Fishing on a STUDENT BUDGET

WORDS & PHOTOS: Stefan Hennop The varsity holiday had come to an end, and we students were back in full swing at university for the second semester. My personal holiday was limited due to myself clocking in at work for the duration of the holiday and focusing on my competitive facet of angling which is feeder fishing. Since vacations do not last long enough, I rushed to get back to campus and the only fishing tackle I had with me was my feeder angling gear and miscellaneous bits of tackle at my apartment. So how does one manage studies and make time to go fishing? Well, I did research and found a fishing style that is well suited for small streams, lakes and rivers, called ‘ledgering’. Ledgering applies a swim feeder with a longer hooklink and uses the tip of the rod as the bite indicator or as is commonly referred to as the 'policeman'. With ledgering, the swimfeeder or cage sits down on the bottom while the mainline is off the bottom to reduce the tow made by the current of the water. By raising your rod higher up in the air, your bite indication will be better and more sensitive. A simple but yet very effective way to fish in rivers and streams. (Photo credit: Angling direct, master feeder fishing.) In Potchefstroom there are sections of the narrow and fast-flowing Mooi River that hold great fish such as mudfish, carp, grass carp, smallmouth yellowfish and barbel. When hooked, these fish put up a great fight in the fast-flowing water and are loads of fun to catch! Since it was my first week back at campus and I had some spare time on hand, I decided to pack one rod, a chair and feeder cages and go try my luck at the river. No need for large stands or big rods when all you need is a feeder rod and some bait. When I arrived at the river after my first morning class, I could see the water was flowing much faster than I expected, so logically the fish would find holes or slower moving water to wait for food to settle down, out of the main current. I targeted these areas by feeding one or two handfuls of sweetcorn as groundbait. My bait for the river was quite simple, namely just a tin of plain sweetcorn! It is a most underrated but highly effective bait at any venue in South Africa and it did not disappoint on this and successive outings. After preparing my spots, I cast to the far bank ledge where the current was much slower which seemed to hold the fish. The bait was in the water for just a few seconds before I saw my first indications on the rod tip and only minutes later I felt the first bite of the session. In the strong current it felt like a massive fish and with all these fish pulling strongly one never knows what is on the end of the line. This hard-fighting fish turned out to be a mudfish and tough enough to withstand the strong river current. Hard fishing and loads of fun to catch! I spent only a couple of hours at the river catching four of these hard-fighting muddies before returning home, but I loved this effective style of fishing so much that I wanted to experiment more with the ledgering method. Later in the week, I once again dragged roomy, Janko out of bed and took him fishing. We went to one of our local dams, filled to the brim with carp where I wanted to show him this 'new' way of fishing first hand. This simple setup, as illustrated in the photo, proved once again to be highly effective. Again using just plain sweetcorn out of a tin, Janko and I had our hands full the entire day, catching carp with not even one moment for resting or even eating lunch! Janko with a good-sized carp for the day. I also managed to get in on the action and caught a few good carp. After a fun and busy day we packed our minimal gear and went home to get some rest before the busy week ahead of us. Janko promptly 'passed out' in the car on the way home after his exciting day next to the water, while I also 'passed out' as soon as we got home. It was another successful weekend behind us! *To my fellow students: “Good luck with the start of the semester and study hard for the end-of-year exams!”

Fishing on a STUDENT BUDGET

Ledgering in streams, lakes, and rivers.

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