African Fishing
Union PRESIDENTS
TEST 2018
Congratulations to our victorious
Presidents Test team who came home
from Lake Mteri in Zimbabwe with the
magnificent winners trophy and their
heads held high!
Anglers from South Africa, Zimbabwe
and Namibia (Namibia’s first foray into
the Presidents Test) battled it out for
three days in difficult conditions. The
horrible cold front which hit South
Africa also reached Zim’s Lowveld area
– affecting the spawning patterns of the
Bass and forcing the anglers to rethink
their catching strategies.
Fish that usually spawn in 1 – 4 ft
shallows moved to areas between 6 –
20ft – proving to be a new challenge.
Our
Brand
Ambassador;
Charl
Engelbrecht, says he and his fishing
partner Stephan Britz, used the
Lowrance HDS Carbon 12 and 9 units
and an Elite 9 Ti, with BassCoZa
Historical Satellite Maps to find channel
edges and offshore rockpiles with trees
where pre-spawn fish could be found.
For the first time Charl also used the
brand-new Power-Pole Blade Shallow
Water Anchors which proved invaluable
in the heavy winds. “We were able to
secure our boat on the spot quickly and
silently (without having to fight with a
trolling motor) and we could fish slower
with more accurate casting. The Power-
Pole Shallow Water Anchors are truly
Swift. Silent. Secure.”
Each of the three nations taking part in
this annual tournament featured six boats
in a team with two anglers per boat. The
five fish limit per boat per day protected
the fish and was rated at 0.5 points per
fish and one point per kilogram. 225 Fish
were caught over during the tournament
averaging 1.910kg.
Congratulations to Greg Schluep and
Jonathon Schroder for taking top boat
weighing a three-day bag of 15 fish for
37kg. That’s an average of just under
2.5kg per fish! This bag included Greg’s
big fish of the tournament - a fish of
4.58kg.
Charl says, “The Presidents Test was
absolutely AMAZING! What an honour
to represent my country and the South
African Bass Angling Association! Thank
you and congratulations to my fellow
team members, sponsors, supporters
and competitors who took part and
helped us fish in this prestigious event!”
He added that Mike Steyn and Pierre
van der Merwe’s management was on
another level!