The second annual Stilbaai kayak fishing classic has been concluded. Eugene from Geared for life really did an awesome job getting this event together, congratulations and THANK YOU! Over the two days of the comp the 53 anglers were able to submit in excess of 200 fish within the minimus sizes allowed in the comp for points.
The evening before the comp most of the guys got together at Stables in Stilbaai for the event briefing and a Q & A offered some of the locals. It was our last chance to gather some local knowledge before we hit the water the next morning. Loads of valuable info shared, cheers to the friendly locals for willingly sharing your knowledge!
Saturday morning the gang was ready for us from 4:30 already, with no hassles at all we collected our safety tag and headed out to the harbour launch. The only thing that stood against us was a bit of wind and some skop in the water. The locals showed their bravery and without hesitation hit the water. Majority of the visitors, unfamiliar with the local waters opted for the opportunity to go try out the river and catch some of the species on offer.
The day turned out surprisingly rewarding for the guys who went out to sea, with a couple of quota’s made on the day (Bonnies). Loads of war stories also accompanied the day with sharks breaking rod holders and a couple of guys who went swimming due to the skop in the water.
The river guys wasn’t able to produce the goods on the day but most didn’t go home with nothing caught. The battle was to catch something that fits the minimum size requirements for points. We were allowed to fish until 5pm which allowed ample time on Saturday. Tip: for future Stilbaai river fishing, as the tide turns and starts to come in most of the guys started getting some fish after really struggling from early on.
Sunday morning came and presented us with the perfect day on the water. With a slight breeze to no wind and early morning sunshine every man and his dog headed out to sea.
With your bum still settling in and way before you could even get into a rhythm the fish started coming in. From Elf to Mackerel and a bit further out Bonnies were found everywhere. Loads of guys quickly managed to get their quota with the odd legal size Elf. Couple of guys targeted some bottoms with some nice size Roman that came out. One of the locals (Alan) upped the game a bit and got creative, there were bonus points for species and also the largest fish prize. Alan visited his secret Cob spot and managed to get a couple of decent Cob for the day. Also the winning fish for the biggest fish category.
Sunday weigh in closed at 12 to give us all enough time to settle the prize giving and make our way home. Like with most events it wasn’t just the winners who got absolutely fantastic prizes but also some amazing lucky draw prizes were up for grabs. Including an awesome Backline kayak worth R15000. Well done you lucky bugger Juan for taking that one!
To close off the final results:
Overall Winners:
1 – Alex Liebenberg
2 – Tommie Kruger
3 – Tim Maree
Biggest Fish:
1 – Alan Neate
2 – Donovan Wichmann
3 – Casper Theron
Again thank you to everyone who participated and made this a fun event. And again thanks to the organisers for doing an amazing job! We are looking forward to an even bigger 2021 event!