GONE FISHING

This afternoon, my youngest son has taken his rod and gone fishing from the rocks.

A couple of my other sons also enjoy fishing, but for them it is not the quiet, often solitary activity of taking your rod to a peaceful spot and waiting for a bite or two.. They much prefer going out in a boat, with a group of mates. It takes a bit of organisation to gather together supplies and get the boat into the water using the crane on one of the wharves. Nevertheless, they usually come back with a bin or two of fish, maybe even more. I think half the pleasure is cleaning and filleting the catch afterwards over a beer or two (or three.)

I have not had much fishing experience myself. I recall a time when I was about eight years old, and my family was holidaying with my aunt and uncle out at Narromine, in the central west of N.S.W. One afternoon, we drove out to a spot on the banks of the Macquarie River, and the menfolk cast a line or two. Uncle Ben finally pulled one in, and as it flapped on the end of the line, my mother said: "Oh look, he is begging you to let him go!"

I cried myself to sleep that evening, thinking about the plight of that poor creature. I cannot recall if I actually ate any when it was cooked, but I am really very fond of fish now, and am glad to have sons who often bring me some fresh from the sea.

Now the challenge/inspiration picture for the first stage of the Fabric Book Round Robin I am participating in this year is an aerial photo of the Lake Taupo delta in New Zealand. Now this is an area famous for its trout fishing, and it was this aspect I decided to explore in my interpretation.

So off I went to the Fishing Department of one of our local stores. The first assistant said his parents actually live on the shores of Lake Taupo, but he confessed he knows next to nothing about the fishing. So he called Dominic, who is very knowledgeable about angling. Dominic, a most helpful and obliging fellow, went into a great detail for me about trout fishing. I tried to explain that I was planning on sewing, not fishing, and mainly wanted to know a bit about lures. They did not have much in the way of trout fishing lures, because this is a sub-tropical ocean fishing area, but Dom said he would drop some magazines in for me - which he did the next day! Talk about doing thorough research for a needlework project!

Anyway, this is the page I finally produced, using felting, needlefelting and embroidery techniques. I made a "lure" using some feathers from my collection, and I attached a swivel, thinking a hook may be a little dangerous. I also attached a "squidgie" in the form of a Rainbow trout. These are a sort of artificial bait, and are made in a soft transparent poly sort of substance.

Now I wonder if there will be fish for tea?