Rietvlei Dam
The suburban nature reserve and reservoir situated on the outskirts of Pretoria containing beautiful specimens of carp, large scale yellowfish, bass, kurper and catfish. A stones throw away from the major cities making it very accessible, popular and challenging all at the same time.
The entrance from the main road.
Rietvlei Dam is home to beautiful specimens of large scale yellow fish.
How to get there
Take the Nellmapius off ramp from the R21 in Irene and travel East towards Moreletapark for about 2km, the gate should be on your right. Please note that this is the entrance to the fishing and chalet area and not the nature reserve. (Google Maps link at the bottom of the page).
Entry and Info
This reserve is very safe, fully fenced and access is restricted, however some incidents of petty theft have been reported in the past. Please note that hippo and other wild game roam free from the nature reserve and are often seen at the fishing side so be aware!
Day visitors and campers are situated on the North East bank with luxury chalets that needs to be pre-booked in advance at the gate on the North West Bank.
Entrance tariffs are as follows:
Day entrance:
R65,00.
Contact numbers:
067 022 8442
012 480 9944
Gates are open from 06:00 - 18:00.
*Please note these times, numbers and tariffs can change at any time without notice.
Neat ablution facilities at Rietvlei Dam makes for a better experience with the family.
Spots to fish
The camping side can be divided into three areas namely: Sloep, Bend and Island. All of these areas can be productive but like any other venue it depends drastically on the weather and temperatures. Big lakes like this are prone to big strong winds and the fish will always follow the wind as the food will naturally drift in the direction it is blowing. With this in mind you’ll have to make your final decision of where you want to fish once you’re actually on the bank.
The “sloep” area can be very productive if the wind has been blowing into it for a couple of days but the opposite is also true when the wind blows out of the “sloep”.
The "sloep" area near the entrance is a good area when the wind pushes into it.
The bend is a rocky and snaggy area with very deep water that is great during the winter months - its also the bass hotspot!
The area close to the island is very popular throughout the year as the island is a great feature always holding fish.
The "bend" is very rocky and deep - great in the Spring when the bass move in to the shallows for spawning, equally as good for carp in the winter - but very snaggy!
The lake bed is very hard and mainly formed form slate and gravel and with the water being very clear the water grass can grow from the bottom forming big underwater grass mats. This can be a big feature or a big problem. The one great thing about the grass is that it holds a lot of natural food for the fish so if you find the grass the fish are usually not too far away.
Swims are numbered and hotspots include 1-4, 9-13, 34-38 and 40-44, although the fish can be anywhere according to conditions.
Numbered swims to make life easy - swims cant be booked in advance, it works on a first come first serve basis.
What to use/How to fish
The lake is very popular among specimen anglers as it holds a lot of big carp, visit the Carp SA page for more specimen related info.
For bank angling its advisable to fish one rod just past the reeds when the dam is full and the other rod as far as possible no matter the circumstances or time of year. Try using only one hook on the bottom of a sliding Rietvlei-trace as this will massively increase your chances of landing anything you hook. Snags are bad and need to be avoided at all times.
Hook baits that work well include soft yellow/orange banana, pineapple and honey flavoured floaties. Corn kernels cut in half and pushed back into the feed ball can definitely get the bigger fish to bite and kariba worms with 2-3 maggots on the tip of the hook are good baits for the yellow fish.
Sweet/fruity flavours combined with some garlic-flavour is always a winner at Rietvlei. Note the single hook trace, this is very important at Rietvlei.
Rietvlei is home to beautiful big carp!
Dips for Rietvlei Dam
- Tjop-Tjop (Pineapple)
- Tracer (Fluoro Spirits)
- Banjo (Banana)
- Quatro (Fruit mix)
- Dusk & Dawn (Fruity Caramel)
- Petite Janine/Creme Brûlée (Coconut Caramel)
