Winter carp and bass action at Hillcrest Quarry

Winter is never an easy time to go fishing because of the many cold fronts and strange weather that we get down here. After a few days of rain the weather had stabilized and although partly cloudy, the air temperature was warm and the wind light. I decided to give Hillcrest quarry (near Durbanville) a try and promptly drove over to my friend Roland Oelofse's house to ask if he would like to come with. With everything arranged, I went home to get ready with the promise that I would pick him up at 1pm. 

The drive to Hillcrest took us about 15 minutes and we drove up to the Restaurant to pay for our permits, only to be told that we had to pay at the quarry. So off we went up the hill and then down again. When we got to the quarry, we noticed a bee hive of activity with public toilets, sound equipment and a Stage being erected. The quarry lake had also changed since the last time that I had been there. Firstly, it was full to the brim and secondly, there where ramps installed on one side of the lake and contraptions for a cable skiing operation...

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the stage building, we set up our rods after having paid for  our permits. As usual the water was a turquoise blue colour and very clear. The quarry is stocked with trout but also has a very healthy population of largemouth bass. I was going to sight fish for them along the steep, rock sides of the quarry, using a floating fly line, long leader and #8 tungsten beaded black fritz. 

After about half an hour of fishing the fritz along the sides of the quarry to sighted bass that for the most part where not intent on eating it, I cast the fly out next to a large undercut of rock and let it sink deep. I could see no bass, but the undercut shouted ambush spot. I began slowly fishing the backup then I spotted a large, dark shape coming up to intercept my black fritz. My heart was in my throat, this was the biggest bass that I had seen in the quarry. It very casually inhaled my fly and I set the hook twice for good measure. 

The bass fought hard in the clear, deep water making deep lunges and bending my TFO Jim Teeny 5weight rod to the max. Landing it was also going to be difficult, because I had left my telescopic net in the car. I made my way down the rocks to a point where I could lean over enough to lip land the bass. The rock that I was perched on had other loose rocks on it and  sloped at an angle. One false step and I would be treading water in one of the deepest quarry lakes in the Cape Province.... This quarry is so deep that if you cast out a full Di 7 sinking fly line and strip backing out and then wait long enough, you will be stripping the fly line back at your feet, it never gets close to reaching the bottom... Finally I slipped my thumb and forefinger into the cold lower lip of the bass and hauled it out carefully. I was ecstatic. It was a big old lunker bass of about 2kg. After taking a few pictures I released the bass and fished on. 

There were plenty of bass cruising or suspended around the quarry. They where normally holding about 2 meters down and a few where even taking insects off the top. I tied on a foam hopper but could not get the bass to commit. I tried a vartiety of different flies but the bass would follow the fly and then not eat it. Eventually with the black fritz on again, I caught another smaller bass. 

The bass where mostly small to medium in size but I spotted another huge bass cruising, but it laughed at my flies. Many of the bass lakes that I fish in winter are very muddy due to the rain that we get here in Cape Town. This means that you often can't see how the bass react in the colder water. Last season I fished a lake in the Bottlery road in the middle of winter after a week of warm sunny days. The water had cleared up and the bass where in the shallows and I even managed to catch a few off the top. But for the most part, winter bass fishing is about using a fast sinking fly line and two booby flies, very slowly and covering as much water as possible. Hillcrest with its very clear and deep water was more suited to sited fishing with a floating fly line and heavily weighted streamers.

After about an hour and a half of fishing I went to explore the lake above the quarry which is normally very muddy. Low and behold, as I got closer, I spotted carp feeding and cruising in the corner of the lake. Now if there is one species of fish that I love catching above all others on fly, then it has to be carp. The carp where feeding on the bottom which released vast amounts of silt but there were no feeding bubbles to help pinpoint where they where feeding. 

This made my job much harder. Every now and then I would spot a tail flapping as the carp rooted on the bottom which indicated to me where the head was. I had tied on a #8 carp fritz (a fly that I designed for carp about 10 years ago) , and a foam indicator 2 meters up my leader to help spot the subtle takes as the carp inhaled the fly. 

I tried for about 15 minutes before I hooked the first one. It was a long and lean carp and it did not take off like a rocket or get anywhere near backing but the fight was pleasant if not spectacular. I landed the carp, took a few pics and then decided that I was going to need my net, so headed back to the car. I spoke the Roland on the way who was still trying for bass. He was having a tough time getting the bass to commit, although plenty followed and some even nosed his flies. 

Returning to the top lake, I quickly hooked and landed another carp. There were a lot of carp cruising and feeding off the surface, some quite close to shore, and so I changed to a white SMS fly in #8 and started stalking them. One carp was heading towards me and about 2 meters from the side. I cast the fly past the carp and quickly brought it closer. When it was right next to the fishes mouth, I let the fly sink. The fish swam down after it and I detected the subtle twitch of the leader and quickly set the hook. In the end, I landed 6 carp. 3 that where feeding on the bottom, and three that where cruising and feeding off the top. Roland had managed to land a nice bass and we packed up at 5Pm. 

I must say that I really enjoyed the day and will be back soon. One little tip that I will leave you with is to use your car windscreen wiper to hold you fly rod securely. The spring loaded windscreen wiper arm will securely hold the rod out of the way even if the wind is blowing...

Please check out my website at seanmillsflyfishing.weebly.com for E Books and DVDs on fly fishing for carp, bass, yellowfish and saltwater species...