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Sadly, My Mate Noel Passed Away Yesterday


arpie

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Hi guys

Blackfishing the Forster wall won't be the same any more - my mate Noel, who had a bad stroke whilst in Darwin a couple of months back, passed away yesterday.

He was one of life's true gentlemen - a lovely bloke, who never had a bad word to say about anyone. I gave him a float about 6 months ago as he'd had a bit of bad luck & lost the 3 that he had brought with him that day, to snags. He said that he would return it to me later, but I said, No way!! Keep it!

Later in the week, he gave me 10 that he had made! I said, hang on Noel - I only gave you one! He said - yes, but it was a special one, beautifully made & I appreciated that you would give it to me, so that I didn't have to go home & get another one!

He was a top blackie fisherman & I just wish I was there earlier this year when he hooked & landed a 50cm blackie from the entrance of the Marina at Forster! That was a huge fish! Even tho he was in his mid 80's and had Parkinsons, he still managed to get down to the bottom of the rocks to catch blackies, even tho it may have taken him 10 mins to get to his spot!

I had tried to ring his wife Helen to offer condolences, but no-one was home, so I went off to vote early and who should be there, but Helen and family members. We shared a tear and agreed that it was for the best, really - but still so hard to bear, even tho it was expected.

I reckon we'll be naming one of the spots "Noel's Rock".

Cheers

Roberta

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Hi guys

Blackfishing the Forster wall won't be the same any more - my mate Noel, who had a bad stroke whilst in Darwin a couple of months back, passed away yesterday.

He was one of life's true gentlemen - a lovely bloke, who never had a bad word to say about anyone. I gave him a float about 6 months ago as he'd had a bit of bad luck & lost the 3 that he had brought with him that day, to snags. He said that he would return it to me later, but I said, No way!! Keep it!

Later in the week, he gave me 10 that he had made! I said, hang on Noel - I only gave you one! He said - yes, but it was a special one, beautifully made & I appreciated that you would give it to me, so that I didn't have to go home & get another one!

He was a top blackie fisherman & I just wish I was there earlier this year when he hooked & landed a 50cm blackie from the entrance of the Marina at Forster! That was a huge fish! Even tho he was in his mid 80's and had Parkinsons, he still managed to get down to the bottom of the rocks to catch blackies, even tho it may have taken him 10 mins to get to his spot!

I had tried to ring his wife Helen to offer condolences, but no-one was home, so I went off to vote early and who should be there, but Helen and family members. We shared a tear and agreed that it was for the best, really - but still so hard to bear, even tho it was expected.

I reckon we'll be naming one of the spots "Noel's Rock".

Cheers

Roberta

May Noel rest in peace and catch many blackfish in heaven.

Roberta, Noel found a true friend in you and you in him.

May he guide you in all your future fishing adventures.

Twin 1

Marcel.

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May Noel rest in peace and catch many blackfish in heaven.

Roberta, Noel found a true friend in you and you in him.

May he guide you in all your future fishing adventures.

Twin 1

Marcel.

...................................................................................................................................................

Roberta. I'm sorry to hear the sad news of the loss of your good friend and fishing mate Noel.

jewgaffer :1fishing1:

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Many thanks guys for your kind words & condolences. It brought a tears to my eyes. I will pass them on to Helen.

It has been a bad couple of weeks ..... another friend died recently of lung cancer & as I left the voting yesterday, I bumped into another fishing/prawning buddy - he'd just been told that his wife has inoperable bowell cancer & as you can imagine, he is distraught. They would be both be in their late 70's. Not fair.

Roberta

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HI ROBERTA,

It is sad to see the old boys fade away. They are very special to me as I deal with a lot of his age on a daily basis. I have great conversations with them,be it fishing ,politics,football or life in general. We should treasure the elderly more, as I don't believe society is doing it enough today. Good on you Roberta. Kind Thoughts.

Cheers BART :1fishing1:

Edited by bart
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello Roberta,

thanks for the kind words about Noel, Helen and the rest of the family appreciate everyones best wishes. He really enjoyed his fishing and went to Tuncurry about 20 years ago to fish the beaches and rock walls. His two favourite types of fishing.

