LIEZEL Steenkamp, a member of the Zululand ladies’ angling team, has been awarded her Protea colours and will represent South Africa in the annual competition against Namibia later this year.
She will also travel to France for the World Angling Games in October.
This follows Liezel’s strong performance at the SA Ladies Angling Championships held in Langebaan in February, where she finished in 10th place out of 51 competitors, landing a total of 59.56kg of fish over the three-day competition.
Her achievement is even more remarkable when one considers that a blue skate stung her in the shin on the first day and she had to be rushed to hospital, losing valuable fishing time.
The Zululand team placed 6th out of the nine provinces.
Two of Liezel’s Zululand teammates were also placed in the top 15, namely Dalene Swart in 13th place with 58.48kg of fish and Maryna Nieuwenhuis in 15th place with a total catch of 52.90kg.
By the end of the 2014 SA Championships, Liezel’s three-year ranking – the measurement used to select anglers worthy of Protea colours – saw her in fifth place in South Africa and the top placed Zululand angler.
Teammate Heather Tiltmann was 10th, also earning a place in the team that will fish in the South Africa/Namibia competition at Henties Bay later this year.
Seasoned professional
Liezel started angling competitively in 2006.
The sport was not entirely new to her as her father and grandfather enjoy angling and her partner is none other than Zululand angler, Barry Tedder, who she credits for being her mentor and biggest supporter.
In 2008 Liezel was selected for the Zululand ladies angling team and followed this achievement by being selected into the President’s A side in 2011 and earning her Protea Colours in 2012.
Last year she was again selected for the President’s A side.
By day she works in Bell Equipment’s IT Department, but her weekends and any spare time after hours are spent with a fishing rod in hand, practicing her angling.
A great deal goes into being a successful angler, Liezel explains: ‘You need to know what traces to use for the different areas, and what baits.
‘It’s important to know the temperature of the water, to be able to read the water and structures because that plays a role in the species you are targeting.’
However, it’s a sport she would recommend to other women ‘because it’s so relaxing and the whole family can join in’.
(In a box)
Liezel holds nine Zululand and seven South African records for various fish species:
· Stone Bream – 1.1kg (Zul)
· Lemonfish – 1.2kg (Zul)
· Largespot Pompana – 1.95kg (Zul)
· Butterfly ray – 75.5kg (Zul and SA)
· Cock Grunter 4.9kg (Zul and SA)
· Zebra fish – 1.6kg (Zul and SA)
· Garrick – 7.23kg (Zul and SA)
· Bronze Bream – 3.05kg (Zul and SA)
· Giant Kingfish – 22.6kg (Zul and SA).
