We recently spent a weekend exploring the bass fishing options in the Potchefstroom area. We love Boskop Dam, but we’ve been there quite a few times in the past, so that wasn’t on our list. Instead we visited Klerkskraal Dam, Potch Dam, Twitcher’s Eden, and also did some travelling around the area.
Here’s a brief summary of yet another adventure…
Twitcher’s Eden
First of all we stayed at a farm called Twitcher’s Eden which is just north of Boskop Dam. It has a decent sized dam which is fed by an active spring, resulting in some of the cleanest water we’ve ever seen. The dam contains lots of bass and apparently some monster barbel as well.
We didn’t see any of the barbel, but we managed to catch over a dozen bass in a short afternoon session. In the crystal clear water we knew natural patterns were the way to go, so jerkbaits and watermelon red plastics did the trick from the start.
Twitcher’s also has a comfortable boat you can rent that comes with a trolling motor and battery. They allow day visitors, and at the main launch area there is shade netting and braai facilities. We stayed in one their chalets which was huge, secure, and very reasonably priced considering what you get. Unfortunately, we didn’t take photos of the accommodation.
So the fishing at Twitcher’s was a very good start for us, and we probably could easily spend the whole weekend there. But we were on a mission, and so the next morning we headed out to Klerkskraal Dam.
Klerkskraal Dam
As usual we once again picked the windiest weekend of the year, and arriving at Klerkskraal Dam we realised it might be a waste of time trying to fight the waves in our little rubber duck. So we decided to return later when the wind has calmed down a bit, and headed to Ventersdorp to go and check out another dam we’ve always wanted to see, Rietspruit Dam.
There are a few venues around the dam, but we went straight to the one we’ve heard a lot about called Club Amigos. It had a real resort feel to it, and we were very impressed with the facilities, and the cleanliness of the place in general. We also discovered they had some impressive chalets on offer which are right on the bank (photo below).
The water level was very low, but as soon as it’s back to normal we’ll be planning our next carp fishing trip there.
After our brief excursion it was back to Klerkskraal Dam to see if the wind had died down. It was still gusty but we figured out that there was a stretch along the southern bank that was shielded from the main dam, and the breeze, by a corridor of reeds. So that’s where we launched, and that’s where we spent our afternoon.
This stretch was quite shallow, which wasn’t a good sign. But amazingly we started getting bites straight away in the clear water. The bass seemed to be at home among the reeds, and were very aggressive.
Because of the dense terrain we could only really use texas-rigged plastics. And after trying a few patterns, we figured out that watermelon red was the way to go. Flukes of that colour proved to be very popular and we caught most of our fish on those.
In the end it was a surprisingly good afternoon considering the conditions, and we really enjoyed our first outing at Klerkskraal. We will definitely be returning, and hopefully next time we can launch into the main dam to reach some of the bigger fish.
Potch Dam
On the last day, on the way home, we decided to visit Potch Dam while driving through Potchefstroom. We had to first ask for directions after getting lost, and the friendly people at Vetties Hengel Hoekie quickly helped us out. They also told us that the bass are biting at the dam currently, so off we went to go try our luck.
Driving through the camping area we ended up right at the top of the dam where there were a few people bass fishing from a bridge. We didn’t want to intrude so we rigged up the rubber duck again and headed out to fish among the reeds on the far side.
The wind was still howling which made fishing a real challenge. But after a while we figured out that they wanted green and purple flukes for some reason and then it became easy pickings. We caught a few among the reeds and also a few in the gulley towards the bridge.
But we couldn’t stay long, and after spending an hour or two on the water we had to pack up and finally head home.
We meant to also visit Klipdrift Dam, east of Potch, just to have a look around, but unfortunately we ran out of time in the end. That’ll have to wait for our next North West adventure…
Summary
We had a great time travelling and fishing between Klerkskraal Dam and Potch, and even finally got to see Rietspruit Dam in Ventersdorp. The bass fishing was great all round, and it will only get better as the weather improves over the next months. It’s a lucrative area for a bass fisherman, and we didn’t even go to Boskop Dam which is the main attraction.
Finally here is a map of our travels over the weekend.
(2 days)
bass x20 (small)
bass x5 (medium)
