bent and beers cold for there are still plenty of memories to be made and no matter what, always have fun! Cheers
…i
