Hoedspruit’s own Quinton Coetzee caught the smallest fish and the second largest fish at the Northern Small Craft Bass League fishing competition at the Tzaneen Dam on Saturday. “The competition saw twenty anglers battling it out for the top spot and some anglers had to do well in order to move up on the leaderboard to qualify for next year’s national competition,” said chairman of the league, Derick de Bruyn. De Bruyn caught the biggest bass on the day, measuring 51.5cm.

Henko Austin caught a 44cm bass to take third prize and Clinton Ferreira took fourth place with a catch measuring 42cm. Jacques Louw took fifth place with a catch measuring 36cm. “The fishing proved to be a bit tougher than expected but most anglers managed to catch a limit of five fish for the day.

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Most of the scores were close as there was plentiful smallish fish to be caught but it took a couple of kicker fish to secure a place in the top five,” said De Bruyn. The winners are calculated according to the length of their five longest fish. Anglers carry a measuring trough and take pictures of the fish placed on the trough to determine the length.

Anglers submit their best five fish at the end of the event. “We are really blessed with amazing sponsors, and at every prizegiving, we managed to hand out incredible prizes to our best anglers,” says De Bruyn. The Northern Small Craft Bass League had their eighth and final league competition of the 2023 season, but the organisers are excited to announce that they will present another competition paired with their year-end prizegiving at Klaserie Dam on September 2.

“We aim to focus on charity at the Klaserie Dam competition and anglers are requested to bring nonperishable food items to distribute to local charities,” said De Bruyn. “Everyone is welcome to join us for this event, even if you do not fish with us throughout the year. All you need is a boat, kickboat or kayak smaller than 4.2m and you are set to go. Only electronic trawling motors under 70 pounds or oars are allowed,” he said.

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The entry fee for to compete is R200 and two nonperishable items for charity. The captain’s meeting starts at 06:00 and tags will be drawn as it will be a team format. The competition starts at 06:30 and ends at 15:00 followed by the prize giving. Gate fees at Klaserie Dam are R20 per vehicle, R60 per motorised boat, R20 per nonmotorised boat, R60 per adult, and R30 for children under 12 years.

Arrangements to enter must be made with André, the manager, directly via WhatsApp at 084 701 3563. Anyone who wants to make a donation to the cause can drop off nonperishable food items at Izit Sports in Hoedspruit or Boulevard Cycles in Tzaneen. For more information on the Klaserie Dam charity competition or to join the Small Craft Bass League next season, contact De Bruyn at 083 605 6512, Clinton Ferreira at 076 859 1576, or Adriaan Joubert at 076 736 8547.