Latest update: 2024-10-01
– new tariffs for 2024
Quick Info
- check out the image below for the 2024 entry fees
- please note no cash allowed, please remember to bring a card
- only the chalets can be booked in advance, the camping side is first-come-first-served, so get there early
- no boats\canoes\kickboats of any kind allowed, only baitboats
—————————————————————
Rietvlei dam – our happy place
I caught my very first fish here by accident while I was practising casting my fly-fishing rod. Out of nowhere a nice-sized bass took my woolly bugger and just like that the bass and I was hooked. He was hooked for about 3 minutes, but I’ve been hooked ever since. 5 years later and Rietvlei Dam still and will always have a special place in my heart.
Since that day we’ve probably visited Rietvlei close to 250 times. It’s so close to us that we got ourselves season passes, and during early spring (spawn) we try to go 3 or 4 times a week. It’s a wonderful place, a hidden gem, and very rewarding if you know what to do.
On this page, we’ll share (and continually update) our accumulated knowledge of Rietvlei Dam, our second happy place.
Fishing
Accommodation
General
FISHING
Rietvlei Dam has a deserved reputation for being very tough. Especially for carp. We’ve blanked many many times but even though this was frustrating at times it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It made much better anglers of us by forcing us to try all kinds of different strategies. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.
1. Bass
Bass fishing at Rietvlei Dam can be mind-blowing one day and dead the next. No one can tell us why. We looked at the weather conditions, water temp, air pressure, full moon etc., but nothing has explained this to us. We just take a chance each time, drive out there and hope for the best. But we are rewarded more often than not. Here’s a couple of bass caught over the years.
My previous pb (and Martin’s current pb) were both caught at Rietvlei in the last couple of years. Here’s my 3.2kg I caught way back in 2015.
As always every single fish was safely and quickly released.
Bait \ Lures
As stated before we’ve used almost everything at Rietvlei Dam with mixed results. Starting from the most successful, here’s a list of our favourite lures to use:
- Flukes – Our goto lure in most situations and once again deadly at Rietvlei, especially junior flukes. Most colours work but by far the most successful is junebug. In fact, any very dark colour with some kind of flash like a black fluke with silver glitter works well.
- Worms – Senkos, trick worms etc. also work well, again junebug is popular but we’ve had a lot of success with watermelon red too.
- Other plastics – From grubs, craws, to brush hogs we’ve had a lot of luck with all plastics. Twintail grubs especially is another favourite when imitating frogs.
- Cranks – Using cranks isn’t always possible because of the grass that covers most areas but there are rocky areas where using a crank is very productive. In fact, my monster bass above was caught on a lipless crank (bass pattern).
- Jerkbaits – We don’t always use jerkbaits (the grass factor again) but we’ve seen many other anglers do well when fishing these fairly fast when the water is clear.
- Spinnerbaits – White and chartreuse spinner baits work well especially when the water is slightly murky.
- Less productive – Other baits have proven to be less successful for us, these include jigs, frogs etc. Also, we’ve had almost zero success with topwater baits.
Strategies
We always fish very very slowly at Rietvlei. Cast your fluke or worm out there, let it drop, wait for it to settle and then slowly retrieve, twitching it every now and then. We’ve caught probably 90% of our fish this way and it’s actually super exciting. Seeing your line suddenly rise violently is exhilarating.
For cranks obviously make sure they hit the bottom rocks, and for jerkbaits a faster retrieval seems to work.
Spots
- General – We’ve caught most of our bass next to the reeds. Almost every spot at Rietvlei has some form of reed wall bordering it and retrieving along those reeds can be very lucrative. Wading makes this even better because you can reach the front of the reeds where you’ll have a better chance of a bigger fish.
- Camping area – In terms of actual spots we’ve had a lot of success near the island (where the road ends). Anywhere in that vicinity is productive. From there another hotspot is the open rocky spot where the road comes very close to the water. Lots of fish here. Then, of course, the “sloep” (start of fishing area), is also very popular.
- Chalet area – This is only accessible if you are actually staying at one of the chalets. Here the water is a lot deeper, especially in front of the first couple of chalets. We’ve stayed there a few times and have had some spectacular success including my previous pb (above).
