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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.

The first view you are confronted with upon arrival – the waters below the dam wall at Van Der Kloof. You can literally see fish holding in the current from the road bridge above, from where this photo was taken.

The plan was to fish five days – largely in the dam itself, with the option of doing a bit of river fishing below the dam wall. VDK is a large water body and as such can be quite an intimidating venue without some local or expert knowledge. In addition to the main trip target of the ‘largies’ we would also target the ‘smallies’ which were plentiful and spawning in the gravel beds at the time of our trip, and also other great local species – barbel (sharptooth catfish) and even carp – all on art‑lure, through novel methods such as ‘calling’ and ‘dipping’ as well as sight casting to cruising/resting fish in the case of the barbel – needless to say polarized sunglasses were a must!

Despite the fact that yellow fish don’t reach the heady weights of the larger mahseer species, with a good largemouth specimen going 12lb or so and a ‘fish of a lifetime’ catch a 20lb plus specimen, they still offer a really superb challenge on light tackle or fly, and can be as fickle as mahseer to boot. We started out with the specific intention of initially targeting the largemouth yellow fish, and although they can be caught drifting and casting towards the rather steep banks of the reservoir, the most productive method is trolling, as it obviously covers more water, thus helping to locate fish more easily, and additionally puts the lure in the strike zone for longer.

Upon Rudolph’s advice, I had loaded up on Salmo ‘Hornets’ and ‘Minnows’ which are two of the banker small lures which produce the goods at this venue, as well as getting a host of other light lure options. Light reels (I chose my Sustain 2000 and Vanquish 3000 as my reels of choice) were spooled with 12lb Berkley Nanofil, and some light rods (all travel rod configuration on my part as usual) were chosen, rigged up and ready to go. Generally we would fish deeper diving lures – we experimented with distance behind the boat (and thus to some degree lure depth) – whilst Rudolph and I had greater success fishing longer lines, the other boat, to our surprise, had success running their lures fairly close behind the boat. Given braid strengths/thicknesses and lure choice were comparable on most of our rigs, we could only hypothesize that the larger 2‑stroke motor we used perhaps served as a slight deterrent to fish vis‑à‑vis the smaller, far quieter 4‑stroke engine being used by the other two anglers in our party on their boat.

LEFT: The geology and rock formations are quite stunning in some parts of the dam; of course well-placed casts worked alongside such features, would produce fish.

RIGHT: One of the better smallmouth yellow fish we took on the first day, casting small Salmo Hornets along a gravel/boulder dispersed shoreline.

On the first day our good intentions of focusing on the largies were a little spoilt by the fact that we saw scores of smallies constantly spawning along the bank where there were gravel beds between the boulders. We had already caught a few modest sized largies (trolling and casting) but spent much of the day throwing very small Hornets (1‑2cm) at these fish pushed up against the banks. Whilst one cannot say the fishing was ‘easy’ despite the plentiful numbers of fish readily visible, we still both managed to land a fair number of fish, our largest going 4 and 4.5lb, which are decent specimens for the species at this venue.

Unquestionably the smallmouth yellow fish, pound for pound is a stronger fighter than its larger cousin, and are great fun on light tackle or, despite only attempting it on the final day, on fly, which they willingly take. We also had our first initial encounters with the barbel (sharptooth catfish) which abound in the dam, taking some smaller specimens up to 14lb or so – incidentally also on small lures intended for smallmouth yellow fish – all that was required was to put the lure in front of the hunting fish, which often resulted in it being engulfed! Incidentally, the other boat in our fishing party, whilst fishing solely for largies, had taken fish up to 13lb during the day, so our hopes for some good specimens were raised by these results.

Despite the fact that we were not focusing on fly fishing for any of the available species, it must be mentioned that the dam has a burgeoning reputation as a venue where both yellow fish species can be targeted on fly – indeed arguably the largest verified largemouth specimen from the dam, a specimen of over 25 lb, was taken on fly! Whilst to be best of my knowledge, this is the best specimen to ever have been taken on fly in South Africa. Many who know the venue think there are, without a doubt, bigger specimens waiting to be caught. Although the waters of the dam can appear a little ‘turbid’ water visibility in many areas is actually fairly reasonable, due in part to the filtering effect of the Gariep Dam, located further upstream on the same Orange River system.

LEFT: Some of the specimens had rather large 'rubber lips' - readily visible, which I understand is a function of adapting to an omnivorous feeding behaviour.

RIGHT: 'Free the Fighter' - releasing one of Van Der Kloof's precious 'bars of gold' - a modest sized largemouth yellow fish moments prior to release.

