It was Nov 2013 and we were planning our trip to Cape St Francis. I posted on one of the bass fishing forums and the guys quickly came back with venue and a name for the local pro AKA Mario Nel. I phoned up Mario and he agreed to a trip while we were down there. Apparently he does not pass that easily on a bass trip.
I was sitting one afternoon enjoying a cold one when my phone interrupted the moment, it was Mario and he wanted to go out to Brakkenduine the next day. I was all
game, I mean I did travel with my bass kit all the way from Pta.
I met Mario the next morning and we set out to Brakkenduine. We reached the lake at about 6:00 and we were on our way to the first spot at about 6:30. It was not even 5 minutes into the trip and bang, Mario is on. OK, this guy can fish, he is the local after all. Mario was on bass number 5 and I was still scratching for bites. We moved to another spot and Mario told me that the bass was biting extremely skittish, nothing the way I am used to in our Gauteng waters. I casted and felt a little pull
on the line, could this be, well I have nothing to lose. I striked and fish on, my first. I think the bass had their 2013 year end function in this spot because we landed another 10 bass while anchored.
We moved to other spots and ended the afternoon in one of Mario’s secret spots. We made long casts and then played the waiting game, well that is if you can call 5 min a waiting game. We were into the bass at 5 min intervals and finished the day on about 30 bass. We did not weigh the bass but almost all of them were in the region of 1,5 to 2 kg.
Well the day came to an end and we started our trip back to St Francis. Thanks again
Mario Nel.
FISHING TALES
Bass Digest/February, 2014