Hippo warning! – We have been met by hippos over the years that come around the corner from the end of the fishing area. They graze among the grass every year during spring and have become more and more frequent. So just be vigilant when wading, there hasn’t been any serious incidents but as we all know they are grumpy animals…
Update: A young hippo was killed in Apr 2022 after somehow escaping the reserve and then being hit by a taxi on the road just outside of the reserve. We’re not sure if it’s the same one but we’ll know soon when bass fishing season starts again. RIP little big one 🙁
2. Carp
It’s a well-known fact that carp fishing at Rietvlei Dam is extremely tough. No one can dispute that. At the same time, it is a favourite among specimen anglers because if you do manage to hook a carp there is a very good chance it’s going to be your new pb. The carp at Rietvlei are massive and if you have the equipment (and patience) you will be rewarded handsomely.
Because of this we very seldom target carp there. On the few occasions, we did try we managed 2 in total, but we were fishing conventionally (papgooi) and Martin struggles to cast further than 100m 🙂 Nevertheless here is one of the catches, a nice 5kg Rietvlei “baby”.
Bait
- Conventional – Floaties work well and popular flavours are banana, pink sweets, pineapple, peach and perdeby. Any fruity flavours for that matter. Add earthworms to the mix if you’re not getting any action.
- Specimen – Tigernuts always do well and pineapple is an especially effective flavour. For boilies, any fruity flavours, like cherry, should work, also stronger flavours like fishy.
Strategies
- Time of day – In general the carp at Rietvlei Dam seem to be more active at night, and very early morning. That’s when most fish are caught.
- Distance – This is a hot topic since most locals will tell you to always go very deep, over 150m (hence all the baitboats). But we’ve been hearing of nice fish being caught much shallower. It all depends on the spot. As a rule, though try to fish at around 100m and you’ll give yourself a good chance.
Spots
- Camping area – The carp seem to also like the same spots as the bass. So again people have a lot of success near the island (where the road ends). Anywhere in that vicinity is productive but you’ll need to get your lines in over 100m. The open rocky spot, where the road comes very close to the water, is also useful. Again you’ll probably need to cast quite deep. Then of course the “sloep” (start of fishing area), is also very popular, depth less of a problem.
- Chalet area – This is only accessible if you are actually staying at one of the chalets. The water gets much deeper much quicker, especially in front of the first couple of chalets. There is a large willow tree in that area and either side of that is productive.
3. OTHER
We mainly target bass and carp at Rietvlei Dam but here are some other species that may or may not be available.
Barbel
There are some monster barbel in Rietvlei. We always see them playing, especially on the chalets side where there are many rocky areas. We tried for barbel once using crab and when the rod eventually ran we had no chance of stopping it. It simply broke the line when we attempted to stop the run. Earthworms, platannas will always get you a few bites. And crab, which can sometimes be caught along the shoreline, is another barbel favourite. Friends tried the popping method once with zero success.
Kurper \ Tilapia \ Bream
There are kurper in Rietvlei and we know people catch them using earthworms. But we’ve never seen any, not one, ever. If anyone reading this can give us some advice on how to target them that would be really helpful. But we can’t confirm that they are out there.
Yellowfish
Because we’ve never seen one at Rietvlei we really doubted that they still exist there. But recently there’s been quite a few caught by carp anglers. So they are still very much active in the dam and we’ll be targeting them the next chance we get. As evidence here’s Rikus van Vuuren showing off his 3.7kg yellowfish he caught a while ago. It was caught on a hasbeen tigernut of all things. Nice catch Rikus!
ACCOMMODATION
1. Camping
There is a large stretch of shoreline available for camping at Rietvlei Dam. As you drive in by the gate you turn left immediately, drive around the bend and you’ll see the first ablution block. From there to the end of the road is the camping fishing area.
The area around the first ablution block is called the “sloep” and where the road ends is the island spot. You camp literally 50m or less from the reserve fence which means you often see some of the animals (including rhino!), and at night you hear them…
Have a look at our Rietvlei Dam map below to see where all these spots are etc.
Useful Info
- Booking – The camping area is on a first come first served basis, there was an attempt to have a booking system in 2020 but it failed in the end.
