Letaba Bassmasters held their annual prize-giving ceremony on Saturday evening at Maxims.
It was a time to bring together all the members of the club, enjoy an evening of socialising and great food whilst honouring the members of the club for their angling achievements over the past twelve months.
Wayne Kurten, Club Chairman and President of Limpopo and Master of Ceremonies for the evening, stressed the importance of gaining junior members.
At last week’s inter-provincial championship, the average age of the participating teams was late 30s to early 40s. Kurten acknowledged that this is a worrying trend for the sport and asked all members to be more proactive in encouraging junior members in the sport and allowing young members to gain experience from them by inviting them onto their boats.
In the juniors categories, young angler Zack Verster walked away with a plethora of awards including; Largest small-mouthed bass, largest large-mouthed bass, heaviest bag weighing 3.87 kg and Junior angler of the year. The second placed junior angler of the year went to Nathan Mulder.
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Three junior anglers also received a participation award; Tristan Varkevissor, Tyrone Kurten and Ame van Schalkwyk.
Along the female anglers, Michelle Kyriacoudes took home the trophy for ladies heaviest bag at a weight of 3.755 kg and ladies angler of the year. Tamara Hofmeyr took the runner-up position for ladies angler of the year. The Senior Largest Small-mouthed Bass trophy went to Barries Barnard whilst the Senior Largest Large-mouthed Bass trophy went to Hermann Becker. Renier Oosthuizen took home the Most Improved Angler of the Year award.
The crocodile award, an annual trophy given for the biggest blunder of the year, was received by Herman Bekker. With roars of laughter from fellow club members, Wayne Kurten presented the award with tongue-in cheek and shared the story of how Becker came to receive the award. During a cold day of fishing, Becker lost his rod to the water and without hesitation jumped in to retrieve it.
Third place men’s angler of the year went to Garth Kenney. Second place men’s angler of the year went to Alan Kenney whilst club member Justy Varkevisser scooped the first place title. Varkevisser, as South Africa’s number one and Protea Captain, also took home the Men’s Heaviest Bag trophy with a weight of 12.40 kg, Bassmaster of the year trophy and the big one, the angler of the year trophy too. Varkevisser scored a total of 600 points out of a possible 600!
Wayne Kurten, Club Chairman, received the award for the most dedicated angler of the year.
The whole club enjoyed a wonderful evening of festivities, laughter and delicious food, putting everyone on a high and spurring enthusiasm for the next season.
