Age: 49
Hometown: Hillcrest Kwa-zulu Natal
Favourite Fishing Venue: No Favourite in particular. I do enjoy fishing new venues though
Personal Best: 5.47kg
Boat & Motor: Rebel with a 115 Yamaha
Division Representing: Natal
Favourite U.S. Angler: Jimmy Houston
Sponsors: Yamaha & Pure Fishing
Bass Digest: Hi Kieron 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. Firstly congratulations on your amazing achievement of Captaining the Protea team and representing South Africa at the world champs in Cordoba Spain, where you managed to finish in second place.
Kieron Samkin: Thanks Bass Digest. It is an honour to be featured in your magazine.
Bass Digest: So tell us where & when did your passion for Bass Angling begin?
Kieron Samkin: Growing up in Richmond KZN I used to fish for bass in the local dams as a kid. This sowed the seed and the passion has just grown. Hugh Christie introduced me to competitive bass fishing and I’d like to thank him for that. I enjoy being on the water at every opportunity afforded to me.
Bass Digest: Representing one's country and making the Protea team is an amazing feat. Please can you briefly explain to our readers, what this involves in order to achieve this.
Kieron Samkin: An angler has to first join a club affiliated to SABAA. There are 5 Divisions within SABAA and one has to qualify as one of the top 10 anglers within your Division. If you qualify you are given the opportunity to compete at the National Championships. One must first obtain a berth in the Presidents team before being eligible for Protea Colours. To obtain Protea colours one needs to compete at Nationals for 3 years, the first year anglers obtain their ranking, the following year Presidents colours and the third year depending on their seedings can be eligible for the Protea team. Scoring is worked on 60% of the current year’s position and 40% of the best year’s history from the prior 2 consecutive years finishing.
Bass Digest: Commitment and consistency plays a vital role in any sport to ensure one is always on top of their game. What would you say has been the key to your success in performing consistently for so many years?
Kieron Samkin: Being able to practice, fishing new venues, learning and mastering new techniques, trying out different baits, fishing with different anglers and learning from them are all key to staying in the game.
Bass Digest: Preparation for the tournaments is just as vital. What steps do you take leading up to any event to ensure you are ready?
Kieron Samkin: I practise the venue when possible, but if I can’t fish the actual venue I’ll fish locally which allows me to try out my various rigs, fine tuning different styles. I prepare my boat and tackle in advance and ensure everything is in order, sometimes spending hours in the garage just tying up, re-spooling and charging batteries.
Bass Digest: What do you consider to be your primary fishing strengths & weaknesses on the water?
Kieron Samkin: My strengths are power fishing. I love my top water fishing but am just as comfortable pitching or throwing a weightless rig. My favourite fish to catch are suspended in timber. My weakness is drop-shotting. I seldom, if ever use a drop shot rig. I have no spinning tackle on my boat as I really don’t enjoy this style of fishing.
Bass Digest/February, 2014