The ‘roaring’ Letaba River

WORDS: Johan Smit, FRENZY | PHOTOS: Jessica de Villiers In December I was invited to fish a session with a team from The Bank Angler – Werner Lubbe and his grandchildren, Jessica and Michael de Villiers – at Derick Henning's resort on the Letaba River near Tzaneen. It was also an opportunity to shoot another episode of the FRENZY video series. On an unseasonally cool early morning we turned off the R71 onto a dirt road that meandered through avocado orchards to Derick's river camp, which is comfortably equipped with camping facilities (to book a visit call Derick on 082 976 7770). Everything is set up and ready for the day. Take note of the neat bank. The bank where we set up camp is opposite the Predator Park, so while we were busy unpacking and getting everything ready for our session, we were entertained by the roaring of the lions and tigers as it was their feeding time. The deafening roars can be heard clearly on the Episode 6 FRENZY video. With Werner not having any tackle I helped him with everything I had, from Fear None hooks, to swivels, sinkers, rods, reels, bait, maize, floats and dips. I was anxious to see what size carp we could pick up and Werner wanted to see what species he could find, so we got behind our rods and started the day's fishing. From the first day I started fishing with Werner, I noted that he also put a tin of maize kernels in his feed (so what you use on your hookbait is then also in your feeding spot). He also keeps his feeding spot as small as possible, because then the feed is not dispersed on a too large area. I use Boulyn feed which I mix 2:1 feed and water, and let it stand for about 15-20 minutes. Werner’s groundfeed mix always produces catches. Werner first loaded maize kernels and worms on the hooks to see what the fish were biting on. I packed our Tutti Frutti pips, a worm and our new Honey flavour onto the feedball. I added a flavour hoping to lure the fish in with the sweet flavour of honey and the green fluoro. Derick then told us about a hole on the opposite side that Werner thought would be a good spot to target. It was about 80m away, so I put a pip and a worm on #3 hooks and cast my feedball into that spot. With a Tutti Frutti maize pip and worm I present the fish with two options. It was a cool morning, despite the temperatures in December that can easily reach 40°C, so the morning started slowly. On my other rod I put a Bunspice pip and a worm with our Bunspice dip and cast it about 70m near hyacinths that were on the opposite bank. After an hour, my rod with the honey bait suddenly started running. The brake was too tight so I reset it, and while I could feel the fish shaking its head, I asked Werner if it could be a barbel, but he replied that a large carp also shakes its head like that. I felt 'fish fever' coming on and anticipating my PB felt the adrenaline kicking in! Werner then advised me to give some slack as I was putting too much pressure on the fish, but that instant the line went limp and the fish was gone! I was so disappointed in myself as I had wasted the chance to land a big, PB-size carp! The moment just before I lost my potential PB carp. After that I did feel discouraged, but as Werner pointed out, I had learnt a good lesson and would not make such a mistake again. I persisted with those dips for the rest of the morning, but even though I re-baited every half hour the bites were very slow. Meanwhile Werner was very busy loading up on kurper, and I recall he caught three species. Werner with one of the kurper species, a redbreast kurper. Michael then decided he was going to sit to one side and play around with dips, and while Werner and I were struggling to see what would work, we saw him on with a fish. He didn't use worms or maize kernels at all, but used our Garlic floats and our TCP and Garlic dip on the ball, and it proved to be a winning combo. Werner and I copied his setup and then we also started getting bites. With the water so discoloured from all the rain, the stronger flavours proved their effectiveness. The strong TCP with the strong Garlic attracted the fish and they appeared to prefer the white garlic floats. Michael's nice carp was the biggest for the day. I was still regretting the big carp that I lost earlier in the day when my rod ran again. It just shows you to use all your options when nothing seems to work. Michael got a bite every four to five minutes with his combination and showed us who's the boss! I was just too happy when I landed this carp! My thanks to Werner for affording me the opportunity to spend the day with them on the Letaba River. Once again, I learned a great deal from Werner and am very grateful to have him as a friend. Thank you Uncle Werner for my son, Jordan's first fishing rod! Meanwhile, Jordan also caught his first fish! VIDEO EXPOSURE *FRENZY, in collaboration with The Bank Angler, Tight Lines and For Anglers, offers resort owners the opportunity to introduce their venue on one of FRENZY's video episodes. The articles in the publications along with the video episode are promoted to show people what the resort has to offer. For more information please visit our website at www.frenzydips.co.za, or contact us on 061 041 3020. Find us on most social media platforms under @frenzydips.

The ‘roaring’ Letaba River

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