Day 1:

We started the first day off right!  The first morning of the trip I landed a 46″ Muskie on a perch colored jointed Bucher Depth Raider.  She was positioned off a small rock island and ate the depth raider right at the boat, making for an exciting fight.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful with some small pike and a few lazy muskie follows.  This was not surprising considering the bright sunny windless day.

Day 2:

Day two brought us a nice Canadian windstorm…….typical 20-30mph stuff, but bright and sunny once again.  Around mid day my father caught a 43″ muskie on a figure eight at the boat.  The muskie came in hot behind a red and black Double Cowgirl and smoked the bait on his first turn.  It was an awesome boat side strike followed by lots of white water and high fives!

After that we fished from 12:30pm until 6:30 pm without seeing so much as another muskie, not cool.  Finally at 6:30 my Dad had a follow on the same red and black Double Cowgirl.  1/2 hour later we went back to try the fish again and I got him to eat an altered black and orange Helidawg.  He ended up being a fat 41″er.

Fishing so far in the week had been tough but the fish we did see meant business.

Day 3:

So pretty much imagine the worst weather ever….well that was day three.  We had sustained 25-30mph wind, 45degrees and driving rain.  Of course that didn’t stop us and we fished from about 10:30am until dark, straight no lunch.  We tried a little of everything and the ski’s were not interested in our offerings, we saw a couple but no takers.  My brother saw a giant well over 50″, but was unable to convert.   So our best fish of the day was a really fat 36″ pike that ate the lucky red/black Double Cowgirl.

Day 4:

Cold…was the word of the day.  Fall has officially set in up in Canada. The air temp was in the 40′s all day with the water temp starting to fall into the high 50′s.  The dreaded fall turnover has pretty much occurred.   This has of course irritated the Muskies into being ridiculously lethargic and picky.    During the first part of the the day not a muskie was seen.  Around one we switched gears and went after some walleyes.  Our first spot we picked ended up giving out some great action…nothing huge all 13-17″fish but we caught 15-20 of them in a little over an hour.  The Walleyes we found were deep, 36-42ft.  We caught all of them on Lindy rigs using minnows with tight 1ft leaders.  We kept six to enjoy for dinner.

After the Walleye fest we went back to chasing ski’s.  Almost immediately an absolute giant 52-55″, 40+# monster followed in my brothers black and orange Helidawg.  She went around five times in the figure eight swiping at the bait twice.  It was crazy to watch in gin clear water with no wind, unreal.  After that we hit up another spot before returning to see if we could get her to eat at dark.  Right away she came chasing in my Walleye colored “pounder” Bulldawg.  Once again she went multiple times around in the figure eight but wouldn’t commit.  It was an awesome awesome fish major knee shaker since it was closer to the size of an alligator then a fish.  After that we saw one other ski, around a 4 footer, again on a Bulldawg right at dark.

Day 5:

Today we went with one of the camp guides after the mighty Lake Trout.  We fished a small lake that is connected to Eagle Lake via the craziest hairpin curve creek in the universe.  For four miles we made our way over beaver dams, navigating our way through a three foot deep creek full of old growth timber.  It was quite the adventure just making it to the lake itself!

After the creek we ended up on a fairly large totally remote lake.  We pulled up at the Lake Trout hole and dropped down Lindy Viking  jigging spoons and Kastmaster’s.  My brother had one on before it even hit the bottom!

Fishing was crazy for the first hour we were there.  We caught odd fish too including a couple of jumbo Whitefish, and my Dad caught a pretty darn large Burbot.

All totaled we caught eight Lake Trout  between three and ten pounds, two Whitefish and a Burbot.  The fish were coming up from 90ft of water and the fight was great, we lost more then we caught.

Day 6:

On our final day we decided to bust out all the stops and get another Muskie!  The night before we picked up four large suckers, and would use them as toss back baits and drag one behind the boat.   Our first stop of the day we dropped down “Monica” the sucker and within five minutes the reels drag started peeling out line.  My brother reared back and set the hook into a musky that fought like a bull dog flat head catfish.  She ended up being a 42″ Muskie that was nearly as fat around as it was long, probably a 25# fish.

After that we had no more action other then a few Northerns.

The weather was awful again blowing 25-35mph with rain and about 45 degrees just like on day three.  The pleasant weather made us call it a day early and head back to the cabin to warm up!

Overall it was a great trip with good company. No giants this year, but we caught four nice muskies and numerous other fish under tough conditions and had a blast doing it!

See pictures below.

Kap Larry's Pond

If you’re an expat in Manila (or even if you’re a local) and you enjoy fishing AND you don’t have a lot of time but you want to catch yourself a little fish, you might want to do a little inland fishing at Kap Larry’s Pond. Here are a few details about Kapitan Larry’s pond.

- The place is situated in Coloong, Valenzuela (see map).

- The place is open from 5 in the morning until 6 in the evening
- It has at least 5 cottages the cost to rent range from 300-500 for the entire day.
- Entrance fee is 50, but this is waived if you rent a cottage
- Price of the fish you catch is as follows:
– Tilapia P75/kilo
– Bangus P90/kilo
– Pangasius P100/kilo
- You have to bring your own fishing rods
- There’s an area where you can grill your own fish
- If you want your fish to be grilled for you, that can be arranged as well
- If you caught nothing the entire day, you can actually buy tilapia from there at the same price of P75/kilo
- Better bring your own transportation as they have a parking area

Catching and Eating The Pangasius

Last weekend my good friend Ceblogger and myself were quite excited to go back to Coloong after 3 weeks of absence. We arrived at 3 in the afternoon which means that we only have 3 hours to catch anything.

An hour and a half after and we still have squat. We were already entertaining thoughts of going back the following day when I got a bite. It was a beautiful half-kilo bangs and it put up a good fight before I finally reeled it in. Ceblogger on the other hand was still holding his breath. Moments later he felt a tug on his fishing rod and I can see that he caught a big one as his small fishing rod was almost bent to breaking point.

I thought he caught a really big bangus but when I helped him by scooping up his catch with a fishing net, i saw a flash of pink and thought he caught a big tilapia instead. As it turned out, it was a big Pangasius with its protruding belly.

The thing about the Pangasius though, once you’re reeled it out of the water, it completely gives up the fight. Unlike the bangus who would continue the fight even when it’s no longer in the water, the Pangasius just stayed still as if it has already accepted it’s fate and knew that the only place that he would be going to next is the dinner table.

