Some advice for a (sort of) newbie ?

[Partington]

So I have been fishing for my whole life , for bream and tiger fish and chessa and whatever else would bite. I am in Zimbabwe and we have a decent bass population over here so I decided to try and get into it . I have caught a few but never really had a good day on the water and since I’m getting myself a little boat I’d like to improve . 

my rod and reel arsenal includes : 

One high profile shimano Corvalus baitcater on a 7’10 medium heavy rod 

one low profile baitcaster on a 7’ worm rod 

one 2500 sized spinning reel on a 7’ rod 

and two 500 sized spinning reels (my ultra light setups for break ) 

 

my approach for an upcoming trip is this :

 

Texas rig senko /craw on the big baitcaster 

 

spinnerbait / jerkbait on the other one 

 

wacky rigged senko on the spinning reel 

 

a ned rig on an ultralight and maybe a rooster tail on the other one. 

 

I’ll go for green pumpkin or blue depending on water clarity and try to fish around lily pads , grass mats and deep trees . 
 

any tips for someone relatively new to bass fishing ? 
hoepfully I’ll report with good news soon . 

[Darren.]

Welcome to the forums!

 

Your arsenal looks good. I would suggest with the soft plastic rigs,

the TX and Wacky, that you fish slowly. I mostly fish soft plastics.

Let the wacky worm do its thing as it shimmies down the water

column. If windy, consider using a weighted wacky jig.

 

When you think you're fishing slow enough, slow down some more.

Fish downed trees, humps, docks, etc. If you can get (or already have)

a terrain map of where you fish, you can get an idea of where there

are ledges, humps, etc. Or use a fish finder.

 

Good luck!!

[frogflogger]

I would put a big topwater into the mix - spook, buzzer, chugger/popper - you have some monster bass there and big bass love big topwaters.

 

[Shimano_1]

Sounds like you have the right idea of what you need to do and have the gear to do it. I'd suggest just spending time on the water and experimenting until things start making sense. Good luck

[J._Bricker]

Hello @Partington from Northern California, welcome to Bass Resource and the Forums!
 

For suggestions on getting the most out of your rods, options might be a jig for the 7’10 rod, a chatterbait, buzzbait, frog for the 7’ rod, and a dropshot on the 7’ rod with the 2500 reel. And before you know it this guy shows up and you’ll be joining the BR support group...

[WRB]

Welcome to BR.

Bassmaster magazine March 2020 issue, pages 30-36 has a article The Spawnmeister By George Robey on South Africa bass angler Wayne Naude worth reading. 

Bass are bass so the saying goes. Africa largemouth bass are Florida strain and not as aggressive as what we call Northern strain LMB. Where I fish we have predominately Florida strain LMB and IMO tend to ignor faster moving lures most of the time. To improve your catch per man hour fishing I suggest staying with more soft plastics on or near the bottom like the traditional sliding bullet weight T-rigged worms and craws. 

Read the referenced article.

Tom

PS, Savage Gear Pulsetail Golden Shiner on Tackle Warehouse looks a lot like the bass forage fish in the article. 

 

[Catt]

@Partington How y'all are? 

 

You're on the right track with your game plan.

 

Read all you can here & ask questions

 

[Partington]

Thanks for the replies guys , interesting about the Florida strain bass , didn’t realize they were different to be honest . I’ll admit I can fish a bit too fast sometimes . I’ll remind myself to slow it down a notch. 
Yeah I can’t wait to put some time on the water soon . 
 

Tilapia is the main baitfish here and I’ll often catch them around trees about 12ft deep so I’m thinking during the heat I might find them down there . Any baits that imitate a tilapia well ? That savage gear looks good . Shipping stuff out here costs an arm and leg though ?

[Fishes in trees]

Being on the other side of the planet and whatnot, more or less, I ain't familiar with your seasons, or what your lakes even look like.    What season are you in right now?  According to seasonal patterns, what should the fish be doing now?  What kind of lake are you fishing?  What is the average depth?   Is the lake more cover oriented ( various types of vegetation, with not so much depth changes), or is it more structure oriented, with rocks & stumps, standing timber and more pronounced depth changes?  Are these natural lakes?   Lakes built for electric power generation?  Lakes built for flood control.  Lakes built because some politician has his hand on the shoulder of the Corps of Engineers and he just wants another lake in his district, so as to make re-election easier.

Are bass the primary predator or are there other fish that act as the apex predator?   Do you have to watch out for crocodiles & hippos & stuff like that?

 

I'd love to go fishing in Zimbabwe, but to give you any better advice than "put a 10 worm on 20 lb line and throw that bait close to as many objects as possible".  I need to know more about the water and the while ecosystem, for that matter.

[WRB]

3 hours ago, Partington said:

Thanks for the replies guys , interesting about the Florida strain bass , didn’t realize they were different to be honest . I’ll admit I can fish a bit too fast sometimes . I’ll remind myself to slow it down a notch. 
Yeah I can’t wait to put some time on the water soon . 
 

Tilapia is the main baitfish here and I’ll often catch them around trees about 12ft deep so I’m thinking during the heat I might find them down there . Any baits that imitate a tilapia well ? That savage gear looks good . Shipping stuff out here costs an arm and leg though ?

Tilapia colors are generally green with purple and copper/gold highlites.

Gary Yamamoto soft plastic #330 Greenpumpkin with purple and copper flakes for example.

Nichols Pulsator JT's Florida Hammer spinnerbait Green/purple skirt w/copper-gold metal flake willow blades.

Junebug ( dark purple w/green flakes) in most soft plastics should be  OK for for tilapia forage.

Tom 

PS, I believe Tackle Warehouse and Gary Yamamoto ship off shore.

[Catt]

16 hours ago, Partington said:

Tilapia is the main baitfish here and I’ll often catch them around trees about 12ft deep so I’m thinking during the heat I might find them down there

 

Find the bait...the bass will be close  ?

 

[imbatman]

Another thing that may help in a hot lake is trying to find the thermocline.   Fishing here in the southeast in the late summer the top level of the water column will get warm but at some point (10-20 feet typically) there will be a thermocline where the lower water column is cooler below that top layer.  Bass tend to find cover in these situations that is just above the thermocline as it has the most dissolved oxygen.  Below the thermocline there is not as much oxygen so it can give you a really good depth to start at.  If the thermocline is 15ft the I fish cover and baits at 12-14feet.