B.E.T.T Gauteng – January 2012

The first Gauteng 2012 event took place on the 7th of January, and saw an impressive 57-strong field meeting on the banks of the Rust De Winter Dam. As with every new B.E.T.T season, the field of anglers change and new names mingled with old, returning faces to form new partnerships – watch this space!!

With the mercury predicted to pass the 30°C mark, eager anglers met for the captains’ briefing to again clarify the new rule amendments. There were mixed emotions to the no pre-fishing/practice cut-off rule that mean teams can practice until competition day. However, anglers know how the fish react to boat pressure and so although competitors may boast impressive practice results, it will be interesting to see if the same can be produced on competition day when it counts!!

The other exciting amendment is the new starting order rule. Gauteng teams will start in line with their previous tournament placing, placing a little extra incentive to make every gram count.

Over the past B.E.T.T seasons, the field has seen dwindling fish quality at Rust De Winter Dam. Although the fish are there, average sizes have slowly decreased annually. It is a sad reality that levels the playing field and adds pressure to thinking out the box.

With most teams confident of catching a limit, the winning edge would be catching that elusive kicker fish. The hot conditions and fluctuating wind speeds saw most teams fishing any shaded flooded vegetation. Constantly changing conditions meant no definitive pattern was identified and even the bite was inconsistent with many teams complaining of a very soft bite or small line movement. It led to anglers striking at anything and everything in a hope to catch THAT fish.

The luck fell with the de Beers brothers, who boated one above-average fish, followed by team Beli Tomatoe in second place and TST Contractors in third.

For more detailed results, check out the Gauteng latest results tab and visit the Gauteng photo gallery.

Be sure to catch the show premier at 18:00 on Feb 7 on SuperSport 6.

Until then, keep the lines tight.

Kind regards the B.E.T.T team.