We went home satisfied with our bangus and Pangasius that night. Something weird though, once we arrived home and cooked the fishes, I can’t bring myself to eat them. It’s not pity or anything but somehow they just looked very unpalatable to me. Not sure if that’s normal.

But anyway, for sure next weekend we will be back in Coloong again and chase after their fishes there. I think with fishing, we are reminded of our primal instincts to hunt and eat our prey.

Join us next time!

First Trout

The next day we tried a new venue, a series of 3 dams set up by the local Mavungana Fly fishing shop. The weather was undoubtedly better, slightly warmer temperatures, less wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately though, the water at these 3 dams was so clear that the fish could basically see you before you even arrived at the dam. Getting to close meant spooking fish. It was tough fishing for us but, again, we managed to land one trout each. I took a very good sized fish on a size 14 Orange Hotspot PTN fished static,  with slight twitches no and then, which is a new style of fishing for me. Shaun took his on a Pancora Wooly Bugger fished deep on intermediate line. We were both using about 3 kg fluorocarbon tippets  not only to get our flies to the bottom (as flouro sinks quickly) but also because fluoro is far less visible in crystal clear water than normal leader materials.

Later on in the afternoon we returned to Dabchick dam where I managed to land one more small trout on a Pancora Wooly Bugger rigged in tandem behind a small Orange Hotspot PTN. Again this was allowed to sink and then fished extremely slowly through the water column with a figure 8 retrieve. Bright Flies such as Pancora Wooly Buggers (black Wooly bugger with an orange and yellow tail) and Orange Hotspots are ideal at this time of year (June) as the bright orange and yellow colours serve as attractor patterns to fish preparing to spawn. In most cases such bright attractor patterns should be fished quickly and aggressively to entice a bite, however, in tough conditions trout seem to prefer a much slower retrieve. There is not a feeling in the world better than the moment a passing fish tugs at your line on a tough days fishing when you least expect it.

My trout of about 1.5 kg

TIPS:

For most of your trout fishing applications in Dullstroom a 5/6 weight rod with matching floating line will be adequate. Floating line is versatile because it is a necessity for dry fly fishing, which is best in the early mornings/late evenings. However it can also be used for deeper fishing applications, such as in the middle of the day when the fish move deeper, by simply using a longer leader (no shorter than the length of your rod). Also remember that for surface fishing always use monofilament leaders and tippets, as these will float on the surface better than fluorocarbon. Use Fluoro when fishing deep as it sinks quicker.

Although floating line is versatile there will be occasions where you might need either a sinking or intermediate line. These are especially beneficial for very deep water fishing conditions where you may need the line to pull the fly deeper quickly. I have also found that in windy conditions it is difficult to fish sinking flies on floating line as the line actually acts as a sail which allows the line to be blown across the surface of the water, therefore affecting the action of the fly under the water, often pulling it out of the strike zone. However, with sinking line the wind has little effect as the line sits under the water surface.

Shauns second

A new piece of advice that I can give you is not to think too much. When you are on the water, make your fly selections, set up your rig and once the fly hits the water for the first time, just enjoy it. Don’t over think and just fish. Good luck.

Smallmouth Yellow 1.2kg

Let’s start with the Yellow fish. What a fight! Not a giant but a fair 1.2 kilograms of pure strength. I thought I had hooked into a sizable Barbel actually, and it is such a satisfying feeling when you are proven wrong by the flash of scales as the fish breaks the surface. Since this occasion I have obviously changed techniques for Smallmouth Yellow Fishing and opt for the fly rod when targeting the species. More sport I guess.

Squaeker???

Now for the mysterious fish. I’m not sure what this is in the picture above but I have never seen one before. It was caught at about 10 0′clock at night on earthworms in the deep, slow miving part of the stream below rapids. Many have looked at it for me, unable to give me an answer either. Some people say it’s a Squeeker, which are prominent in Lake Kariba but I have no idea. If anyone has any clue as to what this fish is, then please let us know. Sharp hooks. *

Late night Barbel with Caveman Viljoen

Bait Poacher

Just a short post about the weekends fishing. We hit a wind torn, pre-frontal Bronkies this past Sunday, the 18^th April 2010 in pursuit of the GIANT barbel that we know lurk in the depths of those waters. Sadly, no Barbel came out that day, without even an enquiry from our whiskered friends. Interestingly though, we managed to land 3 ok sized bass, which could not stay away from our Barbel bait. Who would have thought that Bass, our favourite target species, could actually be a nuisance? I guess it’s like the old saying goes: “Sometimes you go out to catch Bass, and all you get is Barbel. Sometimes you go out to catch Barbel, and all you get is Bass”.

Small Fish

IN THE SCISSORS!

We stumbled onto a massive school of Mudfish, presumably females huddled up in fairly shallow water around an island. We target them for a while and picked up a few strong fighting fish but what happened next was incredible. As we fished we heard the violent splashing of fins coming from around the corner of the island that we were fishing against. As the noise got louder we noticed a massive ball of what we presumed to be male fish coming closer towards us, hugging the edge of the island. The water literally bubbling violently as the school of fish moved frantically closer, some even jumping over others and out of the water.

We quickly dropped our flies in front of the moving school and as it drew closer our lines went tight. At one stage all three of us hooked up at once, and if the fish came unbuttoned we let the flies sit still again and another fish would take every time. Of course the action did not last long as the fish quickly moved on and out of sight, but we noticed that this same school of fish circled the island every 10 to 15 minutes violently ravaging any form of mustard caddis that we threw in their path. What a fight we had though. The fish that you can see in the picture below gave Alan “The Skip” a run for his money, yet it barely weighed a kilogram. The current of course made matters worse and generally once the fish was able to escape into the mainstream you just as well could have cut your line as he wasn’t coming back easily, no matter how small he might have been.

ALAN "THE SKIP" WITH THE MONEY SHOT!

One thing that I am amazed by is the power that Mudfish display. Incredibly, I had more fly hooks straightened and line breaks when the Muddies, by surprise, darted suddenly on long runs upstream, against the strong current. I have never seen anything like it. We caught a lot of fish that day, more than we could count and most on our favorite Muddie snack, the mustard caddis. They did, however, also have a go at black copper johns at times. Our rig was quite simple. Same as usual we tied the Czech Nymph Rig with a copper john at the top with a slightly smaller fly (we vary this fly a lot and use nothing in particular) in the middle, and finally a mustard caddis as the dropper or last fly.

