TALES OF “ROOIJAS”
We had a week long camping holiday near East London (Yellowsands) with Ouma and the Wiggill family.
Terry and I were serious about fishing, working at it all day, every day. Fish were scarce and it would have been OK if it wasn’t for “Rooijas” the red jacketed fisherman. He came down to fish next to us for half an hour each day.
“Roojas” (as we nicknamed him) caught on each of his four casts and then went back to sip beer on his stoep while his fish braaied. Four fish to Rooijas, zero fish to Mike and Terry, every day.
I think Ouma was genuinely sorry for us on the first day when we told her about it.
But every day after that, when we came back to camp, she would ask with a little smile and twinkle in her eye “so tell me – was Rooijas there”? She just loved to hear our sorry daily tale.
Mike Smart shared this memory