Anglers’ patience yields results

Etienne and Felicity Carey, attributed their first-place finish to patience and persistence on the fishery that’s currently at 65,7 per cent of maximum capacity.

After a solid top-10 finish in the opening round at Kwena Dam in February, Team Imbongolo won their first tournament of the season with a five-fish limit of 6,305 kilograms.

They narrowed their fishing down to virtually one point and stuck with it all day. The Careys caught their limit drop-shotting a Zoom Super Fluke in sprayed grass colour in eight to 10 metres of water and secured R6 000 in winnings.

Their largest bass weighed 1,82 kilo-grams, which was not enough to secure the largest prize, which was won by Team Burn with a stocky bass of 1,985 kilograms which earned them a R1 000 Marine Components service voucher and a R1 000 Garmin discount voucher.

Imbongolo was followed by Burn (5,71 kilograms), Subaru Nelspruit in third (4,58 kilograms) and Thermocline (4,49 kilograms) and Focas completing the top five with 3,9 kilograms. Vygeboom’s bass seem to be on an upward slope.

The winning bag has been increasing for the past five tournaments, a sure sign that the quality of bass in the fishery is getting better and better.

The race is on. Two tournaments into the LBT season, the race for the Angler Team of the Year award is now well underway. Leading the pack are Thermocline who finished third in 2014, but not far behind are some of the usual suspects: Imbongolo, Ambassadors, and Hazyview Midas.

LBT rookies, Burn, have finished sixth and second in the opening rounds, and sit a mere 1,415 points off the lead.

The next round of the LBT will be held at Kwena Dam on Saturday April 9 as scheduled. For anybody wanting to compete, it will start promptly at 06:00, with the skippers meeting at 05:45. Registration opens at 05:00.

The committee has kindly requested that everyone please be on time as launching 40+ boats at any venue always takes a bit of time.

Take a second to prepare your boat before getting in the queue to launch. Loosen the boat and put in your plugs so you don’t keep everybody waiting.

• June 2014: Winning bag 2,945kg
• August 2014: Winning bag 4,355kg
• April 2015: Winning bag 5,150kg
• June 2015: Winning bag 5,200kg
• March 2016: Winning bag 6,305kg

• Biggest bass: Burn, 1,985kg – R1 000 Marine Components Service voucher and
R1 000 Garmin discount voucher
• Second: Thermocline, 1,935kg – R700 Wittus Angling voucher

Here are the top-10 from Vygeboom Dam, and what they took home:
1 Imbongolo: 13,305 points – R6 000 LBT
2 Burn: 12,71 – R2 000, venom lures and R1 000, LBT
3 Subarau Nelspruit: 11,58 – R2 000, NTT Barberton
4 Thermocline: 11,49 – R1 000 voucher, Angling & Outdoor World and R700 Itty’s Secret Baits hamper
5 Focas: 10,9 – two dashcams valued at R1 600, Midas
6 Bass Bangers: 10,79 – R700 Solly’s voucher and R600 Sakata Seed hamper
7 Midas Sport: 10,66 – dashcam valued at R800, Midas and R300 Solly’s voucher
8 Wicked Bass: 10,655 – R800 lure hamper, Mias Angling
9 Fisheagle: 10,615 – two coller boxes valued at R700, Midas
10 Go Far: 10,59 – two stainless steel flasks valued at R600, Midas.

Below are the top-10 as they stand after round two:
1 Thermocline – 23,65
2 Burn – 22,235
3 Imbongolo – 21,92
4 Ambassadors – 20,885
5 Hazyview Midas – 20,17
6 Hooked Again – 19,45
7 T&H – 19,17
8 Jaundre’s Plant Hire – 18,755
9 Bass Bangers – 18,195
10 Alligators – 18,06.