One thing that we realized in hindsight is that the fish were obviously spawning and as a result the morality of the whole experience could probably be questioned. Is it right to target spawning Muddies, is it shunned upon within the fly fishing fraternity? We are fairly new to fly fishing and are therefore not too sure, but if someone has answers to these questions then please fill us in.

MOOI MUDDIE!

One suggestion; never use a rod lighter than a 6 weight rod in the river. I promise you if you use lighter you will really battle to fight your fish effectively as the current just adds too much power to the fish at times. As far as line is concerned, I like to use 3x or 4x leader and tippet, I don’t worry too much whether the line is fluorocarbon or not but obviously fluoro is preferred as it sinks quicker and is supposedly invisible to the fish. However, in dirty water it doesn’t really matter. I normally go for 3x (which is stronger line than 4x) when the flow of the river is fairly strong, to give me more leeway when fighting the fish. Again however, when the water is extremely turbulent and quite dirty you can opt for a stronger line such as 2x which gives you far less to worry about as far as line breaks are concerned. Good luck and enjoy your Muddie fishing.

My Ark

PROS:

1. The boat is surprisingly stable. It is very easy to stand and fish from this boat without falling on your but.
2. With a 15hp motor such as mine, the boat moves at a hell of a pace, once it begins to plane. This means that you can get quick access to more areas, and fish more spots in a day on larger dams such as Rust de winter and Witbank.
3. YOU DON’T THEROETICALLY NEED A SKIPPPERS LICENCE FOR THIS BOAT ON FRESH WATER. But due to the idiotic ignorance of most dam management personnel I get hassled almost every time I take it out because it has such a devilishly powerful 15hp motor, even though motors of 15hp or less are exempt from this law, they just haven’t actually read the marine notice.
4. It is easy to manage when kept on a trailer. Especially when only utilizing an electric motor instead of the petrol powered 15hp (which can be bloody heavy to carry around).
5. Less maintenance than larger boats.
6. Cost friendly. I paid around R11 000 for mine and that was over a year ago.
7. Excellent workmanship. There are lots of inflatable boat manufacturers on the market at the moment. I have seen many of these first-hand. Many of these are good but none that i have seen even come close to the quality of workmanship such as that of ANY ark inflatable product.

Bass Bugger Driving

CONS:

1. Carrying capacity. Although it is marketed to carry 4 people, this is not advisable. The boat only fishes 2 people comfortably, and even when simply taking a ride around the dam, with 4 people the boat is cramped and definitely slows down to a crawl, even with a 15hp motor (which is the maximum motor capacity). In fact it will not plane with more than 2 reasonably sized individuals on board.
2. Space is limited. Where larger bass boats have hidden compartments under the deck, here we have no such thing. This means that all rods, lure bags, cooler boxes, etc. all shares valuable floor space with you. This leaves you limited on how much tackle can be taken out on the water.
3. The boat CANNOT be “packed and stowed into your car boot with surprising ease” as stated on the website. In fact I cannot conceive how they can market the boat in this way. It does, however, fit easily and neatly into the back of my Corsa utility, which is good enough for us.
4. The boat is fairly awkward to handle. Putting the boat up and down becomes a heavy task once the novelty has worn off, and does prove daunting at times. I suggest a motorized inflation mechanism of some kind as using the manual foot pump becomes an exercise.  Regardless of what they tell you, it is a heavy product to carry around, and with a heavy petrol motor thrown into the mix you will be on the phone to your nearest trailer shop in no time, trust me.

Workout

Over all the boat is perfect for me. Despite the cons, I love it. It has revolutionized my fishing experienced and upped my strike rate ten fold. I would suggest that one purchase a small petrol powered motor to go with it though, as this makes all the difference with regards to getting to spots quickly on large dams. The Pros definitely outweigh the cons here and I think this model is a good buy. Enjoy.

www.ark.co.za

Manchip's Giant!!

Here is a picture of our Zimbabwean counterpart, Russell Manchip, with his new personal best Largemouth Bass. The fish was caught somewhere in Zim, during the spawn last year (August 2009). It  weighed in at a colossal 10.5 pounds and was taken in about a meter of water just off of a submerged anthill, using a junebug trick worm. Respect Manchip! Enjoy. Thanks for the info.

Manchip also takes guided tours from time to time on Lake Kariba for tigers, vundu, bream etc., as well as on major bass dams, such as Darwendale and Kyle dam, and surrounding farm dams in the Kadoma region. for further information please reply to this post.

Fair Enough

We arrived at our destination the only 2 human beings for miles, set up our Ark inflatable almost quicker than the tent, and leapt straight into the fishing. Our first evening session was short and ended with 6 largemouth bass landed, with almost every fish taken on a weightless Stretch 40 by Gary Yamamto, a small Senko-like plastic lure with a short, finesse, ribbon shaped tail. A few were also taken on a watermelon red Super Fluke (old faithful), which is definitely my favourite for targeting bass in water that is clean to clear, such as that of Boskop dam. Once our opening evening’s session had come to an end, we retired to our camp to start a fire and throw back a few cold beers.

The next day’s fishing started off no quicker than that of the evening before. However, it was only in the afternoon that our slow day would turn frantic.  It was about 17:30 that Saturday afternoon. The cool wind brushed gently against our cheeks, whistling past our ears as we fished the clear water of a shallow bay, which I had previously had success on almost a month before. A lot had changed this time, with much of the broad-leafed surface vegetation reduced to slimy columns extending to the depths of the dam floor. The fishing seemed slower this time, as if the bass had already gorged themselves for the season on the baitfish that took refuge in the, previously flourishing, plant structure. Slow as it was, we still managed to land a good 11 fish that day, the largest barely hitting the 800 gram mark though.

Smallish Fish

As we fished our Gary Yamamoto Stretch 40’s slow and tight to the reed structure that sheltered the bay, I couldn’t help but notice the whistling in my ear growing loader and stronger. The usually solid Ark inflatable began to rock slightly on the growing, wind-inspired waves. Then it began to rock a little wilder. The black cloud which seemed dormant just a few minutes before began to move in our direction, seemingly shifting closer and closer each time we looked away to make a cast. Then the lightning flashed in the distance and the thunder grumbled threateningly. Of course our enthusiasm to coax just ONE MORE bass clouded our judgment of the entire situation, and so we stayed just a little longer, just one more cast.

