Fishing for prizes pays dividends
Team Angling & Outdoor World walked away as the winners of this past weekend's third round of the Lowveld Bass Trail (LBT).
Vygeboom Dam was the venue and many people had their doubts as to whether the LBT would be able to maintain the high number of boats that attended the opening two rounds. All the cynics were proven wrong as 45 teams entered the tournament hosted at Machado Boat Club.
A total of 163 bass were brought to the scale, with an average weight of 0,515 kilograms per fish. Despite tumultuous weather the week before the event, and a testing day on the water, a whopping 60 per cent of teams managed to catch the target of five fish.
That’s better than both the Klipkopje and Kwena tournaments this season.
Team Angling & Outdoor World got the winners’ cheque with a five-bass-limit of over five kilograms, as well as the biggest bass prize for their catch of 2,08 kilograms.
Charl Carey and Michael Cronje scouted Vygeboom Dam quite intensively with Carey’s Suzuki-powered Nitro during their practice fishing, and marked loads of potential spots they had found using Lowrance’s StructureScan HD sonar-imaging system.
Their starting plan for Vygeboom was to hit a specific point they’d marked on the HDS10, if they drew a reasonable starting position. They drew tag number 18, and thought there was no way they’d be able to fish that point, but after seeing only two boats there, they chose to roll the dice and fish it anyway.
They managed to catch their limit by 06:50, with the bass eager to bite weightless dark-coloured soft plastic jerbaits like the Big Bite Baits 5″ Jerk Minnow.
They boated a number of fish on the SPRO ArukuShad Jr in Spooky Shad as well (including a four-kilogram barbel) but as the sun got higher and brighter, and the water got warmer, the fish moved gradually deeper down the point.
They drop shotted for these deeper bass with various baits including the Strike King KVD Dream Shot, and managed to cull a couple of times to provide their eventual winning bag of 5,15 kilograms.
For any enquiries regarding the LBT, you can contact Michael Cronje on 013-752-2091 or info@anglingandoutdoor.co.za
Top-five boats
1. Angling & Outdoor World with 12,15 points – R5 000 cash from the LBT
2. Thermocline with 11 points
– R3 000 cash from Mitsubishi Lowveld & Venom Lures
3. Stokstyf with 10,385 – R2 000 cash from Subaru Nelspruit & LBT
4. Just That with 10,33 – R1 000 voucher & R500 Strike King hamper from Angling & Outdoor World
5. Wicked Bass with 10,275 – R1 300 Oppi Koppi house boat voucher.
