Bass Fishing at Hillcrest Wine Estate

Date: Thursday 24 March 2011 (2pm - 5pm)
Weather Conditions: Moving from Cloudy with light rain to Partly cloudy. (min/max) 16/23°C
Wind: 10kmph NW am, 30kmph SW pm 
1006hPa, 94% humidity

We arrived at Hillcrest Wine Estate around 2pm. Our initial reaction was one of awe, as we were greeted by the beautiful Tygerberg Hills and surrounding scenery. The Hillcrest restaurant itself, has a warm & relaxed atmosphere to it, and would be a great location to share a meal with the family, while overlooking the beautiful wine lands, and natural surroundings.

From there, we were directed towards the Quarry, in order to kick off our bass fishing experience at this specific location. Armed with two rods each, we started working the main dam in a clockwise direction, spinning along the steep ledges, and looking for any and all structure, potential bass ambush spots, and the like.

Once we reached the opposite side of the quarry, we moved ahead towards the upper (smaller) dams as well, and then continued along the quarry until we had covered the entire circumference of the water body.

The depth of the quarry varies greatly, as we tried using deep diving lip-crank baits, and jigs as well.

After pausing half-time for a coke & biltong break, we continued targeting the areas around our starting location again. At last, a sighting!!! Whilst bringing a spinner-bait to the surface, we observed a rather large bass following it, only to break away at the last moment... needless to say, after 30+ consecutive attempts to lure that very same bass out again, it was clear that with a home ground advantage, we came off as the losing team.

Photo of Quarry - taken from http://www.hillcrestfarm.co.za/

Although we didn't manage to land any fish, the company was great as usual, and we look forward to our next expedition... The only question is, where to next?

For more information on Hillcrest Wine Estate, visit their website: http://www.hillcrestfarm.co.za/