Fishermen/women – you’re in the spotlight today.
And it’s a harsh one.

Potch and its surrounding areas are rich with playgrounds for anglers and their families: Promosa dam, Klipdrift, Klerkskraal, Potch and Boskop dams, the Mooi and Vaal rivers…we are richly blessed with watery hunting grounds.

One would think that being a fisherman you enjoy everything about nature: fishing is, after all, about sunrises and soft breezes, beautiful water, lazing about watching the clouds and the reeds and birds flying by. And most of you these days are ‘catch and release’ adherents. The assumption in that is that you want to be one with nature and enjoy her gifts – but not harm her.

Not a lot wrong with that, right?

Then why do you not clean up after yourselves? When we walk through the areas where you camp, picnic and fish, it is deeply disappointing to see the carelessness with which you leave the remnants of your day out in nature, lying around to harm others.

We understand that you were angry when you ripped that hook off the line. And even angrier when you snapped it. Sorry about that. Nobody wants to be tense on their day away from work or domestic duties.
Next time, though, how about taking it home with you? Those hooks go into children’s feet and animal paws.
Those plastic/nylon lines? They wrap themselves around innocent bird’s feet and necks and down their throats and slowly choke them to death. Then, of course, there’s the universal of microparticles from your waste ending up in drinking water and the fish’s life source. If your fishing doesn’t kill them, your carelessness will. And take your plastic bait bag home too.

Not you – only your friends? Educate them!

Didn’t think of that when you left your mess behind last time?

We hope you might now, you naturalist, you.