Conoflex Breaking the Pb’s

It’s that time of the year for me when I just want to be at the water chasing one of those monster winter carp. It is middle June and the school holidays have finally arrived so the time has come for me and my wife, Jeanne-Marie to head off to Klipkopjes Dam in Mpumalanga. Klipkopjes is well known for its big carp, but it is also known to be one of the toughest waters to fish in this country. Jeanne-Marie Grobler with a beautiful 21kg. I planned my trip well for a couple of months, keeping an eye on the water level of the dam which was on 42% when we left home for our session. I knew that this time I had the right game plan to target this water this time of the year, using experience gained from a previous visit around the same time that my brother and I were there for a week with only 3 fish to show for it.We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, quickly put up camp and I started cooking my feed, consisting of 1kg of Conoflex mixed tigers and hemp seed. I added brown sugar to the tigers and coarse salt to the hemp. Early Sunday morning with a cup of coffee I sat and watched the water for any signs of fish, and as soon as the mist cleared I saw plenty fish showing all over my swim. The rig we used - a very long combi rig, the supple and stiff material combination helps to hook the fish better. The fish were showing right in the margins and I decided to bait two rods in them. On these margin rods I had 14lb Double-X Extreme Abrasion monofilament, because I want the line to drop flat on the bottom so that the fish can move freely into my swim. By that afternoon all my rods were baited up and ready to go, Jeanne-Marie and I fished six rods between the two of us. I had four rods quite far out and two rods in the margins. I was confident in my spots that I baited up and with all the fish that I saw in my swim I knew I was going to catch them. These waters can be difficult if you don’t know how to approach it- the first thing is to see the fish, because if there is no fish showing in your swim it can take a couple of days and even a week or two before carp move into your swim. Make sure the fish are in your swim and if they are there you need to keep them there. On my previous trip I had my first carp only after three days because they were just not in my swim. So take your time at this dam; do your preparation well and make sure that your feed is fresh, because if there are barbel around you don’t want them in your swim. With all my rods out I had my first run that night at eleven and landed a nice 14kg common. Tigernuts were key to our success. At that time my PB was on 46lb and my wife’s on 19lb. The next morning I was up again early and the fish were still very active. We fished run for run, and the next run was my wife’s turn. Just as the sun came up the next rod went off and Jeanne-Marie landed an 11kg common which was her new PB. We landed five carp in two days, all coming from the margin rods. A new PB, it went from 12kg to 21kg! On the next day the rain came and it was cold and wet with no runs that day. The next day the weather changed and it was hot and sunny and by one I got a run on one of my far rods about 570m out and landed a stunning 44lb (20kg) long common, the first 40-pounder for me on this water. We landed another two fish that day, all commons, one at 10kg and another 11kg. By this time we were landing fish every day so things were going very well. I landed another 40-pounder (about 18kg) and by then we had two 40-pound fish for our session. The next morning we had no runs but at three that afternoon I hooked into a big fish again on the 570m rod, and after about 20 minutes I landed a stunning common of 48.5lb (22kg) and broke my PB after a long five-year wait. I was over the moon - she was a stunner of a fish! With three 40lb fish to our trip and standing on 18 fish I was pleased with our results. On our last day my wife and I were sitting around the campfire and I told her that I would have liked it if she could land one of those big fish. The next morning I got up early knowing it was time to pack up and go home. We started packing up with only one rod still in the water, that 570m rod, and it was not long before it took off and it was her turn. After 30 minutes she landed a monster common of 46lb (21kg) and what a stunner of a fish she was! Dirk with his 22kg Common. Our trip was an amazing one with 19 fish and four 40lbers fish to show for it: well done to my wife for breaking her PB three times on that trip, and what a way to break it from a 12kg to a 21kg! Klipkopjes Dam is a special place with lots of natural food for the fish to get to that size, and it will see me again very soon. Tight lines!