Bass Digest caught up with Allen at Boskop Dam to learn a bit more about him and how he approaches any venue he plans to fish. This is what he had to say ……….
Hi Allen, thanks for taking time out to chat to us. Tell us a bit about yourself …….
I grew up in Roodepoort, went to Westridge High, and finished in the Class of ’88. I am married with 2 boys, aged 4 and 8. I hope they enjoy fishing as much as I do so that I can enjoy it with them in years to come. Justin, the 4-year old, loves fishing in the pool already, so there’s hope already.
I own a refrigeration and air-conditioning company, based in the West Rand of JHB. For fun I go bass fishing
Do you belong to a fishing club?
I belong to Malachite Bass Masters. Some serious bass fishermen in that club!
How long have you been bass fishing? How did you get into it? Tell us a bit about those early days ……..
I started fishing for bass in 2007. My first outing was to Klerkskraal Dam on a rubber duck. I blanked 10 times in a row there without ever catching a fish. I’ve always been a competitive guy so I persisted and eventually on the 11th attempt I got a bass, and that’s when the bass bug REALLY bit me.
A friend of mine, Richard de Souza, who at that stage was also new to bass fishing, and I then decided to buy a boat together from a friend of ours. It was a Barbados hull with 115hp on it. The very next day (Saturday), saw us entering our very first bass fishing tournament at Bronkhorstspruit Dam – the BETT. I’ll never forget it – I launched Richard and the boat, and he had no idea how to use a trolling motor. It was quite hilarious (chuckling). He didn’t even know how to deploy the motor, let alone switch the thing on.
Eventually he got the motor into the water. Then he sat there with the foot control in his hand trying to figure out which way the motor turned. Anyway he eventually
BASSING ESCAPADES
Bass Digest/January, 2014
ALLAN BAKER