FLW South Africa recently hosted the first FLW South Africa Championship at the Vaal River near Vanderbijlpark, where 100 of the best local bass anglers competed for the country’s first bids in the Costa FLW Series Championship.
The tournament was held over three days but kicked off with registration and a pre-tournament meeting where tournament officials were introduced and each sponsor was thanked for its valuable assistance. The tournament rules and procedures were explained, and all questions were answered.
Every morning the boats were lined up and ready for the start at 7 a.m. Master of ceremonies John Badenhorst kept the anglers informed and entertained. The tournament was also covered live on social media so families and friends could stay updated.
Although everything seemed to be relaxed, the anglers were anxious to get a kicker on the scale. Pretending to be all-OK, their nerves were shot. It’s winter in the southern hemisphere, and winter fishing is tough on the Vaal. A good bag on any day is just what everybody needed to get a head start on the rest of the teams. At 7:30 the boats were pushed off for an orderly start, and many teams decided to race downstream toward their honey holes.
The weather was great and not as cold as expected to be this time of year. Unfortunately, pre-frontal conditions played havoc, and the anglers had to fight consistent winds.
Back at the weigh station our tournament weighmaster John Bulpitt made sure that no short or dead fish were weighed. Bulpitt is a legend in the bass fraternity and was the very first angler to represent South Africa in the United States.
Michael Matthee and Wayne Louw took the day-one lead with a five-fish bag of 6.23kg (about 13.7 pounds), followed by Frans Swanepoel and Lesley Montgomery with 5.435kg (11.9 pounds).
Day two also turned out to be difficult, and nervous anglers drove up and down the river looking for hidden spots. There was a somber atmosphere at the weigh station when some teams realized that they had two bad days in a row, making it impossible to win. The leaders of day one dropped to sixth place, while Justy Varkevisser and Greg Schluep took the lead with a bag of five fish weighing 3.98kg (8.7 pounds). The Ras brothers, Johan and Herman, came back from nowhere into second place with a total bag of 3.745kg (8.2 pounds).
Day three was the tiebreaker, and some teams still hadn’t figured out a pattern to outsmart five fish. Hennie Schoeman and Ruan Wahl had the best day with four fish weighing 4.04kg (8.9 pounds), followed by Neels Beneke, who fished the tournament alone. Beneke had a great bag on day one, but something went wrong on day two and he couldn’t weigh a single fish. On day three he retaliated by weighing a three-fish bag of 3.96kg (8.7 pounds). On his tail were Justy Varkevisser and Greg Schluep with a five-fish bag of 3.905kg (8.6 pounds).
The scores of day three were kept secret before heading to the Kilimanjaro Hall at Emerald Resort & Casino, where the ceremony was well attended. After lucky draw prizes were handed out, the winning teams from the regions of Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Western Cape received their Grand Prix trophies.
In the end, Matthee and Louw were crowned the first FLW South Africa Champions with their tournament total of 11.56kg (25.4 pounds), followed by Varkevisser and Schluep in the runner-up spot with 9.815kg (21.6 pounds).
The top 10 FLW South Africa Championship teams received prizes, certificates and trophies.
1: Michael Matthee & Wayne Louw – 10 fish – 11.56kg
2: Justy Varkevisser & Greg Schluep – 13 fish – 9.815kg
3: Richard Dunn & Henry Peterson – 10 fish – 9.02kg
4: Neels Beneke & Robert Olivier – 7 fish – 8.795kg
5: Frans Swanepoel & Lesley Montgomery – 9 fish – 8.405kg
6: John Wickham & Tristan Wickham – 10 fish – 7.745kg
7: Joao Mendes & Bennie Wiese – 8 fish – 7.415kg
8: Hennie Schoeman & Ruan Wahl – 9 fish – 7.39kg
9: Johan Ras & Herman Ras – 9 fish – 7.05kg
10: Ian van Rooyen & Harold Venter – 8 fish – 6.98kg
At the championship, FLW South Africa also announced its four “ambassadors” who will compete against the best anglers from the United States, Canada, China, Mexico and South Korea at the Costa FLW Series Championship on Kentucky Lake in November. The list includes:
Skipper: Michael Matthee
Skipper: Justy Varkevisser
Co-angler: Wayne Louw
Co-angler: Henry Petersen