Beware of cyber anglers only in it for fame, bucks
As I surf through social media angling avenues I can only admire those who return their catches and are proud of that.
What is alarming, however, are those who brag about their excess (and undersized) catches. These anglers are nothing but poachers who hide this way. Why not display your catches on the street corner or outside your tackle shop? This way you will get the attention you seek. There is a big difference between an angler who catches and eats his or her catch and one who simply cannot return a fish whether he or she has a need for it or not. Others simply fish for “bucks” and regardless of the law will continue and legitimise this argument in their own way of thinking – and can be quite convincing too! I see the scenario where a captive penguin was liberated as the young men behind the deed supposedly believed this was the correct thing to do. The scale balances strange ways. An animal should be free in its natural environment; however, as humankind interferes, so we then have to take responsibility for these actions.
False environments can be theatres for education in many ways. The truth is that captive bred animals are simply that and cannot fend for themselves in the wild. Wild animals are also just in that and have a will of their own. They can be sustainably utilised for our benefit and that is where the hunter and gatherer instinct prevails. As the saying goes: “Never drink more than you can hold.” Having experienced a neap tide this past period little has been reported about catches made. However, today’s photograph of Nigel Louw’s kob caught from a kayak in one of our estuaries shows a new dimension to the sport as anglers look for alternatives. This is now becoming an extreme sport as it gives you rather a good workout in the process. I watched a YouTube clip of a white shark up close with a kayak angler as it circled and brushed up against his craft for a long period of time. Certainly another breed of angler has evolved and we wait and see where this takes us. It is definitely not for the opportunistic angler as there is a lot of work and risk involved. This time of year we experience the windy period where angling is mostly over before noon as a result. Studying the weather is of great importance as conditions change suddenly without warning. Prospects look good ahead of a dark moon spring tide. Tomorrow, being dark moon, has a 9.40am low tide with a westerly that will prevail throughout the weekend and increase in strength as the day progresses, becoming easterly later on Sunday. My favourite tide is three days after spring tide.
