Fall might be in the air in Canada but it's still winter where Dave Chong is calling home this week.
Chong, of Aurora, Ont., is a member of the Canadian team competing at the '25 world black bass championship that begins Thursday at South Africa's Arabie Dam. Instead of getting ready for a fall bite, Chong and his teammates must focus on finding pre-spawn fish given it's still winter in South Africa (until Sept. 22).
"When largemouths are spawning, they can be really finicky," Chong said. "Pre-spawn fish are what you're looking for as they carry much more weight and they're also actively feeding because once they get into the spawn, they don't feed as much.
"The problem when fish get on their spawning beds is you can see how big they are but you can kill a lot of time trying to catch fish that just aren't interested in biting. If you can find them pre-spawn, that would be the deal."
Joining Chong on the Canadian team are Ben Stokdijk, of Lower Truro, N.S., Phil Curtis of St. Catharines, Ont., Adam Foster of Charters Settlement, N.B., Rick Kewell of Kingston, Ont., and Jason Hynes of Gananoque, Ont. In this competition, each country has three two-man teams competing daily.
The Canadian duos will consist of Chong-Stokdijk, Curtis-Foster and Kewell-Hynes.
Chong, Curtis and Foster were members of the Canadian team that was seventh at last year's global event on Italy's Lake Bolsena.
Canada was eighth at the '23 world tournament in Portugal. It finished fifth in Mexico in 2018.
Arabie Dam is home to over 40 species of fish and is a popular site for largemouth bass and carp. And although it's winter in South Africa, the climate there does remain warm by Canadian standards.
But Arabie Dam also has a healthy crocodile population.
Competing on a foreign body of water presents its own challenges but Chong said the abundance of information available online lessens that transition somewhat. However, with 15 countries (and thus 45 teams) competing on a 1,295-hectare impoundment, there will be plenty of fishing pressure to deal with.
"There is a lot of information available out there," Chong said. "But you still have to kind of filter through it and figure out what will work for you.
"Luckily I have friends who are from South Africa and I was able to get at least get a heads-up regarding the generalities of it. Every little bit helps and it's a little less that you have to worry or think about."
In this team event, communication between boats is allowed. That's something that's strictly prohibited in most -- if not all -- tournaments in North America.
"Teamwork is a big, big part of this championship," said Chong. "Its something we're getting better at every year.
"Teamwork and which teams can find the most pre-spawn fish will be the two biggest keys in this tournament."
This event will offer a rather unique innovation as a new digital scoring system will be used for the first time. Anglers will be able to catch, record and release fish using a digital platform and app that will reduce the need for handling the bass, both on the boat as well as at weigh stations.
The platform also provides an auto-cull feature that will eliminate smaller catches and replace the teams' weight totals accordingly and present leaderboards in real time.
The three-day event concludes Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2025.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
