Helpless

[warren]

Fished strome on Saturday and had a blast before a huge thunderstorm got me off the water. On my way back from the far side i came accross a kid fishing with mielie bombs and i purposely watched him from behind a bush and he practised C&R perfectly, handling the fish with care and making sure he revived it before letting it go. I commented on his good practice to which he replied his dad taught him to not keep fish but only look at them.

Day was near perfect that was until i made my final wade accross to the car park. Saw an old "oom" sitting on one of the rock islands fishing with a rod and coffee grinder big enough to get a marlin out of the water. He had a keepnet next to him...that raised my suspicions a bit...

I reckoned I still had a couple of minutes left before the storm set in so decided to go over and have a closer look. As i approached him he started concealing his keepnet even more, what he couldn't hide was the big yellow fin sticking out of the top. I curiously asked him what he caught and he proudly said 3 yellowfish of over 2kg. I then asked him why he killed them to which he aggresively replied "because i can" he then instructed me to "fark off" otherwise he will "m0er me". From his attitude and language i could see he was a perfect candidate for the jerry springer show. I felt so helpless, getting into fist fight on the river wouldn't have been wise so just ignored him and made my way to my car. Now I know some guys on this forum have been in situations like this....how did you handle it, what did you do etc etc. Surely we can do more than just shaking our heads and walking away....Like i mentioned...3 yellows of 2 kg are laying in a bush somewhere rotting...

[smallstreams.co.za]

Like i mentioned...3 yellows of 2 kg are laying in a bush somewhere rotting...

Why you saying that? Maybe he caught them to cook/eat.

[warren]

From what i could gather his wife / girlfriend / friends were sitting under trees and had something going on the braai. Klippies were also flowing Now if you can afford

Entrance = R20.00
Booze = R60.00
meat and salads for the braai = R60.00
travelling to your destination = R30.00 (guessing here)

Surely you dont need to catch yellows for substance

[Jasper]

From what i could gather his wife / girlfriend / friends were sitting under trees and had something going on the braai. Klippies were also flowing Now if you can afford

Entrance = R20.00
Booze = R60.00
meat and salads for the braai = R60.00
travelling to your destination = R30.00 (guessing here)

Surely you dont need to catch yellows for substance

maybe he just likes to eat yellowfish? ... nothing to do with being able to afford it or subsistence .... I eat trout (at times) ... sea fish ... not every fish I catch .. but when I feel like it ....

.. but would of course never (if possible) kill a fish (or any other animal) that was on a threatened list.

[Jason]

I really don't want to get into this debate as it can get very heated. My opinion is that if he was going to take them home for him and his family to eat, he would have just said so, and not gotten agressive. Nothing wrong with fishing for ones family. It's either that or he was just a prick. Guess we will never know. I used to fish a lot of the time at sandvlei in muizenberg for mullet/ harders. I would rock up with my fly vest, floppy rod, thin tippet and all the paraphanalia I could carry. I would almost always be fishing next to a couple of the locals who had nothing more than a 5kg hand line rolled up around a peice of wood. These guys would always outfish me with bigger and more fish. Ok they were using bread but that's not the point. The fish they caught would go into one of those little onion bags which would be full before I even had one fish. In the back of my mind I would think,"swines, those are fish I would not be able to catch again." That was a long time ago and i no longer think that way anymore. The reason is one day I asked one of these old timers, they must have been in their 60's or so, what they were going to do with the fish. Their exact words were,"hulle is lekker pan size, en kwaai virrie pot." It was then that I decided not to pass judgement on these guys. Granted there are some guys that take advantage of this and then it becomes a bit sticky. But for the most part, and for most of the guys I have met, their intentions are usually honorable, and what can be honorable than putting in a days fishing to feed your family.

Just my 2c worth

[warren]

Couldn't agree more with you jason its just that he tried to conceal his keepnet....that means he knows he is doing something wrong...Also like you said i have no problem with someone taking the world record largemouth yellow to feed a hungry child / family that night instead of murdering someone for a cellphone....

That guy was clearly doing for recreational purposes...not to feed anyone.

What i would like to know is what can be done....Can we only shake our heads and walk away?

[Gerrit Viljoen]

I reckoned I still had a couple of minutes left before the storm set in so decided to go over and have a closer look. As i approached him he started concealing his keepnet even more, what he couldn't hide was the big yellow fin sticking out of the top. I curiously asked him what he caught and he proudly said 3 yellowfish of over 2kg. I then asked him why he killed them to which he aggresively replied "because i can" he then instructed me to "fark off" otherwise he will "m0er me". From his attitude and language i could see he was a perfect candidate for the jerry springer show. I felt so helpless, getting into fist fight on the river wouldn't have been wise so just ignored him and made my way to my car. Now I know some guys on this forum have been in situations like this....how did you handle it, what did you do etc etc. Surely we can do more than just shaking our heads and walking away....Like i mentioned...3 yellows of 2 kg are laying in a bush somewhere rotting...

Warren,

I would have imitated Mario shaken head and walked away.I'm there to enjoy fishing,mind my own business,greet people if I see any,not to get in an argument with a hydrated local

Knowing those spots very well u will always have baities there having the odd drink or two keeping fish in nets and armed with some or other coffee grinder or dog.

He is allowed to keep 2 fish.For the rest u can't do anything about it.Once again maybe we should inform the venue owner and remind him of the legal catch limit and advice of possible legal or whatever action against him.

[smallstreams.co.za]

Ja look guys, I was just asking because we are making the worst assumption here. Killing fish (ANY fish) just for the hell of it gripes me beyond words!!

What can we do about it? Nothing I guess. Since it's not illegal to kill (except endangered species) you can do nothing but walk away.

On that point. What is the procedure for taking legal action against someone killing a specie on the endangered list? Evidence etc??

[warren]

Ja well that is what i did anyway Gerrit, wasn't prepared to argue with a drunk guy about ethics, C&R and bag limits.

Just felt really helpless.....

Hope i dont experience it again though

[Byron]

I've been told that if you know what you are doing as far as their preparation is concerned Yellow fish is really good to eat... I've neither tried nor tasted it, this is purely the word of a Karoo farmer.