An angler on quarantine lockdown in Dubai accomplished a rare feat recently by landing a fish from his apartment balcony – 50 feet above ground.
Philip Du Plessis told For The Win Outdoors that he became so stir-crazy that he just had to try, given that his apartment overlooks a brackish canal that showed more promise with each passing day.
So late one night at the end of March, on his 11th day of lockdown, Plessis put a shrimp on his hook and began to cast.
The accompanying footage, captured by his wife Veriza, shows the hookup with a lively bream, and Plessis’ joyful expression after he reeled the fish over several obstacles and through his apartment window.
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“Balcony bream,” Plessis says to the camera, after sinking to his knees and laughing in disbelief.
Because it was so late, Plessis was concerned that he might have disturbed his neighbors living below. “They won’t be impressed in the morning with the dried fish slime across their living room window,” he told the Daily Mail.
Plessis, owner of Soolyman Sportfishing Charters, told For The Win Outdoors that he had to cast 40 to 50 feet just to reach the water, and that the hookup occurred after his second cast.
Asked if he considered throwing the bream back, he replied: “No. Unfortunately it wouldn’t have survived the fall and would have landed on the walkway below, so we gave it to the building security guard to eat.”
Plessis, who is originally from South Africa, said his neighborhood is on lockdown for another two weeks to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, or the coronavirus.
–Images are courtesy of Philip and Veriza Du Plessis