A Copper for the Record Books

SADSAA juniors making their mark

By Francois Beukes

THE annual South African Deep Sea Angling Association (SADSAA) Senior Bottomfish Nationals traditionally does its rounds along the coast of South Africa stretching from Western Province to KwaZulu-Natal with the various affiliated provinces taking turns hosting this prestigious competition.

The 2022 competition was hosted by Border Deep Sea Angling Association (BDSAA) and fished out of East London Ski Boat Club.As usual,a SADSAA junior under-19 team was selected to compete against the seniors.This year’s tournament saw 17 teams from various provinces participating,with men’s and women’s teams competing on level terms.

East London is synonymous with the abundance of various bottomfish species and is renowned as the home of the red steenbras aka copper.This year teams once again put their tackle to the test in an attempt to land these giants on 10kg monofilament line class,as chosen by BDSAA.

During the competition SADSAA junior angler Divan Burger from Western Province managed to hook and land one of these giants and was asked to give his version of this remarkable feat and the whole experience.

It’s truly a remarkable story from humble young man with a great future ahead of him.

Jan du Plessis, Divan Burger and Karla Rautmann with the catches that took their U19 SADSAA team to first place in the 2022 Bottomfish Nationals. Among their haul was Divan’s 38.5kg red steenbras, a potential All Africa record.

By Divan Burger

FROM 26 April to 1 May I fished the Senior Bottomfish Nationals in East London with Jan du Plessis (our team captain) and Karla Rautmann for the U19 SADSAA team.

We started off strong on the first day with skipper Jason Ross on his boat X-Factor, ending the day in fourth place. On the second day our skipper was Jerome Makowem,assisted by Anton Krause,on their boat Solitaire.The day started off relatively slowly,with us only landing a few decent dageraad,soldiers and carpenters.We eventually made the decision to move a bit further out towards the shelf in search of coppers for weight.

By then the sea had calmed down and its surface looked like a mirror. Within the first hour Jan landed a nice copper of about 7kg and Karla one of about 9kg.I was still waiting for my fish.We had been catching and releasing a lot of 74s on this particular spot and caught the first two coppers among them.

Half an hour after we landed these two coppers I dropped a nice fish after about a five minute fight on the bottom;there was no doubt it was a copper.We had an hour left until lines-up and we had a difficult decision to make: Do we stick it out and hope for another copper or do we go shallow in search of more species? We decided the long run in would be a waste of time and decided to stay on the same drift where we got our previous two fish.

Earlier in the day I’d caught a nice carpenter that was just under the minimum weight for the competition,but of legal size,so we’d filleted it and used it for bait.With just 50 minutes of the day left I put a small piece of the carpenter fillet on my lighter rod intended for shallower depths and smaller fish which.It’s a Kingfisher Bonito rated 812kg fitted with a 7-inch KP reel and a 60lb leader and hook trace ended off with a 8/0 Daichii J-hook.

After about ten minutes of holding bottom on my KP I got a nice bump and my line started to get heavier.I wound into the fish and it flew off; because of the 10kg line-class we were using I had to backwind like a mad man.For the first 25 minutes the fish held me on the bottom,not budging an inch.If I took one metre he took two. When I managed to finally get the fish off the bottom I could feel its true weight.

My team and the skipper all thought I had hooked one of the big bronzies (sharks) that were roaming out deep for the sardines and they were losing faith in me.

Throughout the last ten minutes of lifting the fish off the bottom it gave steady headshakes every now and again.Around 10 metres before my 10kg top-shot my line steadily started to arch to wards the back of the boat. Uncle Jerome stood behind me and said,“Well done and congratulations son,”patting me on the back even before we could see the fish.

After 35 minutes we saw a massive yellow figure coming up with a load of big bubbles breaking the surface.The fish shot out of the water head first 20 metres behind the boat and I could not believe my eyes.We reversed the boat towards the fish and landed it.

After the big thud on the deck of the boat we were all ecstatic.I was truly at a loss for words and I remember everyone just giving high fives and hugging each other.We had landed the fish we had come all the way to East London for,with only 15 minutes to spare on the day!

We estimated the fish to be around 30kg,and because it would not fit in the hatch we covered it with wet towels and threw water on it regularly.After calming down,it truly hit me how special this catch was.

At the scales our boat was the last to arrive because of the long run we had to make.By then there were a lot of people surrounding the scales.Luckily the boat shed was right next to the weigh in.We unloaded all the other fish into a crate and I knew it was a special fish when my dad who was fishing in the senior SADSAA team,peered over the boat’s gunnel and all he said was, “Bliksem!”

After a struggle,Jan and I finally wrestled the fish off the boat.Everyone was anxiously waiting to find out its true weight.

At last we got it hooked onto the scale and the numbers kept running up before settling on 38.5kg.I could not believe my eyes.I was in disbelief and with all the cheering all I could do was laugh.

After a lot of pictures and measurements it was established that this is a pending Western Province,South African and All Africa record for a junior.Landing that fish was the most special moment of my fishing career and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.

With all the fish our team caught during the week,including this big copper steenbras,we ended the competition in first place and I ended up as top individual angler overall.It’s the first time that an U19 team has won the Bottomfish Nationals.

The night of the closing function was like a dream;it all felt surreal and it was an honour to have some of my role models like John Luef,Allen Ford, Francois Beukes and, definitely the most important, my dad DP Burger there to witness this achievement.These are the people who I had known for years and who have had a tremendous impact on the fisherman and person I am today.