And so they embarked on their adventure… the Zimbabwean, the German, and the South African. This adventure took place once again at Bronkhorstspruit dam. Myself and a couple of fellow fishermen, Gregor Rohrig and Russell Manchip decided to spend this past Saturday night (3^rd March) on the bank of Bronkies in the hopes of hooking into some decent bass and missing the thunderstorms which had been forecasted for the entire weekend.

After a not so short visit to the tackle shop and a quick bite to eat for breakfast we made tracks for the dam, a one and a half hour drive from Boksburg on the open road. It did not take us long to arrive at our favourite spot, set up base camp, tackle up, and get our baits into the warm shallows! Only after a few hours of casting and retrieving our Baby Brushogs over and over again did the bites begin! Although they were very few, and very far between both Gregor and Russell got one bite each that stuck! With both of them pulling out a one kilo beauty I was left behind missing almost every strike I got, and letting two off the hook, so to speak, on account of thick weeds and one over zealous attempted hook set.

As night fell we settled in around a warm charcoal fire to chat about the days fishing and annihilate a case of ice cold beer, shortly after gorging ourselves on Gregor’s braai grilled chicken, chop, and boerie cuisine. With flashes of lightning all around us, only threatening to come closer, and the full moon brightening our surroundings with beautiful moon rays, the likes of which we had never seen, we decided to throw another line into the water, this time with molded bread at the end, while we sat covered in our sleeping bags talking about absolutely everything and nothing of importance at the same time. Our peaceful, quiet surroundings were broken only by the sounds of faint music and voices, which traveled across the still water from a party taking place on the opposite side of the dam. Upon deciding to turn in for the night at about half past eleven Russell began to reel in his rod only to find a firm tugging at the end of his line! To be honest I never believed him until he tore his pants off in excitement and headed for the water. True as nuts he emerged from the water with his first ever carp (app. 500g)! This was not his last as the next day the ‘Carp King’ managed to land another slightly larger carp in the same manner with only bread on his hook.

The next day we were not as fortunate as the previous, as far as bass fishing was concerned, and so we ended the weekend early, shortly after guzzling down our lunch. As a final word I’d like to end off with a an important message from Confuscious, brought to light by the newly appointed ‘Carp King’ Russell Manchip, that we could all take away from our weekend adventure… “Man who gets hit in balls with rod, not necessarily homosexual”.

Original image: South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry at www.dwaf.gov.za/…/dams/bronkhorstspruit.htm

When it comes to bank bass angling it is often difficult to locate productive waters. We, however, have found what is now one of our favourite and most productive bank angling locations, Bronkhorstspruit dam in Gauteng. The very location that ‘The Bass Bugger’ caught his first bass, seen in our post titled ‘5 simple rules’. The banks of this dam are lined with thick grass mats and although they seem menacing to the carp anglers, who frequent the dam, they also serve as great habitat and cover for bass waiting to ambush their prey.

We have had great success on this body of water simply dragging a weightless Baby Brush Hog (black) over the top of the grass mats, sometimes allowing them to sit for a moment, at which point the fish generally take it straight off the surface. Otherwise we simply drag them over, leading them into gaps in the grass mats or over the edge of the mats completely, allowing them to glide gently through the water. We were also successful with other soft plastic baits such as the Zoom 6″ Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm using the same technique. In the picture below we have Andrea with her first and biggest bass ever caught (1.5kgs) on her first bass expedition ever .

What is interesting to us is that we fished the same spot at this location on three different days within two weeks and noticed a substantial pattern in the amount and size of fish that we caught. The days were the 3^rd of February 2007, the 6^th and the 11^th. The weather patterns for these days respectfully were: warm, partly cloudy, little to no wind; cool, partly cloudy with strong wind; and cooler, partly cloudy, with stronger wind. What we noticed was that the fish hooked were fewer but larger with the later dates, with us having 22 small bass (app. 500-800gs) on our lines on the 3^rd and only three on our lines on the 11^th, two of which were 1.5 and 1.8kgs (seen below). Is this pattern random or can it be attributed to changing weather conditions or moon phases perhaps, which can be viewed here. We do not know and hope that someone who does know better can give us some feedback.

