Fishing with my dad
Back in the day everyone was mad about fishing. Maybe because we didn't have dstv or the Internet, or money for that matter.
My god just thinking about it makes me wonder how we passed the time.
Anyway we often went into the black reservation to fish.
It was quite an adventure and very safe.
We thought so anyway.
On the way to Nagel dam we often stopped at the Umsundusi river under the bridge because it had a very special appeal.
The locals washed their clothes in the river and it seemed to improve the fishing. Barble are drawn to the scent of soap. Who would have guessed.
The underlying attraction of the place was a deeper secret.
Since the statute of limitations has expired on this issue and most of the men in the group have moved on I might be able to share this story.
Anyway the ladies who washed clothes on the River bank and sang while they worked added a very nice atmosphere to the outing. The part that is not often discussed is that each women finished off her washing by washing the clothes she had on. Or off as the case may be. So there were naked women washing their clothes and themselves and we were as teenagers quite embarrassed and thrilled by it all. Bearing in mind that we were there with our fathers. Who I suspect enjoyed that spot more than most. If you believe the soap attracting fish theory that kept them coming back to that neck of the woods.
Any way one Sunday, while I was very young I noticed that there were some huge dredging machines parked besides the river. Clearly they did not work on the Sabbath. While everyone fished I took a walk around the corner and climbed into the cab of one of these huge monsters. These excavation machines were huge and I monkeyed around with the controls, playing as a child would. Then I must have released the brakes or put this beast into neutral because it started moving towards the river.
When I frantically realised that I couldn't make it stop I bailed out of the cab and hit the ground running.
I was just a naughty little boy. And I had just made a huge boo boo.
Then I saw the whole ginormous machine tip into the water and it was gone.
And I turned around and clearly nobody had seen or heard anything.
Preoccupied as they all were with the 'fishing".
I never told a soul.
Who knows what the workers thought when they couldn't find the 100 ton machine they left over the weekend.
Hell yes I was very naughty.
My god just thinking about it makes me wonder how we passed the time.
Anyway we often went into the black reservation to fish.
It was quite an adventure and very safe.
We thought so anyway.
On the way to Nagel dam we often stopped at the Umsundusi river under the bridge because it had a very special appeal.
The locals washed their clothes in the river and it seemed to improve the fishing. Barble are drawn to the scent of soap. Who would have guessed.
The underlying attraction of the place was a deeper secret.
Since the statute of limitations has expired on this issue and most of the men in the group have moved on I might be able to share this story.
Anyway the ladies who washed clothes on the River bank and sang while they worked added a very nice atmosphere to the outing. The part that is not often discussed is that each women finished off her washing by washing the clothes she had on. Or off as the case may be. So there were naked women washing their clothes and themselves and we were as teenagers quite embarrassed and thrilled by it all. Bearing in mind that we were there with our fathers. Who I suspect enjoyed that spot more than most. If you believe the soap attracting fish theory that kept them coming back to that neck of the woods.
Any way one Sunday, while I was very young I noticed that there were some huge dredging machines parked besides the river. Clearly they did not work on the Sabbath. While everyone fished I took a walk around the corner and climbed into the cab of one of these huge monsters. These excavation machines were huge and I monkeyed around with the controls, playing as a child would. Then I must have released the brakes or put this beast into neutral because it started moving towards the river.
When I frantically realised that I couldn't make it stop I bailed out of the cab and hit the ground running.
I was just a naughty little boy. And I had just made a huge boo boo.
Then I saw the whole ginormous machine tip into the water and it was gone.
And I turned around and clearly nobody had seen or heard anything.
Preoccupied as they all were with the 'fishing".
I never told a soul.
Who knows what the workers thought when they couldn't find the 100 ton machine they left over the weekend.
Hell yes I was very naughty.
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