STYWE LYNE TIGHT LINES January 2025: My Turn | My Beurt

WORDS/WOORDE: Eugene C. Kruger, Editor-in-Chief

Aan Alle Lesers, Korrespondente en Adverteerders, hiermee my Beste Wense vir ‘n Voorspoedige en Gesonde Nuwehengeljaar met die Vangs van Jou Drome!

To All Readers, Correspondents and Advertisers my Best Wishes for a Prosperous and Healthy New Angling Year and the Catch of Your Dreams!

Welcome to January 2025, the 779th issue.

THOSE PESKY COOTS

A Facebook posting during the end of year lull last month caught my eye, not because it espoused a worthy catch or yet another innovation in tackle or bait, but a caustic comment aimed at a specimen angler using a pellet gun to scare away coots that he reckoned were stealing his groundbait and in the process scaring away the carp. Well, I leave it to readers who may have seen this post, and the consequent commentary that it prompted, to either agree or disagree with the action.

A few years ago I had opportunity to observe first hand how efficient coots are in finding one’s groundbait. I was with erstwhile colleague John Dearden watching on a monitor how carp were approaching a mound of groundbait on the bed of the lake at the Aqua Paradiso syndicate. The bait was lying in about two metres of water and visibility was quite good so we could see quite clearly the various reactions of carp that were attracted to the bait offering.

That was quite fine until to our combined astonishment we saw a coot come diving from the surface onto the bait, grab a particle and swim back up to the surface!  The carp, obviously as astonished as we were but also seemingly quite frightened by this intrusion hurried away, quite put off by the coot’s behaviour.

This happened again and again, with a coot diving from the surface to gulp a morsel of the groundbait, and the result was that for the rest of our observation not a carp was seen again…

So I was not all that surprised that an angler had taken action to defend his feeding spot, but I was surprised (maybe dismayed is a more apt term) by the adhominen from another angler … quite unnecessary and not what one would expect from a fellow carp angler.

By the very nature of our angling sport, anglers are right at the coal face, so to speak, of recreation in the outdoors. We all use the outdoors for our recreation, the operative term being “use” and NOT “abuse”!

I remind everyone that the modern definition of “nature conservation” is “the sustainable utilisation of a natural resource”.

So by all means chase that pesky coot away from your groundbait, but do not cause it harm!



UITHEEMSE VISSE

Na die verskyning van Prof. Paul Skelton se verbeterde en nog meer uitgebreide ‘Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa” het ek hom gepols oor sy siening oor die feit dat die totale varswaterhengelindustrie  in Suid-Afrika op drie uitheemse spesies gekonsentreer is, naamlik karp, swartbaars en forelle (reënboog en bruin).

Dis ‘n oor en oor bewese feit dat as ‘n hengelwinkel nie vir ten minste twee van hierdie spesies – karp en swartbaars – voorsiening maak nie, die onderneming bittermin kans op oorlewing het.  Ook in ons formele varswateroewerhengelsport is karp verseker die hoofteikenspesie.

Die voortbestaan van hierdie spesies word deur verskeie regulasies geraak, maar Prof. Skelton se  standpunt is “dat die geskiedenis is soos dit is en ‘n mens nie die horlosie kan terugdraai nie”. Lees gerus in hierdie uitgawe sy volle uiteensetting oor hierdie kwessie wat in die verlede tot hewige argumente gelei het; na my mening is dit die mees gebalanseerde mening oor die onderwerp wat ek al gelees het. 



VIERDE BESTE ‘STAYCATION’ IN SA

Ek kon skaars my oë glo toe ek lees dat Bronkhorstspruit en Hartbeespoort as die vierde en vyfde mees gewilde ‘Staycation’-kleindorpies in Suid-Afrika deur die Budget Insurance Travel Index verklaar is. Meer as 100 kleindorp-bestemmings in die land is met vier sleutelmaatstawwe ontleed om die land se topbestemmings om te besoek te vind: volume Instagram- en TikTok-hutsmerke, maandelikse globale en plaaslike Google-soektogte en gemiddelde verblyfpryse.  

Volgens die Oxford woordeboek is ‘n ‘staycation’ ‘n vakansie waar ontspanningsaktiwiteite binne daguitstappie-afstand van die tuiste deelgeneem word. Ek het ‘n sterk vermoede dat dis die talle hengelaars – sowel oewer- as boothengelaars – wat Bronkhorstspruit- en Hartbeespoortdamme besoek wat hierdie toekennings moontlik gemaak het. Ook die vele aksies en werk van die damme se oewerbewoners en organisasies soos die Bronkhorstspruit Catchment Forum vir die teel en verspreiding van insekte om biologiese beheer van die hiasinte toe te pas wat tot die damme se gewildheid bydra.

Net vir interessantheid, die nommer een plek het gegaan aan Ballito, tweede is Oudtshoorn, derde is Paternoster gevolg deur Bronkhorstspruit en Hartbeespoort.



OUPA EN KLEINKIND GAAN HENGEL

En om my eerste rubriek van 2025 af te sluit, hiermee ‘n gediggie deur ‘n leser, Jurie van Leeuwen. Dis oor ‘n oupa wat saam met sy kleinkind gaan visvang:

Hoe laat ry ons more oupa? Ek gaan die grootste een vang!

Ek gaan hard katrol oupa al word my armpies lam.

So vroeg gaan slaap ou kind

want jy moet oupa se aas aanbind.

My oë het so bietjie sag begin kyk, en ek dink hoeveel groter jy ewe skielik lyk!

So hou jy asseblief die poliesmanne dop…wat op en af hop….en Oupa sal kom skep as daar ń groot een is vir die net.

So kom ons gooi so diep in soos wat ons kan.

Want more is oupa se dae dalk verby met die Oubaas se plan.


Geniet die eerste maand se hengel, en soos altyd, Take Care.

Iets op die hart oor hengel?

E-pos: editor@stywelyne.net

Editor-in-Chief, Eugene C. Kruger.



The latest digital edition of STYWE LYNE/TIGHT LINES is now available!

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