XV 
WHEN LADIES FISH 
N my wanderings 1 have come across a good 
many ladies who are skilled in fishing, and 
from the pages of the sporting papers I 
deduce that women are taking to the sport 
in ever-increasing numbers, while their success 
with both trout and salmon is proportionate to 
their zeal. Indeed some of the most important 
entries on the “big fish list” have ladies’ names 
against them. South Africa has had its lady 
anglers. Miss Rhodes, sister of Mr. Cecil 
Rhodes, fished regularly from a little boat in 
Kalk Bay, near Capetown. Lady Farrar used 
to fish with her husband in Durban harbour, and 
they used to take me with them sometimes, I 
well remember her getting into a big one once. 
As it was evidently a monster I carefully timed 
the play. After fifty-five minutes, however, the 
fish got off. It was probably a skate, These 
brutes sometimes take well over an hour to bring 
to boat. I thought the angler’s wrist would have 
given out, but she held on, enjoyed every minute 
of it, and, when the fish got off, behaved like a 
true sportsman. 
