The Gys Pitzer Winter Classic – a First of its Kind!

WORDS: Werner Lubbe | PHOTOS: Jessica de Villiers & Anel Riekert The middle of winter is rarely an opportune time to go camping, but for almost 400 anglers, it was the challenge that kicked in the adrenaline rush. 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 4x4 skills were needed in places to get everybody in and out. But, knowing anglers, it was all part of the fun! With the water level that subsided significantly, the thick sand and sub-surface mud posed a few challenges. Having long recovery straps at hand made life easier for a few. 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. What a magnificent table of prizes – worth in total more than R575000. Gys Pitzer, officially opening the competition and thanking all involved. Eugene Kruger from Pro Carp, assisting anglers to register on the app. Pro Carp ran the official leaderboard of the tournament on the three largest carp. Ruan Erasmus, who manages the water bookings at Knoppiesfontein, in discussion with Werner Lubbe of For Anglers. They were responsible to peg the water. Super Cast was the official bait sponsor for the competition. 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. The weighing teams from The Bank Angler, assisting with registration. Anel Riekert and Annetjie Lubbe of For Anglers administering a smooth and painless registration process. The map with the zone placements were put up for all to see. Medical service is an important part of the set up. Here Adolf van Wyngaard from Orion Medical Services explains what to do in an emergency. Awaiting the draw – excitement and anticipation! 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. The sunset in the west painted a pretty picture – a Hilux in the foreground just framed it perfectly! 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. The sunrise in the morning brought hope for a day where the winning fish could be caught. 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' -9oC! 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! Cold is cold, and the Vaal Dam did not disappoint. 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 Alliance Fuel dedicated a large sum of money towards prizes specifically for the junior anglers. Here every kid in the room received some tackle. Team Natal – 2nd Zone A winners. Team Bite Me – 2nd Zone B winners. A midweek holiday at Manaba made possible by Die Hengelvriend. Team SRA – 2nd Zone C winners. Team Xco Group – 2nd Zone D winners. Team Lunker Legends won R10 000 sponsored by Alliance Fuel – Zone A winners. ZW Auto Sales sponsored R10 000 for the winners of Zone B – Team Legends Pro Angling. The team Jaykin Engineering won the EFC sponsored R10 000 prize – Zone C winners. Zone D's winners of the R10 000 prize, sponsored by TINFIX, went to Papgooi of Niks. RESULTS The winners in the biggest barbel category Harry van Vuuren1.13016.5kVa GeneratorJeandre Kok0.8342Savanna Game Lodge: Dag-jag 2 rooibok-ooie 2 persone 1 nag oorslaap.Wessel Potgieter0.6753Poseidon Excocet Carp Rod 12' Daiwa Black Widow 5000 BR SIGLON S/NATURAL 300M 10LB HI-VIS YELLOW 10LB 0.260MM NYLON DAIWA TOURN .37/20LB 0.37MM 920M Frans Willem Olivier0.5504KORDA DIGITAL SCALE 132LB 60KG KSCDJaco du Toit0.4645Battery Centre - BatteryGerrie Snyman0.4426Laumar Electricity - Solar Panel The winners in the biggest muddy category Roelof Smith1.0281InvertorChristopher Marais0.9722Hi-Q Gezinas in-Shop Voucher Camp Big Boy Camo 50w Solar Floodlight Power Thinus vd Merwe0.9463Poseidon Excocet Carp Rod 12' Daiwa Black Widow 5000 BR SIGLON S/NATURAL 300M 10LB HI-VIS YELLOW 10LB 0.260MM NYLON DAIWA TOURN .37/20LB 0.37MM 920M Martin de Bruto0.9394ROD PSD CARP MARKSMAN MK11 12FT 3.50LB CAST WT 50-120G Daiwa Black Widow 5000 BR SIGLON S/NATURAL 300M 10LB HI-VIS YELLOW 10LB 0.260MMShawn Parson0.9005Battery Centre - BatteryChris Pretorius0.8606Laumar Electricity - Solar Panel The winners in the biggest grass carp category Johan Muller3.05616.5kVa GeneratorTobie vd Heever2.3812Castle de Wildt Dag-jag 2 rooibok-ooie 2 persone 1 nag oorslaap by Kranskop Game LodgeRuan Colyn2.3533Poseidon Excocet Carp Rod 12' Daiwa Black Widow 5000 BR SIGLON S/NATURAL 300M 10LB HI-VIS YELLOW 10LB 0.260MM NYLON DAIWA TOURN .37/20LB 0.37MM 920M Nickie Hattingh2.3464KORDA DIGITAL SCALE 132LB 60KG KSCDCT Koekemoer2.2575Battery Centre - BatteryCarel Mattheus0.9276Laumar Electricity - Solar Panel 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: Feeding sweetcorn, normal popcorn feed. Normal bank angling, distances from 110-130m. Sliding Rietvlei trace – #2 & 3 hooks. Plain, no dips. Single, plain floatie on the hook (white or yellow). https://youtu.be/71XWnMk1ltA 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. https://youtu.be/tT1540Rwui0 Second Zone winner – Team SRA: 55m distance, water depth 5m. Soft aniseed floatie or two, long dough with a drop of aniseed on bomb. Single hook Rietvlei trace – #2 hook. Fed with some particles containing hemp, maize and tigernuts. Most productive tempo – 1-2 hours. Sandy bottom. https://youtu.be/hDl5WpvU_qA AND MORE WINNERS Team Last Minute Carp Anglers won R45 000 for the overall 3rd place. The Killers, in 4th place, won R35 000. Overall 5th place winners, Team Gooi Mielies won R27 000. The prize money of R17 500 went to GPM Shimano for the overall 6th place. 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.

The Gys Pitzer Winter Classic – a First of its Kind!

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