R’fontein fishermen off to France
'It's so exciting, yet incredibly stressful. I'll catch fish for a living, I swear.'
Johan Potgieter, a local fishing enthusiast, hit the carp fishing jackpot when he and his brother, Divan, won the South African Carp Masters’ Championships held in June.
They will now take part in the World Carp Masters’ Championship, which will be held at Lac Du Der in France, between 10 and 17 September. They jet out of South Africa on 7 September. The brothers qualified after having caught almost 100kg of carp between them during the national competition.
Johan said they led the competition from the start and had 30kg more carp more than the other competitors on Day 2.
“On Day 3, we caught a beautiful carp.
It had a huge round belly, but it missed the qualifying weight by 0,001kg – and we didn’t catch anything else the whole day long.”
He explained that fishing is a very tricky business, especially carp fishing. “One wrong move in the competition and you could be three fish behind,” Johan said.
They were neck-and-neck with other competitors on the last day, but managed to catch the winning carp just before the competition ended. It was their first time competing in this competition, and they’re astounded that they were able to win on their first try.
About his love for fishing, Johan said, “It’s so exciting, yet incredibly stressful. I’ll catch fish for a living, I swear. I want to be like those guys on TV with their fishing shows.”
Talking about the major challenge they face in France, Johan said there are two people per team, and four teams of South Africans who have qualified to take part. He is said to be the youngest participant from South Africa.
The duo is appealing to the community to help them with funds for this great endeavour. “It’s such a great honour to represent South African fisherman, but it is still very expensive,” Johan said.
Anyone who would like to make a donation can contact Johan on 079 045 7580.
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