What else is there to do?

Many of the clients who come over to Africa to hunt just want to hunt. Others on the other hand want to experience some of the other activities that Africa has to offer.
Being located in the Eastern Cape of the country we have around 800km’s of picturesque coastline.
This is quite a pull to many of the people who come over. Some just want to put their feet in the Indian Ocean to say that they have done it but others want to tick a box off their wish list. This box for many is to wake up early in the morning and head down to the beach. There waiting for them is a boat for their arrival to take them out onto the ocean in search of what hides beneath.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to hunt with a great group of guys from Alaska. They were proper outdoorsmen. Enjoying the hunting where they back a number of good trophies but also had the love to catch fish. One even travelled where ever he went with a small spinning rod just in case the opportunity arose for him to wet his line.
We headed down to the town of Kenton on sea the day before as we knew it would be an early start. Heading first to the post office to buy our fishing licences and then off to our accommodation.
The following morning we woke to a beautiful day with an ocean outside as calm as could be. Perfect in every way.
We headed down to the beach where we met our skipper for the day and saw our transport for the day. We climbed aboard while she was still on the beach and trailer was slowly pushed into the sea for the start of our adventure.
After about 20 minutes our captain, whose name was Shane by the way slacked off on the throttle. His fish finder was indicating that we were above what we were after.
The anchor was dropped and he and his crew member started to prepare our rods. Not quite the traditional equipment I am used to from the river fishing in the UK. The rod was a typical sea fishing rod but the reel. Well it looked like the front wheel off a child’s scooter which had line on it. There was no bail or drag just a free flowing wheel with line on it. The line was armed with two large hooks which were to be baited with sardines and lowered to the bottom. This lowering didn’t go well the first time, managing to make a nest of line which any bird would have been very proud of. I was quickly given another rod and a lesson in how to slowly lower the bait to the deep depths.
Holding the reel correctly now I let the bait down to the bottom of the ocean. After a while the line stopped which indicated it had reached the bottom. Reeling in slightly I waited. Not having done much sea fishing and using a rod possibly two or three times thicker than usual I was not exactly sure if I was getting a bite or it was just the currents playing with me.
Suddenly on the other side of the boat a voice rang out, “I’m in”. Then another one of the guys announced loudly that he was in the same predicament. The rod tips were bent over and the guys reeled in. Fighting their quarry and bringing them up to the surface. As they reeled up they suddenly saw a glimpse of their opponent. Just a flash of pink down below. The excitement grew as these keen anglers got closer to seeing the new species which they had gathered.
This continued for us all for a while with us bringing up a couple of different species each. Sometimes two on the line at the same time which made for a good battle bringing them up from the deep.
We then reeled in and headed for another spot to work on the opportunity of some more species. The boat glided along over the calm water with the coastline far in the distance. The engines again slowed and the anchor was dropped. We were above another spot. Lines were dropped without issues this time to the deep. Quickly we started to feel the bites. Fish were here and we were in for some fun.
All of a sudden someone said “shark”.
All eyes started looking around. Then right in front of me a fin appeared circling the boat. A four meter great white had decided to come and investigate what was going on. The memories of watching the movie Jaws quickly came to mind. The captain announced that he knew this particular fish and it regularly popped up in this area. As quickly as it arrived it was gone. With this it brought to reality that we were not in charge out here and if we ended up in the water we were part of the food chain and not at the top.
The day continued and we all caught good numbers of fish ranging from mussel crackers, red snappers and a couple of others.
It was now time to head in. We headed towards the beach. When we were about two hundred meters off shore we were told to hold on as we would be navigating at speed through the reef and then up onto the sand. The throttle went down and the bow raised up. At full speed we hit the beach, driving us up off the ocean. The tractor and trailer approached and pulled us further up and we disembarked.
We thanked our crew and hosts and prepared to head home. Then we were asked “where are you off”?
The day had not ended. We all headed back to the captains house where all the species harvested during our day was to be prepared for us accompanied by chips, salad and freshly baked homemade bread. Washed down with a couple of beers and toasted with a tot of rum.
What a fantastic day and an experience of the Eastern Cape of South Africa not to be missed.