Fishing in Bloemfontein
Free State · Highveld & Drakensberg · hardiness zone 9b
New here? Start with the fishing introNow
14°C · Clear
Today
25° / 12°
Sun
05:47 – 18:19
Moon
Waning Crescent · anglers' solunar: good
Weather read at 12:36 a.m..
Writing your field guide — reading the forecast, the moon and the map…
In the water now · October
What's biting
The sport fish active near Bloemfontein, South Africa in October — where they hold, how to know one on the line, and the tactic that usually works. Check your licence and the current limits before you go.
FishSep–AprSharptooth catfish (barbel)
Clarias gariepinus
A long, eel-like body, a flat bony head, four pairs of whiskers, and one very long dorsal fin with no small fatty fin behind it. Dark grey to olive above, white below.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Lukas Zangl · CC BY 4.0
FishMar–May, Sep–NovSmallmouth yellowfish
Labeobarbus aeneus
A big, streamlined, bronze-gold barb with large scales, golden fins and a small mouth.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Brian du Preez · CC BY-SA 4.0
FishOct–AprLargemouth bass
Micropterus nigricans
Green with a dark lateral stripe, and an upper jaw that extends past the back of the eye.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Nick Tobler (Cowturtle) · CC BY 4.0
FishMar–May, Sep–DecRainbow trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
A pink-red band down the flank, small black spots over the whole body and tail.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Mike Heine · CC BY 4.0
FishMar–May, Oct–DecBrown trout
Salmo trutta
Butter-brown flanks with black and red spots ringed in pale halos; few or no spots on the tail.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: kirk gardner · CC BY 4.0
FishOct–MarBluegill
Lepomis macrochirus
Deep round body, a solid black ear flap, and a small mouth.
Where and how to catch it →Photo: Kristiina Hurme · CC BY 4.0
Also out there this month
Photographs are research-grade observations from iNaturalist, each credited to its photographer. Ranges and timing are typical, not guaranteed — 87 species are covered across North America, Europe and Africa.
Behind this week's fishing
The day, the ground and the sky over Bloemfontein
Bright and still pushes fish deep, into shade and under structure. Work the edges of the day.
- Brown troutbest now — The most nocturnal trout there is. After dark the big ones leave cover and hunt the shallows and the tailouts.
Overhead · Bloemfontein, South Africa
The sky over the water
The two clocks nothing on the ground can argue with: the length of the day, and the phase of the moon.
The sun
12h 31m of light
Sunrise
05:47
Solar noon
12:03
Sunset
18:18
A month from now the day will be 0h 49m longer. Enough light for steady growth.
The moon
Waning Crescent
15% lit · waning · day 26 of 29.5
- Next full
- Oct 26 · 20d
- Hunter's Moon
- Next new
- Oct 10 · 4d
- Darkest nights
Planting by the moon: Last quarter to new: a resting phase — weed, prune, harvest, turn compost and prepare beds.
Anglers' solunar rating: good — the tradition says fish feed hardest in the days either side of new and full, and around moonrise and moonset. The evidence is mixed; light and weather matter more.
Turn of the season
Summer solstice
Dec 21 · 76 days away
About 213 days to the average first frost (May 8).
Next moons
- New MoonOct 10
- First QuarterOct 18
- Full Moon · Hunter's MoonOct 26
- Last QuarterNov 1
Right now · Bloemfontein, South Africa
Forces at work
Nothing here is a guess. Each of these is read from this week's forecast and this location's climate record, and each one is pushing the season one way or the other.
- Worth watching
The moon
Waning Crescent · 15%
Waning, 26 days old. Full moon in 19 days. Anglers' solunar rating: good (a tradition).
It moves water — in the sea, in a lake's edge, and, by long tradition, in the sap of a plant. Fish feed hardest on the days around new and full.
- Worth watching
Wind
5 km/h now · 25 peak
Calm. Good for spraying, for transplanting, and for spotting a rise on flat water — but calm bright days push fish deep.
It pollinates corn and grasses, dries soil, breaks stems — and it decides where the bait, and therefore the fish, end up.
- Worth watching
Rain
10.8 mm / 7 days
10.8 mm across 2 days — short of the ~25 mm a week most beds want. Top up the thirstiest rows.
Sets the pace for everything: germination, fungal fruiting, slug nights, and how a river runs for the next three days.
- Working for you
Soil warmth
20.0 °C
Warm enough for beans, corn, squash, cucumber and transplanted tomato and pepper. Roots run hard at this temperature.
Seeds read soil temperature, not the calendar. Six centimetres down is where the decision gets made.
- Working for you
Day length
12h 31m
Gaining about 2 minutes of daylight a day. Every extra minute is growth you don't have to pay for.
The one thing weather can't change. Plants count photoperiod to decide when to bolt, bulb, flower and go dormant.
- Quiet right now
Frost
235 frost-free days
Typically Sep 15 to May 8 here. Coldest night in the next week: 11.6 °C.
The hard edge of the growing season. Ice inside a leaf ruptures its cells — one night ends a tomato and sweetens a parsnip.
Read and watch with your kids
All the books and videos for Bloemfontein →Stories about where you live
The fishing note for Bloemfontein, every week
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