OLD TIMERS
MEET POP BULLEN Fishing with an old man of the sea
By Elinor Bullen
W
ILLIAM “Pop” Bullen, like many others, departed from England in the late 1940s to relocate to the healthier climate of Durban, bringing his wife and four children with him. Having been an ardent salmon angler “back home”, it wasn’t surprising that when he spotted a small boat being towed down Point Road and around the Point Prison towards the sea, he followed it to find out where the craft would be launched and for what purpose. After talking to the anglers who owned the boat he was invited to crew on a ski-boat the following weekend. At the age of 64 he thus became an ardent ski-boater and excellent ’cuda fisherman and even acquired a 3hp Seagull motor to take with him to augment the single outboard most skiboaters used in those days. With his thick English accent and enthusiastic disposition, he soon became one of the
lads among the other ski-boaters. Pop was always a “doer”, and in 1952 he noticed a 12 metre ex-seaplane tender being auctioned. He acquired this near “hulk” compared to the other ski-boats of the time. Looking down on her she looked like a big speedboat, long and narrow, and had two big diesel engines. The previous owner had named her Game Fish and Pop decided that her name would stay. For the next few months my father was kept very busy getting her into good order. The two 98hp Perkins diesel engines were completely overhauled, the cabin was extended back by 2.5 metres enabling the engines to be inside it, and the back deck was rebuilt to make sure it was watertight. Game Fish had to be converted into a sea going craft because her life of running around on relatively calm waters working with flying boats was over. In November 1952 Game Fish was ready to take to the open ocean. My father took every opportunity to go
’cuda fishing, trolling with his five rods pulling baits behind the boat. On occasions at least three or four rods would get strikes all at once! Poor dad would rush around striking fish and blowing his whistle to alert his crewman to come and help him. The ski-boaters used to tease Dad no end, calling his rods a forest of bamboo, saying it was no wonder he caught so many fish. For the first couple of seasons Dad fished within a few miles of Durban, Vetches Pier, No 1 and Umgeni River mouth until his confidence grew. My father had found a new wonderful interest in gamefishing. UNDER FIRE On one particularly calm day in 1954 Dad decided to troll along the coast past Umgeni River mouth about half a mile out to sea. Knowing that there was a shooting range north of the river, he looked to see if the red flags were flying on their poles. He saw nothing, so he continued on his course, sitting in his chair watching his rods. Suddenly he
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