Nic invited us once again to go bass fishing for a day on his impressive bass boat. This time we went to Middelburg Dam, a brand new and unknown venue for us. We had heard good things from various people so we were very excited to go and ended up having a great day out on the water.
Fishing
We were also very surprised by the clarity of the water. We know Witbank Dam just up the road very well, and that is usually quite dirty and sometimes green. So this was very surprising because we thought it had the same water source but that turned out being different. Olifants for Witbank Dam, and Klein Olifants for Middelburg Dam. We’re not sure if it’s always like this but it was great to see.
After getting on the boat we headed straight to the river inlet which is very near to the N4. The fishing was immediately pretty good, we consistently caught bass on flukes and senkos. And moving all along the bank in this area we were catching them on small crankbaits and chatterbaits. It was quite easy, no big fish but fun.
We also tried other parts of the dam and caught bass everywhere but the river area was by far the most productive. The clear water meant using some very natural lures (like baby bass cranks) and it also gave us the opportunity to get some awesome underwater footage. Have a look at our video below to see more.
We ended up with over 50 small bass between the 4 of us for the day which was great. We know there are bigger bass in Witbank Dam as well and we’ll be looking for them next time…
Accommodation
We were surprised by the pleasantness of the place. Lots of people camping, boats and jet skis in the water, everyone having fun. It seemed very clean as well. We didn’t see any chalets but the camping areas are nice and clean with a few trees around.
It also looks like you can camp all along the bank so there is a large area to utilize if you want to be a bit isolated. Safety is apparently a problem sometimes so just be aware if you camp away from others.
Summary
Middelburg Dam is well worth the visit, we were very surprised by the cleanliness of the place and we caught dozens of bass. No big fish once again but overall a great day out and well worth the trip.
(1 day)
bass x50 (small)
