REELING in the accolades while enjoying an exciting and competitive angling year were Zululand’s top three fishermen: Rowen Moodley, Dean Reddy and Andre Mudaly.
The angling buddies of Tugela Angling Club received numerous awards during the Zululand Shore Angling Association (ZSAA) annual prize giving last weekend in Richards Bay.
After 10 league competitions, the trio had already scooped the top three spots in Zululand, heading into the final competition in the lower South Coast with 100 points clear of the pack and finished off with just 10 points between each other.
While Rowen won the trophy for most number of fish caught during the year, he received second place on the common venue ladder and was at the top of the Zululand ladder. Club champion, Dean, ranked first on the common venue ladder and received an award for the highest kgs of fish caught as well as second position on the overall Zululand ladder.
Big catch
According to Rowen, it has been seven years since an Indian has won the league.
‘I am really proud of this accomplishment, as I am the second Indian angler to have won the league and this was by far my best achievement.
‘Also, being selected to represent the Zululand A side in Cape Town next year is really exciting. I was selected to represent the Zululand B side for six years and I have been competing competitively for eight years now,’ he said.
Meanwhile Dean is striving towards attaining his Protea Colours. He represented Zululand in the Senior A Nationals for the past four years and secured his place in the team as one of the senior anglers.
‘Performing at national level is a great challenge and I am currently ranked 34th in SA which means if I have a good tournament next year in Struisbaai, I will be in line for my presidents colours which gets me one step closer to my goal of attaining my Protea Colours.
‘Fishing has opened up opportunities for me to mentor youngsters as I have been the Development Officer for ZSAA for the past three years affording the youth an opportunity to learn the sport.
‘I was also recently approached by a well know angling show on DSTV’s Super Sport to be an ambassador for their brand and sponsors.This is a huge opportunity for me and will be great exposure,’ said Dean.
His best fishing experience was a club social trip to Kosi Bay five years ago, being fairly new to competitive angling at the time, Dean managed to land a Giant Guitar fish of 124.5kg which is still currently the SA record.
