Will & Dre

When I met my wife four years ago I was amazed by the stories and legends of her grandfather Peter Botha. I would on numerous occations request a story from Granny and just sit and listen. Altough I didn’t know this man, I had a longing within me to just shake his hand or share in his wealth of knowledge.

Peter Botha

In those days men were men and didn’t mind showing it! The battle ground was the Southern pier of the Durban harbour and many epic battles were won and lost here. Prime specimens roamed the waters of Durban and a fight lasted for 6 to 8 hours on average. The amazing thing however is that modern fishing gear did not yet exist, the main weapon was a bamboo rod and wooden reel! Certain old school rules did also apply, an angler was not allowed to hand his rod to a fellow angler in order to take a break. You-hook-it-you-catch-it! When an angler finally struggled through his 6 to 8 hours with a beast of a fish on the other end he was allowed to hand his rod to someone else, if and only if the trace was visible. If you think to yourself that this is it ,you are surely mistaken, the battle was far from over and the angler was required to gaff his own fish! With their first fish out of the water they usually prepared for a second.

The bamboo fishing rod they used in those days

The wooden Reels used in those days

Catching a shark in Durban

This is shark fishing the old school way and brings with it a wealth of emotions, jealousy, amazement and sadness, but most of all admiration, admiration for men that lived in a time, a time that will never be again, a time that we can just dream of. In my next few posts I will write more about Peter Botha and the stories that was shared with me.