- Electricity – There is no electricity at Rietvlei currently, but there is talk of it being installed…
- Ablutions – As with most government-run institutions these are not great but I’d like to think they are better than most other places. There are enough of them to go around, just don’t expect to have hot water…
- Boats – No boats of any kind (canoes, kayaks, ducks) are allowed. Baitboats are definitely allowed, if you have one bring it, you’ll be in good company.
- Drones – Drones are not allowed.
- Caravans – Caravans are welcome.
Rates
So if you are 2 adults who want to go fishing for the day you will be paying R70 x 2 = R140.
If you are 2 adults in 1 car who want to overnight camp you will be paying (R157.50 x 2) + R79 = R394.
That’s how we understand it anyway…
2. Chalets
The chalets are perfectly located and quite comfortable. There is a large ideal fishing area in front of them with some really deep waters. They were out of commission for a while but most are available again.
We’ve stayed there since they re-opened and it was great. We caught many large bass and the carp fishing was pretty good too. Check out the video below for more detail.
Rates
Have a look at the overall rates above. This year for the first time there is a difference in price between the 4-sleeper and the 6-sleeper. The 4-sleepers goes for R1029 / night and the 6-sleepers for R1312.50. And apparently chalets 1-9 are the 4-sleepers, and 10-17 are 6-sleepers.
The best way to book these very popular chalets is by sending an email to rietvlei-angling@tshwane.gov.za, or by physically driving to the gate and speaking to them there.
General
1. Safety
Touch wood but there have been zero incidents for at least 4 years at either the camping or chalet side. So it’s one of the safer places you can go. At this point, the only real threat are the hippos 🙂
2. Contact info
3. Map
SUMMARY
- Bass – slow and low along the reeds, junebug flukes work well
- Carp – perdeby floaties (papgooi), or pineapple tigernuts (specimen), 100m distance at least depending on spot
- Barbel – earthworms and crab, (and very strong line)
- Other fish – no idea 🙂
- Camping – get there early, don’t be squeemish, no more bookings, it’s first come first served
- Chalets – let’s hope all of them are up and running again soon, book by sending an email to rietvlei-angling@tshwane.gov.za
Video
Our latest stay at the chalets – Oct 2022
Our first session in 2021 was better than expected.
Here’s a quick video of some pre-spawn bass fishing.
Here’s a quick video of our experience staying at the chalets in October 2019.
I caught a 3.7kg yellow fish about 2 years ago and would like to send you a picture. How do i do that?
Oh wow! That would be really helpful. Please mail it to anglinks777@gmail.com and with your permission I’ll add it to our page.
Thanks
Linky
You may add no problem
Thanks for the awesome info, ill be taking my 7yr for the day tomorrow (07/01/2019) before school starts on the 9th. Hopefully with all your tips we’ll be posting a few of our catches for you 🙂
Thanks Grant! That really means a lot to us, it really makes it all worthwhile. And yes, please let us know how got on, we’re always looking for new tips \ tactics 🙂
Good day,
Thank s looks and sounds great.
Carp fishing for the biggies what is the equipment rulz.
Hey Donovan,
Since Rietvlei Dam is not a private specimen angling type of venue there aren’t any rules, you don’t need to have any specific gear etc. Conventional fisherman are welcome which pretty much means anything goes. But as always when it comes to fish care it’s always beneficial to have some form of landing mat at least. Proper nets and weighing slings are also great to have.
I say this because there are huge carp at Rietvlei Dam and handling them incorrectly can do a lot of harm if you’re not careful.
Anyway best of luck and tight lines!
Regards
Linky
Hi there. I am a tilapia only angler and read that people claimed to have cought kurper in Rietvlei. I have couple of hundred fingerlings which I would like to set free in the dam ASAP. PLEASE, anyone that can give me advise, its rather urgent.
Hi Riaan,
There are kurper in Rietvlei, or at least there used to be, bass may have taken over but we don’t know for sure.
However I wouldn’t release more of them into the dam, simply because we don’t know how that would affect the ecosystem. I think the best would be if you asked on the Rietvlei Dam facebook group for a conservationist to assist you.
Cheers and good luck!
Going to try Rietvlei tomorrow morning with the kids and going to try out some few tups you guys have put up here so lets see if we can pull out a monster or even a small one lol anything will do.
