Cruising to Victory

Fish galore at 2021 OET

Fish Story by Bryan Jooste

Photos by Kappie

KING Neptune was much more forgiving in 2021 than he was the previous two years,which allowed everyone four days of hard fishing off Sodwana during the 2021 OET.It was a welcome taste of freedom after the last two years of hardships on and off the water.

Early in February 2021 Nico Zaayman,Chairman of MDSAA,set the goal of making the OET bigger,better and more exclusive than ever before, without losing the heart and soul of this prestigious event.The tournament committee came to the party with new radical changes to the points structure and prize allocations.

Marlin release points were dropped from 600 to 200 per release,sailfish dropped to 50 points and a multiplication factor came into play for more than one billfish and species released per day.Gamefish caught on 10kg line would receive double points,and those caught on 37kg line one point per kilogram.The 10kg and 37kg line classes would be scored separately for overall points,and prizes would also be allocated separately

Mercury brought two 150hp motors to the competition as the prize for the boat with the most combined points between 10kg and 37kg line classes.They would also be crowned the overall winners of the competition. All this put the OET in a different league with three top prizes for the week.Total cash prizes for the week came to R460000 which was divided between the top five teams in each category.

Also new to the OET was the replacement of medals to anglers who released billfish with new trophies numbered 1 to 100,which were sponsored by Jean Meintjies metal sculptures. Mrs Seevarkie was fortunate to release the first marlin of the competition and received trophy number 1 of 100.

The OET tent as usual,was based at Sodwana Bay Lodge (thanks,Herman) with a huge digital screen showing daily action videos and pictures of anglers captured by Kappie and his team.Henk from Pitch Perfect Events kept everyone entertained throughout the week with live music and lots and lots of strafdoppe.

Just over 52 boats entered this year and we have to commend all the teams for their absolute passion and camaraderie.Launching was hampered due to us having a very small beach area, but the teams worked together like professionals to launch all the boats safely each morning.The bigger boats made their tractors available to smaller boats,thus clearing the beach to make way for other boats waiting in line to launch.Well done,manne!

My Lady tried to get through the surf on her portside gunnel all the way to the backline,but luckily a safe launch was called up after a few hair raising minutes.

Day one turned out to be the best day of the week with 16 billfish released and 16 gamefish caught. Sixteen trophies were handed out on Monday night for the billfish released.

Day two,as predicted,turned out to be a blowout and the safety committee instructed all the teams not to proceed to the beach in the morning.The newly build 9m long bar on wheels turned out to be the hero of the day and kept spirits high as anglers made a dent in the OET booze budget whilst Henk and his guitar kept everyone entertained with live music.

On day three the wind allowed for some fishing with six billfish being released and 24 gamefish landed.After the day’s weigh in the all teams were spoiled by Mr Rooibaard himself — Jacques — with delicious pregos for everyone in the tent and a chicken liver pot with pap to die for.Jacques, you were THE MAN on Wednesday!

On day four King Neptune was nowhere to be found as the sea was flat all the way out to the 1000m mark with beautiful conditions for most of the day.Eight billfish were released and 28 gamefish were caught.

The committee decided to keep Thursday’s points under wraps as well as the overall standings to keep everyone in suspense and to keep the pressure on all the teams.This certainly worked as the winners didn’t realise they would win until their names were called out on the final evening to take the victory.

On day five King Neptune himself was back and conditions were not the best.Only 26 teams proceeded to sea and the leaderboard in the 10kg line class was turned on its head.Just two billfish were released and 25 gamefish were caught on the Friday.

Every day at weigh in,all the lines and leaders belonging to anglers who had released billfish that day were tested and measured to ensure everyone was sticking to the rules. During the week lots of dorado, ’cuda,wahoo and small tuna species were weighed in,but there was only one big fish weighed in. A yellowfin tuna of 36.7kg caught by the crew aboard Legend secured them the Calcutta prize of R57000.

Close Up Mining handed out R10000 per day to the last marlin caught each day.With Tuesday being declared a blowout, Team Sea Ducer took home R20000 on Wednesday for the last marlin caught.

At prize giving the stunned crew of Mad Marly took victory in the 37kg line class,taking home R100000 in cash and a combined prize value of R150000.

First Strike (lucky strike) had a fantastic catch on the final day,securing them victory in the 10kg line class which brought with it a R100000 cash prize and total prize value of R150000. Their final score was 121.5 points.

The overall winners on points for the 2021 OET were three young guns aboard C-Cruiser who racked up a total combined score of 815 points.Hats off to Charl,Stephan and Tiaan for winning the 2021 OET with the least amount of sleep of any team! Well done to C-Cruiser on winning this prestigious event.

We were blessed to have Andries Maree,Phillip Marx and Paul Whitaker present at the final evening to bear witness to the huge impact the changes had on the OET and the success that followed during prize giving. Nico Zaayman thanked everyone present, especially the sponsors who made the 2021 OET possible.Sponsors are the lifeline of these events,and all the anglers are extremely grateful for their contributions.

Planning for the 2022 OET has already started and promises to be even bigger and better,so make sure you book your spot.