EL angler hooks champs honour

Brian Hayward WEEKEND POST REPORTER haywardb@avusa.co.za

WHILE most girls were happy to play in their rooms with their dolls, East London‘s Denise Hewitt, newly crowned captain of the South African Shore Anglers women‘s team, preferred to be out on the river with her fishing rod poised and ready for a catch.

Now her passion has paid off. Hewitt, 47, has been selected to captain the women‘s team taking on the world‘s biggest catchers in France next month at the World Angling Championships in Hossegor, near Spain‘s border, in her biggest task to date.

In what is traditionally seen as a man‘s sport, Hewitt is no stranger to shattering preconceptions – she is also a “technical investigator” for Eskom.

“My dad has always been big on fishing and as a family we always used to go out on the river,” she said. “We spent days out there, so basically I started with a little bamboo rod and progressed from there.

“My dad buying my first rod and reel was what really got the bug to bite.”

Only in her late teens did she start to take an interest in rock and surf angling – a big change from the quiet river tides, she said.

“My 21st birthday wish was for a 12ft (3,65m) fibre rod and reel, which I got.”

And while her male contemporaries might scoff at the sight of a woman invading their territory, Hewitt said it was she who was having the last laugh, often pulling in bigger catches.

“It gets a bit difficult when you have a heavy fish to bring in, but then the adrenaline‘s pumping anyway, so that helps,” she said. “We‘re not big muscle-bound ladies. We‘re just normal girls.”

Patience, she said, was a secret ingredient in landing the big fish, along with the ability to read the water and decide before casting the line which species of fish had their number called.

To date, her most memorable catch happened when on holiday along the Wild Coast in the late 90s.

“One of my biggest catches was a 12,5kg cob at the Cob Inn in December 1999,” she said. “That area‘s brilliant for fishing and I loved it there.”

Another big haul was a 14,5kg smooth hound shark at Langebaan, in the Western Cape, earlier this year.

Her dad is beaming at the sight of his daughter in the limelight. “He is over the moon that I‘m doing so well. He‘s very proud,” Hewitt said. “It‘s funny, but when I visit him all we talk about is tackle and the latest rods and reels. That‘s what we‘re interested in.”

But having made her way into a male-dominated sport, Hewitt said a bigger challenge now loomed. “Raising funds to attend the various events is tough,” she admitted. “We are responsible for raising all the funds to get ourselves to the competition. We have to canvas ourselves.”

And with less than a month to go, “so far, fund-raising has been slow”.

Positive about the big event, which starts on September 12 and runs until the month end, Hewitt said she hoped her angling would inspire other women – and girls – to follow suit.

“At the moment there‘s no EP women‘s angling team, so hopefully we can inspire women there to start one,” she said.

Anyone wishing to get in touch with Denise Hewitt can contact her on 083-3015611.

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