Now, any angler who has ever turned their back on Mother Nature rebelliously, disregarding her warning to move indoors, will be quite familiar with the alarming crack of fork lightning just kilometers away. You know, the kind that makes the hair on the back of your neck want to pack up and leave. That was our cue. “We’re going in now Shaun” I said nervously. We reeled in our lines, pulled up the anchors and began to row back to camp, one oar for each of us. You see, Boskop dam had a recent ban on petrol powered Motors and our electric variety had run flat earlier that day. The trouble was that by this time we had allotted the wind enough time to develop from a gentle breeze into a vigorous gale, which just so happen to be pumping in the exact opposite direction to our proposed bearing of travel. Yes, we were quite literally going NOWHERE, and the blackened sky, whitened only by the frightening flashes of lightning, was rolling nearer and nearer, directly ahead of us.

Last Cast(s)

In a confirmed panic I fashioned my tackle box into a seat, thinking that if I could take power of both oars, I might be able to row a bit more efficiently thus beating the wind.  I turned to grab the Bass Bugger’s oar, subsequently bumping my own over board. Our only chance of getting safely back to camp had literally drifted away. We were powerless as the wind blew us deeper and deeper into the bay, further and further from the sanctuary of our camp, and closer and closer to danger. At this stage I was panicked for sure. Natural selection had finally caught up to me I thought, damn you Darwin! Damn you! With lightning moving in and no way back, we were stranded in a potentially dangerous situation.  We had only one option. We let the wind blow us to the end of the bay, once we reached the bank, the Bass Bugger jumped off the front of the boat into waist high water and pulled us ashore. The next step was to make tracks for the camp and fetch the car, which we did on foot. After a decent trek along the nearest dirt road we eventually arrived at camp. We started our Opel Utility and hurried back to our lonely inflatable. At this point we could see the lost oar hung up on some vegetation in the middle of the bay. This was the tough part. The wind still howling, we dragged the inflatable up a grassy hill to the bakkie, lifted it up and placed it on the back.

Then we drove back upwind along the bank, we needed that oar. Arriving at our camp again, up wind from our floating oar, we lowered the boat back into the water, lightning still flashing around us, the thunder grumbling grumpily. Defiant of the elements we scrambled on board and pushed ourselves away from the bank. We never bothered rowing. The power of the wind was more than enough to get us back to our precious oar. At the speed at which we were moving, we had one chance to grab it from the water, and we did that magnificently. Now it was time to row back up. I sat on my tackle box and fought the elements. We were gaining ground, inch by inch. After ten minutes we were half way back. Exhausted and sweating, we noticed some fish action in our favourite spot, hmm. The wind had begun to fade, and the lightning slowed. The storm had changed direction and so we decided after our 45 minute ordeal to drop anchor and catch one more fish. And so we did.

Awesomeness

As my lure splashed into the water, I could only wonder why we fishermen never learn our lesson. Or is it that we do learn our lesson but that our most primal of human instincts to survive is sometimes short circuited by the overpowering allure of pursuit for those cold blooded waterborne creatures that we call fish. I don’t know… sometimes I wonder whether we are the captor or the captured. We will leave that to you.

Always try to raise the fish's head

One of my worst times of year as an angler is UNDOUBTELDLY winter. As the fishing slows during the cold months so too does my enthusiasm toward life.  I think I speak on behalf of all avid anglers when I say that I find it difficult to keep myself busy during this time. As miserable as I become during the cold winters months there is always one place that slams a warm smile back on my face, and that place is Dullstroom. Dullstroom is an awesome little town in the Mpumalanga province where most fly fishing enthusiasts literally migrate to in the winter months in search of the illusive Trout species: rainbow, golden, and brown trout. Every so often I decide to follow, and with my gross lack of trout hunting knowledge I went up there just a month or so ago in the winter of 2009.

Beautiful Rainbow

I think that Dullstroom, although a renowned and frequented fly fishing destination, has many great secrets. One of these is a small dam I’ve had the privilege of fishing on more than one occasion.  Just 5Km outside of Dullstroom the dam is seemingly unpressured and those that stay on the property have the dam completely to themselves for the duration of their stay. If there was one warning that I could share about Dullstroom it is that the temperatures drop dramatically in winter, sometimes to below zero. BUT the ‘christmasy’ atmosphere that these conditions create, are all just part of the experience for me. I love nothing more than hearing the icy grass crack underneath my shoes as I scout the dam in the early mornings, as well as watching the water from the fly line freezing into crystals around the eyes of my fly rod as I retrieve it with short sharp strips.

Rainbow trout have become one of my favourite species to target. In fact there is something about the whole culture of fly-fishing for trout that grabs me. I love sitting in front of the warm fireplace in the cottage drinking rose while I set up my rig for the following days fishing, or chopping back a castle draft in the Duck and Trout restaurant, in Dullstroom, talking about the days catch, knowing that I am constantly surrounded by like-minded anglers.

Dress Warm

Now Trout fishing seems far more delicate than other fishing forms, one has to approach the dam bank with extreme care, and keep noise levels to an absolute minimum. There is something extremely peaceful about the whole experience. Anyway, some advice that I would give to the novice is as follows: Firstly, I always carry a wide variety of Woolybuggers, Red Button Wooly Worms, DDD’s, Hoppers, and especially Red Eye Damsels. The thing I like the most about trout fishing is that the fish, during winter, are visibly active during feeding time snatching falling insects off the water surface. This is the time to cast a dry fly (floating) such as the DDD to the feeding fish. You simply cast it out into the path of the fish allowing it to sit motionless, and hopefully if the fish are feeding on insects, resembled by the DDD, it should be taken fairly quickly. If the DDD does not work one could tie a Hopper pattern to the end of the line and twitch that on the water surface to entice a strike. If the fish are actively feeding on or just under the surface I generally start with a dry fly and then move to wet flies (sinking) if no takes occur. The wet flies that I almost always try are Woolybuggers in black and olive, Red Button Wolly Worms, and my absolute favourite the Red Eye Damsel, in that order. I fish all of these in the same way. I simply cast them out, allow them to sink slightly and then strip them back in short erratic movements of the wrist and forearm. If a fast retrieve doesn’t work, then I try a slow retrieve and vice versa. As far as lines are concerned I always use a floating line with a fluorocarbon leader and tippet. The more I want the fly to sink the longer I make my leader.

