Leisure Boating: When did you first start fishing?
Bok van Blerk: Actually my dad had a fishing boat when I was much younger and he taught us to fish, mainly rock and surf type stuff when I was about five or six years of age. He also took me deep sea fishing through the Knysna Heads on his boat and I was sick as a dog! The fishing bug did bite deep from an early age, though.
LB: Where are your favourite fishing spots?
BvB: Mozambique is one of my favourite areas to fish and I like going for the bigger game fish and pelagics. I’ve got a place there just below Inhambane which we often stay at – so I fish in that area a lot. One of the other spots that I’ve recently discovered is Santa Maria near Inhaca Island just off Maputo, and there is also some good fishing to be had in Hell’s Gate. If the weather is not lekker, you can always do a bit of popping from the side.
LB: Have you ever had a fishing accident?
BvB: Ya, a couple (laughs). I was on a charter boat in Mozambique and when the skipper brought the boat in, he jumped a wave and rolled the boat in the breakers – that was quite a big accident.
Other than that, just the normal stuff such as hooks in fingers, and feet.
One of my mates who fishes with me every year in Mozambique, caught a Kuta which I gaffed. He was holding it by its tail and it dropped onto his foot and almost severed his big toe that was hanging by a single thread of skin. We had to fly him out of Mozambique to South Africa and needed a big op to reattach the tendons and the toe.
LB: What species of fish do you typically fish for?
BvB: I fish generally, but when I’m in Mozambique I like to go for the game fish and pelagics. We catch a lot of fish that you can eat such as Kuta, Dorado and even tuna. I don’t do a lot of billfish fishing – but I have caught a few of them down the years.
