Vryheid Luremasters – Pre-spawn big bass are on the move

THE second league competition was held on the Bloodriver Dam on September 6.

Many club members attended the Three Way Fishing Bonanza as well as the league. The pace was inspiring, with most fish caught in the first session. The second session produced the biggest bass and in the last session, it was back to smaller bass.

The results was as follows: First skin: H Fourie – 1.270kg bass; second skin: R Price – 3.22kg bass and third skin: Z Formo – 1.090kg bass.

In the junior’s league, the first skin went to FP Van Der Merwe – 0.850kg bass; the second skin to F Stegen – 0.880kg bass and the third skin was a zero. It was certainly a day to remember, especially for Robbie Price, who caught his 3,22kg bass after only five minutes of fishing.

Joleen Formo gets our nod of approval at the weighing station and the boerewors rolls were a welcome distraction for the focused anglers when the clan broke for an hour to enjoy this tasty treat.

Imraan visited the Bivane Dam on September 6 as well. He recorded one of the biggest bass to come from club waters in this mecca of bass fishing, tipping the scale at an enormous 4,72kg.

Well done, old friend, and congratulations on a trophy to treasure for years of fishing!

On September 15, Allan Muller and his father-in-law, Charles Barnard, visited Klipfontein Dam and were pleasantly surprised to see how clean the water appeared in comparison to previous visits, where pollution had been a major problem. Muller states that the water was the best he’d seen at Klipfontein Dam in 24 years.

“While scanning the bank and chasing the afternoon sun, we came to the third spot with gravel beds and boulder strewn banks. The normal plastics were not working and eventually I changed to a ‘June Bug’ pattern of fluke and then it was war,” says Allan, furthermore adding, “On a slow or no retrieve, the fish kept the lure in the mouth without the tell-tale strike of a bass. I presume that the pre-spawn bass remove the lure from their proposed nest and return to the nest once the imminent danger of a scavenger has been neutralised.”

However, in the hour and a half which followed, very big bass gave the two men a whale of a time, with Allan’s biggest weighing in at 3,82 kg and the collective weight of five fish reaching 12,79kg, a worthy achievement for any bass professional. Charles reeled in his biggest bass at 2.875kg and according to Allan, between the boulders and the zest of a 75 year veteran that lives for fishing, it was a scene of laughter and worries.

Although the first fish swallowed the hook and went ‘belly up’ a few minutes after being released, all the other fish were released successfully.

“Return your fish!” is the message from Allan Muller from Vryheid Luremasters, “so that days like this can be a possibility for yourself or other anglers again in the future.”

With the Phobane Fishing Bonanza set to take place on October 4, the third league of October has been postponed until October 11 and will be held at Klipfontein Dam. Bring the whole family and join in the fishing or laze in the sun.