{"id":13919,"date":"2021-09-21T11:28:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T09:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=13919"},"modified":"2021-09-23T08:50:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T06:50:06","slug":"count-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=13919","title":{"rendered":"Count Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019ve never considered fly fishing to be a competitive sport, amongst anglers that is. It’s the fish you have to battle with after all, so another fly fisher can only really be considered company on the water.<\/p>\n

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Hence, the TOPS Corporate Challenge has never been about fishing, despite some 24 000 Trout having been caught and released over the last 20 years. This benchmark fly fishing festival is all about the time you spend with mates, imbibing and embellishing on past angling adventures you\u2019ve had together and possibly trying to convince anyone within earshot that you can throw a line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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And despite \u2018Ronas\u2019 efforts to keep us all locked up at home and Uncle Cyril\u2019s adjusted levels causing mayhem with our best laid plans, this illustrious gathering was yet again successfully hosted at the legendary Notties hotel. Of course the pub was a shadow of it\u2019s former self with sensible social distancing but that didn\u2019t stop every entrant from celebrating in the great outdoors!<\/p>\n

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The WildFly waters lived up to their reputation, producing some spectacular Rainbows and even a few rare Browns made an appearance. The conditions however couldn\u2019t have been more challenging!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Howling winds, driving rain and sleet that turned into a genuine snowstorm!\u2026.thankfully we all had our Jonsson fleeces!!<\/p>\n

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No rational person would chose to take out a fly rod, but that\u2019s one symptom resulting from this pandemic, you lose all sense of perspective and logic is quickly cast aside. Every single person braved the merciless weather and returned grinning like a schoolboy who had finally been allowed out to play, albeit with a slightly bluish tinge to their complexion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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Fortunately a Glenbrynth single malt kept the polar bears at bay and the Trout played ball, with 699 fish making into the record books in the qualifying legs<\/p>\n

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Thankfully the final brought out a little sun and with spring brightening up the landscape, the 48 fly fishers made a lot of hay.<\/p>\n

112 fish in the first session was followed by 75 in the second, with a 64cm Rainbow hen from Oakbrook dam landed by Paul Lishman, equalling the 64cm Brown caught in leg one. Remarkably 79 Trout were landed in the 3rd session and as one has come to expect only 48 in that last shell shocked session with Gavin Loveday recording another 64cm from SpringGrove dam.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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The yardstick of a good sized Trout I believe is 50cm and if you are lucky enough to broach the 55cm mark, you move into that 7lb category, which for most casual anglers is a memorable catch indeed. But if you\u2019re lucky enough to land a wee beast that eclipses the 60cm mark, you\u2019re in trophy territory.<\/p>\n

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This was the first count out, forcing us to look at their respective largest fish in the legs, Paul\u2019s 59cm from Oribi dam, pipped Gav\u2019s 56cm, bestowing on him the trophy for the largest fish of the 2020 TCC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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The 314 Trout caught in the final took the tally to 1013 fish for the event. But yet again it was the average size of fish recorded this year that caught everyone\u2019s attention with every dam measuring a Trout in excess of 55cm and more fish caught over 50cm than any other year!<\/p>\n

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The session scoring system kept the adjudicators busy and everyone guessing with two count outs, for 4th and 3rd place as well as for silver and gold, with just a single fish tipping the scales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Every fly fisher won a holiday to enjoy some more fishing compliments of\u00a0WildFlytravel.com<\/a>, and Easy Escapes, but there were some anxious anglers waiting to see if they\u2019s made it to the trophy tiger grounds of Matoya lodge, the majestic Bains River Camp in the lower Zambezi or the luxurious White Pearl resort in Mozambique as well as the incredible Orange river drift with Kalahari Outventures.<\/p>\n

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Hendrik Fourie took top honours with his 17 Trout caught and released, engraving his name into the WildFly honours board at Notties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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And this performance was good enough to catapult his team ST Fergusson, past the 3rd place of \u2018Nympmaniacs’ and the 2nd place podium held by team ‘ZZ Tops’ to be crowned the 2021 TOPS Corporate Challenge champions.<\/p>\n

