LEAGUE WEEKEND AT FLAG BOSHIELO (Arabie Dam)

Enigma

Moderator
We fish our leagues over a weekend with juniors and Seniors on Sat and Ladies and balance of Seniors Sunday.

Thios is League 1 of 3 with the next rounds in Oct and Nov with the final at the end of Nov (Top 2 Seniors teams from Sat and TOp 2 Senior teams of Sun)

The onset of winter and the effects of the Cold fronts of the weekend were evident with 40% of Saturday's anglers blanking and Dean Pelser (Of Super Cast fame (Banjo/Cina 1/Ebony/Little Boy etc) taking the league honours for the day with 7 fish.

Our turn on Sunday and from the info I got from Dean and Badie was that we should prepare to fish 130m+

Dead slow start to the fishing.  I started at 160m (P4) and 145m M1.5.  2 Hours into the match and only 1 fish in our Zone.  After a lot of scratching Martin and I found the Carp at 130m and the Muddies at 100m.  Lots of snags, fish lost and hard work.

We eventually got our noses ahead and all was looking good and then my adjacent opponents land a 7.5kg Silver Carp.  The last hour is really good to me and I land 2 muddies and 2 carp.

Martin takes 1st and myself 2nd and in the end out total fish is almost equal to the total of the rest of the zone.

The plan we slapped together produced the goods and we won all the zones giving us an easy win for the league under harsh and trying angling conditions. 

I also got quite a few good pics for the dam profile article I'm doing for the bank angler.

Anxiously awaiting a Lightning stoppage, still needing fish to cancel the 7kg Chinaman (Chinese Silver Carp)

 
 

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Enigma

Moderator
What a fight.  I was sitting watching to my left when all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.

I see a 1.2m long fish launch itself from the water in 3 consecutive tailwalk jumps and to my surprise I see an angler on the bank with his 3lbs 12' bent double and he's doing his best to keep his fish out of the scrub.

This was apparently his 3rd Silvercarp on for the morning and he's determined not to let this one get away.  Some popoising, surface rolling and 30-50m runs and the fish rolls over and capitulates after an epic 25 minute fight on (0.25mm -15lbs line).

10.105kg Chinese Silver Carp, new SA Medium class record (Controlled Comp)

Tiaan van Staden, SAPS Nylstroom (Check the tail out on that fish) 
 

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Enigma

Moderator
This is the Light Tackle SA record caught by Lourens Erasmus, 7.025kg, caught on 0.20mm line.

 
 

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Enigma

Moderator
For many years (4 to be Exact) we struggled to get the fish recognised for record purposes as it was believe they didn't take baits and were only caught by jigging.

We have however learnt how to catch them with rod and line and here you can see the evidence of the hook - inside, deep inside the mouth.
 

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Enigma

Moderator
If you look inside the mouth you'll see the gills are inter-woven to work like baleen plates of a whale and these fish feed by filtering algae and plankton out of the water.

They grow to 25kg but the technique used to get them onto the hook calls for fine and finess application which doesn't match up to the power of these fish. 

Another perculuarity of this fishis that the eyes are bolow the mouth as a result of how they swim and filter the water for food, too much silt in the water and they suffocate and die as a result gills \(baleen getting blocked and coated in silt.
 

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Enigma

Moderator
Flag Boshielo Dam (Arabie) 15km outside Marble hall, on the Olifants river (70km downstream from Loskop)
 

Glenn

Sealiner
@ Enigma

Great report *Craig* thank's for the report & good lekker carp there.. First time I've seen these.. Damm.... They look Strange with there eyes fixed in a different location!

How deep is it there craig ??
 

Unlimited

Sealiner
damn thas a UGLY fish haha... but by the looks of its long shape and the size of iets tailfin, i bet these buggers put up a huge fight... How did they get to be in the Arabie dam??
 

Enigma

Moderator
Same way as they got into the Missisipi and Great lakes system in the USA.

They are a great tasting fish and breed very easily so they were being tested for use as a food fish in aqua culture at the aquaculture and fish research centre on the Elands river.

There as a floods, holding dams broke and they are now found from below loskop dam wall all the way to the coast where the Rio do Olifantes mouths into the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.

They grow to in excess of 25kg and are a danger to boat traffic as they get irritated by the sound of the props in the water and jump excessively when irritated. Some bad injuries cause by 15kg fish landing in a boat doing 60km/h on the water
 

Enigma

Moderator
Glenn wrote:
@ Enigma

Great report *Craig* thank's for the report & good lekker carp there.. First time I've seen these.. Damm.... They look Strange with there eyes fixed in a different location!

How deep is it there craig ??

They raised the dam wall by 5m putting it near to 30m in the main lake. Where we fish is a tributary to the main lake.

Being in the bushveld it is a dam with a lot of rocky reefs and with the raising of the wat by 5m they basically doubled the surface area and in places the water had pushed up by 800m into the Bush line so it's best fished by boat for certain species.

It's a natural wonder and holds such a Diverse slection of fish. I've caught carp up to 14.4kg there and have been bust up by some bigger (on 50lbs braid no less - so much structure that trying to hold a 30-40lbs fish out of the trees almost always leads to a bust up) Biggest barbel I saw there was a 41kg fish that I actually took to the local butcher in Marble Hall, to weigh, not slaughter

It also has one of the largest population of Tilapia in the country with regular catches of over 3kg.

Fish to catch in Flag

CARP
Common
Mirros
Grass
Chinese Silver


YELLOWFISH
Large Scale
Small Scale
Papermouth

CATFISH
Sharp Tooth
Butter
Squeaker

TILAPIA
Blue
Red Breasted
Rumors of Nile
Vlei
Dwarf

Eels
Giant Mottled (seen up to 19kg)
African Mottled
Longfin or Black

BARBS
Biggest is the Papermouth and has 30cm min size limit (Fork length)
3 spot
tail spot
Silver
Red fin

LABEO - Muddies
Red Nosed
Leaden
Occasional Purple or redscaled

ROBBERS
Dwarf Tiger
Silver

OTHERS
Largemouth Bass - Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig up to 6kg recorded
Churchill or Dolphin

DON'T FORGETAnd las but not least the biggest single breeding colony of Nile crocodiles on the African continent. with an arial survey we counted over 160 breeding size crocs in the mid section of the dam, The biggest ones go between 5-6m and are Dik.
 

Kumz

Sealiner
Enigma wrote:
DON'T FORGETAnd las but not least the biggest single breeding colony of Nile crocodiles on the African continent. with an arial survey we counted over 160 breeding size crocs in the mid section of the dam, The biggest ones go between 5-6m and are Dik.

Aaiybo .... Damn ...  5-6 m crocs ....  & 160 of them out there ... 

Sowy i will stay in bakkie ... :::S
 

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Unlimited

Sealiner
jeesh on the african contitent? And still the fish grows to be that big. I was there once when i was 12. Was at that camp grounds near the dam wall. Had a good time.
 

Enigma

Moderator
That camping ground is now 400m under the water.

Best camping resort is Aloe Ford or the Schuinsdraai reserve venue where we now fish
 

Enigma

Moderator
Yes in a Nature reserve with admission control and cold water ablutions and showers.

Your alternative is on the opposite bank at Aloe ford
 

J

Senior Member
Great report, thanks Enigma.

Would you mind sharing a little bit more detail on the technique use to catch those Silvers?
I love to see a 10kg carp tail dancing on the end of my line.
 
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