Another Rainbow

Trout Put up a great fight and often show amazing displays of acrobatics, just be sure to use leaders in the ranges of 3x and 4x (preferably fluorocarbon) and be gentle on the fish if possible, as during certain parts of the season they are notorious for breaking even some of the strongest of lines.

If you are interested in trying the venue that we almost always stay at in Dullstroom then please send us an email or comment on this post and we will provide you with the relevant contact details. The cottage is fantastic in its simplicity and consists of two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a beautiful fireplace. It is also situated on a hill with a stunning view. Also remember to visit the scottsman at the Mavungana fly-fishing centre as you arrive in Dullstroom for all your fly-fishing tackle and solutions.

Rho's Boat!

Here are just a few photos of a Largemouth Bass that my young cousin Rho caught at Bass-O-Mania sometime earlier this year. It was a slow day, my uncle and I really struggled the day through catching not a single fish between us if I recall correctly. While fishing a bed of lily pads, which riddled the dam’s bank, a seemingly obvious hideout for the bass we were targeting, Rho (9 at the time) decided to cast his crawdad coloured lipless crank into the deeper water behind us. A short time after the plop he was screaming for mercy!  I thought he had got hooked up on the bottom but low and behold he seemed to be gaining line, and to our disbelief he had actually hooked into an absolute giant of a bass. I haven’t seen a rod bend like that in all the time that I have spent targeting bass.

A better indication of size.

Once he had eventually gotten the fish close enough to the boat I grabbed the fish by the lower jaw and lifted it from the water in awe. The beauty weighed in at no less than 2.4 kgs (+-5.3 pounds). Needless to say Rho seems to out fish us on every occasion, and I am certain that it must have something to do with the fact that, as older folk, we seem to think far too much about how to actually catch fish. I think that sometimes we need to just stop thinking about how to fish, and just fish.

Boskop Sunset

It was the first weekend of febuary ’09 and I thought it a charming idea to take my girlfriend on a romantic fishing weekend to a new fishing hole, Boskop dam, near Potchefstroom. Well I was definitely wrong about the charming bit. We stayed at the Boskop Nature reserve and to say that there were few luxuries would be a gross understatement. There were no designated campsites, No electricity points, No braai areas, and no running water, besides the taps one could find at the one toilet, one shower (cold water only) long-drop ablutions which dotted the perimeter of part of the dam. When we eventually found a good spot on the dams edge we had to trample the grass in order to prepare a place for our tent.

My Tiddler

I didn’t mind at all!! Infact I love this kind of thing. My girlfriend, not so much…. Anyway this is a fishing blog, so lets get to that. The bass angling was simply superb. What a beautiful dam! The water clarity varied from slightly murky green in parts, to crystal clear in others. The best part about it is that besides us, there was probably only one other boat on the water. This is certainly not a pressured dam. For the most part the weather was not too bad for the weekend, although, on the Saturday afternoon we did get caught in a blistering down pour out on the water, which seemingly appeared from nowhere, at the very moment that our electric motor had decided to pack up. Anyway back to the fishing. The end of the weekend saw us with no less than 37 bass caught and released, 35 of which were caught on the Saturday, the biggest of which was caught by my girlfriend…. The aptly dubbed: Kerry “Bass killer” Van der Riet.

Healthy

Our opening approach was to lob small 4” Senkos against the reeds and let the flutter to the bottom. This did not work. Then I tried hard slash baits. This did no work. I tried every hard and soft lure in my tackle bag, nothing worked. I switched back to old faithful, the Watermelon Red Super Fluke (I ALWAYS have one of these rigged up and waiting). It worked like a bomb, the bass were on instantly. I rigged Kerry up and straight away she was on. We simply lobbed them near the reeds and let them sink, or issued a short jerking action by twitching the rod tip to the side in short, sharp motions. Both methods worked. When I realized that the fluke was working a little TOO well and that we would soon run out, I switched over to a new lure I was trying for the first time: the Yamomoto Stretch 40. It’s basically a short Senko with a light grub tail. To my surprise it was even more effective than the fluke!! The fish hammered it all day, the most effective colour being watermelon black flake.

1.4kg looked bigger

The largest bass we caught was 1.45kg, perhaps not large but the fish were some of the strongest I’ve ever felt. Kerry landed the 1.4 kg bass (above) but at one stage she had to position both her hands at the base of the rod just above the grip, place one foot on the boats pontoon and lean back to keep it from going too far under the boat. I have never seen largemouth bass that strong. There were times when I shouted “monster!” to bass that turned out no heavier than 400grams. Well since then we have been back to Boskop in pursuit of our fishy friends and I truly foresee this dam becoming our favourite “local” dam, If I may call it that. In fact I CANT WAIT to return in winter to hunt those 4 kilo beasts that I’ve heard call Boskop home.

Bass Buggers's Bass

They obviously weren’t expecting us on such a near-miserable day as from the moment our lures began exploring the sub-aquatic dwelling of our aforementioned slippery friends, we were into the fish. Bang! The first largemouth bass took a dunebug Super Fluke with a distinctive thump. That was a little soon, I thought, but took a solid strike at it anyway and sure enough the first fish of about 1.1 kg’s was boated. Next it was “The Bass Bugger” Shaun Taylors’ turn. A weightless dunebug Dead Ringer was his weapon of choice, and obviously the order of the day for him as most of his catches were taken on this particular rig, with the odd exception of the few takes he managed with a dunebug Senko. For me it was the fluke which seemingly taught me a thing or 2 about fishing, the fish took it so readily it was as if I hardly had to make the effort of a cast. In fact there were times when we each had a fish on the line and in the boat simultaneously.

Dunebug Killer

An extremely soft cast towards vertical grassy structure near the bank, which was complimented by the lily pads seemed to entice the bite, with most of our catches being taken on the fall, and if not on the fall, then on the sloooow upward movement of the bait that we inspired with a gentle upward motion of the rod tip. All-in-all we took a total of 16 fish for the day, one of our better bassing days I might add, with most of the fish recorded around the 1 kilo mark. The largest weighing in at 1.4 kg’s and the smallest 500g’s.