The second day was a tough one for all of us – a strong wind had blown up and limited the areas we could effectively fish. We tried to fish the more protected bay areas, but essentially both boats had very little success on the day.

One of the simply outstanding features of fishing this dam, which can at times be taken for granted, was the relative remoteness which has contributed to its preservation. Only once during the entire week did I see a solitary piece of litter (a plastic bottle) and this was near the town and boat launching site. It may sound petty to some but I found it very refreshing to see a venue where there was no ubiquitous litter so common all over the continent today. This is in part due to the fact that there are no human settlements, with the exception of Van Der Kloof town itself, on the shores of the dam. Furthermore, you also have the added bonus that a lot of land adjacent to the dam is either game farm or nature reserve (Rolfontein), and game sightings are fairly common – kudu, reedbuck, hartebeest, gemsbok for example ‑ we also had a great sighting of African clawless otter. Although we did not see any, you also can see white rhino in the reserve. Needless to say, the bird life was also impressive.

After a fairly mixed first few days results wise, we were hoping for ‘big things’ on the third day as the weather gods seemed to once again have favoured us and the conditions were essentially perfect. We had committed ourselves to focus solely on the largies during the course of the day, and thankfully this paid off. I chose to persevere on the day with a 9cm long Rapala ‘tail dancer’ lure in the ‘Hot Chub’ colour. Perhaps my hunch to go with a slightly larger lure than others, paid off, as rather remarkably I managed to pick up three great fish in one of the bay’s we trolled – these specimens went 15.5, 17.5 and 20.5lb – pretty superb fishing by any standards – and I had to say that I was very fortunate to have all three fall to my rod. I was, needless to say, over the moon with the result. The largest fish especially was a special moment; we had just slowed the boat down as Rudolph’s lure had snagged up – we had been pulling the lures over a rocky pinnacle, and just as I was about to retrieve my lure it got an almighty hit and line started peeling off the reel. We would use fairly light drags given the light line strengths – needless to say when the fish hit the drag would sing. Thankfully they are ‘clean fighters’ which does mean you can take a bit of time playing the fish. Incidentally, we also removed all but the tail hook (i.e. fishing with a single treble hook) to minimize damage to the fish. All fish went back well with the exception of a single specimen which sadly swallowed the lure and was gill hooked.

LEFT: Mission accomplished - a lovely 15 1/2lb largemouth yellow fish taken from the productive waters at Van Der Kloof

RIGHT: 'A trophy fish. At 20 1/2 lbs on the scale. This very thick-set specimen was said to be the largest locals know of to have been caught on art-lure at the venue. However bigger fish definitely exist, as shown by the fly-fishing 'un-official' record for the species which stands at 25lb!

After the third day’s results, the pressure was off in terms of the largemouth yellow fish ‘target’ so to speak, so on the fourth and fifth days we decided to focus on a few of the other species which can be targeted in VDK. We returned to a shallow bay which was interspersed with rock and weed, where we suspected we would find our primary target that day – barbel. As soon as we cut the main motor and started slowly working our way along the shore with the trolling motor, we began seeing ‘black shapes’ in the shallows. Some of the barbel would be resting fish, whilst others one would find swimming at the surface, whiskers extended, essentially hunting as we viewed it. If you presented a ‘Lume Pumpkin’ lure to these fish they were normally co‑operative. Granted an accurate cast was required and at times the smaller specimens would spook, but more often than not if the lure landed in the area around the whiskers or immediately in front of the fish’s head, it would, almost instinctively engulf the lure. I cannot remember how many fish we took during the course of the day, but we kept on improving on the fish weights until we had fish up to 36lb landed. These were not the ‘farm dam’ barbel I was personally accustomed to I must say. These were large, very dark fish with large heads which seem to have a good growth potential as the prime predators in the dam. Perhaps this should come as no surprise, as the Orange River system arguably has the largest barbel on the continent. I recollect fighting one fish – a 20 odd pound specimen which, when close to the boat, regurgitated a partially digested mudfish fully 12‑14 inches long..!

On the fifth and final day, we decided we would firstly try and target a few carp on art lure, before moving onto the catfish once again, given the constant action we had the previous day. I will be the first to admit that carp are not one of my favourite fish, although in part this may be due to the general fishing approaches adopted when targeting them. Our method of fishing would be ‘dipping’ – which is essentially presenting a small lead head with a curly tail precisely in front of carp either actively feeding/tailing, or resting in weed beds. This was harder than it first appears, as even with a long rod, carp are not a particularly stupid fish and would spook remarkably easily. I was lucky enough to get my first carp whilst wading a fairly shallow flats area to a ‘tailing fish’, as Rudolph tried to ‘call’ for barbel. Incidentally I recollect being told a story by Rudolph of a friend who was fly fishing for carp across these flats, and incidentally was ‘kept in the water’ for a few hours by a rather grumpy rhino on the bank! Jokes aside, it does stand to reason that if you do decide to wander fair distances away from the boat in areas where there is game, then it is wise to keep one’s eyes open and be wary of unwanted encounters. After wading the flats area, we fished off the boat in a couple of weed filled shallow bays and got a further four or five fish, the best of them a 16lb full scale specimen. I must confess to having had a lot of fun in the process!

