One big characteristic of the event is the lavish opening ceremony where anglers get treated to a delicious sit down meal, followed by well presented formalities, with the event broadcast live on social media platforms for the many online spectators. After the most enjoyable ceremony teams were allowed to set up camp at their peg that was to be their home for the next 7 days. 

The opening hours of the event saw most teams out on the water scouting for possible good areas to set their traps in search of the three biggest fish. Team Karpioene 2 who drew Peg 1 right next to the dam wall was first off the mark landing a few fish but just below the qualifying weight of 9kg. Team Carpy AF on peg 10 weighed in the first qualifying fish of 9.77kg opening up the LIVE leaderboard scores. It wasn’t long after that capture that Team LUNKER on peg 16 started to land a few fish of qualifying weight giving them an early lead. But It was a humble team from Delmas, The Bearded Anglers on Peg 7 who really jumped the leaderboard as a huge afternoon storm approached, landing a number of very big fish of over 12kg which put them into first place overall.