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Extra Special Fishing -Bells CTC 2009 ~ Corporate Trophy Challenge
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Extra Special Fishing by Pollard Kype
You often overhear clandestine talk of favorite fishing holes, waters holding fish that as the years pass become folklore and ever since I was able to discern that said holes weren’t those where the men congregated after fishing, to loosen their tongues with a wee dram I’ve been on a quest to discover their haunts.
With the number of game fish that have fallen prey to the fly surpassing those that haven’t, you can’t be blamed for forgetting about trout for a while but fortunately the autumn fall into winter conjures these wily fish to the surface of our attention.
Aliens they may be considered in the South of Africa but they’re not as nearly as strange as their pursuers .and once a season a troop of campaigners descend upon the hills of Nottingham Road, to reacquaint themselves with an extra special friend.
The Legendary watering hole of Notties Hotel hosts the congregation where the festivities, sponsored by Bells, generally ensures that the trout have little to worry about for the first session.
Having the brass set to get in the icy water the next morning causes anyone to question your sanity, but there’s not a lot that will get between a hungry angler and his fish…..even if, in this catch and release format the appetite is for bragging rights amongst good friends.
The first leg in any fishing festival will inevitably catch the fish by surprise as the rainbows are largely uneducated as to the difference between a tied fly and real meal. So the teams proceeded to take advantage of the unusually calm conditions and made the proverbial hay with 356 healthy specimens being netted
During the 2nd Leg, the fish were clearly very active, seeking out partners to continue their cold bloodline, which proved irritating for the angler whose fly was studiously ignored, but thoughts of a 10 pound trout and a R200 000 Ski Boat teased them back to the water. It’s a fine line between the party of a boys weekend and actual fishing time with the latter being sacrificed with these chaps, resulting in only 237 catches recorded
But it was the 3rd leg where the rod pressure took it’s toll! Fly patterns were reduced to the miniscule as the fly wise fish became ever so selective and despite flogging the water with intent only 206 trout were fooled. In total 799 rainbow trout were measured and released still giving this festive crew a respectable average of 5 fish per rod
The final at the famous Lake Le Seuer was something to behold, 60km/h winds howling off an inch of snow everywhere, quickly converting those that didn’t believe our prediction of four seasons in one day at this altitude
But it relented and the end tally was 731 fish, between 68 anglers at an average of 11 fish per participant…..incredible…double what any previous year recorded
The New Champions were the Leads2Business team, led by Vic Terblanche who combined tallied an impressive 69 feral trout. The days always seem to blur into the nights at the Extra Special Corporate Trophy Challenge and there seems to be a consensus that some things are more important than catching fish.
But, when you have a trout competition that sees 1520 trout caught and released, you know that your stocking program is working and that the weather gods have been kind to you.
The WildFly waters of the Natal Midlands is one of those rare locations that can guarantee you trophy rainbows and wild browns worthy of your time on the water, so if you want the ultimate in corporate entertainment at the same time then enter your team now for the 2010 Bells challenge.
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