I REMEMBER THE DAY
It’s a special occasion when your kids are born, and for a fisherman there’s the bonus of a new fishing buddy to share the wonders of nature and the various challenges that the pursuit of fish can throw at you. My daughter Holly is now a grown woman, but during her childhood we lived on Sydney’s northern beaches and spent many memorable days on the water.
Starting when she was three years old, I would pack a bag full of ‘treats’, a bucket, a pack of fresh prawns, a net and two outfits rigged with small quill floats, then Holly and I would head down to the rock walls surrounding Sydney Harbour at Cremorne Point. There, sitting on the edge of the public park, perched on our rock wall beside the ferry wharf, we enjoyed a commanding view of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and a swarm of hungry leatherjackets breezing through the shallow weed bed in front of us.
As soon as Holly’s float plopped down in front of her, the leatherjackets attacked. It was really fun fishing. The thrill of watching the float zip beneath the surface, then the determined tussle through the tall strands of weed on the way to the net are memories we still treasure.
The only chance I got to fish was during one of Holly’s regular visits to the bag of treats, which helped maintain her enthusiasm through any temporary lulls in the leatherjackets’ assault. My token catches were equally important as it gave Holly a very credible opportunity to tell mum and everyone else that although we had both been fishing, she had caught a bucket-full while dad could only catch three!
BIG TIME IN QUEENSLAND
In 2001 we moved