The Demons of Durban- Part IV

The End of Days

   A shark struggles against the side of the jetty, as countless anglers hold onto ropes that have grapple gaffs attached to the other end digging deeper and deeper into the unlucky specimens flesh as it gives one last violent struggle to try to save its own life.......But the struggle has exhausted the fish, and its day has finally come. The anglers would normally try to drag the shark up onto the jetty, but in some cases, they would allow the shark to suffocate and die, until it was wore out enough to drag it around to the beach side. Once a fish had been brought up onto the jetty or beach, they would enlist the help of as many willing anglers and bystanders possible to help get the shark to their home made weigh station on the jetty adjacent to the railroad tracks. The weigh station was constructed of three metal beams in a pyramid like structure, with a scale attached to the centerpoint to accurately weigh the fish.

Unknown man weighing a small white shark on the clubs homemade scale

 The peak of the fishing season lasted only for a few months each year, but by the 1970's the whale population had declined greatly, therefore the act of whaling was outlawed in the early 70's, ending the era of a style of fishing that we may never see again in our lifetimes. These men and their accomplishments have been lost throughout the burrow of time, which is incredible to even consider due largely inpart to the fact of not only the size of the specimens they were capturing from the jetty, but also the gear these anglers used, and their innovative styles to help them pursuit some of the biggest fish ever caught from a shoreline in history. We have enjoyed being able to bring this multi-part expose to the public to read, and we hope with what we have just done here, that the legendary achievements of these fisherman will live on through many others now as well, and they may not be forgotten once again.

Wyn Moxley with a 1490lb White Shark taken from the jetty

R. Harrison with a 1660lb white shark, the largest ever taken from shore

The Demons of Durban- Part III

Club Member Johnnie with a grander Tiger Shark in 1951

"The Battle"

   The noise of endless scuffling and panic now echoed up and down the confines of the usually quiet jetty, fear and anticipation was now thick in the air amongst the anglers, as a large shark had just taken one of the baits that had been patiently awaiting a trip to its final destination, deep within the jaws of hell. The lucky angler quickly springs into action and promptly responds to the line being taken off the wooden reel by throwing the rod over his shoulder while palming the reel to not allow anymore line to escape from the spool temporarily, he then ran across the jetty in the opposite direction of the denizen attached to the other end. By employing this technique, the angler had now set the hook firmly into the mouth of the shark at the other end, which then solidified the commitment the angler had just made to see this battle out until the end, win or lose.

 

An unknown angler applying pressure to a shark with a leather pad

 The beast was now beginning to drag the angler at the other end of the line back toward the wall of the concrete jetty, where other fellow anglers awaited to help assist the man fighting the shark assume the battle position. Due to the style of rods and reels these men were using, the fighting technique was much different than that of which we use today. The angler sat on the ground in a position similar to the cross-legged "Indian Style" children sit like during early grade school. The angler would then proceed to place the bottom of the rod under one of his buttocks, and place the fore grip of the rod, just above the reel, on his left thigh for support and leverage. This sounds uncomfortable for most people, but this tactic was not only necessary, but a key part in helping to stop these giants of the inlet. Because the reels had no anti-reverse or drag system, the reels operated more or less as spools, which were free flowing at all times, unless slowed or obstructed by some sort of object.In the heat of battle and during the sharks initial run for safety, the anglers would use thick pads of leather and cowhide to palm the spool of the wooden reel with, and to have some sort of chance to apply enough pressure for a long enough period of time to break the sharks will.

A skilled angler could apply pressure with leather pads using both hands

The battles with some of these monsters could last from 6-8 hours, and these anglers would not take any breaks during this time period, it was not considered a catch within their club unless the angler fought the shark the entire duration of the battle himself, this process also included securing the first rope onto the unlucky specimen, to be drug up onto the jetty or beach and weighed after a short photo session. The anglers in the shark club may have also been the first anglers to ever use the modern day "bridge gaff" as a tool to help secure the catch, thus sealing the sharks early demise. But not all of these sharks were able to be pulled up by ropes onto the jetty, sometimes, it was a lot more complicated than that....

 Anglers subduing a small White Shark with grappling hooks better known as "Bridge Gaffs"

"The Demons of Durban- Part I"

"The Demons of Durban- Part II"

The Demons of Durban- Part II

 

A humpback whale at the Durban Slipway Circa 1909

"The Gear"

     The anglers would load up their newly acquired whale meat and head southward on the railway that lead to the end of Durban's south jetty, with hopes of taming these beasts that constantly patrolled the harbor. But the tackle and techniques these anglers choose to use were somewhat primitive, even for the day and age they were stalking these sharks. The tackle which was most commonly used to try to tame these giants from the rock laden jetty typically consisted of a wooden Scarborough reel, with rods constructed from locally grown bamboo. These outfits usually held anywhere from 600-800 meters of Flax line, which was then proceeded by a 30 meter length of wire or cable trace, that normally would have a dog chain link somewhere along the leader that was closer to the bait and homemade sinker. To deploy these baits off the jetty and into the shipping channel, one angler would typically hold the rod, while another angler would strip anywhere from 20-40 meters of line off the spool of the Scarborough reel, and lie it flat on the surface of the jetty. At that point, the second man would then take a strap of leather or a belt, and place it through the dog chain link that was on the cable trace leader. After the belt had been secured onto the chain, the second angler would then begin to propel the bait in a helicopter like motion about six or seven times, or until enough momentum had been built up, and then relinquish his grip from the belt, enabling the fifteen to twenty pounds of bait and sinker to sail across the horizon and into the shipping channel. The anglers were also resourceful by using little home made wooden boats, with an oar that is similar to that of todays kayak paddle, to deploy baits out into the shipping lanes, as seen in the video below, which is the only known video to exist of this group of anglers.

'WARE SHARKS!

Peter Botha with a 793lb Great White Shark

     But where did these men put their rods while they were waiting for hell to erupt on the jetty? Well through a labor intensive task, these men carved numerous holes into the slabs of rock that formed the jetty with just hammers and chisels. Each man had their own hole to place the small butt end of their rod in while they awaited the bite that could have made them immortal. Another problem that needed to be addressed , was how to prevent line from coming off of their Scarborough style reels while they waited, for these wooden reels did not have any drag system or anti-reverse. The men were very creative and resourceful in this effort, using a wadded up piece of newspaper placed between the reel and the rod to prevent line from escaping off the reel while in the waiting position.

Angler fighting a shark; Note the Carved holes and the newspaper preventing reel from free spooling.

 Up to this point, the anglers had it all figured out, from how to get the bait, to how to deploy their lines. But alas, the toughest part was still ahead of them, and far from over ever before it began, for the epic battles of the South Jetty of Durban were about to commence, and separate the men from the boys..........

Anglers from the club proudly displaying their 33 Bull and Dusky catch from a mere 5 hours of fishing

The Demons of Durban- Part I