Zibulo Mine Dam
This private mine dam that's mostly used for competitive bank angling holds a good stocking of healthy and beautiful carp and catfish. The venue is open to organised angling, clubs and competition anglers and is the perfect place for a days fishing where you can amass a good bag of fish and hone your skills. Easily accessible and only a stones throw from JHB/Pretoria – its a brilliant venue for the serious angler.
With a bit of wind on the water and cloudy overcast conditions you can be rest assured that something will eat your bait… regularly!
How to get there
Situated between the small towns of Ogies and Leandra in the Mpumalanga province you will either travel via the N4 from Pretoria or the N17 from JHB. Once in Ogies or Leandra you will need to get onto the Private Mine road leading towards the Zibulo Colliery Mine. The easiest and best way to get there is to follow the Google Maps location to “Zibulo Bird Hides”. Take note once there not to try and enter via the main mine road/gate but enter at the road just before/after the main mine road/gate (depending on the direction you are coming from) at the tall conveyor tower. You basically cant miss the tower and have to drive right by it to get to the dam. (Google Maps link at the bottom of the page).
Entry and Info
Entry is very strict and controlled and anglers need to phone and book in advance to fish there. If not you WILL be asked to leave the venue. Anyone can fish there as long as they abide by the rules:
- No camping, day fishing only
- No canoes, inflatables, bait boats etc.
- No open fires
- No littering
- Bookings compulsory
- Catch and release
- No keep nets, except for competitions
Entrance Tariffs are as follows
R50 per person per day – all money are donated to the managing organisation who is a non-profit organisation supporting local competitive angling federations. Contact Piet on 082 499 3779 for bookings and more information. *Please note these times, numbers and tariffs can change at any time without notice.
Spots to Fish
The dam is very fair and the fish are well spread over the entire venue however it seems that the spots right by the dam wall produces the least amount of fish but bigger fish. Therefore it’s advisable to clubs and competition anglers to peg the water towards the shallower part of the dam. If the weather permits it’s a great idea to peg 2 sections on each side of the dam. Its dangerous to cross the dam wall when its wet and slippery, incidents of vehicles sliding off and over the wall have been reported, so be warned and don’t take chances!
Christiaan Pretorius is a regular angler at Zibulo mine dam, here showing off bags of beautiful carp he has caught while feeder fishing.
What to use / How to fish
Your approach should be weather-dependant as it can have a massive influence to how the fish are feeding. Most of the time the carp are feeding well and can be caught at close range (35-55m) especially on the entrance-side of the dam. Sometimes its a good idea to fish one rod further out at 95m-125m so its important to keep an open mind when deciding where to fish.
On the opposite side of the dam its usually a better bet to fish longer distances as its shallower water, 65m, 95m and 115m are good starting points but good bags of fish have been caught between 125m-135m before on this side of the dam so keep it in mind.
As you can see it will always be interesting as you never know what to expect, making it the perfect competition angling venue where you need to be open minded and make your decisions on the day. Hook baits that work well for the carp are Garlic Oozers/Vampire floaties, Yellow Cachou/Pink Sweets floaties, Banlic floaties, sweet white/yellow dough and maggots.
The catfish are also great to target as they are plentiful and love eating flying ants and snake worms. They can quickly gain you extra points if you manage to catch a few before the carp start feeding. Make sure to take enough meaty baits for these fish. They also love fish heads and fillets especially late summer.
Flying ants are super attractive for the catfish in Zibulo mine dam and account for some huge catches. For the carp you can try dips like Sniper and Tjop-Tjop with maggots or floaties as hook baits.
The author with a solid bag of catfish which won him the competition on the day, all of them caught with flying ants.
Dips for Zibulo Mine Dam
- Lootie/Oxblood (Berry molasses)
- Devils Fork (Garlic/Almond)
- FX (Caramel)
- Sniper/Bass (Garlic/TCP)
- Perdeby/Scorpion (Bunspice/Cinnamon)
- Legend/Honeydew/Honeyglow (Honey)
- TAC (TCP/Almond/Caramel)
- Gumtree (Eucalyptus)
