The 2011 Loskop Kurper Bonanza is going to be the biggest one yet. The First prize will be in the region of R300 000.00 and there will be allot of exciting activities added to this event. Whilst the entrants are hard at work trying to catch the biggest fish, the families and friends not fishing will be entertained.We hope to see you all there.

The 11th Loskop Kurper Bonanza in the MIDDELBURG OBSERVER Written by/Deur Corine de Jonge) (Click on this link for more)

The Proud Winner of the 11th Loskop Kurper Bonanza on 27th March 2010 Mr. Jurie van Rensburg from Groblersdal with his boat sponsored by Highveld Outdoor & Marine.

8 Year Old Jacqueline Wilmans of Kempton Park with her 1.3kg Kurper which she caught at this years Loskop Kurper Bonanza, receiving a canoe and oars sponsored by Mr. Peet Steenberg of Highveld Outdoor & Marine in Witbank.

Results and Photo’s of this comp will be updated soon. Watch This space !

Well Done To All who participated in this event. Please feel free to make any comments you may have and please post your photo’s of your Kurper Catches During this event.

This website will be updated with much more info and the history of this great event, shortly.

The Winners Story of his experience during the 10th Loskop Kurper Bonanza on the 28th March 2009

“The” Loskop Kurper Bonanza 28th March 2009 

“A Little Help From Above “

Written By Jaceson Wilmans

Every year I attend the “Loskop Kurper Bonanza”, as Loskop Dam and this particular event is my most favorite fresh water fishing venue. It’s a family orientated holiday and weekend resort, with a host of things to do. Forever Resorts keeps the premises, chalets and facilities clean and presentable at all times as well as the fact that the organizers and sponsors of the “Loskop Kurper Bonanza” really go out of their way in making this an enjoyable and fair event, which has improved year on year. I must also mention that Loskop Dam is in my opinion one of the most picturesque dams, which is surrounded by a beautiful mountain range and magnificent nature reserve where a variety of game and an abundant birdlife is constantly viewed in a natural habitat at the water’s edge. Making this venue one of the best settings in South Africa. There is a special synergy like no other, where the pleasures of the resort and the great fishing merge with the beautiful natural surroundings and tranquility.

Like any other fishing comp, preparation got under way about two weeks before the comp, making sure that accommodation, fishing tackle, the boat and other necessities were organized and that all was clean and in good working condition. About two to three days before the comp, I start getting serious about setting up my rods and rigs for the fish we are targeting. In this case the “Blou Kurper” (Oreochromis mossambicus) or Tilapia.

Over the years one gets to know what rig, under which conditions, areas, depths and water temperature one can target the “Big Ones”. Having fished the Loskop Kurper Bonanza over the years, I got to know the dam well enough to know where they are likely to be found.

On the afternoon of the 26^th March, I went down to my favorite tackle shop, that being Anglers Bait and Tackle in Kempton Park.  Abdul the owner always goes out of his way to make all his customers feel welcome and nothing is ever too big a task to ensure that you get what you are looking for. If he does not have it on his shelves, he will make sure he gets it for you. Supporting Anglers Bait and Tackle has its advantages as not only do you feel at home in Abdul’s shop but the more you support him, the more he is willing to do for you with discounts, service and going the extra mile.  I went about choosing my goodies required for the comp at Loskop and after a good chat and a cup of tea, I jokingly told Abdul that “if I don’t win this time round”, I will be bringing all I purchased back for a refund. We still joked about the worms as the supplier was delivering worms. In good spirit, everyone in the shop had a good laugh and I left with well wishes and “good luck” (tight lines) from Abdul, the other customers and his staff.

I now had prepared everything for the comp and couldn’t wait to leave the next afternoon. My Mrs. And I run our own small business called Outdoor Solutionz ( www.outdoorsolutionz.co.za) and as expected, no matter how much you plan, circumstances always change when you have your own business, as you can’t just take leave and down tools. This resulted in us only leaving Kempton Park at 14h35 on the afternoon of the 27^th March 2009. Thankfully I had already done my “skippers” at the Stywe Lyne Skippers academy in October 2008 and had received my official certificate. What was still left to do was to get my C.O.F. (Certificate Of Fitness) which I did with Peet Steenberg from Highveld Outdoor and Marine when I arrived at Loskop at 16h50 that same afternoon.

On arrival at the Forever Resorts main gate, one was once again met with smiling faces and good spirits all round. I proceeded to check in and register my Mrs., My Daughter of seven and myself.  As soon as I saw my entry / registration number I turned to Daisy my Mrs. and said to her that “we were going to win this comp”. (True Story).

