While staying at Aloe Rock Lodge you also have access to an excellent bass fishing dam called Zwartkop Dam. It’s just across the road on a companion farm and even though the water level was quite low we still had a fantastic time catching dozens of fish.
Fishing
The dam itself is quite large, much larger than we thought, and as a typical farm dam it’s surrounded by bush and picturesque hills. Unfortunately, while we were there the dam was emptier than normal, and it’s renowned lilly pads were non existing. The water was also a bit muddier than normal after the recent rains.
So that wasn’t great but the bass didn’t seem to care, the fishing was still excellent. We easily caught more than 100 bass over the 3 days that we were there. They were all very feisty and healthy, and seemed to be everywhere.
In the muddy water dark flukes once again proved to be irresistible as was the case at Aloe Rock Lodge. We knew there were lots of frogs around so we also tried darker horny toads with great success. Late afternoon topwater lures also proved very popular.
Although we didn’t catch any monsters, we know of anglers that come to this place every year to improve on their pbs. Bass over 3kgs are reglarly caught apparently.
We also saw a very healthy population of huge barbel in the dam, and although we didn’t see them there are rumoured to be big carp as well.
The surroundings are also uniquely beautifully, quite different from the lush forests we normally find ourselves at, but the serene rolling hills, rugged bush and never-ending sky has a charm of it’s own.
Accommodation
The farm also offers accommodation in the form of a large house which can comfortably accommodate 12 people. There are various spacious rooms with double beds, most with en-suite bathrooms. There are also bunk beds available as extra sleeping options.
There is a large kitchen with everything you need, and a very big lounge and dining room area. There is also an entertainment room with a braai and games, which leads out to a pool and lapa area. There’s lots of safe parking and even a pond for kurper fishing…
The house is about 2kms away from the dam.
Summary
A gem of a farm dam deep in the African bush and teeming with fish. It wasn’t always available to the public but it is now and definitely worth a visit. We really enjoyed the fishing and scenery and next time we’ll be targeting the barbel as well.
What worked
(3 days)
bass x2 (big)
bass x90+ (small\medium)
