Bass Africa Classic 07 - My Dream Story by Nicholas Dubber              

 I pounced on every opportunity to practice for the 2007 “Bass Africa Classic”, to be held on the icy-cold Vaal River this winter. 

Starting on the first Saturday morning in July, I arrived at the sub-zero, -5 Celsius, banks of the river. The cold hand of winter had forced the water temperature down to a maximum of 47 Fahrenheit, on that morning. Fishing on the river was very tough, as the bite was extremely slow, and practically, nonexistent. It reminded me of something a very good friend and knowledgeable fellow angler, Errol Halgreen, often says, “I could not buy a bite”!

On these initial outings, I was producing one, maybe two, keepers a day and soon I realised that I would need to get a fishing partner on the back deck to try and help me pick up some type of pattern. I decided to invite my regular fishing partner, Justin Stanton. Being a keen fisherman, Justin grabbed the opportunity and joined me on the following day.

We decided to target deep water as temperatures are more constant here and fish prefer less temperature fluctuation during this period of the year. We soon found some keeper fish in the 18 to 25 foot depth-range, on the river channel lip, in submerged timber. The bite, however, was still slow, but nevertheless, we had managed to produce some good size fish of around the 2lbs class.

More fish were present in places where the “drop-off”, into the deeper river channel, occurred in closer proximity to the riverbank. The fish seem to prefer these areas at this time of the year, as they have quick access to either shallow or deep water during the course of the day, as water-temperatures fluctuate, and the fish relocate to feed or in search of the energising, warmer water. Good places to start looking for the bite are river meanders where the flow of the water cuts the main-channel closer to the edge of the riverbank, i.e. generally on the inside meander, where water flow-rate has to accelerate and maintains this sub-surface structure. 

The final practice weekend was probably the most productive, eleven keepers were caught with a solid 5 fish limit, weighing in at about 6 kg’s. This brought my confidence to a new level, in anticipation of the competition. The fish had slowly, but surely, become increasingly active with the warmer weather and I knew that the fish would soon be preparing to move up and start spawning in the shallows.

I have found that the most productive baits, during this period of the year, are the bulky baits i.e. those with body mass, in other words, something that is worth eating in the eyes of a fish! The fish prefer not to swim around and hunt for food in cold water as this burns up energy unnecessarily. So, from a feeding point of view, it makes more sense to eat one big meal every couple of days, as apposed to chasing after multiple small prey items. One of the most common food sources for bass in the Vaal river is crab, this is why Culprit baits became my crucial advantage. The flipping craw designed and manufactured by Culprit is the perfect weapon in these conditions, as it imitates a crab like no other soft bait and has the bulk, that bass so often look for in winter, to go with it. 

I stuck with this basic pattern heading into the competition and tried to anticipate the movement of the fish. On the first day I caught 14 keepers, the largest five fish contributing to a solid 5.46kg bag limit. The bite was still good on the flipping craw in the deeper water on the first competition day. I also managed to get two or three keepers on a jerk bait in shallower water. Soon after weigh-in, I realized I had produced better quality size fish, on the craws, than the rest of the field. I also knew that there were some active fish around, willing to hit the jerk bait.  

Past experiences have, undoubtedly, taught me that when a large field of boats and anglers compete on the Vaal, the river always takes a big “knock” and the bite becomes twice as difficult on the second day. As such, I was mentally prepared to make every “pick-up” count on the following day. Fully focused, like never before, I threw the flipping craw the next day, despite this I only got one keeper fish in the morning. I carried on working the plastic baits, but unfortunately could not manage to produce any other fish in this way. I picked up the jerk bait and worked it around reed points and submerged trees closer to the spawning banks. I quickly picked up a pattern and got some fish with a large suspending jerk bait. I managed to catch 6 more fish for the day, and two of these fish were 3lbs “goodies”, which gave me a bag of 5.7kg and a total of seven keepers on day two.

Excitement built up as the tournament organisers announced the top 15 anglers that had qualified to fish the “shoot-out” on Hartebeespoort the next day. I was feeling confident that I would make the cut as I had produced two good stringers over the first two days on the Vaal. Once the results were announced, I realized that I had finished in 1st place and had managed to round up a total of 21.34 points. Second place followed closely behind me with 20.3 points, meaning that just one keeper fish separated first and second position heading into the third and final morning of the competition.

I was not feeling confident for the final day on Hartebeespoort as I have never fished the dam before and had heard that the bite was extremely tough, from some fellow anglers. We “took-off” from the Meerhof’s Grounds and just before the start I quickly scouted the water around the launch area and noticed a nice looking, steep cliff which had some good submerged timber, at a distance of about 150 meters from the launch ramp.

I wanted to utilise as much fishing time as possible as we only had a 5-hour fishing period before the final weigh-in. Gerrey Jooste, from Zimbabwe, had finished in 15th position on the Vaal and I noticed that he was having a good look at the very same area that I had set my eye on. I knew, immediately, that Gerrey would target the exact spot. This was not good news, as Gerrey’s boat can travel at more than twice the speed that my boat is capable of and I knew he would beat me to the spot. Luckily, we had a single file start and we left the start according to our finishing positions, on the previous day. This was great news as I took off in first position and stopped right where I needed to. I picked up a white custom-built spinner bait, manufactured by Frikkie Botha in Neilspruit, South Africa. I was rewarded with a 4-pound fish on my second cast, the bite came off a large submerged tree stump. I worked the area for a long period of time but could not manage another bite. It seemed like the fish had gone on holiday because I finished the day with only the one keeper fish. Was this going to be enough???

My dream of winning a big tournament had materialized, this proved to be enough to secure my victory as there were only three fish caught on the third and final day with my fish being the heaviest of the three, weighing in at 2.08kg.

I still have not completely grasped what I have accomplished. My practice and a life-long commitment to this wonderful sport of angling had eventually paid off and I walked away with a fully-outfitted, pro quality SX190 Skeeter Boat and an amazing Toyota Hilux. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the sponsors for their great support and prizes, without you guys these great tournaments are simply not possible, thank you for supporting our sporting interests!

Nicholas Dubber

A special thanks to the tournament sponsors: