The SA Fly-fishing Association held its national championships along the wild and pristine banks of the Blyde River from May 1 to 4.

Zandri Strydom shines at Mankele

The competition was hosted by the Mpumalanga Fly-fishing Association and the 55 competitors from across South Africa were accommodated in Pilgrim’s Rest. Their skills were tested in five heats of three hours each. Five sectors stretched from just outside Pilgrim’s Rest towards Bourke’s Luck Potholes along more than 40 kilometres of riverbank.

Swimmers come home with a haul of medals

Altogether the fishermen caught and released 2 038 fish. The individual winner was Brett van Rensburg, who netted a total of 131 fish. He was a member of the Central Gauteng team, who also represented South Africa in the 2018 Commonwealth Championships.

“The competition was fantastic, it was well organised by Mpumalanga,” said Van Rensburg. “The venue is very different in that the rivers you’re fishing in are very wild. In my opinion, if you want wild fisheries, this ranks very high among what we’ve got in South Africa.”

In second place was Matthew Rich (Western Province), and Shaun Dickson (KwaZulu-Natal) took third place in the individual competition. Western Province was the winning provincial team, with KwaZulu-Natal and Central Gauteng taking second and third places respectively.

Weeks of hard work went into preparing for the competition – clearing paths through the dense brush, marking out the beats, and stocking the rivers with fish. The championships also provided employment, with local youth being trained and employed to serve as monitors on each of the 55 fishing beats.