{"id":9347,"date":"2020-08-24T08:26:35","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T06:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=9347"},"modified":"2020-08-24T08:26:35","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T06:26:35","slug":"i-want-to-break-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=9347","title":{"rendered":"I want to break free"},"content":{"rendered":"

I used to send my children to their room when they misbehaved just as teachers intern naughty brats with detention and every military institution will confine you to your quarters for inappropriate behaviour, so it is no wonder that we all had an adverse reaction to lockdown.<\/p>\n

Why are we being punished is the psychological undercurrent, despite the rationale.<\/p>\n

As a nation who live, by and large, outdoors, not being able to enjoy the safe wide open space seemed ludicrous and within the first month, we all felt the walls closing in. The large contingent of anglers in South Africa were gobsmacked that you couldn\u2019t stand alone on a river, dam or shoreline getting some fresh air and needed exercise. Then the final straw was taking away our fundamental right to choose to have a responsible drink!<\/p>\n

I get that you cannot congregate and celebrate your catch of the day or toast another fisherman\u2019s trophy, but to prevent grown-ups from enjoying a drink in the sanctity of their own house, what\u2019s next, an ankle monitor?<\/p>\n

Fisherfolk are by nature positive people. When you think of the odds stacked against any angler every time they throw a line into the big blue, you have to be. And experience has taught us, be prepared to come home empty-handed, so we\u2019re no strangers to disappointment. But, this is enough to drive a man to drink, ironic no?<\/p>\n

Thankfully we are now allowed to enjoy some recreational angling, albeit only within your province, which is hopefully a precursor for allowing all responsible South Africans to travel within your family group and experience the beauty of our beloved country. So as long as it\u2019s legal, here are a few suggestions of iconic fishing destinations to visit within our borders.<\/p>\n

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  1. The great Orange River – it\u2019s a spectacular contrast of serene arid landscape and the largest river system in South Africa, from below Augrabies Falls, this desert wilderness can be explored by canoe and riverside camp. The fishing is simply off the scale and it\u2019s an adventure that the whole family will enjoy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. The majestic Drakensberg – this mountain range covers a multitude of breathtaking locations and many rivers, all teaming with Trout, from the foothills in the village of Nottingham road to the escarpment of the Southern Berg and through to the Eastern Cape, it\u2019s an incredible road trip that every fly fisher should take.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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      1. Cape Vidal – within the world renowned iSimangaliso Wetland Park, this protected marine reserve not only offers some of the best salt water angling in the country, but it\u2019s unique habitat of alluvial plains and coastal forest is home to four of the big five and incredible wildlife, it\u2019s the perfect combination of a beach and bush holiday.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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        1. The Wild Coast – the unspoiled coastline of the Eastern Cape is what draws rock and surf anglers to the many seaside villages renowned for foot-print free beaches and lazy lagoons. It has some incredible hiking trails, with many famous landmarks and in the right season you are almost guaranteed to witness the migratory whales.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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          1. Your local watering hole – alas this certainly doesn\u2019t refer to the pub down the road, but the multitude of dams and fishing holes that are within an hour or two’s drive, all of which haven\u2019t seen a rod in the last four months! The local tourism industry is what you should support, making sure that these establishments dedicated to local anglers are there for many years to come.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

            Remember when travelling, double-check the latest legislation for any further restrictions that Mrs. Zuma decides, in her infinite wisdom to shackle us with. Social distancing like hygiene is common sense, so there\u2019s no tongue in cheek when I urge everyone to be wise and take all the necessary precautions to put the brakes on this terrible pandemic.<\/p>\n

            As a fisherman, it’s natural to want to find someone to blame, after all we have a bible of excuses of why we didn\u2019t catch fish as it\u2019s never our fault, but this Corona catastrophe is past pointing fingers. I would only appeal to our incumbent leaders to take a leaf out of our great Springboks playbook who have given the rock legend\u2019s Queen\u2019s anthem \u2018We are the Champions\u2019 real meaning to all South Africans.<\/p>\n

            You can not force a person\u2019s support, give us the respect and right to choose. A relaxing beverage consumed responsibly at home is what you can do to prevent us from\u00a0feeling like another of Freddy\u2019s famous songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            I used to send my children to their room when they misbehaved just as teachers intern naughty brats with detention and every military institution will confine you to your quarters for inappropriate behaviour, so it is no wonder that we all had an adverse reaction to lockdown. Why are we being punished is the psychological undercurrent, despite the rationale. As a nation who live, by and large, outdoors, not being able to enjoy the safe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":9353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[51,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Banner-copy.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6410,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=6410","url_meta":{"origin":9347,"position":0},"title":"More Space Than Time","author":"Brad Cartwright","date":"September 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s taken me four trips to the lower Orange River to fully appreciate what this majestic piece of the earth\u2019s surface truly offers us members of the species homo sapiens, and how puny we seem when faced with space of this magnitude. A visit to this generally arid and remote\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "South Africa"","block_context":{"text":"South Africa","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Untitled-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8776,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=8776","url_meta":{"origin":9347,"position":1},"title":"Corona Moments","author":"Brad Cartwright","date":"June 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"So,at the moment it\u2019s ok to go to church with 50 people, but not to go to your favourite fishing spot by yourself! I understand Nkosazana-Zuma doesn\u2019t fish, or smoke for that matter, but seriously that\u2019s about all I understand. Our business is built around recreational angling. Which obviously has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "South Africa"","block_context":{"text":"South Africa","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=70"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/corona-moments.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/corona-moments.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/corona-moments.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/corona-moments.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/corona-moments.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13768,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=13768","url_meta":{"origin":9347,"position":2},"title":"Inaugural NCTA Augrabies Falls Fly Invitational","author":"Brad Cartwright","date":"September 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In August this year, twenty-two excited anglers made their way by road and air (on Airlink) from all corners of South Africa to the quaint town of Augrabies in the Northern Cape. The recently revamped Augrabies Falls Lodge was to be the setting of the 4-day inaugural NCTA Augrabies Falls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fly"","block_context":{"text":"Fly","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banner2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banner2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banner2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banner2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Banner2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8907,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=8907","url_meta":{"origin":9347,"position":3},"title":"2020 Sardine Run So Far… Updated, Sat 20th","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"June 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the 18th June 2020, usually around this time of year we are starting to get excited about the imminent arrival of the sardines in KZN. This year we have already had a lot of action, and it looks like there is a whole lot more coming. The first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Salt Water"","block_context":{"text":"Salt Water","link":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?cat=58"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fishbook.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_3816.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3197,"url":"https:\/\/www.fishbook.co.za\/?p=3197","url_meta":{"origin":9347,"position":4},"title":"Springer, awesome light tackle game fish","author":"Craig Thomassen","date":"July 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This species is one of the most incredible fish to catch on light tackle, its scientific name is Elops machnata, but it has many common names in different places. 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