Bass Digest : Eugene, what do you consider a good strength that you were able to help Gareth with, or pass onto him?
Eugene Potgieter : When Gareth told me he was interested in fishing Nationals, I was quite excited. However, I told him to hold on for a year. It’s all good and well when a kid goes fishing with his Dad, but when you remove the Dad figure from the equation, it’s easy for the kids to get lost not know how to adapt to changing conditions. Some of them can’t figure out patterns on their own or make the calls for themselves. So I spent that season teaching him that in preparation for the Nationals. He started figuring things out for himself more and more, and would just get better and better. He would hit the nail on the head so much so, that now he makes most of the calls on the boat!
Bass Digest : For the budding Juniors or
their Dads reading the Bass Digest, tell us -
how does one qualify for these events?
Gareth Potgieter : Firstly, you have to fish
the allotted number of Divisionals competitions
in your Division. In KZN we did 5 or 6,
whereafter the top 8 qualify to go through to Nationals. At National level, the Top 13 (13th
place being the Reserve), qualify for
Internationals. This year it will be held in
Zimbabwe in December. The weighing system
used is based on the 1 point per fish and 1
point per KG system.
Bass Digest : What other things did you do,
to prepare yourself for the trip? And did you
learn anything whilst fishing with the likes of
Justy at the Vaal river?
Gareth Potgieter : Well firstly, I only used
to use Mono-filament line. Now I have gotten
used to fluoro carbon line, which is quite
different, but I’m really enjoying the benefits
of it.
Secondly, after coming back from practising at
the Vaal, I realised that the Vaal river has loads
of structure which requires you pitch to all day
long, so you need to ensure you are “fishing
fit”. So when I got back, I went and fished as
much as I could, just so I would be able to
pitch for 2 full days (well 3 actually, if you
include the practice day). That really helped
me a lot.
Bass Digest : How does the boat situation work at Nationals? Who fishes with whom? Who chooses what spots you go to during the day? It must be quite something to want to fish a certain spot, but the other guy wants to fish somewhere else. How did you guys manage the scenario?
Gareth Potgieter : Well there are two competitors on a boat, with a skipper. On practice days you fish with a team mate from your division. I fished with Brady Smith. Then on Nationals day, I fished with the number 1 from Northens, Marcio Silva. You draw a skipper’s name out of the hat and off you go.
After Day 1, I was lying second, and I think Marcio was 3rd or 4th.
Bass Digest/June, 2014