My reasoning for this “wild statement” was that my registration number was 0167. I was born in 1967 and if you put the zero in front of the one in the number, it becomes the number ten – my birthday is on the tenth and to finally seal the deal with my wild assumption, this was the celebration of the tenth year of the Loskop Kurper Bonanza, once again, the number 10 which is my birthday and happens to be my lucky number.

In very high spirits and convincing myself that this was going to be a good luck charm, my family and I proceeded in getting the C.O.F. (Certificate Of Fitness) done with Peet from Highveld Outdoor and Marine and went down to the chalet that we had booked. Whilst my daughter Jacqueline was running around and playing and my Mrs. Daisy was seeing to the unpacking of food etc. I went about making sure all the bait, tackle and the boat were ready for the next day. I messed around with rods, reels and rigs etc until about 23h30pm on the evening of the 27^th March 2009 and eventually decided to get some “shut eye” as I wanted to be on the water early the next morning. Having made a “back-up” plan in case we overslept, like clockwork, Mrs. Reliability herself(My Mom) called at 02h30am on the morning of the comp and made sure we were awake. In our “deur die kak” state, my Mrs. made us a nice welcoming hot cup of coffee and I started  making sure everything we needed was loaded into “the boat” (Our 4.2m Semi Rigid Infanta Inflatable with a three cylinder 30hp Yamaha motor, we named “Bamba Zonke” which means(Catch Everything) In Zulu.

At around 03h30am we woke our daughter, got her warmly dressed and preceded to the launch. Around 03h40am my daughter and I got aboard “Bamba Zonke” and my Mrs. reversed us into the water. I started the motor (Pull Start) as I wasn’t privileged to have electric start with trim and tilt. Whilst the motor was idling and warming up, Daisy parked the bakkie and trailer and came down to the launch where I picked her up. “Life Jackets On” – We proceeded a little way offshore where I wanted to anchor up and at least be in the front when the boats started going out. There was a certain spot I needed to reach before the other boats and not having enough horse power to keep up with the bigger boats; I need to be in front. Then all “Hell” broke loose………………………… (“Little did we know what lay ahead”)?

D-Day – On our way to my anchor point offshore, the motor cut and we started drifting. I pulled and pulled and pulled and she wouldn’t start. I checked the prima bulb and realized there was insufficient fuel getting to the motor. On closer inspection, I found that the fuel line was not clipped in on the tank properly. I primed her again and with one pull she started. Man what a feeling of relief as I had ideas spinning in my mind that engine problems would mean repairs and maybe even the end of the comp before it had even started.  In gear now and relieved I took us to our anchor point where we waited for about 20minutes before the next boat arrived. Within about 30 minutes, there were about 15 or so boats on the water, one of which looked like the lead “Police” or “Marshal” boat. This boat started moving slowly forward at about 04h30am. I instructed my Mrs. to anchor-up and we too started following the “lead boat”.

It was still pitch dark on the water, so I turned my GPS on as I had a pre saved track that I always follow to my “spot” on the dam. As if the motor wasn’t a big enough scare, my pre saved track was no-where to be found. Thank God I had pretty good knowledge of the dam and it’s danger zones, as well as the Garmin GPS still showed me my exact position on the water. It was too late to pull out to the side as the speed of the boats had picked up some and because of the dark, I decided to stick my course and follow the water way map to the best of my ability and knowledge. Having positioned myself in the correct position behind the lead boat, we had a great ride with no immediate dangers and or rough water. Surprisingly enough we all of a sudden found ourselves in the front as boats started peeling off to various points on the dam. I proceeded to where I thought “my spot” was and was so “chufft” because we were going to at least get there first.

Well! Well !, a little while later, I saw the dark outline of a large submerged tree in front of us and said to my Mrs. that I need to slow rite down to idle speed as I don’t recognize this tree in the middle of no-where. It was still pretty dark and I was not too sure as to exactly where we were; besides having zoomed in on the GPS and it looked as if we had gone past the cable into the Nature Reserve. Safety being my first priority, I tied us up to the large submerged tree and decided to sit it out until there was a bit more light. We sat for about 10 to 15 minutes when we saw a boat approach us with a spot light. It was the “Forever Resort” Rubber duck with the marshals etc on board. I shat myself knowing we were in the wrong and in the wrong place. (Even though our actions were un-intentional, I thought we were going to be or could be disqualified). The first thing that came out of my mouth was “are we in the nature reserve? are we past the cable?” – The answer was yes you are. I asked the guys how far past the cable are we? – They replied about a kilometer. At this point the sun started giving sufficient light for me to see the banks of the water way. We let go of the submerged tree and proceeded back toward the cable. Besides the mist hovering above the water we could see pretty well at this point and it was when we crossed the cable, I swallowed what felt like an apple stuck in my throat as we had not only crossed the cable in the dark unharmed, we had missed the large 44gallon marker drums too. Man I was relived to say the least.