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With trips to Semonkong in Lesotho, Shayamoya on Jozini, Giants Cup in the berg or Fordoun and InverMooi in the mIdlands, every team was rewarded for their efforts on the water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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This coupled with the incredible prizes from Hardy, Greys, Airflo, Frontier Fly Fishing, Outdoor Warehouse and Xplorer ensured that regardless of the who caught what, just for harassing the Trout you walked away with an armful of goodies.<\/p>\n

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So when all was said and done their were a lot of winners in the war waged against the Trout in WildFly country!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never considered fly fishing to be a competitive sport, amongst anglers that is. It’s the fish you have to battle with after all, so another fly fisher can only really be considered company on the water.   Hence, the TOPS Corporate Challenge has never been about fishing, despite some 24 000 Trout having been caught and released over the last 20 years. This benchmark fly fishing festival is all about the time you spend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":14005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80,23,279],"tags":[288,369,372,365,364,366,287,282,367,285,258,368,373,370,283,299,371,280,281,374],"class_list":["post-13919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-competitions","category-fly-fishing","category-tops-corporate-challenge","tag-airflo","tag-fordoun","tag-frontier-fly-fishing","tag-giants-cup","tag-giants-cup-and-notties","tag-glenbrynth","tag-greys","tag-hardy","tag-heineken","tag-horizon","tag-invermooi","tag-jonsson","tag-matoya","tag-nvermooi","tag-rio","tag-scientific-angler","tag-shayamoya","tag-tops","tag-tops-corporate-challenge","tag-white-pearl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Count-Out-TCC-Final-blog-copy-3.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2490,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2490","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":0},"title":"5 Reasons To Enter The TOPS Corporate Challenge","author":"Rhuan Human","date":"May 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Competition angling is not for everyone, in fact some of the best anglers I have met have never fished a competition in their lives. Some see fishing as an escape. An break from their daily routine, and from the responsibilities that go with adult life. They want to be outside\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/b2ap3_thumbnail_IMG_8055.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2728,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2728","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":1},"title":"TOPS Corporate Challenge – The Final","author":"Gareth","date":"July 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"What a weekend\u2026 4 seasons in 48 hours\u2026 It certainly separated the rabid fly fishers from the fair weathered fisherman. And a lot of Partycipation at the TOPS Corporate Challenge as one has come to expect from this fly fishing festival. These gatherings are never short of a fishing story\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"b2ap3_thumbnail_aef3a174c090680e923cbdfb.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/b2ap3_thumbnail_aef3a174c090680e923cbdfb.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2596,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2596","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":2},"title":"The TOPS at SPAR Corporate Challenge","author":"Gareth","date":"July 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The TOPS at SPAR Corporate Challenge It would have taken a brave angler to predict that the 1st Leg results would be eclipsed this last weekend. Regardless of how ideal the weather conditions might have been or the caliber of fly fisher that harassed the trout \u2013 594 rainbows, at\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"b2ap3_thumbnail_GOPR0020.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/b2ap3_thumbnail_GOPR0020.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5707,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=5707","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":3},"title":"TOPS Corporate Challenge Leg 1","author":"Gareth","date":"June 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It would be an understatement to say the festivities outweighed the fishing this last weekend, with the legendary Notties living up to it\u2019s reputation as the \u00a0pub with a exit that is impossible to find. The entrants certainly had more than one glass of not so serious at the start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Brown Trout\"","block_context":{"text":"Brown Trout","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?tag=brown-trout"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2651,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2651","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":4},"title":"TOPS Corporate Challenge Leg 3","author":"Gareth","date":"July 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0 Never has so few been caught by so many. To say that the fishing was slow on the last leg of the TOPS Corporate Challenge, would be like calling Leicester City's premier league win predictable\u2026\u2026.which the Trout clearly were not. Sixty anglers toiled and when in the very first\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10842,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=10842","url_meta":{"origin":13919,"position":5},"title":"Breaking Records – TCC Final","author":"Gareth","date":"November 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Getting to the final in any event can be a little nerve wracking, especially when qualifying for the first time. Fishing isn\u2019t seen as a competitive sport\u00a0by some, lending\u00a0itself more to recreation and relaxation as an activity, but try telling that to the intrepid bunch of fly fishers who have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Airflo\"","block_context":{"text":"Airflo","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?tag=airflo"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Breaking-Records-TCC-Final-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8sv9-3Cv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13919"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13922,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13919\/revisions\/13922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}