Gys Pitzer Winter Classic 2024 – A First of its Kind!

The possibility of walking away with R100 000 cash for the heaviest bag of three carp appealed to the angler deep inside every person who chose to enter this year’s Gys Pitzer Winter Classic during the cold winter.

After months of preparation, measuring of banks, monitoring of the water levels and negotiations with farmers, the day finally arrived. Pegging the water and ensuring that the zones were as fair as possible, the organisers had to measure, peg, revisit, revise and redo a few times. After a lengthy process the job was done and the games could begin.

Knoppiesfontein played host to the 96 teams of four, and almost 7km of water was pegged. Each peg consisted of 40m in which the anglers had to fish, with 10-20 metres in between. The water depth varied and the distance from the old river bed played a role. Zone A was the shallower area, with Zone D right in the river, close to the steel bridge from Oranjeville. The sandy (and muddy in places) bank made it a bit of a challenge to get to the pegs safely. Some serious 4×4 skills were needed in places to get everybody in and out. But, knowing anglers, it was all part of the fun!

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So on Friday, 19 July, it looked like the Groot Trek all coming together at The Herberg Hotel in Oranjeville for the peg draw. It was an interesting process as the organisers allowed family and friends to draw adjacent pegs, to a maximum of three pegs. This allowed some youngsters to fish independently but under the watchful eye of their parents. The friendly staff at The Herberg treated all the anglers with boerewors rolls, coffee and other refreshments, while the process was facilitated by the For Anglers Digital Platform team who managed the competition on behalf of Gys Pitzer Motoring. The stage was packed with all the prizes, trophies and cheques to be won on the weekend-long competition. 

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The main prize of R100 000 was to be awarded to the team with the heaviest three carp, aggregated weight. Prizes going down the rankings were R60 000, R45 000, R35 000, R27 500 and R17 500, in total R325 000. To bring winning a prize within the reach of all the anglers, there were also individual prizes for three different species – barbel, mudfish and grass carp. 

At 15:00 on Friday the fun started, and everybody could start fishing. What made this competition unique is the fact that there were basically no rules – anglers could employ any method of fishing and feeding, with only two very important exceptions, namely they could only use a maximum of eight rods for four anglers on a peg, and only casting from the bank was allowed. This opened up many skillsets and opportunities for all to employ, and every angler could really live out his/her passion. 

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The nights were cold and the wood fires kept burning all night to keep the blood flowing. It was a slow game and patience was definitely a virtue! Finding the right distance, bait and tempo, certainly stretched the minds of every angler and made them think out of the box. The fact that there was a total of R250 000 worth of product prizes for the additional species categories, made the decision of what to target a bit more complex and it became a balancing act for most pegs. The teams who got it right started getting the carp on a regular basis. Soon it became a story of a few bonus fish making the difference. Carp in the region of 3,5kg was the norm and one or two fish in the 4,8-5,5kg class made a massive difference. 

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There were a few weighing sessions per day and after every weigh-in the leaderboards were updated. The carp leaderboard was administered by the Pro Carp application, and the species leaderboard was done by For Anglers on www.foranglers.co.za and after each weigh-in, everybody was eager to see how the teams had moved. During a competition like this, where a lot of money is at stake, it is critical that the weights are correct to the gram on the scales that were supplied, calibrated and certified by Adam Weighing Equipment.

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On the Sunday morning we got to the water as the moon set and the sun rose at exactly the same time with the thermometer measuring a ‘fresh’ -9^oC! The last live broadcast took place at the Super Cast peg, the tournament’s bait sponsor, where Schalk van Breda commented wryly that a few more minutes under the blankets in his Conqueror caravan would be more welcome than standing in the cold waiting for the last possibility of a bumper fish!

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During the final weigh-in, quite a few teams moved up and down the leaderboard, but the winners of the species competition for muddies and grass carp remained the same. The last night however delivered the winning barbel.

The prizegiving was the highlight of course, with more than half a million rands worth of prizes being awarded. All the cash prizes went for the carp, whereas all the product prizes went for the largest species. However, there were enough product prizes to give to every single angler that caught any of the three designated species.

WINNERS

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RESULTS

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A few learning points were revealed during the interviews with the various winners. Click on the link to watch the interviews.

Main prize winners – Team Fantastic Four:

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Second place – Team Wafters:

• Minimum casting distance – 150m.
• Sliding Rietvlei trace.
• Single mealie pip – Gumtree, Black Widow or Tjop-Tjop (night time).
• Single floatie with a garlic/almond dough (day time).
• Loose sweetcorn and cooked crushed maize in the feed.
• 1½ -3 hours waiting time.

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Second Zone winner – Team SRA:

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AND MORE WINNERS

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The day was concluded by Gys Pitzer himself, with the promise that the event will surely be held again next year. The farm owner, Michael de Klerk confirmed their involvement and The Herberg will surely be the host for the functions again. Schalk van Breda from Super Cast confirmed that they will be the bait sponsor again.

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