We really hope it works for you! But if it doesn’t please let us know what did work for you so we can update our tips on Rietvlei 🙂
Hi all, is this catch and release angling?
Hey,
Rietvlei Dam is a catch & release venue, but I don’t think everyone obeys that, people regularly take fish. We personally prefer to catch & release though, especially any big fish. They deserve to be caught again by someone else 🙂
going there hopefully on sunday hopefully will be posting some big carp and bass
Best of luck! Let us know if you catch anything 🙂
Thanks, good information. I’m going for carp (papgooi) with floaties today.
On kurper, my daughter had a field day at the dam about 10 years ago. Not sure how it is now but pretty sure they still there.
Thanks a lot, Craig! Good luck with the fishing, we don’t have a baitboat so conventional is our only option also.
Right now the carp might be starting to spawn but hopefully you will catch a few. And if I’m honest I am still to see a kurper being caught there recently. They seem to have disappeared somehow. But I would love it if you could prove me wrong 🙂
Hi Guys, thanks for the wonderful videos and great site. I fished just over a week back, didn’t catch anything, but nonetheless, it’s a lovely place to spend time at. If I may ask what setups do you guys use for bass with regards to rods, reels and line? Also do you guys know what is the check in and check out times for the chalets and camping?
Hi Dave, I’m really glad you like our content, Rietvlei Dam is a special place to us so we try to keep it up-to-date as much as possible 🙂
For bass we use 10lb braid, and we don’t really bother with a clear leader (like mono or fluorocarbon), we haven’t really seen a difference between using one or not. We fish mainly weightless which basically means we use a spinning setup, so coffee-grinders with our normal 7ft rods.
The chalets are normal hours I think, so 14:00 check-in and 12:00 check-out. But we have found that they are fairly lenient in that regard. Also after checking out (on a Sunday for example) you can normally continue fishing at the chalets which is cool. For camping I think it’s even more lenient, it used to be first come first served so the times didn’t matter. But since you can book swims I assume you need to leave your swim at certain times. Again though I think if no-one has booked your spot after you then you can probably stay until the gates close…
Hope that helps 🙂
Thanks Martin, appreciate the info, looking to get a new setup so thanks for that feedback. Looking forward to the next video!
Fished for bass at Rietvlei 3 times in the past 2 weeks, but completely dead.
Hi Jacques,
Sorry to hear that 🙂 We’ve also blanked many times so don’t worry, the trick is to keep going because at some point the bite will be on and then you’ll have a great day.
We find the very hot days this time of year is not great for bass at Rietvlei, cloudy windless days seem to work the best for us. Plus it’s very busy right now all along the bank which doesn’t help.
Anyway, we hope you have better luck the next time 🙂
Cheers!
Hi… witch places by Rietvlei dam must we avoid to get stuck when fishing for carp. Everytime I go there I seem to get stuck alot and loose alot of my fishing gear.
Please assist
Thanks!!
Hi Petrus,
Yeah it is a problem, lots of broken lines in the water. This is because you cannot have any kind of boat in the water so you can’t paddle out to fetch stuck lines or fish, but it’s also the 200m lines taking out by baitboats that break off and lie around. Anyway that’s Rietvlei Dam.
I guess you best option is to maybe go to the less popular stands. The ones from #21-28 always seem busy and you have the added problem of the rocky areas around there which also catches your gear. So maybe below are above those stands. But honestly it’s very difficult to tell.
The good news is I’ve seen that they go around with a boat sometimes and scrape the bottom for lines. Hundreds of boilie rigs then get removed. I hasn’t been done recently though…
Hi
For me personally fishing is not my passion but my kids have taken a interest in it. Your website is very informative and I`m looking forward to sharing the moment with my kids at RietVlei this coming weekend. Thank you for the insight and tips!!
Hi Michael,
Who knows, your kids might just convince you 🙂 All you need is one big fish and you’re hooked.
Anyway, enjoy Rietvlei, we hope you get a spot, it’s very busy at the moment so go early if you can…
What is the pollution like at Rietvlei dam? I have heard some negative reports about this. Would like to fish there.
