Situated in the heart of the Vredefort Dome this unique private fishermans getaway destination named Erkhamka (Hebrew for "I will love you") lies waiting...

Nestled in between the peaceful Vredefort hills with its vast abundance of wild life this destination resembles nothing but exceptional tranquility and nature at its best. The Vaal River in this part of the country is beautiful in every way but for anglers its an absolute Mecca - the fishing is nothing short of sublime and the accommodation and facilities at Erkhamka is top class!

How to get there

From the town of Parys travel on the R59 towards Vredefort. After reaching Vredefort keep on the R59 and look out for a crossing where you can turn into Vredefort on the left and onto the "S80" gravel road on the right. Turn right onto the S80 gravel road. This gravel road will lead towards the hills and will take you to Erkhamka but its best to check on Google Maps before you go (see link at the bottom of this page) to guide you exactly to where you need to be. You can also take the Dimalachite turn off just outside Parys and follow Google Maps from there. Erkhamka is situated on the Free State side of the Vaal River. 

Entry and Info

This venue is very private and strict and bookings are essential! Please make sure to book in advance and follow the booking procedure to gain access. Also please read the rules as this venue is not the place for wild parties and foul behaviour. Use contact details below for tariffs, bookings and rules:

Felicity de Hart

Satellite Phone:  +27 87 809 2694

Cellular phone: +27 83 287 7498/+27 79 446 4541

E-mail: info@erkhamka.org.za; mishkan@erkhamka.org.za

Websites:  www.erkhamka.org.za  & www.mishkan.co.za

Fishing

The fishing at Erkhamka is amazing to say the least, and with enough space to host 4 anglers with two rods each you can be sure that it will be a fun-filled adventure shared with friends or family.

The bank was purposely built to make your experience more enjoyable with steps down towards the water and a safe area to land fish from near the water's edge (no high banks!). The site is properly lighted so night fishing is also no hassle. 

Under the surface the steep embankment right at the edge of the water drops into 1.8m depth and gradually slopes down where at about 15m the first shelve ends and the 2nd drop-off occurs. At about 20m from the bank the water is roughly 4m deep and gradually slopes down the further you go out with a depth of +- 4,7m in the middle of the river. This variance in depth gives the angler plenty of options and areas to fish and the fish can often be caught under your toes literally only a couple of meters from the bank making it ideal for the whole family especially kids.

Dont be fooled into thinking that its small fish either as some of the biggest carps have been caught very close to the bank on basically an underarm cast length out.  (Imagine the sports you'll have fighting a river carp on a short 6-8ft rod!)

The best baits for carp and mudfish are definitely particles as feed and a soft mealie bomb on a sliding Rietvlei type trace with a single hook only. Its better to fish for these hard fighting river fish with single hook traces as theres no 2nd hook that can get snagged. Soft yellow gumtree floaties and gumtree mielies work very well as hook baits. 

For the catfish use fish heads from small carp or grasscarp - this is by far the best bait and make sure to use adequate traces, hooks, swivels and line as these monsters will break you in the blink of an eye. We recommend strong main line like Ion Power S/R fluoro 10lbs with a 20lbs leader or Double X Platinum Plus .34mm straight through as its a hard robust line that will deal with the pressure of these river monsters exceptionally well.

*A special thanks to Marnus Barnard for the photos and info.

Dips for Erkhamka

• Gumtree
• Fx
• Banjo
• Quatro
• Peach
• Tjop-Tjop
• Tracer

Map