So once your kids grow up, they tend to want to do their own thing... hanging out with your folks is just so uncool. Imagine my surprise when my 2 boys aged 21 and 25 asked me to arrange a fishing trip to our old hunting ground Maphelane! To willingly go on holiday with the toppie?! Unheard of!
So the 3 of us headed off for a boyz week...
Got to say, what a blessing! What a privilege to get to spend time with my boyz! The stuff real memories are made of. After the trauma and emotional roller coaster ride of the last 3 years with Jesse's cancer, it was just so awesome to see him healthy and really appreciating life to the fullest again, making the most out of every situation. I learn from this boy's character every day. One tough (and very wise) kiddo.
The weather... was shocking again... surprise, surprise
!! The wind blew us from pillar to post, making fishing on most days impossible, but that didn't deter us from making the most of the time together.
We caught quite a few small fish on light and ultra-light tackle, but the wind and sea being a washing machine put a spanner in the works for anything else. 30m bow lines, 10oz sinkers that won't sit... nyeh.
Last time we went together in 2007...!
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The little pipsqueaks have grown up somewhat....
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So we fished and fished. We smacked the Wave Garrick on most days, remembered to take a few pics this time! Lots of pics on my son's camera, still waiting for those...
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The Jess-man!
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Sunset at Maphelane
Over the weekend, I've never seen Mapies so busy! 6 or 7 boats launching, (or trying to launch) every morning. Some hair-raising moments going through big surf and a huge shore dump. A few boats were lucky not to flip. One boat went vertical just 2m into the shore dump... thought it was tickets!
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Sunrise...
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The Umfolozi coming down, slowly filling up. The opening to the the sea was practically non-existent, hardly a trickle. But flowing quite strongly into St Lucia with more rain on it's way. Lot's of bird life starting to make their way into the river again, but none were feeding. There is no life in the Umfolozi... dead fresh/brack water. Saw a flock of Flamingoes parking off there.
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We tried all sorts of Baits, even Sea lice.
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Jess picked up his first Shark! A nice little Lesser!
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Couple of little Geets came out too! Nice to see these nursery fish thriving!
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Quite a few Pickhandle Barracuda, all on lures... the new Daiwa Minnow and the good old Sheppie Bomber spoon.
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PS... check out my fair dinkum PR Knot!
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We did quite a bit of hiking as well to get away from the wind...
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Our resident Bushbaby
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Even resorted to some micro fishing to beat the wind!!
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Jess got revved properly by a nice size Bonefish
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St Lucia in the distance
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All fish were released.
Even though the conditions were so
, this was one of the most memorable fishing trips I've ever had. Got to thank God for that! Special times!
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