Keflapod Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I'm sure many of you can relate to the situation where you grow up fishing with siblings, but due to unforseen marriages, you somehow lose your ability to co-ordinate a fishing trips with siblings after marriage. Well so is my situation with my brother Pete. It seemed that whenever the weather was good and I was available, he was washing his hair. Whenever he was free, I was out handbag shopping - er- with the missus - a handbag for HER...... This went on for years until the planets aligned (Venus and Uranus I think) and we agreed on the Saturday. Below describes the sequence of thoughts and events as seen by by myself and by Peter. Some are funny, some hilarious and some, well, you be the judge... Peter..................... The alarm shook me out a deep slumber at 4am in the morning. My first thought was where was I flying to today! I haven't packed my bag or laptop yet. Then the blur started to disappear and the realisation crystallised that I had organised to go fishing today with my brother and take my 9 year old daughter with me. As I lay in bed all those memories came flooding back of early morning predawn starts to line up at the boats ramps from Bermagui to South West Rocks, breathing in the smells of rotting fish frames and 2 stroke oil fumes heading to the live bait grounds and then racing out miles to sea chasing the kingies and yellowfin. Gees we had come home with some fish in those days and I couldn't remember the last time I had my feet on a decent ground swell. Today’s pace was going to be much, much slower. My daughter was keen to try some serious fishing and I was a fool not to take her and let her experience fishing the bay with my brother who has time and time again tried to move heaven and earth to get me on his boat to fish. All was packed and the coffee brewing when I realised it was raining heavily and the southerly was blowing. Though I was keen to go now that I was awake, I received the call to say – “Far Kurnell, can you believe the weather - let's try later on in the day and hopefully the weather improves.” The look of disappointment on my daughters face was much worse at that moment then when she finally learnt the truth about Santa this year. I knew this was just my luck with the weather and started to regret not packing the ute and rifle and going bush for the weekend. Trying to go back to sleep was pointless now as I tossed and turned and numerous times I annoyed the good wife by opening the blinds and take a peep outside. Rain stopped. Good. Wind dying even better. Me.......................... The alarm clock radio clicked on like a 4:00am explosion. It's an old solid state thing that is still kicking on after 30 years. In a dreamlike state, I heard some words here and there... ...drive by shootings.... ...stabbings.... 13 year-old crashes car..... ...disasters ...parliament house.... ...scattered showers... I really do have to install an electric fence and bullet proof fascia to the house..... then a noise coming from outside focussed my mind... rain, wind and cold...... Well what did I expect on a day when I'm supposed to fish with my "long-lost" brother ? Crap of course. I switch on my i-phone to send Pete a message. The bright light on the phone nearly blindens me. So with one eye shut and one eye half-cocked (drunken slob style) I press the keys to send him a message. I re-read my message to ensure I typed it right. ""It's could wait and undies Call yak at 7". Obviously I WAS a drunken slob if I wrote that. One key pressed wrong and the phone thinks it can read your mind and uses different words instead. I retyped "It's cold, wet and windy, call you at 7"..... No sleep, then at 7:00 I called the man... Peter..................... Then the call came – “do you still want to go ?” Well is the Pope Catholic ? In no time at all we were at the boat ramp and my brother had the boat already launched and beached. After a quick hello and buckling up my daughter’s lifejacket we were underway and heading down the Georges River. Pushing the boundaries of managing expectations and throwing out the challenge I started to tell my daughter that we had missed the best 4 hours of fishing this morning but not to worry because if there were any fish to find and catch Uncle Tony could do it. Me.......................... They were keen to go as the rain stopped and wind slackened off enough. I had the boat on the sand in 20 minutes and they were there 5 minutes after that. Their car skidded to a halt and two figures raced down the ramp. It was them and they were keen. It was 9:30 in the morning and the pressure was on me to find the fish and keep everybody entertained. Upon arrival, I was disappointed that the water temp was still 20.5, but at least the weather was very nice - no rain and only 10 knots of wind. Still I had to don the zinc cream, but at least my stupidly white face entertained everybody every time they looked at me.. I asked Pete to put some cream in the areas I missed on my face and I reckon he drew eyebrows on me or something ! Or wrote something crude on my forehead..... Never trust them brothers..... Peter..................... Well Uncle Tony did not disappoint anyone that day. He managed to find the fish, hook them up and then gracefully pass the rod to my daughter to wind in some great bream and thumper whiting. In the one or two instances he was on the rod my daughter would net his fish for him. Time and time again my brother has done this to me. Same boat, same bait out of the same bucket, same spot, same rigs and he will still out fish me 10 to 1. It’s as if he casts his bait straight into the fish’s mouth. As frustrating as that has been in the past this time I didn't care in the slightest. The joy on a child’s face bringing in fish, netting them, counting them, bringing out the bait, asking some really good questions is priceless for a father that has enjoyed some great fishing in his own time. Me.......................... The fish were there - phew ! A rod goes off and my niece is there so fast I didn't see her move. "Can I get it now, can I can I are we there yet, are we there yet...." Crikey - I could have sworn I was watching Bindi Irwin in action. I gave her the rod and she held it like she owned it for years. She wound that handle with determination. The rod was a bit too heavy and cumbersome for her really but you could not take it off her else you would lose an arm. She looked like she was a mini Jimmy Hendrix, pointing the guitar to the sky and with a blissful look on her