Twenty anglers were invited on the basis of their three year angling ratings from both the Senior and Masters Divisions to join us for trials in Saldahna Bay. We chose the West Coast to fish the trials as the World Angling Championships will be fished in the same area in November 2010. All the arrangements were kindly planned and arranged by Pierre du Preez, SASAA Secretary. The officials and invited anglers stayed in two houses in Jacobs Bay, just north of Saldahna Bay.
The Rock & Surf International between South Africa and Namibia was held in Port Elizabeth in mid December 2009, hosted by the Eastern Province Shore Angling Association and based at the lovely Pine Lodge Resort.
FREE DAY
The day prior to the competition was a free day for all the teams and the anglers made final preparations to their tackle making sure that all was in 100% condition, while on the other hand the management debated the areas to be fished and tactics to be applied for the forthcoming tournament.
In one of the most closely contested Nationals of recent years, Southern Cape showed remarkable character and skill in recovering from what must have been a disappointing first two days to claim a dramatic victory in this year's Senior A Nationals hosted by Border.
After the first day's fishing Southern Cape was placed 8th overall, and by the end of day 2 they had slipped to a disappointing 9th overall. From there it surely must have seemed an unassailable task for captain Steven Denny's men to even get into the top 3.
The vision of South African Angling is to actively promote and grow the Sport of Shore Angling in South Africa and the World. The manner in which such vision is to be activated is by creating equal opportunities for all race and gender as is envisaged in the objectives of the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC). Further enhancing such vision will be the creating and regulating of regular Amateur Tournaments / Championships both in South Africa and abroad to sharpen and enhance the skills of the anglers, thus taking the Sport of Shore Angling to a higher level.
In one of the most closely contested Nationals of recent years, Southern Cape showed remarkable character and skill in recovering from what must have been a disappointing first two days to claim a dramatic victory in this year's Senior A Nationals hosted by Border.