Everything going down at the Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 at Meerensee
It’s time for the Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024. From 16-21 June, 5 teams of young anglers compete for top honours at Meerensee Ski Boat Club promising exciting fishing, prestigious medals, and unforgettable moments
Nestled along the picturesque coastline of Richards Bay, the Meerensee Ski Boat Club is set to host this year’s Junior Bottomfish Nationals. Known for its vibrant marine life and enthusiastic fishing community, Richards Bay provides the perfect backdrop for this prestigious competition.
From June 16-21, 5 teams of 3 young anglers each representing 4 provinces will gather to showcase their skills and vie for top honors as they hunt some of Africa’s most epic bottom fish species including Rockcod, Black Musselcracker, Geelbek, Kob, Yellowbelly Rockcod and more.
Get all the details of the Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 right here!
Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 Prizes
As this is a national tournament, aside from the honour of being nominated to represent your province, these Junior Anglers will be competing for Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 medals.
The medals will be awarded as follows:
Medals for Skippers
- Gold Medal – Top Skipper.
- Silver Medal – Second Skipper.
- Bronze Medal – Third Skipper.
Team Medals
- Gold Medals – 1st Team
- Silver Medals – 2nd Team
- Bronze Medals – 3rd Team
Only official species will qualify for points, which will determine the Top 3 Skippers and Teams at the end of the tournament.
Junior Bottomfish Nationals Dates and Times
It’s an action-packed 5 days of fishing for the Junior Anglers with the Junior Bottomfish Nationals being held from the 16th of June to the 21st of June 2024.
Then Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 kicks off on Sunday the 16th of June. The 16th of June is a Public Holiday in South Africa to celebrate Youth Day (so it’s quite fitting that this Junior Bottomfish tournament is being held at this time), with Monday the 17th also being a Public Holiday to observe Youth Day as it fell on a Sunday.
Registration for the tournament takes place on Sunday between 17:30 and 18:00.
Afterwards, the Meerensee Ski Boat Club Lapa plays host to the briefing and tournament’s opening dinner from 18:00 onwards.
From Monday the 17th of June 2024 to Friday the 21st of June 2024 each fishing day’s program follows the same structure.
05:30 Teams have coffee and breakfast and receive their boat packs
06:00 Boats launch
14:00 Lines Up (on Friday the 21st – lines up is at 13:00)
15:00 – 16:00 Weigh-ins with all teams present (on Friday the 21st -weigh-in is at 14:00)
18:00 Light Dinner at Club House (on Wednesday, the Meerensee Ski Boat Club will host a competition braai for all participants)
The Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 concludes on Friday night the 21st of June 2024 at 18:00 with the final Dinner and Prize Giving at the Club House at Meerensee Ski Boat Club Lapa for teams to celebrate a successful week’s fishing, and the top 3 skippers and teams to receive their winners’ medals.
Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 Info
5 teams of 3 anglers each have been nominated to represent their provinces at this year’s Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024. Teams from Eastern Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Province, Zululand and a Barbarians team comprising of Junior Anglers from KwaZulu-Natal and Zululand will compete across the 5-day bottomfish tournament.
The Meerensee Ski Boat Club holds a deep respect for marine life and the environment – and ethos shared by the South African Deep Sea Angling Association and the Zululand Deep Sea Angling Association the organising and convening bodies of the tournament.
The Meerensee Ski Boat Club is dedicated to the practice of catch and release and actively promotes the conservation of its precious marine resources, encouraging all participants to join in this effort.
Although Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 is a catch-and-release tournament, all legal bag and size limit fish caught may be kept by the angler.
The qualifying species includes: Rockcod, Blacktail, Black Mussellcracker, Bronze Bream, Butchers Prick, Captain Fine, Catface Rockcod, Cave Bass, Dane, Englishman, German Bream, Geelbek/Cape Salmon, Javelin Grunter, Kob, Natal Stumpnose, Rock Salmon, Rubberlip, Santer/Soldier, Scavenger, Scotsman, Slinger, Yellowbelly Rockcod, Zebra/Wildeperd.