Hi Nigel, I don’t think it’s any worse than any other dam around Gauteng, and probably better than most. There has been some algae blooms making the water along the banks green but in general, I think it’s perfectly fine. Lots of wildlife everywhere so it can’t be all bad…
How safe is it currently? I am a student and am wanting to go camping and fishing for weekend, but I am not sure how safe it would be for me to go alone? can I please get some advice with regards to this?
Hi Marco, We think it’s one of the safest places you can go camp at. As far as we know there hasn’t been any trouble at Rietvlei for many years and there will be lots of other campers around you too. So don’t worry about safety, just worry about how to catch a monster fish 🙂
Is the chalets pet friendly?
Hi Marissa, yes we think they are, there are lots of pets at the camping side so it makes sense that it’s allowed at the chalets too.
Hi.
What is the current situation regarding fishing lisences at Rietvlei, and where can i get one for freshwater fishing and are Baitboats allowed at rietvlei again.
Hi Gerhard. In theory, you need a license at Rietvlei Dam, but we have never been asked for one and we don’t know of anyone else that has ever been asked. So I would say don’t worry about it. And yes, baitboats have always been allowed. In fact, it’s the one dam where you’ll always see them because no other form of boat is allowed. No canoes, float tubes, kickboats, paddleskis etc. are allowed in any of the fishing areas at Rietvlei. Hope that helps…
Hi All, Can anyone assist me with details for book a chalet please. all the 012 number’s just ring and the cell number on Facebook is incorrect.
Sorry Rudie, getting hold of them is very difficult. We always tell people to rather drive to the gate if possible and book there. That way you are guaranteed a spot. If you cannot drive there then I’m afraid you need to simply keep trying the 012 numbers 🙁
Hi Guys
How has the fishing at Rietvlei dam been ?
Carp and Bass .
Thanks
Hi Veemal,
Carp fishing has been pretty good actually but the bass fishing is less lucrative currently. And the water level is quite high currently after all the rains, so camping might be a challenge I think…
Hi Martin. A few questions please?
1. Are canoes allowed on Rietvlei dam.
2. How bad is the snapped off nylon, (been told that there is a lot).
3. Late August early September right time or too early for bass?
Hi, sorry I saw this very late, but here’s some answers to your questions:
1. Nope, not boats of any kind, only bait boats are allowed.
2. Yes, there are many snags at certain spots but it’s not that bad. For carp fishing it is a problem sometimes, I’ve heard of people losing fish that way. But for bass fishing it hasn’t really been an issue.
3. That is the best time, and they keep biting well into late September…
Hi Guys,
Just quick one regarding the Chalets, as i can’t find any info nor was it mentioned in the article above.
are the Chalets 2 or 4 sleepers.
Hi, you’re right we should probably add that. Most of the chalets are 6-sleepers (fold-out coach in lounge) but some of them have extra space in the loft and are possibly 8-sleepers…
Goo morning Martin
Thank you for the information on the Bass fishing.
I am using it for the past 2 years and I have caught a few bass including a pb of 2.2Kg.
Tight lines for the rest of 2023.
Best regards
Lukas Klopper
Hi Lukas,
Thank you very much, it’s always great to hear that our content has helped someone 🙂
All the best for the 2023 season!
We have had alot of success recently with Craw soft plastics for Large and Small Mouth Bass casting them close to the reeds on the right of the Island!
That’s good to know, thanks a lot Peter! But did you really catch a smallmouth bass at Rietvlei?! We really hope you did, that would be the best news ever.
Hi there. I am an amateur fisherwoman, only started fishing a couple of months ago, never any luck with anything other than Barbel. I would like to visit Rietvlei on Sunday… Any tips to avoid Barbel & try for Bass or any other kinds?
Hi Chante, welcome to the fishing family! For Rietvlei, for bass, we would always suggest using plastics, especially junebug flukes or watermelon red worms, they work well when there is a bit of grass around. For carp you will struggle at the moment, lots of very good anglers blanking for some reason.
Hi Martin
I like you website, the fishing spots is a great help. I always went first to your website for my fishing trips. I stay in Pretoria east , need to visit Rietvlei dam again. Thanks for the detailed information on the fishing spots.
Thanks a lot Johan, it’s always great to hear that our site is helpful in some way 🙂
Rietvlei is a bit tough atm, but you should definitely go there soon again…
Cheers, and tight lines!