SA's latest best Still water Trophee venues

[emjaysmit]

basically Mario, reason I am asking is that some venues might not be producing like they were, where others might be producing under the radar. What do the purists rate regarding a fishery like giants cup that is fully self sustained? Not stocked....I guess fishing could get tricky but apparently there are good fish to be had...also what rivers in Sout Africa tend to produce the best quality average trout???

[Korrie]

3 pages worth of replies and no suggestions regarding what the thread is actually about.....come on guys help us out....

I noitice, that you are from Mpumalanga.
Plenty of really good waters in your area.
Machadadorp area, Lydenburg, Dullstroom.
TroutBeck, Trouthaven, Loch Logan etc etc etc etc

[smallstreams.co.za]

basically Mario, reason I am asking is that some venues might not be producing like they were, where others might be producing under the radar.

That's exactly the thing. It's a natural balance - sometimes water WILL not produce for a while before picking up again. Sure, some stillwaters have an affinity for producing large fish no matter what, but these are far and few, and mostly you will have to hit it while it's hot. The Stormberg stillwaters near Jamestown and Dordrecht will always deliver quality fishing, but mostly because they are managed quite well. Places like Highland Lodge, Pine Grove Lodge, Leliekloof (and a few other farm dams in that area not advertised) are mostly kept for fishing in winter only, and bookings are stopped when water is too low, warm etc.

The stillwaters in the Rhodes area have deteriorated a bit since no stocking took place for quite a while. Basie Vosloo at Birkhall and Juan-Marie Naudé still manage their waters well, but they won't quench your thirst for big fish only, as you will be catching smaller fish as well. Isak Botha's damn is another excellent fishery, but you'll need your big-boy boots - the edge of the dam is always weeded up, and getting a long cast out over the weed is one thing, but pulling out a 10lbs fish is another.

Things on the stocking front looks positive though, as the WTA purchased 2 electro-shockers, and the long-term plan is to shock highly populated sections of river to reduce population numbers in the rivers and streams, and use these wild fish to restock the various stillwaters in the area. This should improve the fishing on both fronts immensely imho.

Anyway, that was my recommendations ito what is happening close to me - hope this helps.

[GrahamS]

Korrie, I in no way made reference to fishing stocked venues as being "low brow" or in any way a less honorable pursuit than hunting wild fish. That is entirely subjective and open to personal preference.

From a practical perspective however, when considering Emjay's original question, please then be so kind as to inform the esteemed members of this forum which stockie venues stock 10lb troot.

I personally think fishing venues that stock 4kg+ fish, and then claiming to have experienced "awesome" "trophy trout" fishing is a bit of a joke. There are venues in the midlands (we all know where...) that you can pay your money and have a shot at 7kg+ troot in stocky ponds. Makes for lovely bragging pics, but pretty kuk fishing if you ask me.

And to answer the original topic, don't expect anyone to share their favourite venues. It takes a lot of work to find decent, private waters these days.

[Hunter Hennie]

Emjay hou op str@nt praat en gaan vang vis...

[Shamwari]

ha ha ha ha ha...Hennie...that was funny my bru

[smallstreams.co.za]

Emjay hou op str@nt praat en gaan vang vis...

Hy wil net graag weet waar ...

[AdrianPowrie]

I personally think fishing venues that stock 4kg+ fish, and then claiming to have experienced "awesome" "trophy trout" fishing is a bit of a joke. There are venues in the midlands (we all know where...) that you can pay your money and have a shot at 7kg+ troot in stocky ponds. Makes for lovely bragging pics, but pretty kuk fishing if you ask me.

And to answer the original topic, don't expect anyone to share their favourite venues. It takes a lot of work to find decent, private waters these days.

Especially still waters where the guys don't shoot over your head with a rifle...

:biggrin:

[Booger Rose]

Especially still waters where the guys don't shoot over your head with a rifle...

:biggrin:

Been there, nearly died that day!

[emjaysmit]

hennie jy en al jou d@nders# temptasie en tackle wat jy my so wil kruisig mee kani praat nie lol.....jy vang nie genoeg nie dan moet ek geskei word loooooool.....guys hennie has a lovely Shilton CL and a Sage XP 3wt for sale so contact him if interested and help me not get divorced....Allsorts and Darryl almost instigated that...wait a minute....yella is actually the sonde bok that put it together looool....geez you ous....hahahahaha.....still waters rock man...bullets and all....whether it's a stocked 700kg black Marlin or n wild one....it's still a 700kg marlin and will give you a rev of a lifetime lol.....

Not my fault trout are to dumb to spawn in our stillwaters loooooooooool.....I don't know if you guys get this lots but when I used to catch bass I always got the odd person that just has to say ''hulle eet lekker'' looooool, used to kill me hahahahaha....nothing wrong keeping a troooot but keeping a ton eish or only fishing for the pan lol.....hopefully that mentality has stopped a bit....CAR guys...CAR