Bass Digest/May, 2014
TOURNAMENT BASSING
ON A BUDGET
The Dream
It has always been a dream to fish at the highest level. The dream started as a young boy with my late father tying on a black and white Heddon River Runt to my small pistol grip rod and I experienced the first heart stopping take of the green fish we all love!
Although I fished for many different species my whole life bass fishing was the discipline that I favoured above all. I spent many a weekend and holiday fishing small farm dams.
In December 2009 I had my first taste at bass fishing on a fully rigged tournament boat when I was invited to fish Lake Phobane (also known as Goedertrouw) with Willie Jacobs and Noel Seager while visiting them in KZN. Although the fishing was tough with water temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius the seed was planted and I knew I had to get my own boat.
The thought process of buying a boat
I initially decided on a budget of R30 000.00 and the search for my own rig started in earnest. I quickly realised that in this price bracket you are basically looking at a very old boat or a converted home build.
I knew I had to increase my budget slightly and started looking at the R40 000.00 to R50 000.00 bracket. Since I was limited in terms of my towing vehicle, a 2.5 litre SUV, I found the perfect fit. A Splash Bass Mk1 with a 60HP Yamaha 2-stroke motor in very good condition but without a valid Certificate of Fitness. I used this fact to negotiate the price down to make sure that I could do everything that is legally required to get the boat on the water.
I also negotiated with the current owner who was in Durban to meet me in Bloemfontein and a quick return trip on a weekend made me the proud owner of my own rig on Valentine’s Day of 2010.
Competition Time
After sorting out my Skipper’s License and all the Certificate of Fitness (COF) requirements I signed up to fish the BFSA Money Trail. During the latter part of the winter I was also fortunate enough to compete in the Clanwilliam Micro Challenge as well as the Clanwilliam Winter Classic later that year.