Today I would like to share my thoughts on fishing below Davis Dam. But before I can do so, I need to point out an obvious difference in what we are taught in South Africa is a dam, versus what is considered a dam in America. This does not influence or change anything to the story, but it caught my attention as one of those terms that have very different meanings in different cultures. It is strange to see how this different concept affects the way people think about or consider fishing waters.
In America, a dam is the wall built on a river, in order to
dam up said river. This results in a lake forming behind the wall. Lake Mead
has Hoover Dam; Lake Mohave has Davis Dam and so forth. I was taught something slightly
different growing up. In South Africa, the “dam wall” is the structure constructed
on a river, while the resulting body of water is then called a “dam”. In our
vocabulary, a lake is a naturally occurring body of water; in effect, a “dam”
that formed without human intervention. This means that with this mindset, Lake
Erie is a lake and Lake Mead is a dam. Naturally occurring vs man-made. The US
system does not make this distinction.
Does this matter? Honestly, no, but it does create a
different mindset in the building and approachability of dams. Many dam walls
in the USA can be fished or approached via boat. The waterways are built to
accommodate this, and schedules are made for water flows and made publicly
available. Contrary to this, the dams (i.e., dam walls) in South Africa are “No-Go”
zones. Many of these dams have hundreds of yards that are off-limit on either side
of the wall. Thus, I have fished near dam walls before, but never directly
below them.
Davis Dam was my first experience fishing the highly
turbulent waters just below a dam. It was interesting to see the changes and
challenges in these waters. The amount of flow from the dam, the eddies,
backwashes, the change in speed in different areas of the river; each adding
its own unique challenges to try and get your baits or lures down to some
powerful fish. You have to be well-adapted or extremely strong to survive in
these waters, so these fish often put up a good fight for their size. It can be
dangerous fishing these areas, but it can be pretty rewarding too. This is really
exciting fishing, and I hope that I get many more opportunities to do this in
the future!
Comments
Post a Comment