Rust de Winter - Beautiful dam but the Bass here are tricky to catch

Welcome to Rust De Winter Dam. As you travel down the gravel road, first spotting the dam on the left, you just cannot help but get excited about what may lay ahead. I've been to this dam a few times now, always with great expectations. Any angler however, who's visited Rust de Winter dam before, will tell you the Bass there are clever as hell and very tricky to fish.

They're there for sure! And in plenty numbers as well, but they're not going to let you catch them easily. They're going to fight you at every corner, and I don't mean at the end of your line.

I've caught several respectable bass in the duration of 2 hours in the afternoon, and I've gone three loooong days with nothing to show for my troubles.

About the dam:

The dam is one of the best around Gauteng as far as fishing for bass in concerned. Yes it is tricky, like I've stated before, but it's a beautiful, clean dam with relatively low boat traffic. Its northern position extends its fishing season and 'roughness' keeps the noisy picnic going type away.

 

Where to fish:

Well, I prefer the eastern parts of the dam, south of the dam wall. There is a huge drop off left of the boat launching area. Mojo rigs angling at about 16 to 24 feet over the drop-off has been successful to some. Professional anglers prefer the area to the west of the dam. Vast amounts of foliage provide for Bass and Carp alike.

Bait:

Its worth exploring and trying out your entire bait box during those slow days, but pumpkin seed and watermelon seed Flukes are highly recommended. Do not rush those soft worms...take it easy and sloooowly. Bass at Rust de Winter seems to get startled easily.

Oppiekoppie Bass Farm - Brits

Where: Oppiekoppie Bass Farm - Near Brits
Date: Saturday, 28 April 2007.
Time: Arrived at 6:30, left at 13:30.
Accessability: Good
Weather: Cloudy and very cold throughout the day. Windy, cloud cover constantly changing
Water condition: Brown
Water temperature: 15-16 Degrees
Fishing by appointment only:
Please phone Ben Calitz 082-3600 373 Markus Willers: 082-802 5063 before you go.

A man on the Radio says it's going to be a bad day for fishing...
...but what does he know right? A lot apparently. Oppiekoppie is a nice little place nestled in the koppies near Brits in the North West Province. The Dam has been there for a while now, recently new dams have been built and the main dam has also been extended. There is plenty of Bass and Kurpers, stocked periodically.

A very cold day!
This day was a particularly cold day. Windy and definitely not ideal for fishing...but I firmly believe that you can catch Bass on any kind of day, you just need to work harder...much, much harder. I only caught 3 that day, and only one was worth writing home to about. The water was also brown in colour and visibility was very low. I tried a number of different techniques, targeting fish in all sorts of spots. Oppiekoppie Bass Farm as abundant structure and little coves and grass overhangs where bass can hide and ambush pray. Slow retrieval didn't work that day, neither did dark, pumpkin or watermelon seed coloured lures work...no the only thing that work where small little 2" white coloured grubs (Berkley Gulp). I also had success with a Booyah White Blade Spinner (3/8).
Fish were biting short (close to bank). All strikes, even the ones I missed seemed to be aggressive strikes as opposed to feeding strikes.



Conclusion:
Good experience. Nice place, baaaad day for fishing. Will I go back? Definitely! Early summer, late spring; March should be excellent.


Visit them at www.oppiekoppiebassfarm.co.za