Fishing at Grootgewacht offers birthday weekend breakaway
"We can see efforts from the fishermen, trying to keep the place clean, but not everyone has the same mind-set, leaving broken bottles and papers littered around. If we all pick up a little more than our own refuse," urges Gary Marchington, "we can make a difference. I would definitely go back there again and again..."
WHILE the December holidays may have been a little quiet on the sporting front, there is one sport that locals can always be assured is taking place somewhere in or around Vryheid, and that’s fishing.
Ted Hughes once said, “Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way. A form of meditation, some form of communion with levels of yourself that are deeper than the ordinary self.”
And what better way to spend a birthday weekend than on the banks of Grootgewacht Dam, totally immersed in the fine art of fishing and finding yourself with friends and family to celebrate another year of being alive?
Just ask Gary Marchington, who did just that over the past weekend, enjoying his birthday weekend to the fullest, come rain or shine, accompanied by his wife, Cherise, and fishing buddy, Johannes Kruger, along with his wife and children.
“The camp out was a great break away from everything,” writes Gary. “We had a bit of rocky weather, but nothing that could make us consider packing up. We stuck it out and it wasn’t long before the sun broke through, giving us spectacular views, amazing sunsets and good friends and family to share it with,” he adds. “The fishing was great, non-stop fun. We were pretty busy, so we didn’t keep a head count of our catches. But there were plenty of barbel, averaging between 1kg and 3kg.”
“On Sunday morning we had a cold one to ‘the one that got away’,” he continues. “We estimated its size to weight ratio to be about a 9+kg carp, which we lost in the reeds after a good run for our money…”
On the current state of Grootgewacht Dam, Gary reports, “The overall condition of the area wasn’t bad. However, unmanned territory left us with no facilities for the ladies and challenging roads to the dam. We can see efforts from the fishermen, trying to keep the place clean, but not everyone has the same mind-set, leaving broken bottles and papers littered around. If we all pick up a little more than our own refuse,” he urges, “we can make a difference. I would definitely go back there again and again…”
