Alright guys, myself, Mrs Simpson and Stef and our mates are off to Loskop Dam this weekend, really excited as the fish should be fat and on the bite. Since we are going I thought I would share some knowledge about Carp Fishing at Loskop Dam and how you can improve your catch and size rate from the bank... I have practiced this before and noticed an improvement on every occassion.
Loskop Dam is not a bank anglers favourite carp venue as the fishing can be tough at times and size Carp is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Loskop. We have fished off the boat and in various places off the bank and have found that the best area to create a feeding spot is in front of the boathouse pub on the extended piece of land... Anywhere in this area is a great place to target the carp...
Setting up and sticking to one place is very important in a big dam like this. Some things you should consider having with you is lots of sun cream, some form of shade (gazebo), chairs and drinks... Set up your stays cast your rods in and from there, especially in the daylight hours it is a waiting game...
It is a must to have a variety of dips and hook baits as well as bite indicators and alarms so you can monitor the action on your rods the whole time...
As mentioned above, carp fishing off the bank can be a nightmare during sunlight hours so its best to fish before sunrise and well into the dark. I have caught my 3 biggest carp during the day here though, but after dark the fish go absolutely wild and as soon as the sun starts to dissapear the carp start feeding very actively, I can only presume that this is so due to the fishing pressure in this area.
The Carp in Loskop favour strong smelling and sweet dips all year round, however I believe your feed/bomb is the key to success at Loskop. The bomb I have "manufactured" seems to be a
A mixed feed with a sweet bomb (Such as Almond S) and another bomb that ius strong smelling with lots of particles (Such as hemp seed) mixed with a bit of bread, mealie meal and oats is perfect as the carp in Loskop seem to find your hook baits quicker when there are more particles in your feed and with all these particles this could be the success you need during the hotter hours to pull out the carp.
There are a lot of small Carp and Yellowfish to be caught off the bank here which does annoy some anglers. All I can say that the more you feed the area the more likely you are to attract bigger Carp. A lot of perseverance and feeding is required to get that bigger fish off the bank...
Now onto the baits. Floaties, plain and flavoured mealies is all you need, earthworms are good as well... Flavoured mealies such as caramel Almond sweet, Banana and honey work well and garlic, plain, marshmallow,tigernut, banana and caramel floaties are the best to use... Then we have the dips so many have worked for me in touch conditions here but if I had to choose 5 dips they would be Peach, Vanilla, Honey, Fx and Almond Sweet.
I have fished many hours at loskop and noticed a trend with the carp behaviour. They generally stop feeding an hour after the sun is up, and then they feed for a short bit during the hotter hours of the day and then they come on the bite between 4pm and about 11pm then all goes quiet but if you are willing to wait till about 1am you will have a fish on every 30 minutes until an hour after sun up.
The best 2 places off the boathouse pub are in both corners of the 'island'...
Because of the structure and depth of the bank at this point, a cast of more than 80 meters will not get you a fish, unless you are lucky as there is a huge drop off here which is very deep... I have found that if you can average 30-50 meters on your casting and get your bait in the feeding spot everytime you will be successful.
Remember not to cover your bomb in dip as the Carp will only get close enough to the feed in unusual circumstances. Only a small drop or spray is needed and then a quick drop or dip on your hook baits will be perfect...
I prefer to fish a rietvlei trace here and have 2-3 floaties on my top hook and 2-3 plain or flavoured mealies on my bottom hook... If you are fishing exclusively with mealies here make sure you add some into your feed before you mix it up...
Over feeding is not good here as it really takes the fish away from your baits, during the night no extra feeding is needed except when re casting your bomb in and during the day and hotter hours feeding should NOT be done more than once every 2-3 hours...
Hope this helps anyone going to Loskop dam this summer I have been fishing this area for a long time and it is my favourite carp venue even though you do not catch big fish very often itr is a beautiful tranquil environment with lots of 'wild' carp to be caught!
WK
