Arniston wrote:
Interesting account on Bill Jack...just enjoy these snippets a lot. Intriging and old world men, some of the very best...very scarce today as most of them are gone.
Once read an article on Jock Dichmont where the journalist referred to him as a real "Hemingway man".
I thought this an apt term as I read virtually all Hemingway's books and especially the fishing stories...men that had a great zest for life and knew the beauty of the sea, mountains, rivers and the vast outdoors...things we only can dream and fantasize today.
Thanks Arniston.
I really loved Bill, attended his funeral in 94 and was asked to be a pallbearer by his wife. Can't say I recall many fisherman who had such a wonderful attendance at their memorial, but Bill was one of them.
PS: Forgot to mention, my very user name BTTB on this forum stands for "Balls To The Bum" which was derived from terminology shared between my father and Bill Jack one night on the boat at Hangklip while catching Geelbek. Must have been a slow night as from what I was told my father awoke and blurted out those words verbatim to roars of laughter and from then the term was shared until he passed to those that knew him in the fishing world.
Bill's "Balls To The Bum" ended up being a form of endearment or something you added to a memo or note at the bottom like a greeting goodbye with the adage BTTB, perhaps even a wish of good luck fishing even, or something you'd say to someone if they were about to embark on a journey, it had so many uses and Bill coined it a lot.
How the heck my father came up with this term is anyone's guess but Bill himself used to exclaim those words to those that vaguely understood its meaning and were close to him.
I doubt there are few people who would even get it today, certainly not amongst the new generation of fisherman. The only person off hand I can think of that anyone here might know would be Keith Murrison, the guy that services reels from his garage in Bothasig.
So the next time anyone visits Keith tell him those words, BTTB. HAhaha, he'll most certainly have a good laugh and ask you where you heard it from, he'll figure it out.
Could be a great Bumper Sticker!
Sorry, these memories come rolling back from the "good old days" of fishing in the Cape, a time when there was still fish.