An old Zimbabwean friend once told me that when all else fails, switch up colours to dunebug. Well I’ll tell you it is fast becoming my favorite colour, and in a situation where you are completely stumped for lure selection, I would turn to a weightless dunebug fluke, or light-texas rigged dunebug 7” worm of whatever variation you are confident with, whether it be Berkleys Powerworm, or my favourite Zoom U – Tail worm. A larger variation of this (that also proves to be a killer) is the Zoom Mag II worm. I have personally had much success on that Particular lure with a lightly jigged texas rig presentation. In saying that , it was not ONLY the dunebug lure variations which brought us success, the Aruka shad Lipless crank also demonstrated its bass attracting power…

Aruka Shad: Awesome

For those who either throw lipless cranks regularly or who want to experiment with that kind of technique for the first time, I would highly recommend the Spro Aruka shad, colour selection and size is purely up to you. Simply throw it into open water around structure, and crank it back. Once you become comfort able with that basic action, start varying your retrieve. A little jerk here, a pause there and the bass will be smashing your lure in no time, in fact I have even heard stories of this lure performing in winter. So give it a try, I know I will… Good bassing.

Lake Kariba: open water

There is an ancient tale, well known to many, of a mythical creature that once looked over the great Zambezi River and all those that resided dependently on its shores. The Tongan people of the Zambezi valley often speak of “the Protector”, a water-born, god-like creature, with the head of a fish and body of a snake, who they knew, or rather know as Nyaminyami. Showing himself at times of need and famine, it is said that the great Protector allowed the shore dwelling communities, of the Zambezi valley, to cut off chunks of meat from his body. It was only by the separation of the Nyaminyami from his wife, brought on by the building of the great Kariba Dam wall, that the desecrated serpent disappeared to the murky depths of the old river channel, supposedly, for the last time…

Then one night a traveler, named Gregor, lay face up on the deck of a house boat, which rocked ever so slightly on the shimmering surface of the great Lake Kariba. As he lay sleeping under the billions of bright stars, which seamlessly illuminated his surreal environment, he heard a faint buzzing noise just a few meters away. Drifting in and out of consciousness he ignored the sound to return to his tempting dream world, which was soon to be grossly challenged by the series of real events that were about to unfold. Just a few moments later, the traveler was pulled out of his deep sleep by the once buzzing, but now screaming, sound of what turned out to be line stripping off the reel of a fishing rod he had set up, and cast out, just hours before.

Peacefull sleep?

He rushed to his rod dazed and dreary, pulled the rod out of its holder, and with knuckles clenched white tried to hold on in absolute amazement. His eyes grew and grew as line peeled off his reel and his rod bent as if unbreakable. No longer dazed and no longer dreary he struck in defiance, lifting his rod tip sharply in orientation of the mystically large moon above. The moment he struck, his entire body was thrust forward by the force that opposed him, as if a creature of mythical stature were on the other end. As if… He held on for what felt like hours, and as he fought back against whatever was on the other end of his line, the world around him momentarily disappeared, only to return with the sound of hurried footsteps rushing towards him on deck. It was at that moment that the fishing line went slack, as the creature without warning, nor reason, now swam towards the boat. Once it was near enough, two strong arms, belonging to a newly made friend known as Mike “PissedAlways”, leaned over the side of the boat and hurled the beast from the water and onto the deck.

Head of fish; body of snake

With its fish-like head and snake-like body the massive 34kg “Vundu” lay motionless, gasping for air, belly to the stars. Unable to raise the “fish”, with his now weak and wobbly arms, Gregor stood next to “PissedAlways” who, with difficulty, had raised the beast off the deck for him. Finally, with his imagination running rampant, the traveler, Gregor, and the creature, which stared eerily, back into his wide eyes, shared one last moment. Shortly after this, the serpent-like fish was gently submerged back into the glossy water and with one final grunt and shimmer of his smooth fleshy skin, the majestic beast was once again lost to the murky depths of great Kariba.

All photos supplied by Gregor Rohrig

My 650 grammer

This time I returned with a newly found angling buddy, Damien, and our Ark Inflatable. I say again, what a dam for light boats and float tubes. Just too bad we are not the best at predicting weather just yet, as we were literally blown off the water, double anchors and all! BUT at least this time I eventually managed to land one of those green flashy fish we like so much, albeit a 650 gram tiddler. A fish is a fish! And caught on a slightly new rig for me, which consists of a 4” Yum Dinger (watermelon red), with a tiny ball sinker mojo-rigged between 20 and 40cm up the line. I’m used to the big old Yamamoto senkos, but at about R45 a bag of 15 Dingers I am pleasantly surprised with the Yums. Especially since they are not only completely filled with salt on the inside, but also covered with salt AND a product called Live Prey Technology (LPT), which is basically a scent attractant. Just holding the full bag of visually salted, senko-like baits gave me confidence in them. To put it simply, the salt basically allows them to sink nice and quick and on top of that the action of the bait as it sinks makes ME want to dive in and bite it myself!

So that is my boring story of one small fish and a bag of fake senkos, but Damien’s is a far more exciting one. After battling with the wind until lunch time we decided to do what no die-hard angler ever should… We decided to go home. For a guy who is hardly deterred from fishing by the setting sun and threats of grievous bodily harm from his girlfriend, you can imagine this decision a heartbreaking one. Not even lunch time and the mission had officially been aborted. Anyhow it was only after beginning our return to the opposite bank of the dam where we had parked the bakkie that the fishing gods smiled upon us.

While I rowed frantically against the wind, unbeknownst to me Damien had been trawling a watermelon seed Horny Toad behind, or rather, to the side of the crabbing boat. At that very moment he yelled for me to stop: “I’m stuck” he said. All of a sudden whatever he was stuck on began to shift… it began to move off… and it began to fight!! His tune changed: “Nice fish!” he yelled to me as he began to fight an obviously decent specimen. What a mission, I paddled myself silly against the wind to keep us off the rocks while Damien carefully and methodically played the barley hooked fish towards us. At times I had to stop rowing as the fish got nearer so as not to scare him into erratic, mad dashes.

Damien's 1.9kg toad crusher

What were the chances!? Not high, that’s for sure, but the fishing gods must have felt sorry for us to give us the gift of a near 2kg fish (seen above) for our troubles on the water. The day may have been windy and short, but a 2.5kg bag between two is not bad for a couple hours, and it’s always satisfying watching a friend land a largemouth bass of that size. What was learnt on this trip is to diversify our angling stratergies. The fish Damien caught was hooked in a seemingly structure less area that I would never actively decide to fish. In future, I at least, will return to similar spots (with rocky sloped bottoms) to throw crank baits of various shapes, colours, and sizes, along the length of the bank, and just maybe a fish or two will be inspired to strike.

