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Chasing "Gold" at Vanderkloof Dam, the Jewel of the Karoo
By Marc Towers
The largemouth and to a lesser degree smallmouth yellow fish, the main targets of our trip, are justifiably highly regarded as a premium freshwater sporting fish in South Africa, notably amongst the fly‑fishing public. Although yellow fish may not be as well‑known globally as a species such as the mahseer, they offer a similar challenge. Venues such as Sterkfontein dam are much talked about in ‘yellow fish circles’ – often for the sight‑fishing fly opportunities such a venue presents to anglers, but I had my heart set on another venue – Van Der Kloof dam (VDK), the ‘hidden jewel of the Karoo’ as a friend described it, which is located on the Orange River. Van Der Kloof is the second largest dam in South Africa (by volume), which, when full is almost 100km long and up to 15km wide in places, with an impressive dam wall almost 108 meters high.
I had seen a few great reports by Rudolph Venter – a keen South African ‘art‑lure’ angler who had fished it with his father and friends on a few occasions with some superb results; it was a no-brainer – this would be a great venue to visit, not least of all because I have, growing up in Africa, held the yellow fish in high esteem despite having never caught one. A few e‑mails later and it was all arranged ‑ Rudolph was keen to return to VDK and I was delighted to have his knowledge and art‑lure experience to call upon, and the chance to learn a few new ‘tricks’ along the way hopefully. The downside of this venue is that, unlike on the waters of the Orange River below the dam, there are few formal dedicated fishing guides/options currently available at the venue (although this is slowly changing). I found this remarkable given the relatively close proximity of the venue to Bloemfontein. Generally serious anglers tow their own boats to the venue – there is a well fitted ramp/boat launch site in the town which makes for easy water access and boat launching, but note that you do require all related boating permits to be in order before launching.
An overnight flight from Accra to Bloemfontein (via Johannesburg) and I had soon met up with Rudolph and his father – Bernard, who would be fishing on a separate boat with a friend. I think everyone was feeling a bit of ‘viskoors’ to borrow a word from Afrikaans. We would be staying at Pride Rock Lodge, which is a nice homely and reasonably priced venue in terms of accommodation, which whilst by no means luxurious caters well to the needs of anglers – arranging packed lunches, braai packs and so on. There are also a few other accommodation options available in the town of Van Der Kloof itself, along with a scattering of restaurants, shops, a filling station and so on.
I had spent many hours over the past year or two looking into options for a challenging trip to target smaller mahseer and jungle perch species at far flung destinations – Malaysia, Borneo etc when one day (the proverbial ‘light bulb’ moment) it dawned upon me – why was I looking to travel so far when similar challenges and arguably better quality fishing options are available ‘closer to home’ on the African continent.
