Age: 42
Hometown: Cramond KZN
Favourite Fishing Venue: Goedetrou Dam
Personal Best: 5.96kg
Boat & Motor: Brilliant Bass 150hp Yamaha
Division Representing: KZN (Retired 2010 from Divisional Angling)
Favourite U.S. Angler: Jeff Kriet
Sponsors: Yamaha, Rapala VMC, Brilliant Bass Boats, Lowrance SA
Bass Digest: Hi Martin, thanks for taking time out of your day to partake in our “KNOW YOUR PRO’S” article for Bass Digest. We hope to familiarise Bass Digest readers with our local pro’s.
Martin de Kock: Thanks for the opportunity
Bass Digest: Where and when did your passion for bass fishing begin?
Martin de Kock: When
I was in primary school I
started fishing in farm
dams and Clanwilliam Dam, which was close to where I grew up. When I started working fulltime in KZN during 1996, I started competing at a divisional level
Bass Digest: What are your preparations leading up to an important tournament event?
Martin de Kock: Ensuring my tackle and boat is 100% prepared for the challenge. I believe good quality tackle is the best investment a serious angler could make. In the end this is his or her direct contact to the fish. Time on the water helps a lot, but be conservative in not “pinning” too many fish. I am astounded as to how many anglers “win the pre-fish” but during the tournament cannot understand where the fish have all gone to
Bass Digest: What has been your most recent tournament success?
Martin de Kock: Coming 2nd at the Y-Bass final at Woodstock Dam along with Julian van Zuydam
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?
Martin de Kock: Yes, during one of the Y-Bass events we lost a giant fish at Albert Falls. I caught the same fish on the same spot the next weekend and it weighed 4.95kg. This fish would have easily pushed us into the winning position. I think we had to settle for 5th place. When one is having a tough day on the water the best way to overcome it is to maintain a
positive mindset, put your head down and fish through it. In the end, the bites will come
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?
Martin de Kock: When competing on the Divisional Circuit catching your limit every day is critical. If you could be consistent with this throughout the season, even if the fish are average size, you should walk into most teams. To consistently catch your limit, you should focus on techniques that get keeper bites. This means that downscaling tackle and lure size might be a good option in getting a few more bites. Mojo Rigs and Dropshotting come to mind. When you have your limit you can start focusing on techniques that could get you a few bigger bites. When fishing team events with a 5 fish limit between 2 anglers, it might be sensible to fish big techniques from the start. Jigs, Zara Spook, crankbaits and spinnerbaits are known big fish producers
KZN Overall Champion 6 Times
3 Times National Champion
Bass Digest/June, 2014