Queens of the Ocean
Following its ongoing success from previous years, the popular Queens of the Ocean Offshore Fishing Bonanza took place at St Lucia Ski Boat Club from 29th-31st August. This year’s event was the largest to date and is surely the premier ladies-only fishing competition in South Africa with 39 boats entered and 114 lady anglers taking part.
The briefing, held at the St Lucia Ski Boat Club, on the evening of the 29th August featured many key sponsors who back the success of this competition including Yamaha SA. The evening was a buzz of activity as all the teams got to grips with the competition rules, programme of events and beaching protocol for the two fishing days. This event is so much more than just fishing, and it was great to see the level of preparation the ladies put in, from team names through to branded fishing outfits, as well as the amazing team spirit and social vibe that lasted for the whole weekend.
Day 1 saw teams, boats and beach crew braving persistent rain to line up on the beach in the hope of being able to launch during a break in the weather. As the saying goes “safety first” and after a delayed start the tournaments weather committee took the decision to call of the first day due to unsafe launching conditions. The teams were quick to regroup with many opting for a warm shower and a delicious breakfast in town before getting ready for the afternoon’s entertainment which included the Beach Party theme event and live music at the Club. This proved to be one of the highlights of the competition with some wildly creative team dress-ups keeping everyone in good spirits and the live music and entertainment keeping the tent rocking into the late hours.
Day 2 more than made up for the cancellation of Day 1 with teams all launching safely and the organizers granting extra time for the day (weigh-in queue to close at 15h00). Reports streamed in throughout the morning of some great catches including queen mackerel, dorado, sailfish, GTs and tuna. Once all boats had beached the teams were all wondering who had done enough to earn the accolade of Top Boat and win the R60,000 first prize. The weigh-in was a true showcase of how far ladies fishing has come over the past few years with some phenomenal catches across all teams including some decent dorado (heaviest 16.7kg), a 13.84kg yellowfin tuna and some decent sized snoek (heaviest 9.06kg). Credit must also be given to teams who honored the release rule for queenfish and kingfish and the teams who caught and released the two sailfish caught. In total 69 fish were weighed, 2 sailfish released and of all teams 24 caught fish on the day.
After watching the Springboks hold off a strong New Zealand team in the rugby all teams gathered in the tent for the main prize giving. This year’s prize allocation was spectacular, largely due to our amazing sponsors who add true value to our competition. Key prize categories and prize winners as follows:
TOP BOAT SECTION
1) Ocean Commotion
2) Free Spirit
3) LegaSea
4) SMG Yamaha
5) Valhalla
TOP ANGLERS
1) Jacqueline Meyer (LegaSea)
2) Eleanor Roode (Fintastic)
3) Melinda Scheepers (Ocean Commotion)
4) Danica Bartho (Valhalla II)
5) Bianca Leibrandt (Free Spirit)
TOP JUNIOR
1) Lana Leibrandt (Free Spirit)
HEAVIEST FISH WEIGHED
1) Chriché van der Linde (16.7kg Dorado)
Congratulations to all the winners and everyone behind the scenes. This event was a resounding success and look forward to next year’s Queens of the Ocean!
