UPDATE: See All The Bottom Fish Nationals Results

Congratulations to all the anglers and teams: All the provinces, all the dates and all the final results at the 2019 SADSAA Bottom Fish Nationals in Durban

48 of the country’s top anglers, 16 provincial and national teams and 5 days of some of the best national-level competitive angling. The SADSAA Bottom Fish Nationals happened from 12 to 16 August 2019 at Duran Ski-Boat Club in KwaZulu-Natal.

And what a comp it was!

With Natal taking two of the top three spots in the final results. And teams were able to fish all five days allocated to this national-level competition, which meant stiff competition from day one. There were some awesome and consistent performance right at the top of the log. And a few remarkable surprises right at the last minute on day five.

We bring you all the final results, with names and pics of these best-of-the-best anglers at this top-tier bottom fish competition of the year. Plus: Day one fishing highlights.

SADSAA BOTTOM FISH NATIONALS 

After a late (12:00) start on day one (12 August) that produced a fair number of monster fish, followed by a first-light start on day two (13 August), the 2019 SADSAA Bottom Fish Nationals, hosted by the Natal Deep Sea Angling Association in Durban, was well and truly underway. Conditions were mostly overcast, but teams were able to fish all five allocated (8-hour) fishing sessions scheduled from 12 to 16 August.

And that means there were some interesting developments right from the start. Not the least of which was performance such as this now-famous Natal White copper steenbras catch (below). This beauty would go on to play, among many other great catches, at least some part in the overall results.

A QUICK COMP OVERVIEW

The overall winners were Natal White’s Riaz Hussain, Sayed Cassim and Timothy Munnick. And, along with the second-placed Border Mens team, Everitt Van Loggenberg, Andrew Harris and Gary Lunt, posted some of the top performances on day one and two. And they continued to sit at the top two spots on the log all the way until day 5.

Natal White achieved the highest single-day scoring for the whole comp on day one. While Border posted the second-highest on day two. And that first and second place result remained clear right up to the end.

But, there were some really surprising climbs. Especially from the overall third-placed Natal Grey team of Abed Khan, Mark Justham and Michelle Richards. After a very slow start to the competition and a fair performance on day two, Natal Grey was in the eighth spot for most of the tournament – right through until day four. It was only on day five when this team fished their best day of the tournament and rocketed up to take the bronze overall.

A similarly notable climb was that of WP White’s Iaan Viljoen, Phillip Van Der Walt and Owen Pretorius, who were in 10th place for most of the competition, battling a bit on days three and four. And then suddenly turning around an awesome fishing day on day five to take the fifth spot overall.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

Teams prepped for a midday start on Day One of the Bottom Fish Nationals. Which was a bit challenging, since that meant lines-up was only at 20:00 at night (with a first-light start looming for day two).

But Day One already produced some spectacular fish. Most notably plenty of big kob (dagga salmon), sizeable mussel cracker and a copper (red steenbras) that looks a good contender for the top of the day.

And of course, it was fun and everyone will leave with a lot of awesome memories. Even the locals – like this seabird grateful for a bit of fish from SADSAA Master Daniel Hughes.

And then, of course, that final fishing day five, when a lot of the tables were turned. Teams were eager to get out with first-light, since lines up was at 13:00 and, as we saw, some teams had a lot of ground to cover.

FINAL RESULTS: BOTTOM FISH NATIONALS 2019

There were 16 teams of three anglers all representing eight provinces, and there were four national SADSAA teams from around country. That’s 48 of the best bottom fish anglers all with provincial or national colours battling out for top honours:

1 FIRST PLACE: NATAL WHITE

Riaz Hussain (Captain)
Sayed Cassim
Timothy Munnick

2 SECOND PLACE: BORDER MENS

Everitt Van Loggenberg (Captain)
Andrew Harris
Gary Lunt

3 THIRD PLACE: NATAL GREY

Abed Khan (Captain)
Mark Justham
Michelle Richards 

4 FOURTH PLACE: SADSAA MASTERS GOLD

John Luef (Captain)
Daniel Hughes
Gary Truluck

5 FIFTH PLACE: WP WHITE

Iaan Viljoen (Captain)
Phillip Van Der Walt
Owen Pretorius

6 SIXTH PLACE: SADSAA U19

Jan Harm Du Plessis (Captain)
Graeme Burdett
Chaise Gaul  

7 SEVENTH PLACE: SADSAA

John Daniels (Captain)
Cobus Koekemoer
Kevin Clark

8 EIGHTH PLACE: NATAL BLACK

Douglas Dustan (Captain)
Jonathan Watkins
Dennis Van Der Westhuizen

9 NINTH PLACE: BORDER LADIES

Jacky Fantham (Captain)
Belinda Fischl
Adele Lunt

10 TENTH PLACE: FREE STATE

Andreas Papachristoforou (Captain)
Ruan Coetzee
Simon De Waal 

11 ELEVENTH PLACE: WP BLUE

Louis Bekker (Captain)
Colin Joubert
Gus Rautmann

12 TWELFTH PLACE: SOUTHERN CAPE

Chris Schorn (Captain)
Koos Scholtz
Johan Slabbert

13 THIRTEENTH PLACE: SADSAA MASTERS GREEN

Keith Lowes (Captain)
Rory Leonard
John Boswarva

14 FOURTEENTH PLACE: EASTERN PROVINCE

Richard Donaldson (Captain)
Peter Dawson
Albert Matthysen

15 FIFTEENTH PLACE: SOUTHERN GAUTENG

Niel Coetzer (Captain)
Dion Wilmans
Luke Coetzer

16 SIXTEENTH PLACE: ZULULAND

George Breedt (Captain)
Brad Mclaren
Brandon Aspen

Congratulations to everyone!

SADSAA BOTTOM FISH NATIONALS 2019

12–16 August 2019
Hosted by NDSAA at Durban Ski-Boat Club
1 Mahatma Gandhi Rd, Point, Durban
031 337 9506 or NDSAA at 031 205 6310

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