LBT season kicked off with record attendance

The catchment area for the Komati River that flows into the dam, received a significant amount of rain in the weeks preceding the competition, resulting in an influx of stained and colder water. The dam was at 101,4 per cent of capacity on the day of the event.

With unpredictable weather in the week leading up to the occasion, most of the anglers did not know where the fish would be located. Warm weather with blue skies met the anglers in the morning, with the wind picking up later that afternoon.

Fishing was tough, with three teams blanking and only 26 groups managing to find five fish for weigh-in.

This is compared to last year’s March event at Vygeboom, where none of the teams blanked.

In total 175 fish were weighed in with a total weight of 134,08 kilograms and average weight of 0,766 kilograms per fish.

Winning patterns

Most of the anglers quickly figured out that the fish were holding shallow, despite the near 27 degrees Celsius water temperature. The bigger fish that came out were holding close to the reeds in about six feet of water.

First-placed team Salmo Lews, Morne and Jaco Strauss, concentrated on the river section, particularly focusing on the reed edges, fishing in less than 12 feet of water in the morning before eventually pulling back to between 12- to 15-foot water later in the day.

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All their fish were tricked into biting with Zoom Speed Craws – Zoom Flukes and Salmo Hornet Crank Baits.

The biggest bass of the day was weighed in by Herman Geldenhuys of Team Thermocline, who ended up placing fourth. The fish weighed 3,22 kilograms, just slightly larger than the second biggest bass of 3,17 kilograms weighed in by Team Salmo Lews.

They got results on spinner baits and speed craws, with the biggest fish falling for a Spinnerbait.

Third-placed Team Ambassadors also spent their day targeting the bass feeding among the reeds. They found some of their fish among the rocks in the shallow water, getting results on both spinnerbaits and flukes changing to a grub imitation later that day.

Green Pumpkin was the favorite colour of the day for Team Ambassadors.

The LBT will head to Carolina in March for round two of the season held at Nooitgedach Dam. Currently the dam is 99,5 per cent of full capacity.

Competition times will again be from 06:00 and weigh-in to be at 15:00. Registration will once again open at 05:00. Please remember to arrive early.

The LBT committee thanked each and every team for their participation.

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