One of the most important things about bass fishing, which was mentioned previously, is that you find a lure that you are both comfortable and confident fishing. Confidence allows you to fish the lure to the best of your ability thus giving the lure the chance to perform to the best of its ability under the water, so to speak. All anglers discover their own confidence lure but for us it is most certainly the soft plastic Brush Hog by Zoom! I think the most appealing thing about this particular bait, to us, is its versatility. We fish it in so many ways, and on so many rigs, often with the same result…. a nice solid tug on the end of the line. We have, however, had most success free lining them near thick cover. Dragging them across the top of the water or over grass beds at various speeds, before letting them fall naturally through the water seems to inspire frequent takes with the Bass often taking them straight off the surface.

I dont think that this lure has ever failed us on trips where the fish have actually been biting. Our ultimate “go to” lure can be seen in the picture above in Junebug and black (our choice colours). They also come in various shapes and sizes including Big Brush Hog, Baby Brush Hog, Tiny Brush Hog, and a relatively newer model called the Super Hog with extra paddles instead of twin tails. Dont forget to vary the size of your lures when the fishing is slow as the larger Brush Hog can be intimidating to the fish at times. Try these baits they work, you cannot afford not to.

Over the last year or so we have picked up a few basic tips and pearls of wisdom from various sources such as internet sites, magazines, various DVDs, and fellow bass anglers. Some of these tips have proven valueble and others completely fruitless. So here we have listed 5 simple ‘RULES’ which one should always abide by when bass fishing, which have definately helped us on the water and have contributed to the landing of more fish such as the one above caught at Bass ‘o Mania near Bronkhorstspruit in the Gauteng region. (I will post the contact details of B ‘o M later this week). Our 5 rules are:

1. Always fish in and around Structure. This is by far the most important rule. Fishing into open water will not be successfull unless there is underwater structure which you cannot see. structure consists of: sunken logs, rocky out crops, reeds, thick floating grass beds, sunken objects such as man-made building structures, and so on. Structure such as this provides bass with cover where they will lie in ambush waiting for their unsuspecting prey to swim by.

2. Vary the size and colour of your lures according to the water colour! We have found that in stained, discoloured waters that darker, larger soft plastic lures are more productive. Our favourite colours in these situations are June Bug (dark purple like colours) and black. These darker colours seem to be more visible to the fish in murky water. Remember in stained waters fish dont rely heavily on their eyesight when feeding and the larger lures generate more vibration as you fish them through the water. Also try to find lures with more paddles and tails as these will also give off stronger vibration. Our favourite is the Zoom Brush Hog. In clear water it is advisable to use natural coloured baits such as watermelon, and green pumpkin. You can also size down your lures in this situation as less vibration is necessary and large lures can prove to be intimidating to some bass. Below we have ‘The Bass Bugger’ Shaun Taylor with his first fish which he caught free lining a Zoom Baby Brush Hog (black) in slightly stained water.

3. If the fish are not biting dont be afraid to size down or even up on your lures. Even in Stained waters we have noticed a substantial increase in bites after changing to smaller lures. Similarly we have noticed an improvement in bites when sizing up on our lures. In these cases the fish are obviously just interested in expending little amounts of energy on large worth while morsels. Chop and change to see what the fish want in that particular dam or on that particular day.

4. Also important is changing lure types. It all depends on the primary food source at the dam that you are fishing. For instance if you notice schools of small fish in the water try a lure that resembles these bait fish such as flukes, minnows and Rapalas. Otherwise try creature baits such as plastic lizzards, Worms, horny toads, and Brush Hogs. Again you need to experiment to find out what the fish want and the only way to do so is to change your lures regularly!

5. Fish with confidence. Believe me it makes all the difference. If you do not have confidence in the lure you are fishing then you are gaurenteed not to catch. Rememer you want your lure to move like living prey through the water. If you are confident then you are focused and if you are focused then your lure action will be second to none!

Now write these rules down, get out there and catch some fish!

Welcome to The Bass Boat. To begin with I hope that you have all read the about section for this blog so as to establish exactly what it is in aid of. I must say that having posted our first post is almost as exciting as having those very first bass tugging away at the ends of our out stretched fishing lines… or not quite. I truly hope that this blog serves to aid in the improvement of both our bass fishing and yours through mutual interaction, and if it helps just one of you bass junkies become a better angler then it has certainly served its purpose. Enjoy the content and contribute to it by submitting your comments wherever you feel them relevant. The cell phone picture below of my first bass ever was nabbed by my good friend Gregor Rohrig who incidentally set up and designed our blog. Check out his world famous blog ‘Groogle’ here!