Thankfully our “spot” was still available and we proceeded to anchor up and position the boat for a good days angling. It was still a little cold and the water had not yet settled as more and more boats came into the area causing a fair amount of waves and disturbance. I decided that we keep our life jackets on until things settle and it gets a bit warmer. The sun rise was as spectacular as ever and because of the sudden light, the guys next to us still remarked on us fishing with our life jackets on and laughed at us. Well no sooner had they tried to “mock” us when the one of them lost his footing and nearly ended up in the “drink” without a life jacket on. This all added welcome humor to the start of our day as we had a good laugh. “He who laughs last laughs the loudest”. Needless to say, we never heard another word from our neighbors on the water.

It wasn’t long before getting the first ‘bites” of the day that we proceeded in pulling one Makriel after the other out of the water. We were the only ones pulling out any sort of fish? I looked at the current and realized that whatever attractant the other guys were using, was all drifting toward us, thus attracting the Makriel and soon after I’m sure a couple of Barbel. The area was now OD’d with whatever and we were all of a sudden feeling a bit claustrophobic as we found ourselves surrounded by more and more boat. Realizing that the angling pressure was going to be overwhelming and wasn’t in the mood to catch Makriel for the next couple of hours, I decided that we anchor up and go to what is most probably my best Kurper spot on the dam, where I catch most of my decent sized fish. However, this area only produces the “goods” from about midday onwards. We set off only to see someone else had already claimed the “spot”.

Feeling a little down and despondent, it was at this stage at about 09h00am that on our way to another “spot” some 13km away, I said a prayer (“Lord Please Show us Where The Winning Fish Is”) (I asked for everyone’s help, even my guardian angel).I was desperate and de motivated because of the days happenings up to this point.

We once again anchored up and started to target that “big blou kurper”. The conditions were no good and the water temperature was also to cold, resulting in everyone struggling to catch the big ones. Everyone was complaining.

At around 12pm, I said to my Mrs. and Daughter that I was going to have a quick power nap as I was a little exhausted and being diabetic didn’t feel too strong at this point. I dozed off knowing that we were well anchored and very close to land for safety reasons. I think I was just going into a deep sleep when I heard my Mrs. and Daughter shouting for me to help.

“Deur die KAK”, I jumped up, realized we were drifting as a result of other boats coming past us in a narrow channel too fast and dislodging the main anchor. “So here we go again”, as if we had not had enough trouble for the day. I shouted lines up and started the motor not realizing that there were lines in at the back of the boat. Yup – you guessed it – the lines got tangled in the prop as all three reels started singing simultaneously and I had to shut the motor off. After a while we managed to secure ourselves to a rock whilst my Mrs. balanced like a trapeze artist untying the lines from around the prop and I held the motor as high up as I could. (No Trim and Tilt).

Well by now I had, had enough and had a sense of humor failure. I told everyone to secure everything on the boat as we are going back to the launch – I had had enough of all the difficulties experience throughout the day, was boiling inside and had a seismic headache. As far as I was concerned, our comp was over and it was time to go back. This was at about 13h50pm. Anchor’s up and all secure, I started the motor and proceeded to idle past all the another boats on the way out. As we went, we were asking about everyone’s success for the day. Everyone was struggling. This really re assured me of my decision to go back to the resort, when out of the blue; a semi rigid duck came cruising past us. These guys looked as if they were on a “booze cruise” and had also thrown in the towel. It was in fact the opposite – they had a keep net full of decent sized Kurper.

At this stage I was finished as normally by this time of day, we get a good couple decent sized weighable Kurper that just don’t make the top ten on the table or get chucked off as the weigh-in proceeds. And there are always other prizes as we were fortunate enough to win the secret pre selected weight prize in the 2008 comp, which was a small bass boat with a 5hp Mercury also sponsored by Highveld Outdoor and Marine.

I had not yet even landed one fish!  Once past all the boats and obstacles on the way back to land I opened the throttle and set off to the launch when as if a hand took the wheel, I steered to the left and said to my Mrs. – One more try! If our spot is open we anchor and fish and if it’s occupied, we come back. She agreed and off we went as fast as “Bamba Zonke” could take us. As I was starting my turn to go around the point, I realized something was wrong and thought we were broaching in the swells as the steering felt strange so I throttled down and proceeded to make the turn yet we were still heading in a straight line. It was then I realized there was a steering problem and proceeded to spin the wheel as I observed the motor. Unbelievable – the nut and bolt from the steering mechanism had come loose and fallen out. There was no immediate danger or vessels close by, so I cut the motor and proceeded to re install the nut and bolt which had thankfully fallen back into the boat. It was now approximately 14h20pm when I re started the motor and proceeded around the point to see if our spot was available.

