Lowveld Bass Trail (LBT) hosted a special fundraising day at Klipkopjes Dam on January 14 and managed to raise R50 000.
It was a highly successful and beautiful day out at Klipkopjes, just outside White River.

Anglers from all over the Lowveld flocked to the dam for a day of fun and competition in good spirit. Before the sun could stick its head out, the boats were prepped and ready to be launched onto the water. The weather was sublime all day, and by 15:00, everyone was already off the water with a great day of fishing behind them.

While everyone is always a little competitive by nature, the aim of the day was never to win or be the best angler. Instead, it was all about raising as much money as possible to support the SAPS Diving Unit and the LBT Kurper Project.

The anglers and the SAPS Diving Unit have an important relationship in the area. Together they remove the nets poachers set up in dams to illegally catch fish. These nets predominantly catch bream, which is what the bass feed on. If there is no food source for the bass, it negatively impacts their growth, as well as the bass population.

A grand total of R50 000 was raised and collected on the day by LBT. Once any costs were settled, they were able to hand over R24 000 to the diving unit and another R24 000 to the LBT Kurper Project. Although it wasn’t the ultimate goal of the day, there were still winners crowned for their efforts.

The winners were:
• Longest fish (60cm): Charl Carey
• Second-longest fish (55cm): Martin van Wyk
• Ladies’ longest fish (33.5cm): Sjarne Alberts
• Ladies’ second-longest fish (27.5cm): Felicity Carey
• Overall winners for the day: Team Abassadors, Francois Nel and Martin van Wyk, five fish totalling 176cm
• Overall second place: Team Sakani, Jaco Jordaan and Stefan, five fish totalling 141cm
• Overall third place: Team Wicked Bass, Petrus and Sjarne Alberts, four fish totalling 114.5cm.