Enchanted by water

Alan Hobson and his family were living the good life in Johannesburg, but the fishing waters of the Eastern Cape lured him back. Since he and his wife Annabelle moved to Somerset East, their main aim has been to establish fly-fishing as a tourist attraction in the Karoo.

- SARIE MARAIS-NELL

A River Runs Through It. It’s as though the themes of the classic movie about fly-fishing, rivers, religion and sibling relationships are reflected in the lives of an Eastern Cape family when you listen to Alan Hobson recounting tales of growing up as one of four brothers on a farm near Pearston.

Alan’s story begins in 1820, with two Hobson brothers who landed at Algoa Bay as part of a group of British settlers. “Since childhood, we’ve been hearing that when the two brothers came ashore, one had a Bible under his arm and the other a bottle of whisky. The one carrying the whisky was an entrepreneur who hired spans of oxen to transport necessities to farms in the area. Soon, he could buy his own oxen, and eventually he bought land.”

This is where Alan grew up with his brothers, hunting and fishing. Repeat.

“We attended St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown. When we could go home on weekends after our sports matches, my father would stop at Darlington Dam near Jansenville [also known as Lake Mentz] early on a Saturday morning to throw mielies in the water. We’d be very excited on our way from boarding school, knowing what came next: picnicking beside the dam, and afterwards the six of us – four brothers plus Mom and Dad – would stand shoulder to shoulder, fishing.