Largemouth and smallmouth bass were two of my favourite angling species in the days when I still fished the art-lure leagues in the Western Cape. In the four to five years that I fished competitively for Western Province colours I saw many big bass come out of Theewaterskloof Dam, Kwaggaskloof Dam and Misverstand Dam. However, the photographs of big bass from Zimbabwe topped every one of the largemouth bass that came out of Western Cape impoundments. The Zim bass were proper bucketmouths and I wanted one, a big one…
I still fish for bass with fly tackle every season and catch largemouth and smallmouth bass, but not quite as big as the one’s we used to catch on lure. The trophy Florida-strain largemouths that swim in the lakes of Zimbabwe still haunt me, but now I crave to catch one on fly. Richard Morton sent me these photos of a recent trip he made to one of the infamous Zimbabwe bucketmouth fisheries accompanied by his brother; he mentioned that they caught many fish of around 7 lb and lost a few bigger fish, estimated over 10 lb. Proof that the hogs are still there to tackle on fly!
Ah Leonard, you really brought back some memories and longing with this one. The thing I loved about catching bass like that in zim is that you’d often catch them on big surface flies in the early mornings or before and after a big thunder storm when the water was flat calm and the fish went crazy. Thanks for sharing.