Thermocline bags the win at LBT final

Conditions set up perfectly and, as teams raced off to their various starting locations, they found a rather pleasant morning bite to fill their limits.

October 12, 2019

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The top 21 teams of the Lowveld Bass Trail were invited and hosted at an all-weekend fishing shoot-out to crown the 2019 champions at Driekoppies Dam this past weekend.
In the end, after eight legs of the competition, it was team Thermocline which took the 2019 champions title.
This team has dominated the 2019 angling season from the get-go and never seemed to give anyone a gap to catch up.
Pre-fishing sessions at Driekoppies delivered good-sized bags consistently. Anglers were well aware that a solid five-fish limit would be required on the first day, to survive and stand a chance of claiming top honours.

Conditions set up perfectly and, as teams raced off to their various starting locations, they found a rather pleasant morning bite to fill their limits. The wind picked up throughout the morning and many teams managed to cull up their bags targeting the vegetated shorelines.
Fishing for the day turned out very well, with team Supa Fly finishing their day at 12:00, already having weighed in a massive 12,96 kilogram bag that included the biggest fish of day one. The fish weighed 3,57 kilograms, which is also a new personal best for Charles Kerridge.

This bag broke the record for the heaviest bag weight in LBT history. A truly blessed day for the team to have put such a bag together on the first day of their first finals.

Other teams also had success with another six teams managing to weigh in a bag in excess of nine kilograms. Team Extreme fishing tackle was in second after the first day with a bag of 9,87 kilograms, closely followed by team Salmo & Nichols in third place with a 9,6 kilogram bag. Frank Gottschalk weighed in the second biggest fish on the day at 3,29 kilograms and had them sitting in fifth place after day one. Unfortunately, three teams had to be disqualified for day one as they failed to have their tags on the tag board by the 16:00 deadline.

But if there is one thing for certain about this sport, it is that conditions and fishing can change in the blink of an eye. Day two presented the teams with calm, slick conditions during the morning and a wind that had decided to change direction. Changing conditions and fishing pressure from the first day made fishing tough for the teams and it was a grind all the way to the 14:00 weigh-in to cull up the bags.

The fishing improved slightly later in the day as the wind picked up, but teams that targeted new areas and covered waters managed to put together quality bags. Gottschalk made the most of the second day and again weighed in their kicker fish at 3,715 kilograms during the late morning as they put together the biggest bag of day two at 9,365 kilograms. This also ended up being the biggest fish of the event. Day one leaders, Supa Fly, struggled to find quality fish as they saw their lead slip away during the final weigh-in.

And as the standings started to shuffle during the final weigh-in, Thermocline weighed in a very consistent 9,3 kilogram bag to take the lead and the 2019 Champions title.

During the final, only 208 fish were weighed in over the two days, with a total weight of 268,6 kilograms and a per fish average of 1,291 kilogram. A total of 40 (95,24 per cent) limits were weighed in. The LBT is fortunate to play a big part in the Super Final.
Congratulations from the entire LBT field and organisers goes to Thermocline on a well-deserved victory and setting the bar very high for 2020.

The LBT trusts that these 18 teams that offer amazing talent will be a force to reckon with during the 2019 Super Final. The LBT has a score to settle with the Gauteng Trail after having placed second during 2017 and 2018.

The teams invited to the Super Final are as follows
• Log #1 Thermocline
• Log #2 Bucket Mouth
• Log #3 Extreme Fishing Tackle
• Log #4 Legend
• Log #5 Venom Lures Lowveld
• Log #6 Bass Wizzard
• Log #7 Dominate
• Log #8 Nuts for Fishing
• Log #9 Ambassadors
• Log #10 Imbongolo
• Log #11 5 Limit
• Log #12 Wittus Angling
• Log #13 Salmo and Nichols
• Log #14 Tripwired Bill Lewis
• Log #15 Awol
• Log #16 Supa Fly
• Finals top performer #1 Rapala
• Finals top performer #2 Pleasure Pink