Up Next: Huge Prizes & Non-Stop Fishing at 21 Species in Richards Bay

Two days, huge prizes, a live band and other entertainment, not to mention the ever-popular kid’s fishing comp for kids under 12. It’s time for the 21 Species 2024 

The 21 Species tournament is happening again at Meerensee Boat Club. But hurry, there’s only space for a maximum of 150 boats. For a full list of the species and limits, entry fees, how to enter, and what happened at previous years’ comps, check out the 21 Species at Meerensee in Richards Bay.

21 Species 2024 Prizes:

There are some huge prizes up for grabs across both comps for biggest fish overall, biggest catch per species, and of course, some lucky draws all taking place at the official prize-giving on 7 July at 16h30.

21 Species 2024 Dates & Times:

Happening at the Meerensee Boat Club, both the 21 Species Competition, as well as the Catch & Release Kids comp take place on the 6th and 7th of July 2024.

The action kicks off at 9 AM on both days, with lines up at 1 PM. The event concludes with the big Prize-Giving at 16h30 on the 7th of July at the Meerensee Boat Club’s clubhouse.

21 Species 2024 Info:

The aim of the game is to reel in the biggest fish per species. 

With these being some of the prized specimens up for grabs, we can be sure of some smoking hot fishing action to heat up the wintery weekend: Couta, Yellowfin & Bigeye Tuna, Dorado, Black & Striped Marlin, Spotted Grunter, Barracuda, and Amberjack to name but a few. 

Entries for both comps closed on the 15th of June (R350 for the kids comp – and includes a free competition t-shirt). Entries for the 21 Species official comp were R950 with a shirt and R550 for fishing action only.

You can still enter after the 15th if space allows. However, late entry fees may apply.

21 Species 2024 Contact Details: 

For more information about the 21 Species competition, including any info about late registrations, kindly visit the Meerensee Boat Club website or contact them directly.
1 Commodore Close, Meerensee, Richards Bay, 3900 | Tel: 035 788 0258 | Email: info@msbc.co.za 

It’s set to be a great weekend out for the family, and a lot of fun for kids and adult anglers and their families alike. So head down to Meerensee for 21 Species 2024.

Tight lines and fair weather.

PREVIOUS YEARS’ COMPETITIONs

All the 21 Species Richards Bay 2019 winners,  plus: meet the 14-year-old who beat everyone to become the overall tournament winner

21 Species, two days and over 230 participating anglers and families. The 21 Species fishing competition took place 5–7 July 2019 in Richards Bay at Meerensee Boat Club.

We bring you all the final results, winner pics (including the 14-year-old teen who beat out all the adults!), dates and info. Plus: All the species winners’ rankings according to the benchmark weight for all 21 qualifying fish species on the day.

21 SPECIES RICHARDS BAY 2019

Despite fears that the weather wouldn’t play along – for which Meerensee Boat Club commodore (and also the comp safety official), Corne Kleinschmidt had a contingency plan of limiting fishing to the harbour area only if wind gusts exceeded 20 knots – the competition took place and fishing was allowed anywhere in the fishable zone around Richards Bay.

“That was good news for the guys who like to go deep sea,” says Corne, “because only about 19 of 21 species are fishable inside the harbour. Dorado and tuna you can only find if you go deeper, so we’re glad we were able to allow it.”

FISHING THE 21 SPECIES

The 21 Species took place on from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 July 2019, with a briefing and opening on Friday evening at around 19:00 and fishing commencing Saturday and Sunday from first light, and the weigh station opening around 14:00. Boats launched from two the slipways at Meerensee Boat Club and the three slipways at Richards Bay Ski-Boat Club down the road.

And there was over R100 000’s worth of prizes up for grabs, including one for each of the 21 species, with the overall winner being the angler that got the closest to the benchmark weight across the board.

14-YEAR-OLD BEATS OUT EVERYONE

And what an awesome surprise when local teen Julio Ritchie (14) took the overall prize with his 8.4kg queenfish weighing in at 84% of the benchmark weight for that species (pics below). There were several other anglers who came close, including Shaun McKinnon (5kg soldier), Owen Tylcoat (9kg garrick) and Willem Deetlefts (4.8kg englishman).

But in the end, it was Julio Ritchie, whose fish was percentage-wise the closest to the species’ benchmark weight, that took the grand prize. Notable performances are by Shaun McKinnon and Quinton Roux, who each won three species categories in the 21 Species 2019.

21 SPECIES 2019 WINNERS

20 out of the 21 species were caught at this year’s competition (all except rock salmon) – which says a lot about the richness of species and fish you can catch at Meerensee Boat Club.

Here are all the final species winners, with the benchmarks and percentage results:

QUEENFISH

Julio Ritchie (jnr), 8.4kg
84% of 10kg benchmark

COUTA

Shaun McKinnon, 15,2kg
43% of 35kg benchmark

DORADO

Keano Herbts (jnr), 7kg
44% of 16kg benchmark

LANTERN

Wynand Smit, 2.4kg
60% of 4kg benchmark

GRUNTER

David Chettiah, 3.6kg
60% of 6kg benchmark

SNOEK

Giepie Joubert, 6.8kg
68% of 10kg benchmark

RUBBERLIP

Quinton Roux, 3.4kg
49% of 7kg benchmark

SCAVENGER

Quinton Roux, 1.4kg
35% of 4kg benhcmark

SLINGER

Sian Pretorius, 3kg
75% of 4kg benchmark

SOLDIER

Shaun McKinnon, 5kg
83% of 6kg benchmark

TUNA

Shaun McKinnon, 23.6kg
26% of 90kg benchmark

ROCK COD

Louis Jansen, 5.4kg
68% of 8kg benchmark

COB

Hurbert Dippenaar, 13.8kg
39% of 35kg benchmark

SHAD

Nicci Venter, 4.2kg
53% of 6kg benchmark

PERCH

Shaun VD Mescht, 0.6kg
24% of 2.5kg benchmark

GARRICK

Owen Tylcoat, 9kg
80% of 18kg benchmark

STUMPNOSE

Renier Koekemoer, 1kg
20% of 5kg benchmark

SANDFISH

David Chettiah, 2.4kg
60% of 4kg benchmark

SPECKLED SNAPPER

Quinton Rouz, 0.8kg
14% of 5kg benchmark

ENGLISHMAN

Willem Deetlefts, 4.8kg
80% of 6kg benchmark

Congratulations to all the winners!

21 SPECIES RICHARDS BAY

At Meerensee Boat Club, 1 Commodore Close, Richards Bay, 3901
Email: info@msbc.co.za
Phone: 035 788 0258
Club website
Club Facebook

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