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THE STRANGE MOVEMENTS of Snoek during winter just cannot be predicted and over the years have left many a professional boatman wondering and guessing where they could've moved to.

The professional fishing fraternity are at present all waiting for the Snoek to turn up in Kleinmond and Gansbaai.

Boatmen I have spoken to say that the only signs of Snoek at present are the shoals that tend to stay in False Bay.

On Friday some Snoek were caught outside Buffels Bay and just off Hout Bay.

The present inclement weather has not been conducive to much action among shore anglers and fishing has been limited to only a few die-hard anglers.

The few hardy souls that did venture out, reported catches of White Steenbras (just size) which were caught between the Strand jetty and the small tidal pool in the Strand.

At the fence at the mouth of the Lourens River a few Galjoen, Dassie and the odd White Stumpnose were also caught on Sunday.

A Western Province Deep Sea Angling Association capping ceremony took place on Friday evening, July 4 at the Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club.

The following juniors were selected to represent Western Province at the upcoming Junior Nationals which will take place at Shelly Beach from July 13 to 18.

The u/16 team members are: Gareth Strydom (captain - Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club), Matt Swindale (Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club) and Michael Meyer (Gordon's Bay Boat Angling Club).

The under 19 team members are: Tyson von Bonde (Atlantic Boat Club), Keegan Heinrich (captain - False Bay Marlin and Tuna Club) and Wade Dennis (Gordon's Bay Boat Angling Club).

The team manger will be Deon Strydom from Cape Boat and Ski-Boat Club.

Protea Colours
On the same evening Hubert Meyer of GBBAC was awarded his Protea Colours and Earl Fenwick received his South African, All Africa, Western Province and 5 to 1 Record certificates for his 19.55 kg Kob caught on 3 kg line at Struisbaai in February.

The Betty's Bay regulars that braved the weather were rewarded with a number of big Galjoen and the odd White Steenbras at Doringbaai and Die Been.

Readers will be surprised to hear that Betty's Bay angler and well known adventurer, Riaan Manser, who travelled around Africa on his bicycle a few years ago and then wrote the book Around Africa on my bicycle is on his way to Madagascar on another adventure.

Riaan will be attempting to circumnavigate Madagascar (the fourth biggest island in the world) on a kayak. He will be doing a lot of fishing on his trip as fish will form the bulk of his diet.

This trip should take him about a year.

On Saturday the ESA Competition will be held in the Betty's Bay area. There will once again be big cash prizes and other tackle prizes as well.

The cash prizes for the competition are: first prize - R5 000, second prize - R2 000 and third prize - R1 000.

There will be great prizes for junior anglers as well.

The entrance fee to the competition is R150 and all anglers are invited to enter.

For more information, phone Jacques Oosthuizen at the ESA Pro Store in Somerset Business Park, near CTM, on 082 899 0762 or (021) 852-8444.

Fishing needs
It is pleasing in this day and age to find a local Strand angler and someone who prefers to cater for specialised fishing needs other than just catering for the mass market.

Francois Burger is just such a man and a rod builder of note.

His hobby of building fishing rods began when he was only 12-years-old, when he made his very first cane fishing rod.

Later on this passion became his hobby and today he still enjoys building custom fishing rods.

Sixteen years ago, when many people saw the quality of his work and the excellent finish on his rods, they began to ask him to make specialised rods for fishing and for casting.

Ever since then orders for his special rods have slowly been generated by word of mouth.

After getting a rod built by him to your exact specifications and then receiving the rod, is addictive because when one owns a custom built rod made by Francois it is difficult to go back to using a factory built rod.

Francois is extremely proud of his work and he takes a lot of time to determine what is really required by the angler who orders a rod from him before he even starts to build the rod.

An average rod built by him takes around eight hours to develop and build, this is without counting the time needed for spraying the rod and waiting for it to dry while it rotates in a special enclosed box chamber which he himself specially designed for this purpose.

Francois has made rods for top Yellowtail anglers, for fishermen in New Zealand and for many top Provincial and National team anglers. One of his customers is the present South African distance casting champion.

Francois is himself a keen shore angler and is also keen on distance casting and encourages local and WP anglers to practice their casting to get better distance.

He practices his craft and hobby from his house in Strand and may be contacted on 082 8260 076.

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© Tel. (021) 853-0211 Fax. (021) 853-0234 2003 Somerset Press (Pty) Ltd on all information and photographs.