Its all about that bass at Driekoppies Dam
Frank Gottschalk of team Wittus caught the biggest bass, a giant of 4,42kg at the seventh round of the Lowveld Bass Trail (LBT) hosted at Driekoppies Dam on Saturday.
The attendance average this season is 44,42 boats per tournament. The fishing itself was just as impressive with 181 bass averaging 0,647kg weighed on the day.
“We’re incredibly happy for all the anglers who were able to enjoy such mind-boggling fishing, but what’s almost even more exciting to see is the upturn in the quality of fishing Driekoppies is experiencing compared to the last three or four seasons,” said Michael Cronje of LBT.
Winning patterns
August is normally a favourite time among local anglers to fish Driekoppies as the buck fish head into the shallows looking for suitable spawning spots. Early in the morning, fishing a SPRO Bronzeye Baby Pop over the pads and grass opened many of the live well’s accounts, and also gave an angler or two a case of the blues when seeing monster bass blow up on the surface but failing to drive home solid enough hook sets. The majority of bass were caught off of six to 13 foot grass lines adjacent to gravel banks with Texas rigged Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craws and weightless soft plastic jerk baits. The boats that bagged the bigger bass employed a variety of strategies from making long casts at the dam wall with medium diving cranks like the SPRO Little John MD, ripping Strike King spinner baits through the abundant grass, cranking deep ledges in and around 25’, and covering water quickly with a permanent Driekoppies favourite, the 300 version of the KVD Jerkbait.
Next tournament
Unbelievably, the final round of the season is upon us. The next round will be held at Kwena Dam on September 12.
Angler of the Year (AOY)
Due to these assumptions, the LBT developed a very distinctive way of determining the final AOY standings. Each team’s top-six competitions count for points. In other words, if a team fishes all eight events during the season, their worst two event scores will fall away. If a team fishes seven events, their worst event score will fall away. If a team fishes six events or less, no scores fall away, and all those points count towards the log. This is done mainly to accommodate teams that due to circumstances out of their control can’t fish every single competition.
Top-10 teams of Driekoppies Dam (fish caught, five):
1. Thermocline – R5 000 cash (Mitsubishi Lowveld, Venom Lures and LBT), Triton extreme weekend, fuel (Mitsubishi Lowveld) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 16,695 points
2. Imbongolo – R3 000 cash (Subaru Nelspruit, Tribal Boats, Declan Couriers, ASA Auto Services) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 15,550
3. Wittus – R2 000 cash (LBT) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 13,490
4. Angling & Outdoor World – R1 000 (Angling & Outdoor World voucher), R600 (Strike King hamper) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 13,150
5. Pumba – R1 000 (Big Bite Baits hamper), R150 (Jock Pub & Grill voucher) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 13,145
6. Ambassadors – R950 (dart board: LAC), R150 (Jock Pub & Grill voucher) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 12,960
7. Juandre’s Plant Hire – R850 (Okuma baitcaster, Midas), R150 (Jock Pub & Grill voucher) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 12,495
8. Rugged – R500 (Solly’s voucher), R300 (performance charger, Midas) and two caps )Liqui Moly) = 11,020
9. Beginners Luck – R700 (two fishing reels, Midas) and two caps (Liqui Moly) = 10,760
10. Just That (not at prize giving. Price allocated to 11th placed Hazyview Midas) – R450 (fishing rod and two spools of line, Midas), R150 (Jock Pub & Grill voucher) and two caps (Liqui Moly).