Plenty of reeds surround the clean open water at Bass-O-Mania.

Bass-O-Mania*…. Where do we start?! What a venue to say the very least. I contemplated for a while whether it a wise decision to post about such a reasonably untapped bassing resource, knowing that it could well be lost to the potentially destructive, and often ruthless, angling onslaught that has knowingly hit other, previously magical, inland angling destinations of our country in the past. However! This is a venue we simply could not help but be compelled to write about, and on top of that we have full faith in the consistently proactive founder/manager of Bass-O-Mania, Danie, who we know will do everything in his power to keep the venue alive with bass for a long time still to come.

Bass-O-Mania consists of a number of dams, I want to say 3 but somehow Danie constantly manages to get his hands on more and more exceptionally healthy bodies of water, all of which are absolutely alive with bass. The main dam is a fairly large body of water as well, which could probably accommodate a number of floatation devices and small boats, with a source dam slightly higher up from that boasting a rather large crystal clear body of water, that could carry the promise of some magical sight fishing this summer.

The "Bass Bugger with his 1st Bass-O-Mania largemouth

Our recent excursion found us at Bass-O-Mania on the 2nd of August on what we initially thought would be the best bassing day of winter so far but turned out to be an average, colder than predicted and windy, angling Saturday. However, that did not stop “the Bass Bugger” Shaun Taylor from outshining me on the water from dusk till dawn on our brand new Ark Seal SP 300 series (which is a future post all on its own). From the first solid hook-set and noisy disturbance of the waters glossy surface he managed to land his 5 fish bag limit by the end of the day, without letting a thing get away. This performance hardly mirrored my own, which saw me landing a grand total of not one, not two, but in fact ZERO fish for our approximate 7 hour total out on the water.

Plenty of these, with the odd report of catches over 2kg

I think, after a few lost fish, the one thing that I really took away from the trip, and something that I have slowly began to learn over my short angling career is that no matter how powerfully rewarding angling can be, it is also at times agonizingly heartbreaking as well. On a happier note however, Bass-O-Mania is a location that we are going to be returning to time and time again, hopefully for many years to come in the hunt for that illusive 7 pound plus fish, we believe he is there!

And another...

* Fishing at bass-o-mania is by appointment only, Contact Danie at: 082 551 8088

With this in mind, far too many fish have been hooked and landed (since our last post) for us to mention the lot, so to begin with I will simply post the largest of each species that we have caught, along with the location, weight, bait used, and pictures to prove it of course. So without further a due here they are in absolutely no particular order:

1. The all famous Largemouth
Location: Bass-O-Mania
Weight: 1.8 Kg
Bait: Baby Brushhog, Watermelon Red (weighted texas rig)
Time of year: Mid May 2008

Getting chilli

Comment: Great venue, good bass and lots of it too.

2. The crooked Carp
Location: Footloose trout farm (perhaps cheating)
Weight: 2.2 Kg
Bait: Fish feed bait bought at reception
Time of year: Summer

Great on light tackle

Comment: Ok so footloose (Diepsloot a few km’s from Monte Casino) could be equated to fishing into a fishbowl, but the fishing is absolutely great none the less. I have personally seen carp of 2 kilos plus being pulled out of their dams regularly, and the odd one weighing in at over 5 kilos. Put simply the place is a light tackle wonderland.

3. The Timid Trout (rainbow)
Location: Dullstroom (private dam)
Weight: +- 900 Kg
Bait: Red Eye damsel (Fly)
Time of year: Mid July 2008 (winter)

Beautiful

Comment: For those who know, Dullstroom is undoubtedly one of SA’s most majestic angling destinations. Not only that, it is also home to some of our most beautiful trout waters. Simply put, find a weekend, book accommodation, get in your car, and go. Oh and don’t plan a trip during full moon, you will catch only 3 and a close friend will snap your line and let one of them go… In other words trout angling is apparently best at new moon or when the moon is small (if you believe in that lunar mambo jumbo, which I do).

4. The Belligerent Barbel
Location: Bluegill housing estate (small dam)
Weight: +- 8 Kg (Any objections?)
Bait: Chicken liver (old faithful)
Time of year: Mid August 2007

The under-rated sharptooth

Comment: Large barbel are magical…

And from here our quest for those illusive tackle busters continues once again, and this season carries the promise of many great hooksets and in turn more blog posts to tell of our tales. Our next post will discuss the tackle that we have opted for ahead of the upcoming bass season (we have already bought most of it, and its great) and following that we will write of our upcoming journey to Bass-O-Mania, albeit slightly premature of natures official bassing open season. Keep reading, Keep fishing…

For more fantastic photos of Dullstroom and others please visit Gregor Rohrig’s amazing photographic website here and then thank me later.

And so they embarked on their adventure… the Zimbabwean, the German, and the South African. This adventure took place once again at Bronkhorstspruit dam. Myself and a couple of fellow fishermen, Gregor Rohrig and Russell Manchip decided to spend this past Saturday night (3^rd March) on the bank of Bronkies in the hopes of hooking into some decent bass and missing the thunderstorms which had been forecasted for the entire weekend.

After a not so short visit to the tackle shop and a quick bite to eat for breakfast we made tracks for the dam, a one and a half hour drive from Boksburg on the open road. It did not take us long to arrive at our favourite spot, set up base camp, tackle up, and get our baits into the warm shallows! Only after a few hours of casting and retrieving our Baby Brushogs over and over again did the bites begin! Although they were very few, and very far between both Gregor and Russell got one bite each that stuck! With both of them pulling out a one kilo beauty I was left behind missing almost every strike I got, and letting two off the hook, so to speak, on account of thick weeds and one over zealous attempted hook set.

As night fell we settled in around a warm charcoal fire to chat about the days fishing and annihilate a case of ice cold beer, shortly after gorging ourselves on Gregor’s braai grilled chicken, chop, and boerie cuisine. With flashes of lightning all around us, only threatening to come closer, and the full moon brightening our surroundings with beautiful moon rays, the likes of which we had never seen, we decided to throw another line into the water, this time with molded bread at the end, while we sat covered in our sleeping bags talking about absolutely everything and nothing of importance at the same time. Our peaceful, quiet surroundings were broken only by the sounds of faint music and voices, which traveled across the still water from a party taking place on the opposite side of the dam. Upon deciding to turn in for the night at about half past eleven Russell began to reel in his rod only to find a firm tugging at the end of his line! To be honest I never believed him until he tore his pants off in excitement and headed for the water. True as nuts he emerged from the water with his first ever carp (app. 500g)! This was not his last as the next day the ‘Carp King’ managed to land another slightly larger carp in the same manner with only bread on his hook.

