THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

things turned out, it was nothing out of the ordinary, despite reputedly having the potential to produce
great things.
The experience of fishing out of small
fast ski-boats was something I'll never
forget. Not so much for the handling or
pace of the boats as the conditions they
were being expected to deal with. There
are some very big swells out there in the
Indian Ocean, particularly over the
inshore reefs and onto the beaches.
Dawn and Phill Williams, Kingfish Sodwana
These tend to increase in size as the day
progresses due to the heating of the
land setting up quite a stiff on-shore
breeze. Out on the fishing grounds it
isn't too bad. But at the back of your
mind you know what is waiting for you
closer to the shore at the end of the day.
Quite literally, it's a roller coaster of a ride flying up and over huge grey mountains of water with
breaking tops, then hitting the beach so hard and so fast that the twin keeled boat slides a good fifty
yards clear of the edge up onto the dry sand.
There was talk of marlin, big sharks, and wahoo, plus all manner of other things. The reality
unfortunately turned out to be kingfish up to maybe thirty pounds, plus bonito, and not that many of
either. We tried fishing bonito live-baits for marlin and sharks, but nothing.
In the end, the land marks suggested we were repeatedly working the same small patch of water, where
the only time the skipper would speak would be to tell me off for adjusting the drag or doing something
else with the tackle that he wasn't happy with.
In the end, I decided enough was enough and called for an early finish. He wanted to be in control of
everything right up to the point of cranking the handle on the reel. That being the case, I thought he
might as well go the whole hog and do that too, so I left him to it.
I've come across this type of attitude before in other parts of the world. Usually it's where Americans
fish and expect everything to be done for them, plus of course, the crew wanting to please you as they
are looking for a tip. But not so here. More an attitude problem generally, which is what got South
Africa as a country into such a mess in the first place.
Having had enough of the kingfish, we arranged to take a run inland to the Pongolapoort Dam. This
forms a huge lake in a national park straddling the border between South Africa and Swaziland. There
we fished from a small trailed boat in another situation which was to say the least, uncomfortable.
In the mud adjacent to where we put the boat in there were fresh leopard tracks, which immediately had
us looking around in the trees. Also, all along the waters edge there were large crocodiles basking in
the red hot sunshine, while out on the water we were troubled by hippo's.
One in particular kept slowly creeping up towards the boat. So much so that we were told to hold on to
the grab rails in case we needed a quick get away, which eventually we did, as for whatever reason the
animal suddenly came charging at us.
Even if the hippo's don't kill you, it's not the best of places to end up in the water there with all those
croc's. Then the same hippo, along with three of its mates, started following us everywhere we went to
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