Fishing new water

[sharky]

I'm going to a campsite week after next with the family, and of course chose a place with a couple of little dams. The owner says one dam has been stocked with bass some time ago, but he doesn't know how it's fishing as no one has really been targeting the bass, just the carp and trout.

Now, with winter approaching and water temperatures dropping, I'm assuming I should fish deeper water, but still target visible structure during midday? Remember I'm fishing off a tube with no electronics.

What would be the best type lures to use (can figure out the colour once I'm there)? I'm pretty sure BM's going to tell me fluke and spinners and Robf dingers, senkos :blue-biggrin: Cranks don't work for me neither, never mind in cold water :blue-badgrin: And frogs don't work either Q :blue-exclaim: Would a jig be a good option, maybe slower falling light weight? With carp present, maybe light coloured flukes?

[crankystanley]

then you gona tell us top waters dont work in cold windy overcast weather in the middle of the day either...well you should have been at shongeni on sunday and seen how the zarra spook was getting nailed...seeing is believing. :blue-shock:

[Vaalboy]

I would definatley try topwater first. If frogs are not your confidence lure, I would try a popper or weighless fluke jerked on the surface. A 4" dead ringer in watermelon colours fished on a light mojo would be my next go to.

[Vaalboy]

then you gona tell us top waters dont work in cold windy overcast weather in the middle of the day either...well you should have been at shongeni on sunday and seen how the zarra spook was getting nailed...seeing is believing. :blue-shock:

I don't want to hijack this thread, but CS how safe is Shongweni? I live in the upperhighway area and have never been to Shongweni because of the bad reviews on saftey.

[robfisher]

Sharky you gotta try a Horny Toad (using a proper Horney Toad Hook) fished as top water... try it through reeds and vegetation... don’t be scared to throw it into the vegetation and then keep your rod tip high and reel in just fast enough to keep the frog on the surface... if there are holes in the vegetation then you can stop the frog in the holes and let it sink for a while... try it first thing in the morning and occasionally during the day... once you get a hit on a frog you will always try it again in the future... when the bass hits you will have a heart attack but try not to strike until you feel pressure on the line.

Then you have to use a Dinger or Senko on a light mojo of course. And yes you are right that cranks don’t work... mind you you are in Cape Town and cranks do work there so throw a lipless rattletrap... and as Ian says... give a Zara Spook a go as well because that’s also hell of exciting when it gets hit.

[Ninja]

Sharky if all fails do not hesitate to try something different. I often fish at a farm dam in Camperdown and just resently when I went there (on a very cold day) I had no luck with my normal plastics for more than two hours. There are a lot of bass in that dam and I thought the owners piosoned the water it or something, as a last resort I tried a fire tiger jerk bait and twitched it just past the thick vegitation, finaly I got a reaction out of the fish. They simply could not resist the jerk bait action and I landed some nice keepers in a short time.

[bassmaster]

Hey Sharky

If all els fails, I would normally change to a grub. Texas rig, splitshot rig or even mojo. You will never know till you get there and start fishing. Just try watch where you are getting a bite as it will help you figure out what the fish are doing. If the dams are quite small and you don't get bites don't be scared to change to something totally different. Sometimes we don't change up enough. I'm sure you will get something good at this time of year, the fish should still be feeding for the winter months...

Most importantly enjoy the weekend and let us know how it goes... :blue-smile:

[Bassassin]

I've been rediscovering spinnerbaits. As a search bait it works well for me, it can be fished at any depth and/or speed, it brings on those reaction strikes and, being somewhat weedless it's less likely to get hooked up on those unseen underwater snags in an unknown water.

[Plaasdam]

Hi Sharky,

Try everything in youre tacklebox over the weekend and let us all know.
goodluck

[YoungJeff]

To answer Vaalboy's question about Shongweni. You do have to drive through a settlement and I have heard of the odd hijacking in the past plus there was that nasty case a few weeks ago when that poor girl was gang raped. But I feel absolutely safe there and am happy to go there alone. In fact I consider the drive from the freeway to the gate to be about 10 times safer than the drive to Inanda. Partly because it only takes 5 minutes whereas Inanda takes over 20.
Once you are through the gate you only have to watch out for the odd snake.
There is a canoe club on the bank plus a campsite and picnic area so there are always people around.
Join the Puddlehoppers and come with us.

[crankystanley]

vaalboy i have been fishing shongweni since i started bass fishing...i use to fish there 3 times a week after work and on wednesdays i use to only get off the water at 8.30 pm and out the gate at 9 pm...i never had a problem...lately i have heard of problems...but i have problems in the morning when i walk in pinetown...it has got to a stage now that i carry enough ammo to start a small war i feel like i am back in the bush...weapon on stage one in my hand...and i take my dogs with now as well...i felt safer in angola than i do in my bed at home nowadays...so where are you safe?

i have been shot at twice at inanda...ive had rocks thrown at me at inanda at the cliffs...tents have been burnt and people robbed at inanda in the campsites while i was camping a couple of years ago...thats why i dont camp there any more.

[sharky]

Thanks for the responses guys :blue-exclaim:

Maybe it is time to start trying those jerk baits I bought a couple of months ago :blue-redface: I think you're right BM, we don't change up often enough. Guess I have to start builiding up my confidence on some of the other lures and stop throwing soft plastics all the time.

I have just about everything you guys recommended (might have to stock up on the toads, my son seems to enjoy biting their heads off :blue-lol: ), so as BM said, it's making the mental change to experiment.

I will definitely let you guys know how it went :blue-exclaim: