Renosterfontein
If you ever wanted the perfect fishing weekend breakaway with family or friends, then this picturesque venue situated in the heart of the Waterberg mountains in the Limpopo bushveld is the place to be! Famed for big carp, catfish, kurper and bass this venue is a fishermans paradise with beautiful scenery, tranquility and nature in abundance.
The perfect scene for any fisherman!
How to get there
From JHB/Pretoria take the great N1 North towards Polokwane and travel past Warmbaths until you reach the Kranskop toll gate. Take the R33 Modimolle/Nylstroom off ramp and turn left to travel through the town of Modimolle/Nylstroom towards Vaalwater on the R33. After leaving the last traffic light in Modimolle/Nylstroom you need to drive 40km towards Vaalwater before turning left on a well maintained gravel/sand road towards “Alma” just after passing the big Viva fuel station on your left. Continue on this road for 9,4km then turn left at the T-junction. Pass through the village of “Alma” and travel for 3,7km where you’ll reach the next T-junction, turn left again and keep right at the fork. From here onwards its 19,5km straight to the venue but you’ll pass through a boom gate at the Rankins pass police station first. The entrance to the venue is 5,8km from the Police station. See google maps link placed at the bottom of this article. (Google Maps link at the bottom of the page).
Entry and Info
By reading the “How to get there” you’ll realise that this venue is secluded and basically nestled between police training facilities making it super safe and very controlled. This makes for an even better experience as you can truly relax and enjoy yourself in peace and quiet.
You need to book in advance before going to Renosterfontein as the accommodation is top notch and you will be very well looked after. Contact Priscilla Jacobs on 082 560 7118 or send an email to renoster.ftn@gmail.com for more information.
The self catering tent houses are situated on the water with concrete jetties reaching out into the dam to make life easy. Each tent house has its own shaded parking, built-in braai and patio overlooking the beautiful fish filled lake. No keep nets are allowed and strictly catch & release.
Entrance Tariffs are as follows
*Please note these times, numbers and tariffs can change at any time without notice.
Spots to Fish
All of the swims are unique and hold plenty of fish. The lake is very diverse with different species to fish for so there are no real “hotspot”. While you wait for the carp to zone-in on your feeding spot you can fish for kurper and bass in the nearby margins between the lily pads and water grass.
The lake varies in depth with lots of features to target, from drop-offs to gullies and natural structure like dead trees, grass beds and lily pads. You can also book the tent house near the dam wall and target this deep-water area with lots of underwater features, reeds and gravel patches.
What to use / How to fish
For carp you can make a feeding spot in an area with a clear bottom that you can find by casting a bare lead around with braided line on your reel. This will help you to “feel” the bottom and find the perfect hard spot to deposit a bed of bait. They love fine cooked particles like hempseed, buckwheat, wheat and sweet corn. You can make feeding balls by mixing some of the particles to ordinary ground bait “mieliebom” and feed the balls accurately on your spot. This will result in great action from small and bigger fish. If you want to purely target the bigger specimens then its better to use the mouse trap method.
A typical big carp bait at Renosterfontein, a balanced tigernut with a plastic imitation corn topper.
Small boats like inflatables are allowed but life jackets are imperative. Please abide by the rules as the owners will not tolerate people who take chances. If you have a small boat and fish finder this will work wonders for you as you can map the lake and find the perfect spot to target the fish.
Specimen hook baits that work well are tiger nuts drilled out and plugged with foam/cork and a fake maize sighter on top. For bank anglers its advisable to use single hook traces as these carps are very strong and can find structure easily. A plain yellow or banana floatie with sweet white dough backing works a treat. You can definitely also try a single grain of corn on the hook for the bigger carp – don’t be surprised if a big blue kurper eats it too!
The kurper you can target close to the bank and close to some natural vegetation like water grass or lily pads. Use a 50/50 mix of maroek and plain popcorn ground bait to attract them. Hook baits that work well are snake worms and maggots.
Renosterfontein holds beautiful big blue kurper which you can target throughout the summer with natural baits like worms and maggots. Here Andrew Burger shows off a nice specimen caught early morning.
Dips for Renosterfontein
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Sweetcorn
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Banjo (Banana)
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Stokstyf (Citrus)
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Pandemonium (Musk)
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Has Been (Passion Fruit)
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Tjop-Tjop (Pineapple)
