Wesley Rapson


			History books highlight the inherent talent of the bushman to read the spoor of his surroundings, this can be done with such accuracy that we marvel at their unity with Mother Nature. Wesley has just that innate ability but with a totally different environment, his inspirational attraction with the sea and its magnificent creatures is beyond normal comprehension and his huge popularity pays tribute to that fact. Always finding the extra time to pass his vast knowledge with fellow anglers, and always being respectfully humble, has earned him this status. There is no substitute for experience, and from an age where he could barely walk he would spend hours in rock pools studying the characteristics of all forms of marine life, and at home he spent every free moment paging the Professor Smiths ‘Sea Fishes’ book. This edition worn and tattered eclipsed any other reading or study material; such is his grasp of fish and sharks that both he and Rob Kyle can spend hours in discussion referring to the characteristics and habitat of fish in their Latin names. One of Wesley’s greatest assets is his strong friendship ties with so many anglers in South African and African angling communities, travelling to just about any Coastal town he always makes the time to try and meet up with them and discuss the latest trends and developments in angling. Wesley’s achievements in South African angling include Junior Protea colors on 2 occasions, the first being achieved at the tender age of 15, one of the youngest anglers to achieve this reward, and the second time that he represented his country he excelled and his true angling talent shone through as he achieved top angler, beating the second placed angler by almost double the score. During this tournament Wesley was placed 1st overall with 76.1 kg of fish and took both the most coveted of trophies being the angler with the most fish( 8 ) and also the heaviest inedible fish of the tournament a Blue skate of 16.6 kg. His first year in the senior angling section saw him being placed into the Zululand senior team where he has been a permanent member for the last 5 years. Being a border at Durban High School his commitment to his sport was exemplary, and playing for DHS 1st hockey team he also toured Australia in 2002 where his team completed an unbeaten tour of the country travelling from Perth to Sydney obliterating all opposition along the route. Difficult conditions prevailed at his first tournament on the Natal coastline and even under this pressure Wesley shone once again, earning himself a place in the South African Development Team - he is the youngest person ever to make this team! Wesley attended the Thabazimbi bush academy and obtained his FAGASA level 2 diploma, completing his practical on a farm in Alexandra where he soon created another dimension in the scope of activities for the guests buy introducing international clients to the exhilarating sport of catching sharks in excess of 100kg from the shore. His love for the ocean brought him back to the coast where he worked with Rob Kyle as a marine specimen collector before joining the highly successful ‘Extreme Sport Angling’ team, his inclusion in the Carcharhinus family brings a whole new dimension to a formidable team. A true sportsman will always give back to his sport what he gets from it and Wesley has adopted this approach with aplomb. He is a regular donor to the Chaka Marine World Aquarium with the fish he has caught and is constantly assisting the Ushaka Marine employees in catching sharks and rays for their tanks. Such is Wesley's love for angling that he embraces every facet, he is an experienced Ski boat, paddle ski, fly-fishing (salt and freshwater), and Bay and Bass angler and switches between them with equal ease and ability.