THE POWER AND THE
Chris L:Well, first of all, congratulations on the victory, I know it was down to hard work and preparation, does that level of preparation always outweigh being lucky?
LuC: Well Chris, it’s difficult to judge, in my opinion, preparation is important, but having a wide range of techniques available to use and being flexible when there are different circumstances is more important, an angler who is used to fish on many different waters and have the skills is dangerous on this venue. You can prepare as much as you want, but in a
competition things change: you may see the water changing after one or two days as the competition goes on, maybe your favourite spot (and we had this happen) was hammered two days before you start to fish it and it can be completely dead. Then you need to understand this and adapt, don’t put too much time into that spot as time is very important in this tournament, as you start every day with a clean sheet! I think luck is something you need when it comes to losing fish etc. , you might lose a big fish just in front of the net, or it throws the hooks just when it’s netted, that’s when you know you have luck on your side! But I don’t think someone can win this game purely with luck, I will never say that. Luck needs to be your friend, that’s a fact, otherwise with the high level of this competition you can maybe end up second or third
‘‘ 10
When people point to you as one of the favourites, there is a lot on pressure on your shoulders, if you like it or not
GLORY
Chris Leibbrandt, editor of the WPC magazine 2015, caught up with the defending champions, Luc Coppens and Jeremy Staverman, during a brief respite in their busy year’s itinerary…
instead of first. So the guys who also finished high in the rankings always have my respect as they know what they are doing and are serious candidates to win the event.
Chris L: You’ll forgive me for asking this, but you two guys seem to have been around for ages (despite your youthful good looks), so, how many years of fishing experience do you two guys have between you, and how many as competition anglers?
LuC: Well, thanks for the compliment, I’ve a lifetime fishing experience from when I was a kid, it was a big passion then and it’s never changed. As competition anglers I can say about a good
12 years, but I was always very competitive in my fishing and I need the challenge, like for example, when I have a lure that is catching well I mostly stop using it to search for something else if I can find something equal or even better. It’s the same with a good spot, many times I leave a good spot after catching some fish to find more good spots, I don’t want it too easy.
JErEMY: I came a little later to the competition scene, we’ve been competition partners around three years now and I’ve been lucky to learn plenty of the trick’s and techniques Luc was using. Since teaming up we’ve won a lot competitions so we’re both very thankful for the way it has gone!
Chris L: It’s not all sunny weather and flat calm water, I know how tough it was, as I was there. The wind plays a big part on such a huge water, have you any tricks of the trade that use the wind for your benefit?
LuC: Wind can be a disturbing factor on the big lakes in Holland, we don’t like it , but we have to face it. To be honest, we never get used to it, but we have no choice, we try as much as possible to adjust to the wind and use it to drift the boat so that we can reach the spots where we like to fish, controlling
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