For the first time the whole day, I had a little smile in my heart as I saw that our “spot” was unoccupied, there were no boats in the immediate facinity and the water was calm and like a mirror. On arriving at our spot we anchored up for the umpteenth time. I glanced at the time, it was now 14h45(One hour and fifteen minutes to the final weigh-in time at 16h00pm and sais to my family that we should just settle and enjoy what’s left of the day, enjoy the tranquility of the surroundings, the beautiful well preserved nature reserve and the animals drinking on the banks. We all agreed that it was too late in the day to be fishing to “win” and that we will still fish for pleasure.

Due to most of our special rigs being destroyed by the prop earlier in the day, I picked up one of the rods that were still semi ok, had a little nest of line on the spool but knew I could easily free the nest once I cast in as it would free the tangled line from the spool. I asked my daughter to please pass me a worm, which she did. I rigged the worm onto the hook and cast in. Whilst the hook, line and worm were sinking, I put the rod down to untangle the knotted line when BANG all hell broke loose. I was “on” and by the action of the rod in my hand and the feeling of what was on the other end; I knew it was a decent sized Kurper. With the line still tangled about a meter from the hook, I managed to bring the fish to the surface. We immediately identified the fish as being a really nice sized “blou Kurper”. I handed the rod to my Mrs. who held it up as high as possible to keep the line taught whilst I got my hands on the landing net and successfully scooped the Kurper into the net and put it down on the deck in case it came loose. I removed the hook which was perfectly set in the corner of the Kurper’s mouth and proceeded to see how heaver the fish was as small landing net had a built in scale. At first glance, the scale measure just over 3kg. Our eyes nearly fell out of our heads and the sudden adrenalin rush made us forget all that happened during the day. The focus was now on the fish we landed. I let the fish settle and stop wriggling and weighed it again. This time the scale on the landing net showed 2.7 odd KG. Knowing that this was a good sized Kurper and knowing that it takes us 20 to 25 minutes to get back to the resort, we decided that we should immediately leave and try our luck. We were still sorting things out on the deck when again the line that my Mrs. had cast in just before the action was onto another fish which she landed. A Kurper of about 900g. With huge excitement and adrenalin still pumping, we took anchors up and proceeded back to the resort as fast as our boat would take us.

All the way back to the launch site at the resort my Mrs. Put a wet towel over the fish and kept scooping dam water and bailed it onto the fish the way. Thus keeping the fish alive and moist as we could not leave the fish in a keep net at that speed. About half way back to shore, my Mrs. scooped yet another bucket of water and yup – here we go again. The bucket was ripped out of her hands by the force of the water and I had to turn around and go recover the bucket.

I beached at the resort at about 15h25pm (35minutes before the weigh in cut off time at 16h00pm). The first thing I asked some of the wondering souls next to the water’s edge and around their boats, was what was the current weight of the winning fish so far and we got a reply from one guy that it was about 2.3kg. Knowing that I had weighed my fish and according the landing net scale it measured 2.7kg there was, all of a sudden another adrenalin rush and burst of energy. I immediately checked on the fish which was still alive and proceeded to put it into the water to keep it revived.

The next step was to secure all the valuables and we started taking rods, reels, gps and cell phones etc out of the boat. The plan was for my Mrs. and daughter to take the first load and lock it in the bakkie while I watched our fish and unpacked the rest of the stuff. Daisy was then going to come back for the last lot and I would go to the weigh-in where she would meet up with me.