After the carp we focused once again on the catfish, and once again the action was good, with consistent fish. If the barbel were unlucky enough to miss your lure at the first passing, they would often actively continue to look for the ‘easy meal’ and you could have multiple attempts to hook any given fish! I recollect one really nice specimen which kept on searching for Rudolph’s lure and on the third or fourth time of asking it finally hooked up – a 46lb specimen in the end, and the best barbel we took on the trip.

LEFT: Trying to bring one of the plentiful barbel we caught on casting outfits with a Lume Pumpkin lure under control. Note the fairly shallow rocky shoreline in the background, where we were locating these fish by sight.

RIGHT: A good Sharptooth catfish (barbel) specimen at 36lb – taken on a Lume Pumpkin.

LEFT: The aforementioned lure – they don’t look like much but are very effective for targeting barbel.

RIGHT: A handsome 16lb full scale Common carp taken on art‑lure at Van Der Kloof; note the weed beds in the background which is where we would target these fish.

LEFT: A small black lead-head with a plastic grub trailer was used to catch carp on art‑lure.

RIGHT: A trophy barbel at 46lb, which aggressively kept on coming back for Rudolph’s lure, and hooked up on the third or fourth cast in it’s vicinity!

We caught the majority of our fish by simply sight casting at fish with a Lume Pumpkin lure. We also tried ‘calling’ for fish, which also involves a (larger) version of the Lume Pumpkin; you essentially ‘call’ for the fish by slapping the lure on the surface of the water, whilst also using the tip of a firm rod to ‘whip the water’ periodically. Between these events, which essentially serve to attract any curious fish in the area, you would slowly allow your lure to descend about a meter below your rod tip –the fish basically taking the lure as they are looking for the culprit or likely meal which is making all the commotion. It is a strange technique, but very effective for big barbel in many South African venues I am assured, if the conditions are right. We also caught fish ‘buddy casting’ which is essentially having two people cast lures in exactly the same spot one after the other in a bay you know has a number of fish in. The principle is similar to calling, in that fish come to investigate what they conceivably think to be prey – falling chicks out of nests for example, and readily take any lure which touches their whiskers. I must say, targeting barbel of this size-class on lures was extremely good fun, and highly recommended!

All too soon our fishing trip was over, but upon reflection we had done very well on almost all the species available. The general size class of the largemouth yellow fish was impressive – double digit fish being a daily occurrence between the two boats if you put in the effort. The smallmouth yellow fish would merit many hours alone to be spent targeting them, and then there were the barbel and carp. I have fished a number of venues all over the world and whilst I would not rate yellow fish as ‘one of the strongest’ fish in terms of global freshwater challenges (mind you, far superior to trout for example), the quality of the specimens available and the species variety on offer was pretty special.

One of the real ‘bonuses’ about this venue from a foreign fishing perspective is that, flight apart, with the weakness of the Rand currently, it works out as a good value trip. I must say I have been very fortunate in my African fishing exploits for emblematic species, having had tigerfish (covered in earlier articles – the North African species) to almost 30lb, Nile perch (bank caught) to over 160lb and now a largemouth yellow fish of over 20lb to add to the ‘collection’. A matter of five or six years ago I could only have dreamed of having notched up such impressive catches, but it does go to show that, despite a general trend in fish populations declining for a number of reasons across the continent, there are still some great options out there, if you know where to look. Sadly however, it looks like wherever there are large populations of fish, the inevitable ‘human pressures’ follows; currently there is much debate over a potential small‑scale fisheries netting program on the dam proposed by the government aimed to supplement local towns protein supplies through ‘selective harvest’ of the barbel and carp in the dam. This is being strongly contested by the angling fraternity and scientific community as of course it is feared it will be highly detrimental to the slow growing yellow fish population in the dam as well, and given it is one of the last strongholds of this imperiled fish it would be a sad sight to see. Only time will tell as to what happens to this wonderful venue moving forward.

A huge thanks to Rudolph and his father for sharing their knowledge on the venue and of course all the artlure techniques used, and to Pride Rock Lodge for their great hospitality. If anyone would like to know more about the venue, feel free to get in touch and I will put you in contact with Rudolph who can offer sound advice.