One of the best things a father can do for his children is to teach them to fish. My sister and I were taken fishing all the time as we grew up. More recently he taught his grandson Jarrod to fish. Before he had the stroke Noel and Helen were in Darwin for a month helping my wife and I on our aquaculture plot (yes we now work with fish). One of the last things he did was to buy a new outfit for casting soft plastics.

His last fishing trip was out to Coroboree Billabong for an afternoon of chasing Barramundi. We didn't find any but a really large croc about 5 meters swam past near the boat. There were water birds,wild pig, buffalo and all sorts of other wildlife. It is a nice afternoon out, watching the wildlife even if you dont get a fish.

post-6137-1196804200_thumb.jpg

This photo was taken a few years ago at Shady Camp Billabong.

Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts from Noel' Family, his wife Helen, children David and Margaret, grandson Jarrod.

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Hi Dave,

It would have been a great outing on that Billabong for Noels last fishing trip. Could not think of a better way to do so. Up there in the north it has a special feel, what with the abundance of bird wildlife and those huge crocs around you. Brings back fond memories for me.

Cheers BART :1fishing1:

Edited by bart
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Hi Dave

:1welcomeani::1welcomeani: to Fishraider - we love having folk from the NT to tempt our taste buds with Barra stories!!

What a terrific photo of Noel - doing what he enjoyed most! He would have been pretty excited seeing that big croc go past! I know he was also out there using the mini bull dozer, helping with earth works just days before the stroke. An amazing bloke. I popped in the other day with a fish for Helen & hope to drop off 3 more tomorrow!!

I caught my only ever 2 barra at Corroboree back in 2000 when Keith & I backpacked around Aussie! We were with one of the NT's top guides, Mick Mannix & he surely put us onto fish (his wife puts on the Reel Women's Barra comp!) We had a croc chase one of my fish, too & he had to gun the motor to get us away from it, skull dragging the poor fish across the water! My dream is to catch & land one without a guide!

As Bart says - the wildlife up there is amazing - I remember the water Buffs along the edge as well as the crocs & bird life.

What sort of aquaculture do you do? I saw a photo of the fish you discovered .... tell us about that!

Cheerio

Roberta

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Hello Roberta,

one of the advantages of being bought up by a keen fisherman was developing a love for fish both on the table and in the water. I had a job with fish from 1992 to 2001 managing Australia's largest freshwater public aquarium here in the NT at Berry Springs. The Territory Wildlife Park main exhibit is 400,000 litres of freshwater with freshwater sawfish, whiprays, barra and many other NT fishes.

While working there I took many fishes big and small to the NT Museum for their collection of preserved specimens, one of the small gobies was undescribed but not discovered by me. I bred it in captivity and provided the museum with eggs, fry and adult fish. The Icthyologist there Helen Larson described it in 2001 as Mugilogobius wilsoni (Wilson's Mangrove Goby) a huge honour for a fishy person.

post-6137-1197065532_thumb.jpg

When I managed the aquarium I was approached many times by people in the aquarium trade to provide them with the plants, fishes and inverts to be used as ornamentals. We started a small aquaculture business in 2002 when Noel and Helen came here and helped build a large shade house of 880 square merters to keep the tropical sun off the ponds. Noel was 72 then and he spent 6 weeks on the cement mixer and clipping shade cloth together helping to build the structure.

The most recent trip he was back at it again using the new small tractor to move potting mixes around and clean the place up a bit.

post-6137-1197065806_thumb.jpg

He would go around in the morning catching dragon flies in the shadehouse and feeding them to the coal grunter. Not good for the dragon fly but the coal grunter enjoyed it.

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave

What sort of aquaculture do you do? I saw a photo of the fish you discovered .... tell us about that!

Cheerio

Roberta

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Hi Dave

We have some passionate fish breeders amongst our ranks - Swordfisherman and Wildfish to name just 2! They will read of your Mugilogobius wilsoni (Wilson's Mangrove Goby) success with great interest, I reckon!

We look forward to reading of your fishing exploits in the Fishing Reports Section, too!

Cheerio for now

Roberta

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