GüNTHER CROUS An Interview With An Artist Savs "Everything about fly fishing is art to me. I would frame anything flyfishing related and hang it on my wall." Picture the scene, a warm suburban midwinter Saturday morning a few months back. I should be cleaning the pool, going for a haircut or using my gym card for the first time but I’m halfway through my second cup of coffee and congratulating myself on how well the day is panning out. My phone beeps in my pocket and I idly fish it out and open the incoming message. It’s from a friend who understands and shares my interests. “Oh my word!”, or words to that effect, it says, “Check this guy out!” and I squint my middle-aged eyes at the screen to see a profile image of a guy standing next to a custom Harley Davidson. “Cool bike”, I think, flopping my phone back into my shorts and continuing to stare vacantly towards the horizon. It’s a full week later before I stalk his facebook profile and have a “Oh my word!” moment of my own. It’s not the bike that captures my attention, although it’s way cool, but his artwork. I go from stalker to screaming, arm-waving, drooling fan in a matter of seconds. The man’s work is incredible. I recently took the time to catch up with Günther and discovered, once again, just how much talent we have tucked into every corner of this country. Tell us something about yourself. Family, career, where you live, that sort of thing.
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I was born in the small farming community of Bothaville in 1972. I have been living on the outskirts of Bethlehem since 2001 with my wife and two teenage children. I’ve been a teacher for the past 21 years. I think I was well on my way to becoming a hermit if good fortune did not introduce me to my now wife. I get you, most of the guys I fish with could easily slip into a hermit’s life, and some are well on their way already. You’re obviously an art teacher. No, I teach Special Education (LSEN) Skills training in welding and wood. Ok, I didn’t see that coming, but in a country with scarce skills I think that’s really cool. When did you begin fly fishing? I bought a fly rod during my varsity years but only got seriously hooked in 2013 when one of my fishing friends, Tiaan Labuschagne, loaned me a proper fly rod and under his guidance I was able to land my first fish at Sterkfontein. The rest is history. Like the rest of us did you come from a bait / papgooi / spin fishing background or did you go straight to the fly? My parents used to enjoy papgooi and we would camp next to the Vaal. They’re special memories but the papgooi never really became a keen interest of mine. Return to contents