The next day we were not as fortunate as the previous, as far as bass fishing was concerned, and so we ended the weekend early, shortly after guzzling down our lunch. As a final word I’d like to end off with a an important message from Confuscious, brought to light by the newly appointed ‘Carp King’ Russell Manchip, that we could all take away from our weekend adventure… “Man who gets hit in balls with rod, not necessarily homosexual”.

Original image: South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry at www.dwaf.gov.za/…/dams/bronkhorstspruit.htm

When it comes to bank bass angling it is often difficult to locate productive waters. We, however, have found what is now one of our favourite and most productive bank angling locations, Bronkhorstspruit dam in Gauteng. The very location that ‘The Bass Bugger’ caught his first bass, seen in our post titled ‘5 simple rules’. The banks of this dam are lined with thick grass mats and although they seem menacing to the carp anglers, who frequent the dam, they also serve as great habitat and cover for bass waiting to ambush their prey.

We have had great success on this body of water simply dragging a weightless Baby Brush Hog (black) over the top of the grass mats, sometimes allowing them to sit for a moment, at which point the fish generally take it straight off the surface. Otherwise we simply drag them over, leading them into gaps in the grass mats or over the edge of the mats completely, allowing them to glide gently through the water. We were also successful with other soft plastic baits such as the Zoom 6″ Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm using the same technique. In the picture below we have Andrea with her first and biggest bass ever caught (1.5kgs) on her first bass expedition ever .

What is interesting to us is that we fished the same spot at this location on three different days within two weeks and noticed a substantial pattern in the amount and size of fish that we caught. The days were the 3^rd of February 2007, the 6^th and the 11^th. The weather patterns for these days respectfully were: warm, partly cloudy, little to no wind; cool, partly cloudy with strong wind; and cooler, partly cloudy, with stronger wind. What we noticed was that the fish hooked were fewer but larger with the later dates, with us having 22 small bass (app. 500-800gs) on our lines on the 3^rd and only three on our lines on the 11^th, two of which were 1.5 and 1.8kgs (seen below). Is this pattern random or can it be attributed to changing weather conditions or moon phases perhaps, which can be viewed here. We do not know and hope that someone who does know better can give us some feedback.

One of the most important things about bass fishing, which was mentioned previously, is that you find a lure that you are both comfortable and confident fishing. Confidence allows you to fish the lure to the best of your ability thus giving the lure the chance to perform to the best of its ability under the water, so to speak. All anglers discover their own confidence lure but for us it is most certainly the soft plastic Brush Hog by Zoom! I think the most appealing thing about this particular bait, to us, is its versatility. We fish it in so many ways, and on so many rigs, often with the same result…. a nice solid tug on the end of the line. We have, however, had most success free lining them near thick cover. Dragging them across the top of the water or over grass beds at various speeds, before letting them fall naturally through the water seems to inspire frequent takes with the Bass often taking them straight off the surface.

I dont think that this lure has ever failed us on trips where the fish have actually been biting. Our ultimate “go to” lure can be seen in the picture above in Junebug and black (our choice colours). They also come in various shapes and sizes including Big Brush Hog, Baby Brush Hog, Tiny Brush Hog, and a relatively newer model called the Super Hog with extra paddles instead of twin tails. Dont forget to vary the size of your lures when the fishing is slow as the larger Brush Hog can be intimidating to the fish at times. Try these baits they work, you cannot afford not to.

Over the last year or so we have picked up a few basic tips and pearls of wisdom from various sources such as internet sites, magazines, various DVDs, and fellow bass anglers. Some of these tips have proven valueble and others completely fruitless. So here we have listed 5 simple ‘RULES’ which one should always abide by when bass fishing, which have definately helped us on the water and have contributed to the landing of more fish such as the one above caught at Bass ‘o Mania near Bronkhorstspruit in the Gauteng region. (I will post the contact details of B ‘o M later this week). Our 5 rules are:

1. Always fish in and around Structure. This is by far the most important rule. Fishing into open water will not be successfull unless there is underwater structure which you cannot see. structure consists of: sunken logs, rocky out crops, reeds, thick floating grass beds, sunken objects such as man-made building structures, and so on. Structure such as this provides bass with cover where they will lie in ambush waiting for their unsuspecting prey to swim by.

2. Vary the size and colour of your lures according to the water colour! We have found that in stained, discoloured waters that darker, larger soft plastic lures are more productive. Our favourite colours in these situations are June Bug (dark purple like colours) and black. These darker colours seem to be more visible to the fish in murky water. Remember in stained waters fish dont rely heavily on their eyesight when feeding and the larger lures generate more vibration as you fish them through the water. Also try to find lures with more paddles and tails as these will also give off stronger vibration. Our favourite is the Zoom Brush Hog. In clear water it is advisable to use natural coloured baits such as watermelon, and green pumpkin. You can also size down your lures in this situation as less vibration is necessary and large lures can prove to be intimidating to some bass. Below we have ‘The Bass Bugger’ Shaun Taylor with his first fish which he caught free lining a Zoom Baby Brush Hog (black) in slightly stained water.

3. If the fish are not biting dont be afraid to size down or even up on your lures. Even in Stained waters we have noticed a substantial increase in bites after changing to smaller lures. Similarly we have noticed an improvement in bites when sizing up on our lures. In these cases the fish are obviously just interested in expending little amounts of energy on large worth while morsels. Chop and change to see what the fish want in that particular dam or on that particular day.

4. Also important is changing lure types. It all depends on the primary food source at the dam that you are fishing. For instance if you notice schools of small fish in the water try a lure that resembles these bait fish such as flukes, minnows and Rapalas. Otherwise try creature baits such as plastic lizzards, Worms, horny toads, and Brush Hogs. Again you need to experiment to find out what the fish want and the only way to do so is to change your lures regularly!

5. Fish with confidence. Believe me it makes all the difference. If you do not have confidence in the lure you are fishing then you are gaurenteed not to catch. Rememer you want your lure to move like living prey through the water. If you are confident then you are focused and if you are focused then your lure action will be second to none!

Now write these rules down, get out there and catch some fish!