Testing the waters (Witklip Dam)

Testing the waters it was, for more than one reason, three actually. I had decided on a change of venue from the usual waters I frequented and to explore the depths at Witklip Dam. During the mornings prep for the day’s fishing, the Mustard Crawfish was created and a couple extras tied - required now, a test to determine the fish catching ability of the fly. Lastly, to test the fish slayer, the Vleikurper minnow - aka Lowveld Asassin - on new water, will it live up to its reputation? The last time i had fished at Witklip Dam was about 15 years ago with no recollection of any memorable catches. So, at arrival at the dam, memories came back of fishing in seclusion here - not a person in sight or boats with skiers racing around - tranquility! I found a promising spot with a drop off into deep water and to the right was a small bay with weedbeds. As it was windy, my trusty 9wt with sink tip line was selected first for duty. The potential new addition to my Fly Catalogue - the Mustard Crawfish, was the obvious choice of fly. With no visible activity, a long cast was made into the deep water in front of me and the sink tip was given time to settle into the deep with the unweighted fly following. A sloooow long strip followed by a short pause and then two to three short fast strips, was employed. On the third cast, a solid take! Fish on! Off! There’s hope if a fish showed interest in a new fly on its first swim! On the fifth cast, the Crawfish was allowed to sink even deeper before the retrieve was started - strip , strip pause on the following slow long strip the line went tight! The Mustard Crawfish is in business! several more small bass ate the Crawfish, fished over the deep drop off to the small bay. Satisfied with the Crawfish’s prowes to provoke the fish into action, it was time to test the fish slayer - Vleikurper / Lowveld Assasin. At this point, while taking a breather, the 5wt was riggid up with full sinking line and Vleikurper minnow. Back in the water - First cast first fish on the Vleikurper! Four casts later - two fish landed and two lost - Four cats and four strikes! The rest of the session the 5wt and Vleikurper was used to fool numerous more fish. At the end of the fishing session, twenty fish was CAR. Conclusion: Test 1: Based on this one outing- flyfishing at Witklip Dam holds lots of promise and lots of fish. Test 2: The Mustard Crawfish pattern is effective in current colours and future colour variants will follow. Test 3: The Vleikurper minnow is deadly, full stop! The strikes per cast ratio makes it the number 1 fly in my box.