Fishing near Piet Retief, Mpumalanga

Piet Retief — now officially Mkhondo — sits in the south-eastern corner of Mpumalanga, surrounded by pine and wattle plantations on the edge of KwaZulu-Natal. The area's standout water is Heyshope Dam on the Assegaai River, about 30 km out of town: one of the largest dams in South Africa by shoreline and widely regarded as among the country's top largemouth bass fisheries. Beyond the dam, the Phongolo, Assegaai and several smaller rivers and streams around town give anglers access to yellowfish and other indigenous species on moving water.