Port Alfred, Martin Kruger - A personal history

The following story was told to me by an old river fisherman, many years ago.

Background:
(Note the fish in the picture right is a kabeljaau, also known as cob. Those that can speak English call it a Cape Salmon but I don't really think that the fish knows the difference.) These are legendary fish which grow in size from small - to big. The big ones reach 65-odd kilograms which used to be about 165 pounds. Usually taken on live mullet but occasionally on a one-oh with maybe just a mud prawn on as bait.

A very similar fish is the geelbek - which has a vividly yellow/orange inside mouth - most likely from chain-smoking.

Credit:
In the picture right, son Junior has just caught this 4kg cob on pilchard bait from the jetty at our house on the Sundays River.

The Story

Once, in the fifties, a guy (Koos) caught a cob of over 100 pounds (over 50 kg). He dragged it home, then it being so large, left it outside the kitchen door because if he dragged it onto the lino on the kitchen floor then his wife would have klapped him with a kierie for making her kitchen untidy.

So, anycase, it rained during the night and a pool formed around the cob. When Koos got up the next morning he found that the cob was still breathing. He thought 'Thats funny' and went off to work at the DC.

When he got home, six-ish - the cob was still breathing even though there was less water. He though...Lookhere boet, this is strange ...and went inside to have a dop and think about life. The next day the pool of water had evaporated but the cob was still alive. Koos minced some old mullets that he still had and fed them to the cob and went off to work.

Time passed, the cob lived, Koos fed it regularly and by now the fish was breathing fresh air. Koos was very pleased, for he now had a new friend with whom he could discuss life, religion, politics, the local rugby team - and never get an angry word back. This was perfect.

Subsequently Koos named him Jan, took him inside his home, dressed him in an old Safari Suit and sports jacket and gave him a tackie to wear. They spent many evenings listening to the radio because TV had not been introduced into the country. They had a feast when the swimming prawns came into the river - Koos ate his cooked, whilst Jan ate his raw. (It is rumoured that this started a trend as far afield as Japan, called sushi. The rumour has to date not yet been confirmed).

Koos used to take Jan shopping with him and much was the amazement of the town at this hopping cob, in fine condition, in either a left - or a right tackie, depending on the weather. Uncle Manning Samuel at the Bait Shop always used to put aside yesterday's prawns for Jan - and also pencil bait which served as a lookalike to an asparagus starter.

One day Koos decided to take Jan to the Langdon for a dop. Unfortunately something happened which changed Koos' life forever. As they were crossing the bridge, Jan the kob slipped and fell into the water...
and drowned.

and Bev's tale...
TALKING TOURISM. JANUARY 2006

The tapestry of tourism becomes so interwoven when the “Boets” talk fishing. As January slips effortlessly into blissful February, the wind dies down and the “Grunter’ start running, rods are cleaned off, reels get worked over and bait becomes the discussion of the day at the ski-boat club.

Port Alfred has always been associated with fishing, (in the olden days, boat building as well). At one time reputedly the fifth largest ‘hand-line’ fishing port on the Cape coast. Naturally, one assumes that the hand-line fishing was associated with the ‘deck-boats’ that used to rush out the mouth in the early hours of each perfect day. Many years later, to talk fishing is the beginnings of a nostalgic trip down memory lane, the fires are lit, drinks are shared and the stories flow. The Port Alfred ski-boat club is adorned with the truisms of fishing accolades. Peep if you will at correspondence between two ‘old Kowie boys’ who although no longer live here, reminisce on a daily basis about the incredible little village they were born in and still love dearly to this day. Martin Kruger, who lives in Port Elizabeth and has the most incredible website on Port Alfred. Martin’s parents the foundation of the town. Martin, elder was the towns electrical engineer and his late mother the first tourism/publicity lady of Port Alfred.

“Hey, Buying fish from boats USED to be legendary!” “ A RED ROMAN, sir Or what about this nice GEELBEK then, we have these smaller "pinkies" and BIG EYES Here's also a COB and a nice fat ROCK COD Only 2 and 6 sir.” “ Half a crown, my kroon.” “ Those pilchards, no sir, that’s left-over bait which I am taking home for Ronnie Samuels for supper.” “ Or these gurnards?” “ TWO BOB, TWO BOB, TWO BOB each.” “ Seagulls flying all around as the messy entrails are thrown into the river creating reincarnation, reinvention and the completion of the circle of
life.” “ Dust to dust, derms to gorries.”
Regards Martin. Brings back many a happy memories.

”Martin, I remember my Grandparents buying fish when the boats came in and then my grandfather would smoke it in this 44 gallon drum that he'd converted into a smokery...........cooked by my grandmother in milk with dollops of butter on top when she served it up.” “ Was simply the best and a million times more edible than the Brawn (uugh) that she used to make.”
”Riverside used to be legendary in those days................as you say Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.”

“Jeez - look in this picture - CHECK THE SMOKE – that’s my old Man's 44-gallon drum smoker puffing away in the background, using a special sea bush that we used to collect to make it smoke lekka.” “The washing on the line is a line of GRUNTERS that my late cousin Paul (Kruger) and I caught in one hour one evening near the town bridge off Uncle Bob Finn's boat.” “ Biggest were 13 pounds, smallest was about 4 pounds!” “What a life we had.” Cheers Martin.