My shattered nerves, again I shat myself because it was now nearly 15h45pm and there was no sign of my Mrs. or daughter who had left more than fifteen minutes back and should have been back at the boat 5 to 10 minutes later. In a state of panic I called Daisy’s cell phone, only to hear it ring behind me in a bag I had just taken out of the boat. I looked at the time and thought to myself “stuff it” “if someone takes something, good luck to them”. I need to get to the weigh-in”. I picked up the keep net with our “one and only” fish in it and hastily started making my way to the weigh in tent, when low and behold, who is sitting in our bakkie with trailer and all in the cue of vehicles wanting to take their boats out the water. My Mrs. (Who clearly got the message mixed up and thought I had told her to come back with bakkie so we can take the boat out the water). I told her to park where she can and get the rest of the stuff I had taken out the boat, lock it up in the bakkie and meet me at the weigh-in. I got to the weigh-in at approximately 15h47pm, (13 minutes before cut-off). At 15h56pm our fish was weighed in. Again I almost did the nasty in my pants when the digital scale weighed the fish in at 2.332kg. I asked to please check the weight again, which they kindly did and still 2.332kg. (Don’t ever trust a manual scale on your landing net). When I initially saw the weight on the scale I was relieved and told my Mrs. and Daughter who had now joined me that it looks like we have taken second prize which is after today’s happenings an absolute bonus. After all, R20 000.00 is R20 000.00 and who are we to complain. We couldn’t believe our eyes and ears when the fish that was in the current number one spot (2.324kg) was moved into second spot on the table and our fish was placed in the number one spot and one of the ladies turned to me and said “maneer, jou vis is so ver die wen vis en is die swaarste vir die dag”. My family and I had a group hug and with such mixed emotions, tears came to my eyes as I found it hard to swallow. (Does it mean anything to mention that my old Durban Harbor number on my boat (Bamba Zonke) was DUR 232 (The wining fish we caught was weighed in at 2,332kg) (Also take (2.332KG) (2+3=5 + 3+2=5, 5 + 5 = 10) My Lucky Number!

Coincidence, Luck or Fate? – you decide)(We won by only 8 grams).

Not all was over yet as there was about three to four minutes before the cut off at four ‘o’ clock and there were some three odd people still in the cue to have their fish weighed in. We anxiously waited with baited breath to see the other fish being weighed in and one by one they didn’t weigh enough to be put on the table. When the cut off for the weigh-in was eventually announced and we were still in that all important number “one” spot, I think my body and mind gave in and the pressure and experience of the day plus the emotional roller coaster ride kicked in and I was smacked with an enormous migraine. (Check the photos – As ecstatic as I was in receiving the First Prize – I just couldn’t bring about a smile, I was overwhelmed with both physical and especially emotional exhaustion).(Now I have trim and tilt).

“This all goes to show, that no matter who we are, how good or skilled we are or think we are, no matter how well prepared you may be and no matter how good your equipment maybe and more…………….”. Every serious angler will tell you that besides skill (which is important), you also need a “little luck”.

On this particular day, the 28^th March 2009 at the Annual Loskop Kurper Bonanza, it was clear to me that sometimes all you need to ask for is:

“A Little Help From Above “  !

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the organizer’s, sponsors and hosts of this well prepared, very enjoyable and challenging event.

Special Thanks and Mention: My Crew (Daisy and Jacqueline – for putting up with and assisting with the days challenges) (Peet Steenberg, Dries and staff from Highveld Outdoor and Marine – for offering such an inspirational first prize and all the other behind the scenes things you do) (Johan Pieterse  and Johan van Rensburg and team -  for all the organization of this great event – you are always there for everyone and no task is to great) (Adelle Pieterse for all the great photo’s that you kindly sent us) (Ettienne Kriel of the Stywe Lyne for being at the event and allowing this great event exposure in the Stywe Lyne/Tight Lines magazine – Also thanks for the photos) (Wolf signs for sending me a copy of the Loskop Kurper Bonanza Logo) And Thank You  to all the other sponsors and everyone else involved in making this great event take place.

This is a true and accurate account of what really happened at the “Loskop Kurper Bonanza” on the 28^th March 2009 at Forever Resorts Loskop Dam.  

Story: Survived, Endured and Experienced by Jaceson, Daisy and Jacqueline – written by Jaceson Travis Wilmans.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE 2010 COMPETITORS WHO TAKE PART IN THIS YEARS 11^TH LOSKOP KURPER BONANZA. I’ll See You All There!

The Sponsors and Organisers have once again outdone the previous year’s and this years “FIRST PRIZE” is a boat worth a wopping R200 000.00. There are also a host of other prizes to be won.

I challenge all fisherman to enter this competition and have a go at winning. If you have a line in the water, you too could be a proud owner of the “FIRST PRIZE”.

“FOR  THE  FIRST  TIME  IN THE  HISTORY  OF  ANY COMPETITION  AT  LOSKOP DAM,  ANYONE  WHO  HAS  A KAYAK  AND  OR  A  FISHING SKI  CAN  NOW  ENTER  THE LOSKOP  KURPER BONANZA  AND  STAND  A  CHANCE  TO WIN  THE  R200 000.00  FIRST PRIZE.”

FOR  MORE  INFO CALL:  0834175444.

“TIGHT LINES”

History of Loskop Dam

(Click Here Above to Open Document)