LBT at Vygeboom

Round 5 was hosted at Vygeboom Dam on the 1st of June, and what a round it was. We all anticipated some good winter fishing, but nothing to the extent that the anglers experienced on the day. It was a day of mega winter bags and teams weighed in kicker fish all throughout the day and a bite was on offer both shallow and deep. 45 Teams were greeted with very chilly weather during the morning with a slight breeze and water temperatures having dropped a few degrees from practise a week earlier. Nonetheless, the teams persisted with their various game plans only to find that the fish population was split both shallow and deep. The wind eventually died down and the warmth from the sunshine was welcomed by all. It was not long after blast off that teams returned to the weigh station on a day where in 16 fish over the 2kg mark crossed the scale. Proving once again that Vygeboom is in perfect balance with all fish species thriving with a healthy population of bass. Much to the surprise of most of the teams that predicted a 6kg winning bag, 3 bags over 8kg’s were weighed in that separated the top 3 teams by a mere 145 grams. On the day 192 fish were weighed in with a total weight of 172.805 kg and an average per fish weight of 0.9kg. Only 31 of the 45 teams managed to weigh in a limit and 2 teams failed to put a fish in the boat. Winning Patterns Charl Carey and Hannes van Wyk from team Extreme Fishing Tackle with one of their solid keepers weighed in during the day. Extreme Fishing Tackle, consisting of Charl Carey and Hannes van Wyk delivered the goods as they found an abundance of quality fish throughout the day. The key to their success was a Brown/Orange Go Fish Custom Baits Football jig paired with a watermelon leech in 22-25ft of water, while an Olive green Rapala X-rap 6 Jerkbait produced their kicker on the day. The managed a bag of 8,21kg to take the win. Runners up Team Keep on Fishing of Peter McCullough and Kevin Lincoln varied their approach throughout the day. They started off targeting rocky banks in the river section with a Green Pumpkin/Orange jig paired with a speed craw trailer and quickly landed a 2,1kg kicker. Shortly after they switchedup their game plan targeting shallow reeds with weightless swim senko’s that delivered 3 fish of 1,2kg each, before landing a kicker of 2,3kg later in the day while targeting the 15ft range near reeds in the river section. Top 3 teams on the day (L-R): Kevin Lincoln, Peter McCullough, Hannes van Wyk, Charl Carey, Hermanus Snyman, Kobus Snyman. Third placed team Legends of Hermanus and Kobus Snyman drew a low tag number and were afforded the opportunity to start at the canal entering the dam as they had good results during practise. They quickly filled out a 6kg+ limit with a Salmo Rattling Sting jerkbait and Zara spook. The resorted to targeting submerged brush piles in 7ft which later the day provided them with their 2,78kg kicker fish. LBT newcomers team Geel of Flip and Manie Maritz landed the biggest fish of the day, a healthy 3,005kg specimen. Biggest fish of the day, Flip Maritz of team Geel with their 3,005kg kicker. Biggest Bass: Geel - 3,005kg - Woodlands Weekend Voucher (R3280), Nichols Lures Hamper. 2nd Biggest Bass: Legend - 2,780kg - Rudamans Voucher (R1200), Induna Zipline Adventure, Fridge Factory Hamper. 3rd Biggest Bass: Ambassadors - 2,68kg - Rudamans Voucher (R1200), TruVision Hamper. A word of thanks to our Round 5 sponsors: Alan Hudson Motors; Angling & Outdoor World; Arkansas Spur; Bass Angler Magazine; BeliTelo; Clean a Carpet; De Goede; Extreme Fishing Tackle; Hazyview Midas; Induna Adventures; Instru Lec; Laeveld Agrochem; Mugg n Bean; Nelspruit Ford; Nichols Lures; Numbi Hotel; Rudamans; Sakata Seed; Solly's; Subaru Nelspruit; The Fridge Factory; Tripwired; TruVision Health; Wittus Angling. Thermocline’s 4th place finish at Vygeboom still have them topping the overall log, 8.84 points clear of the field. After their victory, team Extreme Fishing Tackle jumped 5 places from 7th and now occupy 2nd place on the log. Bass Wizzard and Let’s Fish have dropped down 5 and 7 places and is sitting in 7th and 11threspectively. Lucky strike, Bass Attack and Bass Brothers all dropping outside the top 20. Meanwhile, Bent Rods, Legend and 5 Limit have all delivered good showings and have jumped into the top 20 with Legend making a massive leap of 16 places from 29th to 13th on the log. 2019 Round 6 – Driekoppies Dam We make a U-turn and head back to Driekoppies dam for the 6th stop of the 2019 tour. Driekoppies has proven to be one of the best Lowveld fisheries during July as the warmer weather in the Lowveld push numbers of fish into the shallows ahead of the spawn. And many teams will return with the reminder of team Get the Net’s 9,305kg winning bag during July 2018.