Bonus points are awarded for selected species over 10kgs.
Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 Contact
The Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 is hosted by the Meerensee Boat Club
1 Commodore Close, Meerensee, Richards Bay, 3900 | Tel: 035 788 0258 | Email: info@msbc.co.za
For additional information please contact the Tournament Convenor Jean Schoonhoven on 082 492 7703, or e-mail jean@schoonies.co.za.
Or follow the Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 organisers for more information.
Meerensee Boat Club’s website and Facebook page.
Zululand Deep-Sea Angling Association’s website and Facebook page.
South African Deep Sea Angling Association (SADSAA)’s website and Facebook page.
Fair weather, tight lines and best of luck to all participants and organisers for a successful Junior Bottomfish Nationals 2024 tournament.
Previous year’s tournaments
10 Teams, 7 provinces, and 30 anglers over 3 days, our team brings you all the tournament info and what to expect at the 2022 Junior Bottomfish Nationals.
This week Sunday signals the start of a three-day top-level fishing competition. Set in the idyllic harbour of Port St. Francis, the top 33 anglers from 7 provinces will be competing for national colours at the Junior Bottomfish Nationals, from 27 March to 1 April 2022.
And here are all the dates, contacts, programme, teams and what to expect at the tournament:
JUNIOR BOTTOMFISH NATIONALS DATES AND PROGRAMME
Sunday 27 March 2022
14:00 – 16:00 Registration
16:00 Welcome and Opening Function
17:30 Boat Draw, Rules and Briefing
Boat Auction
Dinner
28–1 April 2022
04:30 – 05:30 Breakfast at Port St. Francis Ski Boat Yacht Club
06:00 Launch and fishing day starts
15:00 Lines up
17:00 Scales close (fish to be at the designated area at weigh station)
18:30 Dinner at Port St. Francis Ski Boat Yacht Club
Saturday, 2 April 2022
11:00 Prizegiving and Closing Function
MEET THE COMPETING ANGLERS AND TEAMS
There are 30 anglers in total – 10 three-man teams – representing seven regional angling associations. It’s 10 teams all and all:
NATAL U16
Jethro Doman (Captain)
Mathew Shepard
Matthew Thompson
NATAL U19
Owen Barclay (Captain)
Alex Tydlesley
Connor Wood
FREE STATE U16
Francois Rossouw (Captain)
Dewandre Smith
Jahnru Janse Van Rensburg
EASTERN PROVINCE U16 BLACK
Nathan Barris
Gavin Peinke
Daniel Lindhorst
EASTERN PROVINCE U16 RED
Jovan Coetzee
Logan Moolman
Mathew De Beer
EASTERN PROVINCE U19
Rubin van Aswegen
Clayton Senekal
Jason Donaldson
WESTERN PROVINCE U19 BLUE
Divan Burger (Captain)
Karla Rautmann
Christof Dahl
WESTERN PROVINCE U19 WHITE
Luke Truter (Captain)
Sean Cilliers
Hugo Bester
BORDER U19
Jade Clarke (Captain)
Tara Roux
Charne Smith
SADSAA U19
Jan Ham Du Plessis (Captain)
Zandre De Bruyn
Xavier Truluck
SOME JUNIOR BOTTOMFISH NATIONALS RULES
For fish weigh-ins, the first fish killed, up to the bag limit, by any angler will be the fish presented to the scales at the end of the day’s angling. And in terms of hooks, only one single hook may be used and no off-set circle hooks may be used.
For more information, check out the SADSAA Tournament Rules. Tight lines to everyone!
JUNIOR BOTTOMFISH NATIONALS
27 March–1 April 2022
Hosted by the Port St. Francis Ski Boat Club
Triton Ave, St Francis Bay
Phone: 084 383 7098
Website
Facebook
Also see the seniors and masters at the 2019 SADSAA bottom fish nationals.
Discover all the upcoming fishing competitions in July as well as the whole year’s big fishing tournaments.
And discover all the ski-boat clubs of Eastern Province.
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