Bass Digest/April, 2014
Age: 40
Hometown: Pietermaritazburg
Favourite Fishing Venue: Woodstock Dam
Personal Best: 5.1kg
Boat & Motor: Tornado - 300Hpdi Yamaha
Division Representing: Natal Midlands
Favourite U.S. Angler: Rick Clunn & Gerald Swindle
Sponsors: Yamaha, Diverse Industries, Fishtec,Tackle Warehouse
Bass Digest: Hi Brendon thanks for taking time out of your day to partake in our “KNOW YOUR PRO’S” article for Bass Digest. We hope to familiarise South African Bass Digest readers with our local pro’s
Bass Digest: Where & When did your passion for Bass Angling begin?
Brendon Van Zuydam: From around 6 years old
Bass Digest: What are your preparations leading up to an important tournament event?
Brendon Van Zuydam: Re-tying all rods, Sharpening every hook, Checking weather / dam levels, Checking boat trailer bearings, Keeping boat, vehicle & tackle maintenance up to scratch allows for less failure on the day. Of course, practicing the venue is always beneficial
Bass Digest: What has been your most recent tournament success?
Brendon Van Zuydam: Albert Falls Divisional 1st place
Bass Digest: All Anglers experience bad days on the water, days when things just don’t seem to go your way. Was there any point in the last season when this happened to you and what did you do to overcome this?
Brendon Van Zuydam: This occurs often during a season. You just have to slow down, try think out of the box, keep running different areas, not giving up until the dying moments, and just keep pushing
Bass Digest: Catching the heaviest 5 fish in every tournament is always the goal every angler hopes to achieve. What advice would you offer to any angler wishing to increase the size of fish they wish to catch?
Brendon Van Zuydam: A good trick is to upsize your baits, line size & hook size, so that if you do get one of those crucial big bites you are a lot more likely to execute
Bass Digest: What do you consider to be your primary fishing strengths & weaknesses on the water?
Brendon Van Zuydam: This is a difficult question for me to answer as I enjoy catching fish from drop shotting to pitching to cranking. I like to feed the fish whatever they are biting on, and enjoy doing it. One aspect I am lacking in is swim bait fishing
Bass Digest: Being such an accomplished angler already, where to from here for you? What are your aspirations & goals for the future?
Brendon Van Zuydam: Trying to achieve Wrangler Angler
Bass Digest: “What happens on tour stays on tour” but at Bass Digest we like to tell all. What is your funniest moment you can recall on tour?
Brendon Van Zuydam: There have been many. But one story sticks out in particular. It was a second day at a divisional at Goedetrouw. After weighing a 12kg bag the first day, the bite was slow on the second day, then I got a stong bite. I have only ever heard stories of rods being pulled out of guys hands. When I set the hook the rod loaded up and was pulled out of my hands. In my mind I thought it could be SA record Material. I could just see the rod butt sticking out of the water, as I lunged forward I just missed it. I had more shot, and as I went for it I fell off the front of the boat. Next I remember seeing the underside of my boat and thinking about the huge crocodiles the may have seen what had just happenend. Like a flash I was back on the boat. In my mind I was doing an assessment of the damages. I had lost my hat, my oakleys, my brand new shoes, rod & reel and of course most importantly the fish. So now I was a couple of grand short. I only came up with one shoe on. In my haste of leaving the boat, I saw my one shoe lying on the boat, so was relieved to find my shoe. Found my glasses and hat lying on the boat. I then crank baited with area to find my rod, but no luck. After 15 minutes I hood a good fish, as I was fighting it, I realized it was my lost rod I had hooked. I managed to grab to lost rod by the tip, turn it around, slacken the drag and fight this big fish, as I got it close to the boat I realized it wasn’t quite an SA record, but was around 4kg, which as I netted it came off. Never in my life have I had so many highs and lows in half an hour.