Baitfish

Having been an avid artlure angler for almost 14 year learning to catch different species of fish where like second nature to me. One quickly learns where to search for different species as they all got different preferred locations. Having this knowledge of where to go look for different species can helps one identify areas to fish for bass with a added bonus of knowing what type of baitfish to try and simulate. Let´s take a look at some of the smaller easier and unknown to some bass anglers.

Dwarf Tiger

This little tiger is a school fish, they a very aggressive fish, one will find that they sometimes hit a small inline spinner. They can be found around slipways and any river in an out lets. They tend to move between deep and shallow water so they not really a structure orientated. They can grow up to about 10 cm long

Ghielies

Can be found in big schools around river in or outlets. They also like a swampy type of structure where they can easily hide away from prey. There are about 40 different types of ghielies in our waters with the most common one´s being the "Silver", "Three Spot" and "Dikkop". They got a max size of about 12cm long.

Glassies

They one of the most common prey for Mr. Bass. One always find the in BIG schools where the try to elude the hungry bucket mouth. The can be found in grassy areas where there is water in and outlets. They can grow to a max size of about 10cm.

Mosquito fish aka Guppy

We started to note them more and more in our dams, they a very shy fish so one has to be very still and quiet to get close to them. They prefer area´s where they can easily hade away from any danger. One can find them in areas where there is grass or at the back of reeds. The prefer the shallow water where they will be sitting just under the surface while doing some sunbathing.

Papermouth

I feel that this species has become very scares, it´s been ages since I last seen one but they still lurk the deeper water of some of our dams. The papermouth is also a hunter and can grow up to a fair size of about 1kg with a silver color and a reddish shine on their fins. They can be found in areas where there is water in and outlets as this attract other smaller species which act as prey for it.

Canary Kurper

This is a common prey for bass, they can be found from shallow to deep water where the pay on other smaller fish species. They can be found around slipways, grass patches, rocks and even on open flats. They can grow up to about 600g.

Vlei Kuper

To me they probably one of the most beautiful, they can be found in and around grass, if grass are not available they can also be found in and amongst reeds. They a very shy fish so one had to be very quiet in approaching them. They can also grow up to a size of about 300g. They can easily be mistaken with then "Redbreast Kurper".

Redbreast Kurper

It´s not uncommon that one catch them on a crankbait or even sometimes on a plastic, this species are very aggressive and feed on anything that´s moving. They can be found in big schools all over the dam and can easily grow up to a size off about 1kg. They got a very sharp back fin which makes them not so loving to their prey!

Dwarf Kurper

From all species I like this one the most, it got a wide variety of the most beautiful colors one can imagine. Colors range from yellow to blue to green, red and black. They can be found around rocky areas but also between grass patched all over the dam. They can grow up to about 8 to 10 cm. They not really a school type of fish but one can find then close together in the same areas.

Blue Kurper

I´m sure everyone knows the blue kurper. They also a schooling fish this making them easy prey for Mr.Bass. One often find the smaller blues in the shallows they the do some sunbathing with their mouths out the water, so a bass can easily sneak up to then for a meal. Young blues are almost always a silvery color with the black 3 spots on its side. They can be found in and round grass or even on some flats and snotterbella.

Below are some sample pics of what the types of area´s they would hold to:

I hope that with this document you would have learned something new about Mr.Bass options for a meal. If you have any questions regarding any species please don´t hesitate to contact me. In Part 2 I will touch on the different species per dam.

Some of the pictures came from www.fishbase.com

VX70
Bassing.co.za Pro Staff Member

Discuss this article: Baitfish