face, making it sing and wail.... But the only thing wailing was the drag as the fish spots the hull and dives for the cover in the weedbeds. You could hear a tiny high-pitched "oooh" each time the fish dove for freedom, but she gave it the 'Come here now" treatment. I'm sure the come-here treatment will be practice for her to use on her husband when she gets married ! Her daddy nets the fish with pinpoint accuracy (after the 8th attempt) and a nice bream hits the deck. Her curiosity insatiable as if she has never seen a decent bream (maybe she hasn't) and she wants to admire it's beauty. She handles the fish carefully, even though I was panicking that she would get stung and joy would turn to tears. After all, she has had lots of fishing experience but very little fish handling experience... Her daddy is a bit out-of-practice and his ability to put his kids onto fish is a bit rusty - well OK rusted, beyond recognition..... Peter..................... Though nowhere near as adrenalin packed as my memories of 140kg plus marlin smashing a skipping gar off the starboard rigger, jigging 22kg kingies with heads the size of dog kennels off the 12 mile reef, or having your arms ripped off from a 45kg yellowfin as you sink in the gaff, this trip will remain one of the fondest memories when the door to the world of fishing was opened for my 9 year old daughter. And didn’t she enjoy it – refusing to pack up and go home till ever single bit of bait was gone, even trying the old “can we cut up one of the fish for bait” trick even at the end of the day. Thank you Uncle Tony – for a great day Me.......................... I made sure I passed the rod to her for every fish we got, but after about 18 fish I decided I better get her daddy onto something. Ultimately he got the best bream of the day (approx 37cm) and a thumper whiting 42cm so he wasn't too unhappy... But the point was to get his girl hooked so SHE can drag him out of bed for a fish. And when her mummy says "No, honey - today we are washing our hair", then she can say "Wash your OWN hair mummy - daddy and I are going fishing with uncle Tony..." The total catch was 14 bream, 12 whiting. While the fish are still there, they were a bit spread out and had to be chased. It was nice to be out on the bay with SOMEONE, and that special someone being my brother and his little girl... I dare say it will happen again...soon... Tony Fishing The Bay.bmp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reyzor Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 what a perfect story............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutz4Fishin Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 A great report mate. Glad the rain and wind went away for you all. Nice fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cut_loose Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Perfect story and a great catch, well done mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmandile Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Took my 13yr old daughter fishing on the Bay the other week, with high hopes of a great day out with plenty of fish and bonding. She spent the first hour leaning over the side creating a pretty good burley trail before I had to pack it in and head home. Some kids are made for it. Others maybe not so much You are a lucky man!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooker435 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 What a great report!!! good to hear you managed to bag a feed after all of that. I cant wait to take my little girl fishing also, Regards, Nathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridesh Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 great report. what a nice feed for the family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formosan Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Funny report Tony, Your catch rate is very superior. Love the whiting especially. Did Pilly fillets do the damage? or something esle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patey Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Great report good read have also promised my youngest daughter for a days fishing as well good haul of fish to Cheers patey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 That is a day worth sharing Tony...and the young girl won't forget it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayoox Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Great report. Sounds like an awesome time was had by all. And a good feed for both families. You'll have to get your daughter to love filleting and cooking too - and you will be totally set. I can't get my 8 year old daughter to touch the bait - it's too icky for her - i'll keep trying though. The squeals and look on her face when we had a double hookup on EELS last week was priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keflapod Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Great report. Sounds like an awesome time was had by all. And a good feed for both families. You'll have to get your daughter to love filleting and cooking too - and you will be totally set. I can't get my 8 year old daughter to touch the bait - it's too icky for her - i'll keep trying though. The squeals and look on her face when we had a double hookup on EELS last week was priceless. Hey Jayoox, I think I too would climb up on the gunwales if an eel hit the deck. I had a freaky experience some years ago when fishing the Georges river at night. My mate was catching small eels and was keeping them for a friend. He put them in a bucket and closed the lid. About 10 eels later, they stopped biting and we all forgot about them. I got tired and sat on the bucket lid. The wake of a passing boat upset our tinny and I fell off the bucket and it tipped as well, popping the lid off. Those small eels, mostly alive then slithered all round my thigh area trying to get back into the water....... Icky ? I agree with your daughter ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayoox Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Love it. That's priceless. Any photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Zod Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Wow, how nice was that. Just gold. Edited January 18, 2012 by General Zod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim bream Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 good read and great catch Tony see you out there soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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