LADYSMITH: Catching those massive largemouth bass
Our strategy was to fish the areas we were confident with, and then change as we went along
LADYSMITH KZN: It was September of 2018 and the Joey’s Tournament Trail was to be hosted at Woodstock Dam, which is basically a home dam for us. Having fished the dam countless times before, we were confidant of making this one count.
September and October are good times to be fishing in our dams, especially if you know where to look. Our practice for this tournament a week earlier was better than we could have anticipated.
Opting to fish the Banana Bridge area, we found some isolated chicumba weed in around 6ft of water. This is an ideal structure for spawning fish. I opted to throw swim bait in and around this structure, and immediately went tight with a big fish that threw the hooks as soon as it jumped.
After a nervous fight, I landed a 3.3kg bass. We ended practice that day with a few good fish that, if weighed in,it would have been around 12kg. It was an anxious seven-day wait, as a big cold front came through on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the tournament. Heavy rain fell for most of the day, with icy-cold conditions.
Our strategy was to fish the areas we were confident with, and then change as we went along. We had the advantage in the build-up to the day, but if we called it wrong, it would amount to nothing. Saturday couldn’t have come faster… The day was perfect, but the morning breeze was icy.
After quick registration and a captains’ meeting, the tournament started. Drawing no. 32, we headed to our first stop, but to our dismay, a boat was in there. But we knew other boats would head to our main area, so we had to have a backup. Disappointed, we headed to another secret area we had found.
As we stopped, I picked up my lucky swim bait and threw it just outside a grass bed. Before I could take up the slack, the bait was ‘smashed’. Not having time to strike it properly, the fish unfortunately came off. I continued to work the weeds at an angle and ‘went on’ again.
After a few more casts in the area, we opted for our number 2 spot. Upon arriving at the chicumba bed, there were eight boats anchored all over the place. Surprisingly, the only area not taken was the weed bed where I had caught the 3kg a week prior. A few casts around the bed and I was in! This time it was another 1kg fish. A few casts again and there was nothing more there, so we decided to go to our favourite spot on the Banana Bridge. Rajen at the front of the boat opted for a weightless fluke and soon went tight while working the rocks.
The fish came up and barely splashed, so we knew it was a 3kg. With the fish netted, we had at least 5kg in the bag; a good start! A few casts in this area and we decided to leave it. Having opted for the other side of the campsite area, I got another 1 kilo fish while targeting the weed bed on the edges of the bank. It was now time to go find those big fish in our main spot…
We hoped the other boat would have found nothing and moved on. To our luck, the bay was empty.. With not a big area to play it, we had it in the net quickly. The fish looked like it was close to 3kg also. We now had close to 8 kilos and it was only 11.30am. As we proceeded out of the bay, Rajen opted to throw a spinner bait. The bait got smashed properly, but after some acrobatics, the fish threw the hooks.
It didn’t give us much chance to recover before Rajen went on again in the same area with the same fish. The fish came up a few times, but stayed hooked. We just passed the 10-kilo mark with our five fish, but still had to cull the 1 kilos. Still in the same area, I go on with the paddle tail and the fish literally took the bait on the drop and smashed it.
Also read: Diary of a novice angler fishing off a boat
The cast was long and the fight felt like forever. A 2kilo specimen replaced a 1 kilo dink. It wasn’t long before Rajen boated another 2kg and it was high fives all round. We got this in the bag! At the weigh station can see by the full bags that it was a good day all round. We waited until last at weigh and basically pulled the crowd with our massive bag – 13.7kg of bass weighed in at Woodstock by us was phenomenal.
We placed no. 1 and won the grand prize. After the excitement of Saturday, Rajen decided to practice Midmar for the upcoming Natal divisional. Judging by our performances at Midmar, lots of practice was needed to find those elusive keepers. Having the confidence from the day before, he goes on to practice early that Sunday morning.
A few throws into a goodlooking area, dragging a lizard across the bottom of some rocks, he gets flattened by a true Midmar monster which weighs in at 6.45kg. The fish was vetted by a fellow Natal angler and safely released in the area for that next lucky angler.
If that wasn’t enough, his showing at the Nationals was even more remarkable. Having only fished the Natal circuit for a few years, he had made the team for the National Bass Tournament held once a year at a common venue. 2018 was the Vaal River, which is just as difficult as Midmar.
His overall score after three days of solid competitive angling got him a seventh place finish. This was a great achievement by him, winning the ‘Rookie of the Year’ category and later being called up for the President’s Invitational that was to be held the following season. A nice treble in about a month
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