{"id":2664,"date":"2014-07-31T09:18:45","date_gmt":"2014-07-31T07:18:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2014-07-31T11:01:34","modified_gmt":"2014-07-31T09:01:34","slug":"tops-at-spar-corporate-trophy-challenge-final-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2664","title":{"rendered":"TOPS at SPAR Corporate Trophy Challenge Final 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

 \u201cSnapped up, hook straightened, stuck me in the weeds\u201d are common overtures that you hear at any pub on a typical fishing weekend. \u201c The
pressure bottomed out and that darn Easterly blowing\u201d can compliment these commiserations over a wee dram.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no shortage of excuses when it comes to not catching fish! In fact a great idea for a Fishing smart phone App would be to produce
original explanations for why we failed on the water\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2019if it wasn\u2019t for those $%@&* low flying birds\u2019 is one that might hold water.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-4.JPG\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

But not this last weekend\u2026..yes there were tales of the one that got away, after all a fishing trip just isn\u2019t the same without a good yarn,
but 526 specimens made it safely to and from the net, bringing the tally to an impressive 1 699 trout in the TOPS at SPAR Corporate Trophy
Challenge. It\u2019s a format that has been improved on every year since the inaugural event in 2002. There are 3 legs, limited to 15 teams of
four anglers in each leg, with the top 5 teams qualifying for the sought after final. The 180 anglers are whittled down to the top 60 through
this process, with the accumulative points of each team counting.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 \"b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-2.JPG\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the kicker, only your top 4 fish count in session 1, Three fish in the 2nd<\/sup> session, Two fish in session 3 and a single specimen is measured
in the last session. So, over four sessions of festive fly fishing a total of 10 fish to count per team member.<\/span><\/p>\n

This wonderful handicap system, prevents  <\/span>\u2018stocky bashing\u2019 and targeting of juvenile fish, which let\u2019s face it, isn\u2019t a mark of angling skill. It also stops
the fishing pros from walking away with it\u2026..as it\u2019s all about that last session and with only one fish required, it boils down to size and good old
Lady Luck.<\/span><\/p>\n

With each team guaranteed to fish 8 of the 15 exclusive trout waters, the bias of a dam draw is also negated. Bottom line is that to a large extent you take out the highly competitive nature of the event, as every fisherman realizes that this festival has a lot more to do with than just fishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>\"b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-2_20140731-101609_1.JPG\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously the chance of winning a brand new boat, compliments of Yamaha or international fly fishing trips to the renowned Ichingo lodge on the
Chobe or Guma Lagoon in Botswana, gives the lads some incentive to fish. In fact with a Million Rand\u2019s worth of prizes up for grabs it\u2019s a wonder
that they don\u2019t take it a little more seriously. But as all those that have enjoyed the event will attest to, incredible prizes are bestowed for the most outlandish behavior off the field. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Hannibal Lecter and Vladamir Putin Award will give you an inkling of tongue and cheek prize giving.<\/span><\/p>\n

This event continues to be sold out every year because it happens to be the most fun that you can have with a fly rod. This is the essence of any
festive gathering of fly fishers and it is an ethos that I hope continues to infect the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n

 \"b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-1.JPG\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The winners of the 2014 TOPS at SPAR Corporate Trophy Challenge were \u2018The Finance Team\u2019, with Leads 2 Business as runners up and
Notties Fly Fishing Club coming a close third.<\/span><\/p>\n

To enter your team for the 2015 event, go to www.wildfly.co.za<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-3.JPG\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 \u201cSnapped up, hook straightened, stuck me in the weeds\u201d are common overtures that you hear at any pub on a typical fishing weekend. \u201c Thepressure bottomed out and that darn Easterly blowing\u201d can compliment these commiserations over a wee dram. There is no shortage of excuses when it comes to not catching fish! In fact a great idea for a Fishing smart phone App would be to produceoriginal explanations for why we failed on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2665,"comment_status":"open","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/b2ap3_thumbnail_photo-4.JPG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2720,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2720","url_meta":{"origin":2664,"position":0},"title":"Big Fish Weekend","author":"Gareth","date":"June 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"But once they got onto the water, the Trout sure joined the party.\u00a0499 fish were caught and released with another 100 or so gate crashing, resulting in many long line releases. WildFly's handicap system of only allowing a set number of fish to count in each fishing session, prevented stocky\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"b2ap3_thumbnail_IMG_6984.JPG","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/b2ap3_thumbnail_IMG_6984.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5858,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=5858","url_meta":{"origin":2664,"position":1},"title":"Big Trout surface","author":"Gareth","date":"June 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The dilemma that every fly fisher faces at a TOPS Corporate Challenge will never change. The object of the weekend is to rekindle long-standing friendships that are all too often marginalized through digital communications. But, one is also expected to make an effort at the waters edge and contribute to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Competitions"","block_context":{"text":"Competitions","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=80"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-2-resized.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-2-resized.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-2-resized.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/TCC-2019-Leg-2-resized.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2577,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=2577","url_meta":{"origin":2664,"position":2},"title":"The Corporate Trophy Challenge","author":"Gareth","date":"February 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The art of festival fly fishing The finals of any event come with a certain amount of expectation from both the competitors and the audience in attendance.\u00a0 The 2012 London Olympics certainly lived up to all the anticipation and hype that preceded the incredible spectacle as did (on a much\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13564,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=13564","url_meta":{"origin":2664,"position":3},"title":"Fair Weather Fisherman","author":"Gareth","date":"August 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"For once the naysayers, me included, got it completely wrong. We always watch any incoming weather with trepidation and automatically assume the worst especially when we see a front looming. And we had every right to be worried this last weekend, a max of 3 degrees predicted, with winds up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tops Corporate Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"Tops Corporate Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=279"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/TCC-Leg-2-Blog-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/TCC-Leg-2-Blog-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/TCC-Leg-2-Blog-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/TCC-Leg-2-Blog-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/TCC-Leg-2-Blog-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10560,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=10560","url_meta":{"origin":2664,"position":4},"title":"Self Isolating Trout – TCC Leg 3","author":"Gareth","date":"October 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few anglers thought that the Trout were adhering to the Covid regulations this last weekend as they certainly were reluctant to come within casting distance, let alone out to play. 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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":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8sv9-GY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664","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=2664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}