Financial analysts across the Helderberg have confirmed local fishermen now spend dramatically more on fishing equipment than the combined street value of all fish realistically caught annually.
The average Strand fisherman reportedly owns enough rods reels hooks sinkers braid jackets bait knives coolers and mysterious imported accessories to refinance a small hatchback.
One Gordon’s Bay resident recently purchased a Japanese reel costing more than his monthly grocery budget despite primarily catching fish valued somewhere between “lunch” and “cat interest.”
“It’s about the experience” explained the fisherman while reorganising tackle boxes with surgical precision.
Witnesses claim many local anglers spend entire evenings discussing tackle specifications despite returning home fishless most weekends.
Meanwhile Somerset West fishermen have intensified matters further by importing specialised lures designed for fish species rarely even seen near False Bay.
One local reportedly owns six rods “for different conditions” despite fishing from the exact same rock every Saturday since 2009.
Harbour tackle shops continue thriving largely because fishermen firmly believe the next expensive purchase will finally “change everything.”
Gordon’s Bay wives however remain unconvinced.
“He spent R4 000 preparing to catch fish we could’ve bought frozen for R89” explained one exhausted resident.
At publication time several fishermen were debating fluorocarbon thickness with the seriousness of heart surgeons.
A local fisherman named “Vissie” explained that the whole fishing experience is more about the silent socialising “you, the sea and the drinks” as he put it. It is not so much about the fish we don’t catch that is why there are fish & chips shops on the way back home. He further explained that to his wife’s state of confusion when he arrives home with already beer battered cooked fish.