On the 2nd of April 2025, the 2025 SAFFA A Nats were declared open at the opening ceremony, held at Underberg Country Club on the evening of the 2nd of April.  The five A Team anglers of each province represented in their respective teams, together with non-fishing captains and managers. South Africa's top anglers had come together to prove themselves on Underberg's waters.

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The unseasonably heavy rains of the previous 3 months had resulted in exceedingly heavy flows on the Umzimkulu River, which had been the intended water for the river sessions. KZNFFA had been hard at work in the days leading up to the competition, to try and find fishable waters. A Herculean effort had rendered results, with tributary waters on private land being secured only a couple of days prior to the opening. Two sectors on the Mlambonja River, and one sector on the Mzimkhulwana River. The stillwater sectors were beautiful Lunds Dam, and a portion of Goxhill Dam.

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In the early morning of the 3rd of April, the competing teams gathered at  the Country Club. There was the familiar excitement and friendly banter, and the focused anticipation of the sessions to come. As the five groups congregated and headed to their respective sectors, 3 days of intense and challenging competition kicked off.

Those on Goxhill Dam for session 1 were perplexed by the end of their three hour session, with no fish being landed, and only very little feedback of any kind from the reluctant fish. 11 blanks was a disappointing start for those anglers. Goxhill Dam improved in the afternoon session, with 5 fish coming out, and in the 3rd session, 6 fish were produced, two of them caught by Brett van Rensburg, who took first for that session. The last two sessions were very challenging, with most anglers blanking their session.

Lunds Dam was the enigma of the competition, with only one single fish being landed by Jeanette Harvey in the first session. She held the honour of remaining the only person to land a fish on Lunds Dam for the entire competition.  There were plenty of bass in the dam, and the repeated frustration of a tug on the line, only to lead to another bass on the hook, was demoralising indeed. All anglers threw the book at the reluctant trout, but to no avail.  All techniques, all flies, and all water covered did not convert to fish, with the single exception.  54 blanks were taken.

Upper Mlambonja was beautiful water, clear and with runs and riffles, pools and pockets. Certain of the beats had heavily overgrown banks, challenging the anglers' skills in close quarters tactics. The sector produced relatively well during the comp, though numbers were lower than was hoped for overall. This was the case on all the river sectors.

Lower Mlambonja was the most productive sector of the competition, producing some relatively high numbers of fish from some beats, especially in the first and second sessions. Experience and proficiency counted, however. The fishing was tough, and water had to be worked skilfully to convert well.

Mzimkhulwana was a variable sector. Some beautiful water, and the lower beats produced quite well through the competition, though with an expected drop in fish numbers as the competition progressed. The upper three beats were especially challenging. The water looked stunning, and yet there were several blanks on those beats, even in the first couple of sessions.

Gauteng North's A team was represented by Chris Tough, Amy Visser and Sholto Piek, all of whom had participated in A Nats in previous years, and Jannes van der Merwe and Kristine Page, who were both attending their first A Nats. The team performed extremely well overall. With excellent pre-comp preparation, commitment and team-work from all the team members, and with many late night tactics discussions and fly-tying, it all came together with some superb performances from the team members. 

Jannes van der Merwe had a stellar result, coming 10th in the individual rankings, and that in his first A Nats attended! Sholto Piek was not far behind, in 14th place. Their consistently good placings in their respective groups through the sessions, combined with solid backup from Amy Visser, Chris Tough and Kristine Page were instrumental in securing Gauteng North 4th place in the team results. We missed the bronze medal by a single placing point! This is by far the best result Gauteng North Fly Fishing Association has achieved in the A Nationals for many years.

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In addition to the provincial A teams and anglers competing individually, there were two teams of invitational members, one consisting of ladies invited from their respective provinces to compete as a team, and the Colts, consisting of junior anglers from across the provinces.  The Colts, in particular, performed admirably, their team coming 3rd overall.  Unfortunately, invitational teams and anglers were unable to receive awards, and their placing was therefore not reflected in the final rankings of teams and individuals.  We commend the young men on their superb skills and teamwork.  

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Team results at the end of the 5 tough sessions:

1st: Western Province - Well done to Maddy Rich and his team for a well-deserved win

2nd: Central Gauteng - Congratulations to Brett van Rensburg and his team for their very solid performance in the competition.

3rd: KZN, who came back with a stunning team result in the final session, taking 3rd by a single placing point!

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Individual results:

1st: Brett van Rensburg (CG) with a total of 15 placing points, and 48 fish, the highest number caught for the competition.  Congratulations on a superb performance.

2nd: Garth Nieuwenhuis (WP) with a total of 23 placing points, and 21 fish landed

3rd: Stephan Nel (EC) with a total of 25 placing points, and 41 fish landed, the second highest for the competition.

 

We can be very proud of the anglers this province produces, and of the excellent result achieved in what was a very challenging competition. We look forward with great anticipation to the future results of our continued efforts to improve our competitive edge in the national as well as the international competitions.