Limited Edition: 178 pages, 64 illustrations by R. Townley Johnson with map endpapers showing the principal fresh water fishing areas in the Western Province, simulated orange cloth, a very good copy in worn dust jacket.
This edition is limited to 375 copies, signed by the author and illustrator of which this is number 242
Editor’s Note on the dust jacket: ‘Frank Bradlow is well-known for his books on Africana, South African history and art. This book, a new departure, is his first book on trout-fishing. It consists of various articles which have appeared in various angling magazines over a period of nearly twenty years. Most of these articles first appeared in Piscator, the excellent journal of the Cape Piscatorial Society, but there are also articles that have appeared only in British journals such as Trout and Salmon, the Angling Annual and the Flyfisher's Journal.
The book is divided into four parts, each with a special aspect of fresh-water fishing. The first part covers some general aspects of trout-fishing in South Africa, and some general topics concerning fishing as a pastime.
Part II deals with the author's angling experiences in other parts of the world such as Ireland, Scotland, England, Italy, Switzerland and Israel, and in other parts of Southern Africa such as South West Africa and Lesotho. Although personal in tone, these articles are descriptive and sufficiently informative to give adequate guidance to anglers wishing to visit these places.
The third part recounts some of the mundane, and some of the extraordinary incidents that have occurred in one trout-fisherman's life. They are amusing, chatty, self-deprecatory and personal, but nevertheless contain practical information and historical background.
The last part consists of a description of the Smalblaar river reprinted from the journal of the Flyfisher's Club, London, and also descriptions of three still-water fisheries in the Western Cape: the Arch Dam, Ceres, Groenvlei (Lake Pleasant) between Sedgefield and Knysna, and Vogelvlei irrigation lake, near Hermon. These vleis and dams, their fish life, flora and fauna, and as a background their fully researched histories are also provided. These histories are of value and interest to all those interested in the South African past.
The book is superbly illustrated with sixty-four talented and often amusing illustrations by the well-known cartoonist and illustrator R. ('Ginger') Townley Johnson. Thirty-two of these illustrations are full page. The other thirty-two are line drawings which are used as chapter headings. There is also one illustration by the late David Marais, cartoonist of the Cape Times. An excellent and simple map, drawn by Mr Ken Behr of the Department of Geography, University of Cape Town, shows the position of the principal rivers, dams and lakes.’
Curtis (Paul) Fishing Wider Margins, A History and Bibliography of Angling in Africa, Platanna Press, 2015, pages 234/5.
- Overall Condition: Very good
- Size: 8vo (240 x 210 mm)
