Fishing runs through 83-year-old’s veins
Eighty-three-years-old and if she had her way, she would fish every day.
That’s Barbara Wehrle who has been a Toti resident for nearly 60 years.
“I was born in Umzinto and met my husband Alf in 1947,” she said while balancing on Warners Rocks and clutching her fishing rod. “We were married in 1956 and moved to Toti shortly after.”
Barbara has eight sisters, but she is the only one who fishes. “My mother Florence Doust fished every day off Durban pier and she taught me when I was eight-years-old. She only ate seafood, so she would catch a fish and then walk home to Avondale Road.”
Barbara taught her four sons – Neil, Raymond, Victor and Vernon – to fish. “Vernon is a commercial fisherman. My daughter Mary-Ann also fishes, but only in dams.”
Although she never fished competitively, Barbara’s favourite fishing memory is landing a 30kg salmon on Nyoni Rocks in the 1970s.
“I always feel safe when I come to the beach on my own to fish. All the fishermen know me. On Sunday when I got to Warners Rocks, the fishermen said I was wasting my time as there were no fish biting. Within a couple of minutes I had caught four shad and proved them wrong.”
